Revised Version 1885 (RV1885)

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 theLordcame 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 Now the word of theLordcame 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; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

6 Then said I, Ah, LordGODbehold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

7 But theLordsaid unto me, Say not, I am a child: for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak.

8 Be not afraid because of them: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith theLord.

9 Then theLordput forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and theLordsaid unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:

10 see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant.

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

12 Then said theLordunto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.

13 And the word of theLordcame unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.

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

15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith theLord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they 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 arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.

18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, 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 theLord, to deliver thee.

1 And the word of theLordcame to me, saying,

2 Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith theLord, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3 Israelwasholiness unto theLord, the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith theLord.

4 Hear ye the word of theLord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5 thus saith theLord, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

6 Neither said they, Where is theLordthat 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 none passed through, and where no man dwelt?

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

8 The priests said not, Where is theLord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith theLord, and with your children’s children will I plead.

10 For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.

11 Hath a nation changedtheirgods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith theLord.

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

14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homebornslave? why is he become a prey?

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

16 The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head.

17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken theLordthy God, when he led thee by the way?

18 And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken theLordthy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, theLordof hosts.

20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.

21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

22 For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the LordGOD

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

24 a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they 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 saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

27 which say to a stock, 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 will say, Arise, and save 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 are thy gods, O Judah.

29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith theLord.

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

31 O generation, see ye the word of theLord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?

32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

33 How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.

34 Also, in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: I have not found it at the place of breaking in, but upon all these.

35 Yet thou saidst, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

37 From him also shalt thou go forth, with thine hands upon thine head: for theLordhath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith theLord.

2 Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst 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 retainhis angerfor ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.

6 Moreover theLordsaid unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

7 And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8 And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot.

9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith theLord.

11 And theLordsaid unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith theLord; I will not look in anger upon you: for I am merciful, saith theLord, I will not keepangerfor ever.

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against theLordthy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith theLord.

14 Return, O backsliding children, saith theLord; for I am a husband unto you: 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 shepherds according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

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

17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of theLord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of theLord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations? and I said, Ye shall call me My father; and shall not turn away from following me.

20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith theLord.

21 A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weepingandthe supplications of the children of Israel; for that they have perverted their way, they have forgotten theLordtheir God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings, Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art theLordour God.

23 Truly in vain isthe help that is looked forfrom the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in theLordour God is the salvation of Israel.

24 But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us: for we have sinned against theLordour God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day: and we have not obeyed the voice of theLordour God.

1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith theLord, unto me shalt thou return: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed;

2 and thou shalt swear, As theLordliveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3 For thus saith theLordto the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to theLord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fenced cities.

6 Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place; to make thy land desolate, that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of theLordis not turned back from us.

9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith theLord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, LordGODsurely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse;

12 a full wind from these shall come for me: now will I also utter judgments against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariotsshall beas the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of Ephraim:

16 make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,thatwatchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith theLord.

18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reacheth unto thine heart.

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled,andmy curtains in a moment.

21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people is foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of theLord,andbefore his fierce anger.

27 For thus saith theLord, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.

30 And thou, when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair;thylovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands,saying, Woe is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers.

1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her.

2 And though they say, As theLordliveth; surely they swear falsely.

3 OLord, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 Then I said, Surely these are poor: they are foolish; for they know not the way of theLord, nor the judgment of their God:

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of theLord, and the judgment of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bands.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many,andtheir backslidings are increased.

7 How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses.

8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife,

9 shall I not visit for these things? saith theLord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches: for they are not theLord’S.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith theLord.

12 They have denied theLord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

13 and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith theLord, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith theLord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread,whichthy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall beat down thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword.

18 But even in those days, saith theLord, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath theLordour God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

22 Fear ye not me? saith theLord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear theLordour God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you.

26 For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness: they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they should prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge,

29 shall I not visit for these things? saith theLord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land;

31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

1 Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem: for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction.

2 The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.

3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

6 For thus hath theLordof hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

7 As a well casteth forth her waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.

8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.

9 Thus saith theLordof hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

10 To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of theLordis become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

11 Therefore I am full of the fury of theLord; I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith theLord.

13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

14 They have healed also the hurt of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith theLord.

16 Thus saith theLord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walktherein.

17 And I set watchmen over you,saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.

18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

20 To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me.

21 Therefore thus saith theLord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people: and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

22 Thus saith theLord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

23 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses; every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.

24 We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us,andpangs as of a woman in travail.

25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; forthere isthe sword of the enemy,andterror on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

27 I have made thee a toweranda fortress among my people; that thou mayest know and try their way.

28 They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.

29 The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.

30 Refuse silver shall men call them, because theLordhath rejected them.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from theLord, saying,

2 Stand in the gate of theLord’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of theLord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship theLord.

3 Thus saith theLordof hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of theLord, the temple of theLord, the temple of theLord, are these.

5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

6 if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:

7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.

8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known,

10 and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations.

11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith theLord.

12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith theLord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:

14 therefore will I do unto the house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to 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 knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith theLord;do theynotprovokethemselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

20 Therefore thus saith the LordGODBehold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

21 Thus saith theLordof hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.

22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

23 but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.

24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked intheir owncounselsandin the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

26 yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.

27 And thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

28 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of theLordtheir God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

29 Cut off thine hair,O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for theLordhath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

30 For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, saith theLord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my mind.

32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith theLord, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no placeto bury.

33 And the carcases 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 Then will I 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 become a waste.

1 At that time, saith theLord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their 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 after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith theLordof hosts.

4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith theLord: shall men fall, and not rise up again? shall one turn away, and not return?

5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.

7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the ordinance of theLord.

8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of theLordis with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.

9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of theLord; and what manner of wisdom is in them?

10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

11 And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith theLord.

13 I will utterly consume them, saith theLord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; andthe things thatI have given them shall pass away from them.

14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for theLordour God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against theLord.

15 We looked for peace, but no good came;andfor a time of healing, and behold dismay!

16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembleth; for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein.

17 For, behold, I will send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith theLord.

18 Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.

19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: Is not theLordin Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?

20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

22 Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?