Jeremiah:4-6
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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 .
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And though they say : '
As the LORD liveth ',
surely they swear falsely .
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O LORD ,
are not Thine eyes upon truth ?
Thou hast stricken them ,
but they were not affected ;
Thou hast consumed them ,
but they have refused to receive correction ;
they have made their faces harder than a rock ;
they have refused to return .
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And I said : '
Surely these are poor ,
they are foolish ,
for they know not the way of the LORD ,
nor the ordinance of their God ;
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I will get me unto the great men ,
and will speak unto them ;
for they know the way of the LORD ,
and the ordinance of their God .'
But these had altogether broken the yoke ,
and burst the bands .
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Wherefore a lion out of the forest doth slay them ,
a wolf of the deserts doth spoil them ,
a leopard watcheth over their cities ,
every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces ;
because their transgressions are many ,
their backslidings are increased .
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Wherefore should I pardon thee ?
The children have forsaken Me ,
and sworn by no-gods ;
and when I had fed them to the full ,
they committed adultery ,
and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots '
houses .
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They are become as well-fed horses ,
lusty stallions ;
every one neigheth after his neighbour '
s wife .
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Shall I not punish for these things ?
saith the LORD ;
and shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this ?
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Go ye up into her rows ,
and destroy ,
but make not a full end ;
take away her shoots ;
for they are not the LORD '
S .
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For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me ,
saith the LORD .
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They have belied the LORD ,
and said : '
It is not He ,
neither shall evil come upon us ;
neither shall we see sword nor famine ;
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And the prophets shall become wind ,
and the word is not in them ;
thus be it done unto them .'
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Wherefore thus saith the LORD ,
the God of hosts :
Because ye speak this word ,
behold ,
I will make My words in thy mouth fire ,
and this people wood ,
and it shall devour them .
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Lo ,
I will bring a nation upon you from far ,
O house of Israel ,
saith the LORD ;
it is an enduring nation ,
it is an ancient nation ,
a nation whose language thou knowest not ,
neither understandest what they say .
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Their quiver is an open sepulchre ,
they are all mighty men .
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And they shall eat up thy harvest ,
and thy bread ,
they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters ,
they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds ,
they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees ;
they shall batter thy fortified cities ,
wherein thou trusteth ,
with the sword .
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But even in those days ,
saith the LORD ,
I will not make a full end with you .
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And it shall come to pass ,
when ye shall say : '
Wherefore hath the LORD our God done all these things unto us ?'
then shalt Thou say unto them : '
Like as ye have forsaken Me ,
and served strange gods in your land ,
so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours .'
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Declare ye this in the house of Jacob ,
and announce it in Judah ,
saying :
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Hear now this ,
O foolish people ,
and without understanding ,
that have eyes ,
and see not ,
that have ears ,
and hear not :
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Fear ye not Me ?
saith the LORD ;
Will ye not tremble at My presence ?
Who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea ,
an everlasting ordinance ,
which it cannot pass ;
and though the waves thereof toss themselves ,
yet can they not prevail ;
though they roar ,
yet can they not pass over it .
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But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart ;
they are revolted ,
and gone .
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Neither say they in their heart : '
Let us now fear the LORD our God ,
that giveth the former rain ,
and the latter in due season ;
that keepeth for us the appointed weeks of the harvest .'
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Your iniquities have turned away these things ,
and your sins have withholden good from you .
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For among My people are found wicked men ;
they pry ,
as fowlers lie in wait ;
they set a trap ,
they catch men .
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As a cage is full of birds ,
so are their houses full of deceit ;
therefore they are become great ,
and waxen rich ;
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They are waxen fat ,
they are become sleek ;
yea ,
they overpass in deeds of wickedness ;
they plead not the cause ,
the cause of the fatherless ,
that they might make it to prosper ;
and the right of the needy do they not judge .
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Shall I not punish for these things ?
saith the LORD ;
Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this ?
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An appalling and horrible thing is come to pass in the land :
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The prophets prophesy in the service of falsehood ,
and the priests bear rule at their beck ;
and My people love to have it so ;
What then will ye do in the end thereof ?
