Jeremiah:16-20

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* 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 : * 'Arise , and go down to the potter 's house , and there I will cause thee to hear My words .' * Then I went down to the potter 's house , and , behold , he was at his work on the wheels . * And whensoever the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter , he made it again another vessel , as seemed good to the potter to make it . * Then the word of the LORD came to me , saying : * 'O house of Israel , cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the LORD . Behold , as the clay in the potter 's hand , so are ye in My hand , O house of Israel . * At one instant I may speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it ; * but if that nation turn from their evil , because of which I have spoken against it , I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it . * And at one instant I may speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to build and to plant it ; * but if it do evil in My sight , that it hearken not to My voice , then I repent of the good , wherewith I said I would benefit it . * Now therefore do thou speak to the men of Judah , and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem , saying : Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I frame evil against you , and devise a device against you ; return ye now every one from his evil way , and amend your ways and your doings . * But they say : There is no hope ; but we will walk after our own devices , and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart .' * Therefore thus saith the LORD : Ask ye now among the nations , who hath heard such things ; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing . * Doth the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field ? or are the strange cold flowing waters plucked up ? * For My people hath forgotten Me , they offer unto vanity ; and they have been made to stumble in their ways , in the ancient paths , to walk in bypaths , in a way not cast up ; * To make their land an astonishment , and a perpetual hissing ; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished , and shake his head . * I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy ; I will look upon their back , and not their face , in the day of their calamity . * Then said they : 'Come , and let us devise devices against Jeremiah ; for instruction shall not perish from the priest , nor counsel from the wise , nor the word from the prophet . Come , and let us smite him with the tongue , and let us not give heed to any of his words .' * Give heed to me , O LORD , and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me . * Shall evil be recompensed for good ? For they have digged a pit for my soul . Remember how I stood before Thee to speak good for them , to turn away Thy wrath from them . * Therefore deliver up their children to the famine , and hurl them to the power of the sword ; and let their wives be bereaved of their children , and widows ; and let their men be slain of death , and their young men smitten of the sword in battle . * Let a cry be heard from their houses , when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them ; for they have digged a pit to take me , and hid snares for my feet . * Yet , LORD , Thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me ; forgive not their iniquity , neither blot out their sin from Thy sight ; but let them be made to stumble before Thee ; Deal Thou with them in the time of Thine anger . * Thus said the LORD : Go , and get a potter 's earthen bottle , and take of the elders of the people , and of the elders of the priests ; * and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom , which is by the entry of the gate Harsith , and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee ; * and say : Hear ye the word of the LORD , O kings of Judah , and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Behold , I will bring evil upon this place , which whosoever heareth , his ears shall tingle ; * because they have forsaken Me , and have estranged this place , and have offered in it unto other gods , whom neither they nor their fathers have known , nor the kings of Judah ; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents ; * and have built the high places of Baal , to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal ; which I commanded not , nor spoke it , neither came it into My mind . * Therefore , behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that this place shall no more be called Topheth , nor The valley of the son of Hinnom , but The valley of slaughter ; * and I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies , and by the hand of them that seek their life ; and their carcasses will I give to be food for the fowls of the heaven , and for the beasts of the earth ; * and I will make this city an astonishment , and a hissing ; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof ; * and I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters , and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend , in the siege and in the straitness , wherewith their enemies , and they that seek their life , shall straiten them . * Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee , * and shalt say unto them : Thus saith the LORD of hosts : Even so will I break this people and this city , as one breaketh a potter 's vessel , that cannot be made whole again ; and they shall bury in Topheth , for want of room to bury . * Thus will I do unto this place , saith the LORD , and to the inhabitants thereof , even making this city as Topheth ; * and the houses of Jerusalem , and the houses of the kings of Judah , which are defiled , shall be as the place of Topheth , even all the houses upon whose roofs they have offered unto all the host of heaven , and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods . * Then came Jeremiah from Topheth , whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of the LORD 'S house , and said to all the people : * 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Behold , I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it ; because they have made their neck stiff , that they might not hear My words .' * Now Pashhur the son of Immer the priest , who was chief officer in the house of the LORD , heard Jeremiah prophesying these things . * Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet , and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin , which was in the house of the LORD . * And it came to pass on the morrow , that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks . Then said Jeremiah unto him : 'The LORD hath not called thy name Pashhur , but Magormissabib . * For thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will make thee a terror to thyself , and to all thy friends ; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies , and thine eyes shall behold it ; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall carry them captive to Babylon , and shall slay them with the sword . * Moreover I will give all the store of this city , and all the gains thereof , and all the wealth thereof , yea , all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies , who shall spoil them , and take them , and carry them to Babylon . * And thou , Pashhur , and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity ; and thou shalt come to Babylon , and there thou shalt die , and there shalt thou be buried , thou , and all thy friends , to whom thou hast prophesied falsely .' * O LORD , Thou hast enticed me , and I was enticed , Thou hast overcome me , and hast prevailed ; I am become a laughing-stock all the day , every one mocketh me . * For as often as I speak , I cry out , I cry : 'Violence and spoil '; because the word of the LORD is made a reproach unto me , and a derision , all the day . * And if I say : 'I will not make mention of Him , nor speak any more in His name ', then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones , and I weary myself to hold it in , but cannot . * For I have heard the whispering of many , terror on every side : 'Denounce , and we will denounce him '; even of all my familiar friends , them that watch for my halting : 'Peradventure he will be enticed , and we shall prevail against him , and we shall take our revenge on him .' * But the LORD is with me as a mighty warrior ; therefore my persecutors shall stumble , and they shall not prevail ; they shall be greatly ashamed , because they have not prospered , even with an everlasting confusion which shall never be forgotten . * But , O LORD of hosts , that triest the righteous , that seest the reins and the heart , let me see Thy vengeance on them ; for unto Thee have I revealed my cause . * Sing unto the LORD , praise ye the LORD ; for He hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers . * Cursed be the day wherein I was born ; the day wherein my mother bore me , let it not be blessed . * Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father , saying : 'A man-child is born unto thee '; making him very glad . * And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew , and repented not ; and let him hear a cry in the morning , and an alarm at noontide ; * Because He slew me not from the womb ; and so my mother would have been my grave , and her womb always great . * Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow , that my days should be consumed in shame ? * The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchiah , and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , saying :

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