Category: Jeremiah

The Broken Covenant

1 The word which 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 to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant

4 which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’

5 in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, asit isthis day.” ’ ” Then I said, “Amen, O Lord.”

6 And the Lordsaid 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 solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.”

8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commandedthemto do, but they did not.’ ”

9 Then the Lordsaid 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 ancestors 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, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.

12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster.

13 For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, 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 listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

15 What right has My beloved in My house

When she has done many vile deeds?

Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,

Sothatyou can rejoice?”

16 The Lordcalled your name,

“A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;

With the noise of a great tumult

He has kindled fire on it,

And its branches are worthless.

17 The Lordof hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

18 Moreover, the Lordmade it known to me and I knew it;

Then You showed me their deeds.

19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;

And I did not know that they had devised plots against me,saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

And let us cut him off from the land of the living,

That his name be remembered no more.”

20 But, O Lordof hosts, who judges righteously,

Who tries the feelings and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I committed my cause.

21 Therefore thus says the Lordconcerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”;

22 therefore, thus says the Lordof hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine;

23 and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/11-863571b987291c6934995e2f2146a76e.mp3?version_id=100—

Jeremiah’s Prayer

1 Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would pleadmycase with You;

Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You:

Why has the way of the wicked prospered?

Whyare all those who deal in treachery at ease?

2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;

They grow, they have even produced fruit.

You are near to their lips

But far from their mind.

3 But You know me, O Lord;

You see me;

And You examine my heart’sattitudetoward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And set them apart for a day of carnage!

4 How long is the land to mourn

And the vegetation of the countryside to wither?

For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,

Animals and birds have been snatched away,

Becausemenhave said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

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,

Even they have cried aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”

God’s Answer

7 “I have forsaken My house,

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the beloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has roared against Me;

Therefore I have come to hate her.

9 Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the birds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the beasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

10 Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard,

They have trampled down My field;

They have made My pleasant field

A desolate wilderness.

11 It has been made a desolation,

Desolate, it mourns before Me;

The whole land has been made desolate,

Because no man lays it to heart.

12 On all the bare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a sword of the Lordis devouring

From one end of the land even to the other;

There is no peace for anyone.

13 They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,

They have strained themselves to no profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Thus says the Lordconcerning all My wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

15 And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

16 Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lordlives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people.

17 But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/12-9e41441d4f5fe8d33df4b21ca0d5db2f.mp3?version_id=100—

The Ruined Waistband

1 Thus the Lordsaid to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”

2 So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the Lordand put it around my waist.

3 Then the word of the Lordcame to me a second time, saying,

4 “Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”

5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lordhad commanded me.

6 After many days the Lordsaid to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.”

7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.

8 Then the word of the Lordcame to me, saying,

9 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10 This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.

11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

Captivity Threatened

12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.” ’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’

13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness!

14 I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.” ’ ”

15 Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,

For the Lordhas spoken.

16 Give glory to the Lordyour God,

Before He brings darkness

And before your feet stumble

On the dusky mountains,

And while you are hoping for light

He makes it into deep darkness,

Andturnsitinto gloom.

17 But if you will not listen to it,

My soul will sob in secret forsuchpride;

And my eyes will bitterly weep

And flow down with tears,

Because the flock of the Lordhas been taken captive.

18 Say to the king and the queen mother,

“Take a lowly seat,

For your beautiful crown

Has come down from your head.”

19 The cities of the Negev have been locked up,

And there is no one to openthem;

All Judah has been carried into exile,

Wholly carried into exile.

20 “Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was given you,

Your beautiful sheep?

21 What will you say when He appoints over you—

And you yourself had taught them—

Former companions to be head over you?

Will not pangs take hold of you

Like a woman in childbirth?

22 If you say in your heart,

‘Why have these things happened to me?’

Because of the magnitude of your iniquity

Your skirts have been removed

And your heels have been exposed.

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Thenyou also can do good

Who are accustomed to doing evil.

24 Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw

To the desert wind.

25 This is your lot, the portion measured to you

From Me,” declares the Lord,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in falsehood.

26 So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,

That your shame may be seen.

27 As for your adulteries and yourlustfulneighings,

The lewdness of your prostitution

On the hills in the field,

I have seen your abominations.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean?”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/13-ad672d3fd02310191403c2c3ae333a96.mp3?version_id=100—

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

1 That which came as the word of the Lordto Jeremiah in regard to the drought:

2 “Judah mourns

And her gates languish;

They sit on the ground in mourning,

And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

3 Their nobles have sent their servants for water;

They have come to the cisterns and found no water.

They have returned with their vessels empty;

They have been put to shame and humiliated,

And they cover their heads.

4 Because the ground is cracked,

For there has been no rain on the land;

The farmers have been put to shame,

They have covered their heads.

5 For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandonher young,

Because there is no grass.

6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;

They pant for air like jackals,

Their eyes fail

For there is no vegetation.

7 Although our iniquities testify against us,

O Lord, act for Your name’s sake!

Truly our apostasies have been many,

We have sinned against You.

