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7 2 Jeremiah is commanded to show unto the people the words of God, which trusteth in the outward service of the Temple. 13 The evils that shall come to the Jews, for the despising of their Prophets. 21 Sacrifices doth not the Lord chiefly require of the Jews, but that they should obey his word.
1 The words that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and cry this word there, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.
3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, (A)Amend your ways and your works, and I will let you dwell in this place.
4 Trust not in [a]lying words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord; this is the Temple of the Lord.
5 For if you amend and redress your ways and your works; if you execute judgment between a man and neighbor,
6 And oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your destruction,
7 Then [b]will I let you dwell in this place in the land that I gave unto your fathers forever and ever.
8 Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not?
10 And come and stand before me in this House, whereupon my Name is called, and say, We are delivered, though we have done all these abominations?
11 Is this House become [c]a den of thieves, whereupon my Name is called before your eyes? Behold, even I see it, saith the Lord.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, [d]where I set my Name at the beginning, and behold, what I did to it for the wickedness, of my people Israel.
13 Therefore now because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, (and I [e]rose up early and spake unto you: but when I spake, ye would not hear me, neither when I called, would [f]ye answer.)
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, whereupon my Name is called, wherein also ye trust, even unto the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh.
15 And I will cast [g]you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore thou shalt not [h]pray for this people, neither lift up cry or prayer for them, neither entreat me, for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women kneed the dough to make cakes to [i]the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me unto anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord, and not themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured upon this place; upon man and upon beast, and upon the tree of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burn and not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.
22 For [j]I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways which I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they would not obey, nor incline their ear, but went after the counsels, and the stubbornness of their wicked heart, and went backward and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came up out of the land of Egypt, unto [k]this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the Prophets, [l]rising up early every day, and sending them.
26 Yet would they not hear me, nor incline their ear, but hardened their neck, and did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore shalt thou speak all these words unto them, but they [m]will not hear thee: thou shalt also cry unto them, but they will not answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that heareth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth discipline: truth is perished, and is clean gone out of their mouth.
29 Cut off thine [n]hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a complaint on the high places: for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his [o]wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house, whereupon my Name is called to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high place of [p]Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I [q]commanded them not, neither came it in mine heart.
32 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place.
33 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away.
34 (B)Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
8 1 The destruction of the Jews. 4 The Lord moveth the people to amendment. 10 He reprehendeth the lying doctrine and the covetousness of the Prophets and Priests.
1 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of their Princes, and the bones of the Priests, and the bones of the Prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their [r]graves.
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and whom they have followed, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor be buried, but shall be as dung upon the earth.
3 And death shall be desired [s]rather than life of all the residue that remaineth of this wicked family, which remain in all the places where I have scattered them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Thou shalt say unto them also, Thus saith the Lord, Shall they [t]fall, and not arise? shall he turn away and not turn again?
5 Wherefore is this people of Jerusalem turned back by a perpetual rebellion? they gave themselves to deceit, and would not return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but none spake aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? [u]everyone turned to their race, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Even the stork in the air knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming, but my people knoweth not the [v]judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the Law of the Lord is with us? Lo, [w]certainly in vain made he it, the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The [x]wise men are ashamed: they are afraid and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: (C)for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, and from the Prophet even unto the Priest, everyone dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people with sweet words, saying, [y]Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not ashamed, neither could they have any shame: therefore shall they fall among the slain: when I shall visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade, and the things that I have given them shall depart from them.
14 Why do we stay? [z]assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be quiet there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water with [aa]gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 (D)We looked for peace, but no good came, and for a time of health, and behold troubles.
16 The neighing of his horses was heard from [ab]Dan, the whole land trembled at the noise of the neighing of his strong horses: for they are come, and have devoured the land with all that is in it, the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For behold, I will [ac]send serpents, and cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall sting you, saith the Lord.
18 I would have [ad]comforted myself against sorrow, but mine heart is heavy in me.
19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people for fear of them of a far country, Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why [ae]have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with the vanities of a strange god?
20 The [af]harvest is past, the Summer is ended, and we are not holpen.
21 I am [ag]sore vexed for the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am heavy, and astonishment hath taken me.
22 Is there no balm [ah]at Gilead? is there no Physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
9 1 The complaint of the Prophet for the malice of the people. 24 In the knowledge of God ought we only to rejoice. 26 The uncircumcision of the heart.
1 Oh, that mine head were full of [ai]water, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Oh, that I had in the wilderness a [aj]cottage of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them: for they be all [ak]adulterers, and an assembly of rebels.
3 And they bend their tongues like their bows for [al]lies: but they have no courage for the truth upon the earth, for they proceed from evil to worse, and they have not known me, saith the Lord.
4 Let everyone take heed of his neighbor, and trust you not in any [am]brother: for every brother will use deceit, and every friend will deal deceitfully,
5 And everyone will deceive his friend, and will not speak the truth: for they [an]have taught their tongue to speak lies, and take great pains to do wickedly.
6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceivers: [ao]because of their deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will [ap]melt them, and try them: for what should I else do for the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue (E)is as an arrow shot out, and speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Upon the [aq]mountains will I take up a weeping and a lamentation, and upon the fair places of the wilderness a mourning, because they are burnt up, so that none can pass through them, neither can men hear the voice of the flock: both the fowl of the air, and the beast are fled away and gone.
11 And I will make Jerusalem an heap, and a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah waste without an inhabitant.
12 Who is [ar]wise to understand this? and to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, even he shall declare it. Why doth the land perish, and is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
13 And the Lord saith, because they have forsaken my Law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked thereafter,
14 But have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after Baal, which [as]their fathers taught them.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them waters of gall [at]to drink:
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Take heed, and call for [au]the mourning women, that they may come, and send for skillful women, that they may come,
18 And let them make haste, and let them take up a lamentation for us, that our eyes may cast out tears, and our eyelids gush out of water.
19 For a lamentable noise is heard out of Zion, How are we destroyed, and utterly confounded, for we have forsaken the land, and our dwellings [av]have cast us out.
20 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ears regard the words of his mouth, and [aw]teach your daughters to mourn, and everyone her neighbor to lament.
21 For death is come up into our [ax]windows, and is entered into our palaces, to destroy the children without, and the young men in the streets.
22 Speak, Thus saith the Lord, The carcasses of men shall lie, even as the dung upon the field, and as the handful after the mower, and none shall gather them.
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the [ay]wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man glory in his strength, neither the rich man glory in his riches.
24 But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me: for I am the Lord, which [az]show mercy, judgment, and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
25 Behold, the days come saith the Lord, that I will visit all them which are [ba]circumcised with the uncircumcised:
26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all the utmost corners of them that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.