Chronological

1 ¶ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

² To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

³ It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

⁴ ¶ Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the Gentiles.

⁶ Then I said, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I do not know how to speak: for I am a child.

⁷ But the LORD said unto me, Do not say, I am a child; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

⁸ Do not be afraid of their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

⁹ Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

¹⁰ See, I have placed thee in this day over Gentiles and over kingdoms, to root out, and to destroy, and to throw out, and to cast down, to build, and to plant.

¹¹ ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

¹² Then the LORD said unto me, Thou hast seen well, for I will hasten my word to perform it.

¹³ And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and its face is toward the north.

¹⁴ Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵ For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and each one shall set his seat at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem and near all its walls round about and near all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶ And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods and worshipped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷ Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and thou shalt arise and speak unto them all that I shall command thee; do not fear them lest I confound thee before them.

¹⁸ For, behold, I have made thee this day as a defenced city and as an iron pillar and as a wall of brass upon all the earth against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

2 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Go and cry out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD: I remember thee, the mercy of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou didst go after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

³ Israel was holiness unto the LORD and the firstfruits of his increase; all that devour him shall be found guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

⁴ Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel;

⁵ thus hath the LORD said, What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain?

⁶ Neither did they say, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through and where no man dwelt?

⁷ And I brought you into a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

⁸ The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? and those that handled the law did not know me; the pastors also rebelled against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ ¶ Therefore I will yet enter into judgment with you, saith the LORD, and I will plead with your children’s children.

¹⁰ For pass over the isles of Chittim and see; and send unto Kedar and consider diligently and see if there be such a thing.

¹¹ Has a nation changed their gods? Even though they are not gods. But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

¹² Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this; and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, said the LORD.

¹³ For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

¹⁴ ¶ Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been given over as a prey?

¹⁵ The young lions roared upon him and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are deserted without inhabitant.

¹⁶ Even the sons of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.

¹⁷ Could this not have come upon you peradventure because thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?

¹⁸ And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt? to drink the waters of the Nile? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria? to drink the waters of the river Eufrates?

¹⁹ Thine own wickedness shall chastise thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore and see how evil and bitter it is, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God and that my fear is lacking in thee, saith the Lord GOD of the hosts.

²⁰ ¶ For of old time I have broken thy yoke and burst thy bands; and thou didst say, I will not serve sin. With all this, upon every high hill and under every green tree thou dost wander, playing the harlot.

²¹ Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, a seed of Truth, all of her; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

²² For though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is sealed before me, saith the Lord GOD.

²³ How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

²⁴ a wild ass used to the wilderness that breathes according to the desire of her soul; from her lust, who shall stop her? All those that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst; but thou didst say, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.

²⁶ As the thief is ashamed when he is taken, so shall the house of Israel be ashamed: they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

²⁷ saying to a piece of firewood, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they say, Arise and deliver us.

²⁸ But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble, for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹ ¶ Why will ye plead with me? Ye have all rebelled against me, saith the LORD.

³⁰ I have smitten your children in vain; they have received no correction; your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹ O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? Why do my people say, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?

³² Shall the virgin, perchance, forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³ Why dost thou trim thy way to seek love? therefore thou hast also taught the wicked ones thy ways.

³⁴ Even in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; thou didst not find them in any trespass, but by all these things.

³⁵ Yet thou didst say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee because thou hast said, I did not sin.

³⁶ Why dost thou talk so much, changing thy ways? Thou shalt also be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷ Thou shalt also go forth from him with thine hands upon thine head; for the LORD has rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

3 ¶ They say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, shall he return unto her again? Is she not a land that is now completely polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, said the LORD.

² Lift up thine eyes unto the high places and see if there is anywhere thou hast not been ravished. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

³ Therefore the rain has been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and thou dost have a whore’s forehead, thou dost refuse to be ashamed.

⁴ Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

⁵ Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done as many evil things as thou could.

⁶ ¶ The LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which rebellious Israel has done? She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot.

⁷ And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she did not return. And her rebellious sister Judah saw it.

⁸ And I saw when for all the causes by which rebellious Israel committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce; yet her rebellious sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

⁹ And it came to pass through her judging her whoredom to be a light thing that the land became defiled and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

¹⁰ And yet for all this her rebellious sister Judah has never turned unto me with her whole heart, but untruthfully, said the LORD.

¹¹ And the LORD said unto me, The rebellious Israel has justified her soul in comparison to the treacherous Judah.

¹² ¶ Go and proclaim these words toward the north wind and say, Return, thou rebellious Israel, said the LORD and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, said the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

¹³ Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast rebelled against the LORD thy God and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not heard my voice, said the LORD.

¹⁴ Turn, O rebellious sons, said the LORD; for I am your Lord, and I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

¹⁵ And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land; in those days, said the LORD, they shall no longer say, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

¹⁷ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the Gentiles shall congregate unto it in the name of the LORD in Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the hardness of their evil heart.

¹⁸ In those times they shall go out from the house of Judah unto the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north wind to the land which I caused your fathers to inherit.

¹⁹ But I said, How shall I place thee as sons and give thee the desirable land, the heritage that the hosts of Gentiles desire? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn away from following me.

²⁰ ¶ Surely as the woman breaks the faith of her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, said the LORD.

²¹ A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping of the supplications of the sons of Israel; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

²² Return, ye rebellious sons, and I will heal your rebellion. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

²³ Truly the hills are vanity, the multitude of mountains; truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴ For shame has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth: their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵ We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the LORD our God.