1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that werein 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, andI ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I ama child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I ama child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send
thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I amwith 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 this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull
down, and to destroy, and to throw 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 said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: 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 the face thereof istoward 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, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; 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, 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 arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be
not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound 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 amwith thee,
saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the
wilderness, in a land that wasnot sown.
3 Israel washoliness unto the LORD, andthe firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him
shall offend; 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 saith the LORD, 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 said they, Where isthe 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 mine heritage an abomination.
8 The priests said not, Where isthe LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the
pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after
things thatdo not profit.
9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I
plead.
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 Hath a nation changed theirgods, which areyet no gods? but my people have changed their
glory for that whichdoth not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the
LORD.
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living
waters, andhewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 IsIsrael a servant? ishe a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
15 The young lions roared upon him, andyelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are
burned without inhabitant.
16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that 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 Sihor? or what
hast thou to do in the way of 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 isan evil thingand bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God,
and that my fear isnot in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, andburst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not
transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, 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 nitre, and take thee much soap, yetthine iniquity is marked
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 arta swift dromedary traversing her ways;
24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, thatsnuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; 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 Saying to a stock, Thou artmy father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they
have turned theirback unto me, and not theirface: but in the time of their trouble they will say,
Arise, and save us.
28 But where arethy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in
the time of thy trouble: for according tothe number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.

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 the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of
darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, ora bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones
thy ways.
34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by
secret search, but upon all these.
35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will
plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as
thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath
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 the LORD.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. 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 showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou
hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou artthe guide of my youth?
5 Will he reserve his angerfor ever? will he keep itto the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and
done evil things as thou couldest.
6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen thatwhich
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, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And
her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put
her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went
and played the harlot also.
9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and
committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole
heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than
treacherous Judah.
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel,
saith the LORD; andI will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I ammerciful, saith the
LORD, andI will not keep angerfor ever.
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and
hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my
voice, saith the LORD.
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you
one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: