1 1:1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to 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. ³It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” ⁶Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” ⁷But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. ⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” ⁹Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” ¹¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond[1] branch.” ¹²Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

¹³The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” ¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster[2] shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷But you, dress yourself for work;[3] arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. ¹⁸And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. ¹⁹They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

[1]Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12) [2] The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on context; so throughout Jeremiah [3] Hebrew gird up your loins

2Israel Forsakes the Lord

2:1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,

“I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. ³Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.” ⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the Lord:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? ⁶They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’ ⁷And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. ⁸The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds[4] transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.

⁹“Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children’s children I will contend. ¹⁰For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. ¹¹Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. ¹²Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, ¹³for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey? ¹⁵The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant. ¹⁶Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved[5] the crown of your head. ¹⁷Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way? ¹⁸And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? ¹⁹Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰“For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore. ²¹Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? ²²Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God. ²³How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restless young camel running here and there, ²⁴ a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her. ²⁵Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.’

²⁶“As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, ²⁷who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’ ²⁸But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹“Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me, declares the Lord. ³⁰In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion. ³¹And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to you’? ³²Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³“How well you direct your course to seek love! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways. ³⁴Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the guiltless poor; you did not find them breaking in. Yet in spite of all these things ³⁵you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’ ³⁶How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria. ³⁷From it too you will come away with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.

[4] Or rulers [5] Hebrew grazed