1:1Words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who are in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin,

1:2unto whom the word of Jehovah hath been in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign,

1:3and it is in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, till the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, till the removal of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

1:4And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

1:5`Before I form thee in the belly, I have known thee; and before thou comest forth from the womb I have separated thee, a prophet to nations I have made thee.'

1:6And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah! lo, I have not known -- to speak, for I am a youth.'

1:7And Jehovah saith unto me, `Do not say, I am a youth, for to all to whom I send thee thou goest, and all that I command thee thou speakest.

1:8Be not afraid of their faces, for with thee am I to deliver thee, -- an affirmation of Jehovah.'

1:9And Jehovah putteth forth His hand, and striketh against my mouth, and Jehovah saith unto me, `Lo, I have put my words in thy mouth.

1:10See, I have charged thee this day concerning the nations, and concerning the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.'

1:11And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' And I say, `A rod of an almond tree I am seeing.'

1:12And Jehovah saith unto me, `Thou hast well seen: for I am watching over My word to do it.'

1:13And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, `What art thou seeing?' And I say, `A blown pot I am seeing, and its face is from the north.'

1:14And Jehovah saith unto me, `From the north is the evil loosed against all inhabitants of the land.

1:15For, lo, I am calling for all families of the kingdoms of the north, -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and they have come, and put each his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and by its walls round about, and by all cities of Judah.

1:16And I have spoken My judgments with them concerning all their evil, in that they have forsaken Me, and make perfume to other gods, and bow themselves to the works of their own hands.

1:17`And thou, thou dost gird up thy loins, and hast arisen, and spoken unto them all that I command thee: be not affrighted because of them, lest I affright thee before them.

1:18And I, lo, I have given thee this day for a fenced city, and for an iron pillar, and for brazen walls over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its heads, to its priests, and to the people of the land;

1:19and they have fought against thee, and they prevail not against thee; for with thee am I, -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- to deliver thee.

2:1And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

2:2`Go, and thou hast called in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said Jehovah: I have remembered for thee The kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, Thy going after Me in a wilderness, in a land not sown.

2:3Holy is Israel to Jehovah, The first-fruit of His increase, All consuming him are guilty, Evil cometh in unto them, an affirmation of Jehovah.

2:4Hear a word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, And all ye families of the house of Israel.

2:5Thus said Jehovah: What -- have your fathers found in Me perversity, That they have gone far off from Me, And go after the vanity, and become vain,

2:6And have not said, Where is Jehovah, Who bringeth us up out of the land of Egypt, Who leadeth us in a wilderness, In a land of deserts and pits, In a dry land, and of death-shade, In a land -- none hath passed through it, Nor dwelt hath man there?'

2:7Yea, I bring you in to a land of fruitful fields, To eat its fruit and its goodness, And ye come in and defile My land, And Mine inheritance have made an abomination.

2:8The priests have not said, `Where is Jehovah?' And those handling the law have not known Me. And the shepherds transgressed against Me, And the prophets have prophesied by Baal, And after those who profit not have gone.

2:9Therefore, yet I plead with you, An affirmation of Jehovah, And with your sons' sons I plead.

2:10For, pass to the isles of Chittim, and see, And to Kedar send, and consider well, And see if there hath been like this:

2:11Hath a nation changed gods? (And they are no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.

2:12Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, Yea, be frightened, be greatly wasted, An affirmation of Jehovah.

2:13For two evils hath My people done, Me they have forsaken, a fountain of living waters, To hew out for themselves wells -- broken wells, That contain not the waters.

2:14A servant is Israel? Is he a child of the house? Wherefore hath he been for a prey?

2:15Against him roar do young lions, They have given forth their voice, And make his land become a desolation, His cities have been burnt without inhabitant.

2:16Also sons of Noph and Tahapanes Consume thee -- the crown of the head!

2:17Dost thou not do this to thyself? By thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, At the time He is leading thee in the way?

2:18And now, what -- to thee in the way of Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? And what -- to thee in the way of Asshur, To drink the waters of the River?

2:19Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing Is thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.

2:20For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, Drawn away thy bands, and sayest, `I do not serve,' For, on every high height, and under every green tree, Thou art wandering -- a harlot.

2:21And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, And how hast thou been turned to Me, To the degenerate shoots of a strange vine?

2:22But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

2:23How sayest thou, `I have not been defiled, After the Baalim I have not gone?' See thy way in a valley, know what thou hast done, A swift dromedary winding her ways,

2:24A wild ass accustomed to a wilderness, In the desire of her soul she hath swallowed up wind, Her meeting -- who doth turn her back? None seeking her do weary themselves, In her month they find her.

