Jeremiah:15-17

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* Then said the LORD unto me : 'Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me , yet My mind could not be toward this people ; cast them out of My sight , and let them go forth . * And it shall come to pass , when they say unto thee : Whither shall we go forth ? then thou shall tell them : Thus saith the LORD : Such as are for death , to death ; and such as are for the sword , to the sword ; and such as are for the famine , to the famine ; and such as are for captivity , to captivity . * And I will appoint over them four kinds , saith the LORD : the sword to slay , and the dogs to drag , and the fowls of the heaven , and the beasts of the earth , to devour and to destroy . * And I will cause them to be a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth , because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah , for that which he did in Jerusalem . * For who shall have pity upon thee , O Jerusalem ? Or who shall bemoan thee ? Or who shall turn aside to ask of thy welfare ? * Thou hast cast Me off , saith the LORD , thou art gone backward ; Therefore do I stretch out My hand against thee , and destroy thee ; I am weary with repenting . * And I fan them with a fan in the gates of the land ; I bereave them of children , I destroy My people , since they return not from their ways . * Their widows are increased to Me above the sand of the seas ; I bring upon them , against the mother , a chosen one , even a spoiler at noonday ; I cause anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly . * She that hath borne seven languisheth ; her spirit droopeth ; her sun is gone down while it was yet day , she is ashamed and confounded ; and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies , saith the LORD .' * Woe is me , my mother , that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth ! I have not lent , neither have men lent to me ; yet every one of them doth curse me . * The LORD said : 'Verily I will release thee for good ; verily I will cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in the time of affliction . * Can iron break iron from the north and brass ? * Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price , and that for all thy sins , even in all thy borders . * And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not ; for a fire is kindled in My nostril , which shall burn upon you .' * Thou , O LORD , knowest ; Remember me , and think of me , and avenge me of my persecutors ; take me not away because of Thy long-suffering ; know that for Thy sake I have suffered taunts . * Thy words were found , and I did eat them ; and Thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart ; because Thy name was called on me , O LORD God of hosts . * I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry , nor rejoiced ; I sat alone because of Thy hand ; for Thou hast filled me with indignation . * Why is my pain perpetual , and my wound incurable , so that it refuseth to be healed ? Wilt Thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook , as waters that fail ? * Therefore thus saith the LORD : If thou return , and I bring thee back , thou shalt stand before Me ; and if thou bring forth the precious out of the vile , thou shalt be as My mouth ; let them return unto thee , but thou shalt not return unto them . * And I will make thee unto this people a fortified brazen wall ; and they shall fight against thee , but they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee , saith the LORD . * And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked , and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible . * The word of the LORD came also unto me , saying : * Thou shalt not take thee a wife , neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place . * For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place , and concerning their mothers that bore them , and concerning their fathers that begot them in this land : * They shall die of grievous deaths ; they shall not be lamented , neither shall they be buried , they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground ; and they shall be consumed by the sword , and by famine ; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven , and for the beasts of the earth . * For thus saith the LORD : Enter not into the house of mourning , neither go to lament , neither bemoan them ; for I have taken away My peace from this people , saith the LORD , even mercy and compassion . * Both the great and the small shall die in this land ; they shall not be buried ; neither shall men lament for them , nor cut themselves , nor make themselves bald for them ; * neither shall men break bread for them in mourning , to comfort them for the dead ; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother . * And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them , to eat and to drink . * For thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Behold , I will cause to cease out of this place , before your eyes and in your days , the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness , the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride . * And it shall come to pass , when thou shalt tell this people all these words , and they shall say unto thee : 'Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us ? or what is our iniquity ? