Jeremiah:1-4
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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And 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 ;
I have appointed 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 to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go ,
and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak .
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Be not afraid of them ;
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 overthrow ;
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 watch over 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 from the north .'
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Then the LORD said unto me : '
Out of the north the 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 entrance 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 ;
in that they have forsaken me ,
and have offered unto other gods ,
and worshipped the work 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 them ,
lest I dismay thee before them .
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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 .
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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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And 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 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 .
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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 .
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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 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 ?
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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 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 .
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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 .
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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 to the isles of the Kittites ,
and see ,
and send unto Kedar ,
and consider diligently ,
and see if there hath been such a thing .
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Hath a nation changed its gods ,
which yet are no gods ?
But My people hath changed its glory for that which doth not profit .
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Be astonished ,
O ye heavens ,
at this ,
and be horribly afraid ,
be ye exceeding amazed ,
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 home-born slave ?
Why is he become a prey ?
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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 .
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The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes feed upon the crown of thy head .
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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 ?
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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 ?
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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 and a bitter thing ,
that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God ,
neither is My fear 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 ';
upon every high hill and under every leafy tree thou didst recline ,
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 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 ;
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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 .
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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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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 .'
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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 contend 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 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 ?
or a land of thick darkness ?
Wherefore say My people : '
We roam at large ;
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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How trimmest thou thy way to seek love !
Therefore--even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways ;
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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
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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 .'
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How greatly dost thou cheapen thyself to change thy way ?
Thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also ,
as thou wast ashamed of Asshur .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Didst thou not just now cry unto Me : '
My father ,
Thou art the friend of my youth .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 ;
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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 ;
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and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart ,
but feignedly ,
saith the LORD --
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even the LORD said unto me--backsliding Israel hath proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 ;
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and I will give you shepherds according to My heart ,
who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .'
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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 .'
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Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband ,
so have ye dealt treacherously with Me ,
O house of Israel ,
saith the LORD .
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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 .
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Return ,
ye backsliding children ,
I will heal your backslidings .-- '
Here we are ,
we are come unto Thee ;
for Thou art the LORD our God .
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Truly vain have proved the hills ,
the uproar on the mountains ;
truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel .
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But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ;
their flocks and their herds ,
their sons and their daughters .
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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 .'
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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 ;
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And wilt swear : '
As the LORD liveth '
in truth ,
in justice ,
and in righteousness ;
then shall the nations bless themselves by Him ,
and in Him shall they glory .
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For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem :
Break up for you a fallow ground ,
and sow not among thorns .
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Circumcise yourselves to the LORD ,
and take away the foreskins of your heart ,
ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
lest My fury go forth like fire ,
and burn that none can quench it ,
because of the evil of your doings .
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Declare ye in Judah ,
and publish in Jerusalem ,
and say : '
Blow ye the horn in the land ';
cry aloud and say : '
Assemble yourselves ,
and let us go into the fortified cities .'
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Set up a standard toward Zion ;
put yourselves under covert ,
stay not ;
for I will bring evil from the north ,
and a great destruction .
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A lion is gone up from his thicket ,
and a destroyer of nations is set out ,
gone forth from his place ;
to make thy land desolate ,
that thy cities be laid waste ,
without inhabitant .
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For this gird you with sackcloth ,
lament and wail ;
for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us .
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And it shall come to pass at that day ,
saith the LORD ,
that the heart of the king shall fail ,
and the heart of the princes ;
and the priests shall be astonished ,
and the prophets shall wonder .
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Then said I : '
Ah ,
Lord GOD !
surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem ,
saying :
Ye shall have peace ;
whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul .'
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At that time shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem ;
A hot wind of the high hills in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people ,
not to fan ,
nor to cleanse ;
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A wind too strong for this shall come for Me ;
now will I also utter judgments against them .
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Behold ,
he cometh up as clouds ,
and his chariots are as the whirlwind ;
his horses are swifter than eagles .--'
Woe unto us !
for we are undone .'--
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O Jerusalem ,
wash thy heart from wickedness ,
that thou mayest be saved .
How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee ?
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For hark !
one declareth from Dan ,
and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim :
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Make ye mention to the nations :
Behold--publish concerning Jerusalem--watchers come from a far country ,
and give out their voice against the cities of Judah .'
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As keepers of a field are they against her round about ;
because she hath been rebellious against Me ,
saith the LORD .
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Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee ;
this is thy wickedness ;
yea ,
it is bitter ,
yea ,
it reacheth unto thy heart .
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My bowels ,
my bowels !
I writhe in pain !
The chambers of my heart !
My heart moaneth within me !
I cannot hold my peace !
because thou hast heard ,
O my soul ,
the sound of the horn ,
the alarm of war .
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Destruction followeth upon destruction ,
for the whole land is spoiled ;
suddenly are my tents spoiled ,
my curtains in a moment .
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How long shall I see the standard ,
shall I hear the sound of the horn ?
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For My people is foolish ,
they know Me not ;
they are sottish children ,
and they have no understanding ;
they are wise to do evil ,
but to do good they have no knowledge .
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I beheld the earth ,
and ,
lo ,
it was waste and void ;
and the heavens ,
and they had no light .
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I beheld the mountains ,
and ,
lo ,
they trembled ,
and all the hills moved to and fro .
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I beheld ,
and ,
lo ,
there was no man ,
and all the birds of the heavens were fled .
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I beheld ,
and ,
lo ,
the fruitful field was a wilderness ,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD ,
and before His fierce anger .
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For thus saith the LORD :
The whole land shall be desolate ;
yet will I not make a full end .
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For this shall the earth mourn ,
and the heavens above be black ;
because I have spoken it ,
I have purposed it ,
and I have not repented ,
neither will I turn back from it .
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For the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole city fleeth ;
they go into the thickets ,
and climb up upon the rocks ;
every city is forsaken ,
and not a man dwelleth therein .
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And thou ,
that art spoiled ,
what doest thou ,
that thou clothest thyself with scarlet ,
that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold ,
that thou enlargest thine eyes with paint ?
In vain dost thou make thyself fair ;
thy lovers despise thee ,
they seek thy life .
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For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail ,
the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child ,
the voice of the daughter of Zion ,
that gaspeth for breath ,
that spreadeth her hands : '
Woe is me ,
now !
for my soul fainteth before the murderers .'
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Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem ,
and see now ,
and know ,
and seek in the broad places thereof ,
if ye can find a man ,
if there be any that doeth justly ,
that seeketh truth ;
and I will pardon her .