2:25Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.'

2:26As the shame of a thief when he is found, So put to shame have been the house of Israel, They, their kings, their heads, And their priests, and their prophets,

2:27Saying to wood, `My father art thou!' And to a stone, `Thou hast brought me forth,' For they turned unto me the back and not the face, And in the time of their vexation, They say, `Arise Thou, and save us.'

2:28And where are thy gods, that thou hast made to thyself? Let them arise, if they may save thee, In the time of thy vexation, For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah,

2:29Why do ye strive with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

2:30In vain I have smitten your sons, Instruction they have not accepted, Devoured hath your sword your prophets, As a destroying lion.

2:31O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: A wilderness have I been to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Wherefore have My people said, `We mourned, We come not in again unto Thee.'

2:32Doth a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me days without number.

2:33What -- dost thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways.

2:34Also in thy skirts hath been found the blood of innocent needy souls, Not by digging have I found them, but upon all these.

2:35And thou sayest, `Because I have been innocent, Surely turned back hath His anger from me?' Lo, I have been judged with thee, Because of thy saying, `I have not sinned.'

2:36What? thou art very vile to repeat thy way, Even of Egypt thou art ashamed, As thou hast been ashamed of Asshur,

2:37Also from this thou goest out, And thy hands on thy head, For Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, And thou dost not give prosperity to them!

3:1Saying, `Lo, one sendeth away his wife, And she hath gone from him, And she hath been to another man, Doth he turn back unto her again? Greatly defiled is not that land? And thou hast committed whoredom with many lovers, And turn again to Me, an affirmation of Jehovah.

3:2Lift thine eyes to the high places, and see, Where hast thou not been lain with? On the ways thou hast sat for them, As an Arab in a wilderness, And thou defilest the land, By thy fornications, and by thy wickedness.

3:3And withheld are showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.

3:4Hast thou not henceforth called to Me, `My father, Thou art the leader of my youth?

3:5Doth He keep to the age? watch for ever?' Lo, these things thou hast spoken, And thou dost the evil things, and prevailest.

3:6And Jehovah saith unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, `Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and committeth fornication there.

3:7And I say, after her doing all these, Unto Me thou dost turn back, and she hath not turned back, and see it doth her treacherous sister Judah.

3:8And I see when (for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery) I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce unto her, that treacherous Judah her sister hath not feared, and goeth and committeth fornication -- she also.

3:9And it hath come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she committeth fornication with stone and with wood.

3:10And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto Me with all her heart, but with falsehood, an affirmation of Jehovah.'

3:11And Jehovah saith unto me: `Justified herself hath backsliding Israel, More than treacherous Judah.

3:12Go, and thou hast proclaimed these words toward the north, and hast said, Turn back, O backsliding Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah! I cause not Mine anger to fall upon you, For I am kind, an affirmation of Jehovah, I watch not to the age.

3:13Only, know thine iniquity, For against Jehovah thy God thou hast transgressed, And thou dost scatter thy ways to strangers, Under every green tree, And to My voice thou hast not hearkened, An affirmation of Jehovah.

3:14Turn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought you to Zion,

3:15And I have given to you shepherds According to Mine own heart, And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding.

3:16And it hath come to pass, when ye are multiplied, And have been fruitful in the land, In those days -- an affirmation of Jehovah, They say not any more, `The ark of the covenant of Jehovah,' Nor doth it go up on the heart, Nor do they remember concerning it, Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again.

3:17At that time they cry to Jerusalem, `O throne of Jehovah,' And gathered unto her hath been all the nations, For the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem, Nor do they go any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

3:18In those days do the house of Judah Go unto the house of Israel, And they come together from the land of the south, unto the land That I caused your fathers to inherit.

3:19And I have said, How do I put thee among the sons, And give to thee a desirable land, A beauteous inheritance of the hosts of nations, And I say, My father -- ye do call to Me, And from after Me ye do not turn back.

3:20But -- a woman hath deceived her friend, So ye have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah.

3:21A voice on high places is heard -- weeping, Supplications of the sons of Israel, For they have made perverse their way, They have forgotten Jehovah their God.

3:22Turn back, O backsliding sons, I cause your backslidings to cease. -- Behold us, we have come to Thee, For Thou art Jehovah our God.

3:23Surely in vain from the heights, The multitude of mountains -- Surely in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.

3:24And the shameful thing hath devoured The labour of our fathers from our youth, Their flock and their herd, Their sons and their daughters.

3:25We have lain down in our shame, and cover us doth our confusion, For against Jehovah our God we have sinned, We, and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, Nor have we hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God!