8 O Hope of Israel,

Its Savior in time of distress,

Why are You like a stranger in the land

Or like a traveler who has pitched histentfor the night?

9 Why are You like a man dismayed,

Like a mighty man who cannot save?

Yet You are in our midst, O Lord,

And we are called by Your name;

Do not forsake us!”

10 Thus says the Lordto this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lorddoes not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.”

11 So the Lordsaid to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

12 When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”

False Prophets

13 But, “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

14 Then the Lordsaid to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.

15 Therefore thus says the Lordconcerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

16 The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neitherthem,northeir wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out theirownwickedness on them.

17 You will say this word to them,

‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,

And let them not cease;

For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,

With a sorely infected wound.

18 If I go out to the country,

Behold, those slain with the sword!

Or if I enter the city,

Behold, diseases of famine!

For both prophet and priest

Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’ ”

19 Have You completely rejected Judah?

Or have You loathed Zion?

Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?

Wewaited for peace, but nothing goodcame;

And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

20 We know our wickedness, O Lord,

The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

21 Do not despiseus,for Your own name’s sake;

Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory;

Rememberanddo not annul Your covenant with us.

22 Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?

Or can the heavens grant showers?

Is it not You, O Lordour God?

Therefore we hope in You,

For You are the one who has done all these things.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/14-2a0b8d3de8bd0588b37c9ba2e8d46244.mp3?version_id=100—

Judgment Must Come

1 Then the Lordsaid to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!

2 And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“Thosedestinedfor death, to death;

And thosedestinedfor the sword, to the sword;

And thosedestinedfor famine, to famine;

And thosedestinedfor captivity, to captivity.” ’

3 I will appoint over them four kindsof doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

4 I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

5 “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,

Or who will mourn for you,

Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

6 You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord,

“You keep going backward.

So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;

I am tired of relenting!

7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork

At the gates of the land;

I will bereavethemof children, I will destroy My people;

They did not repent of their ways.

8 Their widows will be more numerous before Me

Than the sand of the seas;

I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,

A destroyer at noonday;

I will suddenly bring down on her

Anguish and dismay.

9 She who bore sevensonspines away;

Her breathing is labored.

Her sun has set while it was yet day;

She has been shamed and humiliated.

So I will give over their survivors to the sword

Before their enemies,” declares the Lord.

10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me

Asa man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!

I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me,

Yeteveryone curses me.

11 The Lordsaid, “Surely I will set you free forpurposes ofgood;

Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you

In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

12 “Can anyone smash iron,

Iron from the north, or bronze?

13 Your wealth and your treasures

I will give for booty without cost,

Even for all your sins

And within all your borders.

14 Then I will cause your enemies to bringit

Into a land you do not know;

For a fire has been kindled in My anger,

It will burn upon you.”

Jeremiah’s Prayer and God’s Answer

15 You who know, O Lord,

Remember me, take notice of me,

And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.

Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;

Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.

16 Your words were found and I ate them,

And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;

For I have been called by Your name,

O LordGod of hosts.

17 I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,

Nor did I exult.

Because of Your handupon meI sat alone,

For You filled me with indignation.

18 Why has my pain been perpetual

And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

Will You indeed be to me like a deceptivestream

With water that is unreliable?

19 Therefore, thus says the Lord,

“If you return, then I will restore you—

Before Me you will stand;

And if you extract the precious from the worthless,

You will become My spokesman.

They for their part may turn to you,

But as for you, you must not turn to them.

20 Then I will make you to this people

A fortified wall of bronze;

And though they fight against you,

They will not prevail over you;

For I am with you to save you

And deliver you,” declares the Lord.

21 “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,

And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/15-ff01b905b84e288f8aaa6016153145a8.mp3?version_id=100—

Distresses Foretold

1 The word of the Lordalso came to me saying,

2 “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.”

3 For thus says the Lordconcerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land:

4 “They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.”

5 For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “Mylovingkindness and compassion.

6 Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.

7 Men will not breakbreadin mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother.

8 Moreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.”

9 For thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

10 “Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lorddeclared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lordour God?’

11 Then you are to say to them, ‘It isbecause your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.

12 You too have done evil,evenmore than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.

13 So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’

God Will Restore Them

14 “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lordlives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

15 but, ‘As the Lordlives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

16 “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.

17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.

18 I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”

19 O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

And my refuge in the day of distress,

To You the nations will come

From the ends of the earth and say,

“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,

Futility and things of no profit.”

20 Can man make gods for himself?

Yet they are not gods!

21 “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—

This time I will make them know

My power and My might;

And they shall know that My name is the Lord.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/16-acf84208bbd3949be17ef90a0b20de9a.mp3?version_id=100—

The Deceitful Heart

1 The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;

With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart

And on the horns of their altars,

2 As they remember their children,

So theyremembertheir altars and their Asherim

By green trees on the high hills.

3 O mountain of Mine in the countryside,

I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,

Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4 And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance

That I gave you;

And I will make you serve your enemies

In the land which you do not know;

For you have kindled a fire in My anger

Which will burn forever.

