Jeremiah:1-3

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* THE WORDS of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah , of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin , * 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 . * 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 . * And the word of the LORD came unto me , saying : * Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee , and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee ; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations . * Then said I : 'Ah , Lord GOD ! behold , I cannot speak ; for I am a child .' * But the LORD said unto me : say not : I am a child ; for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go , and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak . * Be not afraid of them ; for I am with thee to deliver thee , saith the LORD . * 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 ; * 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 overthrow ; to build , and to plant . * 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 .' * Then said the LORD unto me : 'Thou hast well seen ; for I watch over My word to perform it .' * 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 from the north .' * Then the LORD said unto me : 'Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land . * 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 entrance of the gates of Jerusalem , and against all the walls thereof round about , and against all the cities of Judah . * And I will utter My judgments against them touching all their wickedness ; in that they have forsaken me , and have offered unto other gods , and worshipped the work of their own hands . * Thou therefore gird up thy loins , and arise , and speak unto them all that I command thee ; be not dismayed at them , lest I dismay thee before them . * For , behold , I have made thee this day a fortified city , and an iron pillar , and brazen 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 . * And they shall fight against thee ; but they shall not prevail against thee ; For I am with thee , saith the LORD , to deliver thee .' * And the word of the LORD came to me , saying : * Go , and cry in the ears of Jerusalem , saying : Thus saith the LORD : I remember for thee the affection of thy youth , the love of thine espousals ; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness , in a land that was not sown . * Israel is the LORD 'S hallowed portion , His first-fruits of the increase ; all that devour him shall be held guilty , evil shall come upon them , saith the LORD . * Hear ye the word of the LORD , O house of Jacob , and all the families of the house of Israel ; * Thus saith the LORD : What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me , that they are gone far from Me , and have walked after things of nought , and are become nought ? * 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 ?' * And I brought you into a land of fruitful fields , to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof ; but when ye entered , ye defiled My land , and made My heritage an abomination . * The priests said not : 'Where is the LORD ?' And they that handle the law knew Me not , and the rulers transgressed against Me ; the prophets also prophesied by Baal , and walked after things that do not profit . * Wherefore I will yet plead with you , saith the LORD , and with your children 's children will I plead . * For pass over to the isles of the Kittites , and see , and send unto Kedar , and consider diligently , and see if there hath been such a thing . * Hath a nation changed its gods , which yet are no gods ? But My people hath changed its glory for that which doth not profit . * Be astonished , O ye heavens , at this , and be horribly afraid , be ye exceeding amazed , saith the LORD . * 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 . * Is Israel a servant ? Is he a home-born slave ? Why is he become a prey ? * The young lions have roared upon him , and let their voice resound ; and they have made his land desolate , his cities are laid waste , without inhabitant . * The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes feed upon the crown of thy head . * Is it not this that doth cause it unto thee , that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God , when He led thee by the way ? * And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt , to drink the waters of Shihor ? Or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria , to drink the waters of the River ? * Thine own wickedness shall correct thee , and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know therefore and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing , that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God , neither is My fear in thee , saith the Lord GOD of hosts . * For of old time I have broken thy yoke , and burst thy bands , and thou saidst : 'I will not transgress '; upon every high hill and under every leafy tree thou didst recline , playing the harlot . * 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 ? * For though thou wash thee with nitre , and take thee much soap , yet thine iniquity is marked before Me , saith the Lord GOD . * How canst thou say : 'I am not defiled , I have not gone after the Baalim '? See thy way in the Valley , know what thou hast done ; thou art a swift young camel traversing her ways ; * A wild ass used to the wilderness , that snuffeth up the wind in her desire ; her lust , who can hinder it ? All they that seek her will not weary themselves ; in her month they shall find her . * 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 .' * 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 ; * Who say to a stock : 'Thou art my father ', and to a stone : 'Thou hast brought us 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 .' * 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 . * Wherefore will ye contend with Me ? Ye all have transgressed against Me , saith the LORD . * In vain have I smitten your children--they received no correction ; your sword hath devoured your prophets , like a destroying lion . * O generation , see ye the word of the LORD : have I been a wilderness unto Israel ? or a land of thick darkness ? Wherefore say My people : 'We roam at large ; we will come no more unto Thee '? * Can a maid forget her ornaments , or a bride her attire ? