Beginning
The True God and Idols(A)
10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
Do not learn the way of the nations;
do not be terrified at the signs of heaven,
although the nations are terrified at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain;
for with the axe one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold;
they fasten it with nails and with hammers
so that it may not move.
5 They are as a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
but do not speak;
they must be carried,
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
nor can they do good.
6 There is no one 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?
Indeed, it is Your due.
For among all the wise men of the nations,
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
8 But they are altogether unthinking and foolish;
the tree is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz,
the work of the workman and of the hands of the founder;
blue and purple are their clothing;
they all are the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and an everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth trembles,
and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
11 Thus you shall say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
12 He has made the earth by His power.
He has established the world by His wisdom
and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion.
13 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
and He causes the vapors to ascend from the remote parts of the earth;
He makes lightning with rain,
and brings out the wind from His storehouses.
14 Every man is stupid, without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by an idol;
for his molded image is false,
and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vain and a work of mockery;
in the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like them,
for He is the Maker of all things,
and Israel is the rod of His inheritance.
The Lord of Hosts is His name.
The Exile Prophesied
17 Gather up your wares out of the land,
O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus says the Lord:
I will sling out
the inhabitants of the land at this time,
and will distress them
that they may be found.
19 Woe is me because of my brokenness!
My wound is grievous.
But I said,
“Truly this is an illness, and I must bear it.”
20 My tabernacle is devastated,
and all my cords are broken.
My sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is no one to spread my tent anymore,
and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become unthinking
and have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flocks are scattered.
22 Listen! The sound of the report has come,
and a great commotion out of the north country,
to make the cities of Judah desolate
and a den of jackals.
The Prayer of Jeremiah
23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself;
it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 O Lord, correct me, but with justice,
not in Your anger,
lest You bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your fury upon the nations
that do not know You
and upon the families that do not call on Your name;
for they have eaten up Jacob
and devoured him, and consumed him,
and have made his habitation desolate.
The Broken Covenant
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 And say you to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do according to all which I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God, 5 that I may perform the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.
Then I answered and said, “So be it, O Lord.”
6 Then the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: saying, Hear the words of this covenant, and do them. 7 For I earnestly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and warning, saying, Obey My voice. 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the imagination of their evil heart. Therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they did not do.
9 The Lord said to me: A conspiracy has been 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. And they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore thus says the Lord, Surely, I will bring calamity upon them which they will not be able to escape. And though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they offer incense. But they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13 For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.
14 Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not hear them in the time that they cry to Me because of their trouble.
15 What right has My beloved in My house,
seeing that she has done many lewd deeds?
Can the sacrificial meat take away from you your disaster,
so that you can rejoice while doing evil?
16 The Lord called your name,
“A green olive tree, fair in fruit and form.”
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire upon it,
and its branches are broken.
17 For the Lord of Hosts, who planted you, has pronounced disaster against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Threatened
18 The Lord has made it known to me and I knew it; then You showed me their deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb that is brought to the slaughter, and I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with the fruit,
and let us cut him off from the land of the living
so that his name may be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously,
who tries the feelings and the heart,
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for to You I have revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord of the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord so that you not die by our hand.” 22 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts: I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. 23 And there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring calamity upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.
Jeremiah’s Plea
12 Righteous are You, O Lord,
that I plead with You.
Indeed, let me talk with You about matters of justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are all those happy who deal very treacherously?
2 You have planted them; indeed, they have taken root;
they grow; indeed, they bring forth fruit.
You are near in their mouth,
but far from their mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me and tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn
and the herbs of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,
the beasts and the birds have been snatched away,
because they said,
“He will not see our latter end.”
God Answers Jeremiah
5 If you have run with the footmen,
and they have wearied you,
then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace in which you trusted, they wearied you,
then how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the household of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you.
Indeed, they have cried aloud after you.
Do not believe them
though they speak fair words to you.
7 I have forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul
into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage is to Me
as a lion in the forest.
She cries out against Me;
therefore I have hated her.
9 My heritage is to Me
as a speckled vulture;
the vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;
they have trodden My portion under foot;
they have made My pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate,
and being desolate, it mourns to Me.
The whole land has been made desolate,
because no man lays it to heart.
12 The destroyers have come
upon all high places through the wilderness,
for the sword of the Lord shall devour
from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land.
No one shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but reap thorns;
they have strained themselves, but shall not profit.
And they shall be ashamed of your harvest
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
14 Thus says the Lord: Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 It shall come to pass that after I have plucked them out, I will again have compassion on them, and will bring them back, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 It shall come to pass if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, “As the Lord lives,” as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the Lord.
A Linen Sash
13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it upon your loins, and do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought a waistband according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.
3 The word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, 4 “Take the waistband that you have, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistband from there, which I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But the waistband was destroyed. It was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Thus says the Lord: After this manner I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the imagination of their hearts, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall be even as this waistband which is good for nothing. 11 For as the waistband cleaves to the loins of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cleave to Me, says the Lord, so that they might be to Me a people for renown, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not listen.
The Metaphor of Wine Bottles
12 Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And when they say to you, “Do we not certainly know that every bottle should be filled with wine?” 13 then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings that sit on the throne of David, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14 I will dash them against one another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not show pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give heed;
do not be proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God,
before He causes darkness
and before your feet stumble
on the dark mountains,
and while you look for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death
and makes it gross darkness.
17 But if you will not listen to it,
my soul will weep in secret places
for your pride;
and my eyes will weep sorely
and run down with tears,
because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother:
“Humble yourselves, sit down,
for your beautiful crown
shall come down from your head.”
19 The cities of the Negev will be shut up,
and no one will open them;
all Judah will be carried away into captivity;
it will be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when He appoints over you
those you yourself had taught to be companions to you?
Shall not sorrows take hold of you,
as a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
“Why have these things come upon me?”
for the greatness of your iniquity
your skirts have been removed
and your heels made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good,
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble
that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is your lot,
the portion of your measures from Me,
says the Lord,
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I Myself have uncovered your skirts over your face
so that your shame may appear.
27 I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings,
the lewdness of your harlotry,
and your abominations
on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean?
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.