5 Thus says the Lord,

“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes flesh his strength,

And whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6 For he will be like a bush in the desert

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A land of salt without inhabitant.

7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

And whose trust is the Lord.

8 For he will be like a tree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought

Nor cease to yield fruit.

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it?

10 I, the Lord, search the heart,

I test the mind,

Even to give to each man according to his ways,

According to the results of his deeds.

11 As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,

Sois he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;

In the midst of his days it will forsake him,

And in the end he will be a fool.”

12 A glorious throne on high from the beginning

Is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,

All who forsake You will be put to shame.

Those who turn away on earth will be written down,

Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.

14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

Save me and I will be saved,

For You are my praise.

15 Look, they keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come now!”

16 But as for me, I have not hurried away frombeinga shepherd after You,

Nor have I longed for the woeful day;

You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips

Was in Your presence.

17 Do not be a terror to me;

You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

18 Let those who persecute me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame;

Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.

Bring on them a day of disaster,

And crush them with twofold destruction!

The Sabbath Must Be Kept

19 Thus the Lordsaid to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates:

21 Thus says the Lord, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.

23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.

24 “But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

25 then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

26 They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.

27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.” ’ ”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/17-7bbdc7ea5d5922165c838f7085c58ef0.mp3?version_id=100—

The Potter and the Clay

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lordsaying,

2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.”

3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

5 Then the word of the Lordcame to me saying,

6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potterdoes?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroyit;

8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I willrelent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.

9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plantit;

10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I willthink better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

11 So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’

12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

13 “Therefore thus says the Lord,

‘Ask now among the nations,

Who ever heard the like of this?

The virgin of Israel

Has done a most appalling thing.

14 Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?

Or is the cold flowing waterfroma foreignlandever snatched away?

15 For My people have forgotten Me,

They burn incense to worthless gods

And they have stumbled from their ways,

From the ancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a highway,

16 To make their land a desolation,

An object ofperpetual hissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished

And shake his head.

17 Like an east wind I will scatter them

Before the enemy;

I will show them My back and notMyface

In the day of their calamity.’ ”

18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor thedivineword to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him withourtongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”

19 Do give heed to me, O Lord,

And listen to what my opponents are saying!

20 Should good be repaid with evil?

For they have dug a pit for me.

Remember how I stood before You

To speak good on their behalf,

So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore, give their children over to famine

And deliver them up to the power of the sword;

And let their wives become childless and widowed.

Let their men also be smitten to death,

Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

22 May an outcry be heard from their houses,

When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;

For they have dug a pit to capture me

And hidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet You, O Lord, know

All their deadly designs against me;

Do not forgive their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from Your sight.

But may they be overthrown before You;

Deal with them in the time of Your anger!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/18-5868c72681573eccf7dac0812893b3a7.mp3?version_id=100—

The Broken Jar

1 Thus says the Lord, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, andtakesome of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.

2 Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you,

3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.

4 Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah hadeverknown, andbecausethey have filled this place with the blood of the innocent

5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did iteverenter My mind;

6 therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.

7 I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

8 I will also make this city a desolation and anobject ofhissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters.

9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.” ’

10 “Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you

11 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is nootherplace for burial.

12 This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the Lord, “so as to make this city like Topheth.

13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lordhad sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’shouse and said to all the people:

15 “Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’ ”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/19-419c440f48171fab6c823161cc3367a9.mp3?version_id=100—

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

1 When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord.

3 On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Lordhas called you, but ratherMagor-missabib.

4 For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.

5 I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.

6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’ ”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

7 O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived;

You have overcome me and prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all day long;

Everyone mocks me.

8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud;

I proclaim violence and destruction,

Because for me the word of the Lordhas resulted

In reproach and derision all day long.

9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him

Or speak anymore in His name,”

Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire

Shut up in my bones;

And I am weary of holdingitin,

And I cannot endureit.

10 For I have heard the whispering of many,

“Terror on every side!

Denouncehim;yes, let us denounce him!”

All my trusted friends,

Watching for my fall, say:

“Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him

And take our revenge on him.”

11 But the Lordis with me like a dread champion;

Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed,

With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

12 Yet, O Lordof hosts, You who test the righteous,

Who see the mind and the heart;

Let me see Your vengeance on them;

For to You I have set forth my cause.

13 Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord!

For He has delivered the soul of the needy one

From the hand of evildoers.

14 Cursed be the day when I was born;

Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!

15 Cursed be the man who brought the news

To my father, saying,

“A baby boy has been born to you!”

Andmade him very happy.

16 But let that man be like the cities

Which the Lordoverthrew withoutrelenting,

And let him hear an outcry in the morning

And a shout of alarm at noon;

17 Because he did not kill me before birth,

So that my mother would have been my grave,

And her womb ever pregnant.

18 Why did I ever come forth from the womb

To look on trouble and sorrow,

So that my days have been spent in shame?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/JER/20-b0538aed332081c8000e4791d869d8b6.mp3?version_id=100—