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number . * How trimmest thou thy way to seek love ! Therefore--even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways ; * Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor ; thou didst not find them breaking in ; yet for all these things * Thou saidst : 'I am innocent ; surely His anger is turned away from me '--behold , I will enter into judgment with thee , because thou sayest : 'I have not sinned .' * How greatly dost thou cheapen thyself to change thy way ? Thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also , as thou wast ashamed of Asshur . * From him also shalt thou go forth , with thy hands upon thy head ; for the LORD hath rejected them in whom thou didst trust , and thou shalt not prosper in them . * saying : If a man put away his wife , and she go from him , and become another man 's , may he return unto her again ? Will not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; and wouldest thou yet return to Me ? saith the LORD . * Lift up thine eyes unto the high hills , and see : Where hast thou not been lain with ? By the ways hast thou sat for them , as an Arabian in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotries and with thy wickedness . * Therefore the showers have been withheld , and there hath been no latter rain ; yet thou hadst a harlot 's forehead , thou refusedst to be ashamed . * Didst thou not just now cry unto Me : 'My father , Thou art the friend of my youth . * Will He bear grudge for ever ? Will He keep it to the end ?' Behold , thou hast spoken , but hast done evil things , and hast had thy way . * And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king : 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel did ? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree , and there played the harlot . * And I said : After she hath done all these things , she will return unto me ; but she returned not . And her treacherous sister Judah saw it . * And I saw , when , forasmuch as backsliding Israel had committed adultery , I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement , that yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not ; but she also went and played the harlot ; * and it came to pass through the lightness of her harlotry , that the land was polluted , and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks ; * and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart , but feignedly , saith the LORD -- * even the LORD said unto me--backsliding Israel hath proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah . * Go , and proclaim these words toward the north , and say : Return , thou backsliding Israel , saith the LORD ; I will not frown upon you ; for I am merciful , saith the LORD , I will not bear grudge for ever . * Only acknowledge thine iniquity , that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God , and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every leafy tree , and ye have not hearkened to My voice , saith the LORD . * Return , O backsliding children , saith the LORD ; for I am a lord unto you , and I will take you one of a city , and two of a family , and I will bring you to Zion ; * and I will give you shepherds according to My heart , who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . * And it shall come to pass , when ye are multiplied and increased in the land , in those days , saith the LORD , they shall say no more : The ark of the covenant of the LORD ; neither shall it come to mind ; neither shall they make mention of it ; neither shall they miss it ; neither shall it be made any more . * At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it , to the name of the LORD , to Jerusalem ; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart . * In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel , and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers .' * But I said : 'How would I put thee among the sons , and give thee a pleasant land , the goodliest heritage of the nations !' And I said : 'Thou shalt call Me , My father ; and shalt not turn away from following Me .' * Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband , so have ye dealt treacherously with Me , O house of Israel , saith the LORD . * Hark ! upon the high hills is heard the suppliant weeping of the children of Israel ; for that they have perverted their way , they have forgotten the LORD their God . * Return , ye backsliding children , I will heal your backslidings .-- 'Here we are , we are come unto Thee ; for Thou art the LORD our God . * Truly vain have proved the hills , the uproar on the mountains ; truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel . * But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . * Let us lie down in our shame , and let our confusion cover us ; for we have sinned against the LORD our God , we and our fathers , from our youth even unto this day ; and we have not hearkened to the voice of the LORD our God .' * If thou wilt return , O Israel , saith the LORD , yea , return unto Me ; and if thou wilt put away thy detestable things out of My sight , and wilt not waver ;

---