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Put yourselves under covert ,
ye children of Benjamin ,
away from the midst of Jerusalem ,
and blow the horn in Tekoa ,
and set up a signal on Beth-cherem ;
for evil looketh forth from the north ,
and a great destruction .
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The comely and delicate one ,
the daughter of Zion ,
will I cut off .
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Shepherds with their flocks come unto her ;
they pitch their tents against her round about ;
they feed bare every one what is nigh at hand .
* '
Prepare ye war against her ;
arise ,
and let us go up at noon !' '
Woe unto us !
for the day declineth ,
for the shadows of the evening are stretched out !'
* '
Arise ,
and let us go up by night ,
and let us destroy her palaces .'
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For thus hath the LORD of hosts said :
hew ye down her trees ,
and cast up a mound against Jerusalem ;
this is the city to be punished ;
everywhere there is oppression in the midst of her .
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As a cistern welleth with her waters ,
so she welleth with her wickedness ;
violence and spoil is heard in her ;
before Me continually is sickness and wounds .
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Be thou corrected ,
O Jerusalem ,
lest My soul be alienated from thee ,
lest I make thee desolate ,
a land not inhabited .
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts :
They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel ;
turn again thy hand as a grape -
gatherer upon the shoots .
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To whom shall I speak and give warning ,
that they may hear ?
Behold ,
their ear is dull ,
and they cannot attend ;
behold ,
the word of the LORD is become unto them a reproach ,
they have no delight in it .
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Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD ,
I am weary with holding in :
pour it out upon the babes in the street ,
and upon the assembly of young men together ;
for even the husband with the wife shall be taken ,
the aged with him that is full of days .
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And their houses shall be turned unto others ,
their fields and their wives together ;
for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land ,
saith the LORD .
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For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy for gain ;
and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely .
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They have healed also the hurt of My people lightly ,
saying : '
Peace ,
peace ',
when there is no peace .
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They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination ;
yea ,
they are not at all ashamed ,
neither know they how to blush ;
therefore they shall fall among them that fall ,
at the time that I punish them they shall stumble ,
saith the LORD .
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Thus saith the LORD :
Stand ye in the ways and see ,
and ask for the old paths ,
where is the good way ,
and walk therein ,
and ye shall find rest for your souls .
But they said : '
We will not walk therein .'
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And I set watchmen over you : '
Attend to the sound of the horn ',
but they said : '
We will not attend .'
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Therefore hear ,
ye nations ,
and know ,
O congregation ,
what is against them .
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Hear ,
O earth :
Behold ,
I will bring evil upon this people ,
even the fruit of their thoughts ,
because they have not attended unto My words ,
and as for My teaching ,
they have rejected it .
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To what purpose is to Me the frankincense that cometh from Sheba ,
and the sweet cane ,
from a far country ?
Your burnt -
offerings are not acceptable ,
nor your sacrifices pleasing unto Me .
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Therefore thus saith the LORD :
Behold ,
I will lay stumblingblocks before this people ,
and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them ,
the neighbour and his friend ,
and they shall perish .
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Thus saith the LORD :
Behold ,
a people cometh from the north country ,
and a great nation shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth .
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They lay hold on bow and spear ,
they are cruel ,
and have no compassion ;
their voice is like the roaring sea ,
and they ride upon horses ;
set in array ,
as a man for war ,
against thee ,
O daughter of Zion .
* '
We have heard the fame thereof ,
our hands wax feeble ,
anguish hath taken hold of us ,
and pain ,
as of a woman in travail .'
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Go not forth into the field ,
nor walk by the way ;
for there is the sword of the enemy ,
and terror on every side .
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O daughter of my people ,
gird thee with sackcloth ,
and wallow thyself in ashes ;
make thee mourning ,
as for an only son ,
most bitter lamentation ;
for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us .
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I have made thee a tower and a fortress among My people ;
that thou mayest know and try their way .
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They are all grievous revolters ,
going about with slanders ;
they are brass and iron ;
they all of them deal corruptly .
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The bellows blow fiercely ,
the lead is consumed of the fire ;
in vain doth the founder refine ,
for the wicked are not separated .
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Refuse silver shall men call them ,
because the LORD hath rejected them .
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ,
saying :
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