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God ?' * then shalt thou say unto them : 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me , saith the LORD , and have walked after other gods , and have served them , and have worshipped them , and have forsaken Me , and have not kept My law ; * and ye have done worse than your fathers ; for , behold , ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart , so that ye hearken not unto Me ; * therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye have not known , neither ye nor your fathers ; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night ; forasmuch as I will show you no favour .' * Therefore , behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that it shall no more be said : 'As the LORD liveth , that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ,' * but : 'As the LORD liveth , that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north , and from all the countries whither He had driven them '; and I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers . * Behold , I will send for many fishers , saith the LORD , and they shall fish them ; and afterward I will send for many hunters , and they shall hunt them from every mountain , and from every hill , and out of the clefts of the rocks . * For Mine eyes are upon all their ways , they are not hid from My face ; Neither is their iniquity concealed from Mine eyes . * And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double ; because they have profaned My land ; they have filled Mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable things and their abominations . * O LORD , my strength , and my stronghold , and my refuge , in the day of affliction , unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth , and shall say : 'Our fathers have inherited nought but lies , vanity and things wherein there is no profit .' * Shall a man make unto himself gods , and they are no gods ? * Therefore , behold , I will cause them to know , this once will I cause them to know My hand and My might ; and they shall know that My name is the LORD . * The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron , and with the point of a diamond ; it is graven upon the tablet of their heart , and upon the horns of your altars . * Like the symbols of their sons are their altars , and their Asherim are by the leafy trees , upon the high hills . * O thou that sittest upon the mountain in the field , I will give thy substance and all thy treasures for a spoil , and thy high places , because of sin , throughout all thy borders . * And thou , even of thyself , shalt discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee ; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not ; for ye have kindled a fire in My nostril , which shall burn for ever . * Thus saith the LORD : Cursed is the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arm , and whose heart departeth from the LORD . * For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert , and shall not see when good cometh ; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness , a salt land and not inhabited . * Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD , and whose trust the LORD is . * For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters , and that spreadeth out its roots by the river , and shall not see when heat cometh , but its foliage shall be luxuriant ; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought , neither shall cease from yielding fruit . * The heart is deceitful above all things , and it is exceeding weak--who can know it ? * I the LORD search the heart , I try the reins , even to give every man according to his ways , according to the fruit of his doings . * As the partridge that broodeth over young which she hath not brought forth , so is he that getteth riches , and not by right ; in the midst of his days he shall leave them , and at his end he shall be a fool . * Thou throne of glory , on high from the beginning , thou place of our sanctuary , * Thou hope of Israel , the LORD ! All that forsake Thee shall be ashamed ; they that depart from Thee shall be written in the earth , because they have forsaken the LORD , the fountain of living waters . * Heal me , O LORD , and I shall be healed ; save me , and I shall be saved ; for Thou art my praise . * Behold , they say unto me : 'Where is the word of the LORD ? let it come now .' * As for me , I have not hastened from being a shepherd after Thee ; neither have I desired the woeful day ; Thou knowest it ; that which came out of my lips was manifest before Thee . * Be not a ruin unto me ; Thou art my refuge in the day of evil . * Let them be ashamed that persecute me , but let not me be ashamed ; Let them be dismayed , but let not me be dismayed ; Bring upon them the day of evil , and destroy them with double destruction . * Thus said the LORD unto me : Go , and stand in the gate of the children of the people , whereby the kings of Judah come in , and by which they go out , and in all the gates of Jerusalem ; * and say unto them : Hear ye the word of the LORD , ye kings of Judah , and all Judah , and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem , that enter in by these gates ; * thus saith the LORD : Take heed for the sake of your souls , and bear no burden on the sabbath day , nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ; * neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day , neither do ye any work ; but hallow ye the sabbath day , as I commanded your fathers ; * but they hearkened not , neither inclined their ear , but made their neck stiff , that they might not hear , nor receive instruction . * And it shall come to pass , if ye diligently hearken unto Me , saith the LORD , to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day , but to hallow the sabbath day , to do no work therein ; * then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David , riding in chariots and on horses , they , and their princes , the men of Judah , and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and this city shall be inhabited for ever . * And they shall come from the cities of Judah , and from the places round about Jerusalem , and from the land of Benjamin , and from the Lowland , and from the mountains , and from the South , bringing burnt-offerings , and sacrifices , and meal-offerings , and frankincense , and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving , unto the house of the LORD . * But if ye will not hearken unto Me to hallow the sabbath day , and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day ; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof , and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem , and it shall not be quenched . * The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying :

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