Jeremiah:1-2
Seeker Overlay ON
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The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah ,
of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin :
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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 .
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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 .
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Then the word of the LORD came unto me ,
saying ,
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Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ;
and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee ,
and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations .
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Then said I ,
Ah ,
Lord GOD !
behold ,
I cannot speak :
for I am a child .
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But the LORD said unto me ,
Say not ,
I am a child :
for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee ,
and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak .
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Be not afraid of their faces :
for I am with thee to deliver thee ,
saith the LORD .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Then said the LORD unto me ,
Thou hast well seen :
for I will hasten my word to perform it .
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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 is toward the north .
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Then the LORD said unto me ,
Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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And they shall fight against thee ;
but they shall not prevail against thee ;
for I am with thee ,
saith the LORD ,
to deliver thee .
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Moreover the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying ,
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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 was not sown .
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Israel was holiness unto the LORD ,
and the firstfruits of his increase :
all that devour him shall offend ;
evil shall come upon them ,
saith the LORD .
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Hear ye the word of the LORD ,
O house of Jacob ,
and all the families of the house of Israel :
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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 ?
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Neither said they ,
Where is the 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 ?
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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 .
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The priests said not ,
Where is the 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 that do not profit .
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Wherefore I will yet plead with you ,
saith the LORD ,
and with your children '
s children will I plead .
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For pass over the isles of Chittim ,
and see ;
and send unto Kedar ,
and consider diligently ,
and see if there be such a thing .
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Hath a nation changed their gods ,
which are yet no gods ?
but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit .
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Be astonished ,
O ye heavens ,
at this ,
and be horribly afraid ,
be ye very desolate ,
saith the LORD .
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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 .
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Is Israel a servant ?
is he a homeborn slave ?
why is he spoiled ?
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The young lions roared upon him ,
and yelled ,
and they made his land waste :
his cities are burned without inhabitant .
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Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head .
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Hast thou not procured this unto thyself ,
in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God ,
when he led thee by the way ?
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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 ?
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Thine own wickedness shall correct thee ,
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee :
know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter ,
that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God ,
and that my fear is not in thee ,
saith the Lord GOD of hosts .
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For of old time I have broken thy yoke ,
and burst thy bands ;
and thou saidst ,
I will not transgress ;
when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest ,
playing the harlot .
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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 ?
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For though thou wash thee with nitre ,
and take thee much soap ,
yet thine iniquity is marked before me ,
saith the Lord GOD .
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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 art a swift dromedary traversing her ways ;
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A wild ass used to the wilderness ,
that snuffeth 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 .
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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 .
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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 ,
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Saying 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 .
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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 .
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Wherefore will ye plead with me ?
ye all have transgressed against me ,
saith the LORD .
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In vain have I smitten your children ;
they received no correction :
your own sword hath devoured your prophets ,
like a destroying lion .
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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 ?
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Can a maid forget her ornaments ,
or a bride her attire ?
yet my people have forgotten me days without number .
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Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love ?
therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways .
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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 .
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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 .
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Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ?
thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt ,
as thou wast ashamed of Assyria .
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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 .
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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 .