Jeremiah:1-3

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* 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 . * Then 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 , and I ordained 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 thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee , and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak . * Be not afraid of their faces : 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 throw down , 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 will hasten 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 toward the north . * Then the LORD said unto me , Out of the north an 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 entering 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 , who have forsaken me , and have burned incense unto other gods , and worshipped the works 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 their faces , lest I confound thee before them . * For , behold , I have made thee this day a defenced city , and an iron pillar , and brasen 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 . * Moreover the word of the LORD came to me , saying , * Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem , saying , Thus saith the LORD ; I remember thee , the kindness of thy youth , the love of thine espousals , when thou wentest after me in the wilderness , in a land that was not sown . * Israel was holiness unto the LORD , and the firstfruits of his increase : all that devour him shall offend ; 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 iniquity have your fathers found in me , that they are gone far from me , and have walked after vanity , and are become vain ? * 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 plentiful country , to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof ; but when ye entered , ye defiled my land , and made mine heritage an abomination . * The priests said not , Where is the LORD ? and they that handle the law knew me not : the pastors also transgressed against me , and the prophets 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 the isles of Chittim , and see ; and send unto Kedar , and consider diligently , and see if there be such a thing . * Hath a nation changed their gods , which are yet no gods ? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit . * Be astonished , O ye heavens , at this , and be horribly afraid , be ye very desolate , 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 homeborn slave ? why is he spoiled ? * The young lions roared upon him , and yelled , and they made his land waste : his cities are burned without inhabitant . * Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head . * Hast thou not procured this unto thyself , in 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 of Egypt , to drink the waters of Sihor ? or what hast thou to do in the way of 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 thing and bitter , that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God , and that my fear is not 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 ; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest , 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 polluted , I have not gone after Baalim ? see thy way in the valley , know what thou hast done : thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways ; * A wild ass used to the wilderness , that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ; in her occasion who can turn her away ? 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 , * Saying to a stock , Thou art my father ; and to a stone , Thou hast brought me 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 plead with me ? ye all have transgressed against me , saith the LORD . * In vain have I smitten your children ; they received no correction : your own 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 ? a land of darkness ? wherefore say my people , We are lords ; 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 . * Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love ? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways . * Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents : I have not found it by secret search , but upon all these . * Yet thou sayest , Because I am innocent , surely his anger shall turn from me . Behold , I will plead with thee , because thou sayest , I have not sinned . * Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt , as thou wast ashamed of Assyria . * Yea , thou shalt go forth from him , and thine hands upon thine head : for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences , and thou shalt not prosper in them . * They say , If a man put away his wife , and she go from him , and become another man 's , shall he return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly polluted ? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return again to me , saith the LORD . * Lift up thine eyes unto the high places , and see where thou hast not been lien with . In the ways hast thou sat for them , as the Arabian in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness . * Therefore the showers have been withholden , and there hath been no latter rain ; and thou hadst a whore 's forehead , thou refusedst to be ashamed . * Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me , My father , thou art the guide of my youth ? * Will he reserve his anger for ever ? will he keep it to the end ? Behold , thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest . * The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king , Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done ? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree , and there hath played the harlot . * And I said after she had done all these things , Turn thou unto me . But she returned not . And her treacherous sister Judah saw it . * And I saw , when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away , and given her a bill of divorce ; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not , but went and played the harlot also . * And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom , that she defiled the land , and committed adultery with stones and with stocks . * And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart , but feignedly , saith the LORD . * And the LORD said unto me , The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah . * Go and proclaim these words toward the north , and say , Return , thou backsliding Israel , saith the LORD ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful , saith the LORD , and I will not keep anger 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 green tree , and ye have not obeyed my voice , saith the LORD . * Turn , O backsliding children , saith the LORD ; for I am married 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 pastors according to mine heart , which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding . * And it shall come to pass , when ye be 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 remember it ; neither shall they visit it ; neither shall that be done 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 imagination 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 shall I put thee among the children , and give thee a pleasant land , a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? and I said , Thou shalt call me , My father ; and shalt not turn away from me . * Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband , so have ye dealt treacherously with me , O house of Israel , saith the LORD . * A voice was heard upon the high places , weeping and supplications of the children of Israel : for they have perverted their way , and they have forgotten the LORD their God . * Return , ye backsliding children , and I will heal your backslidings . Behold , we come unto thee ; for thou art the LORD our God . * Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills , and from the multitude of mountains : truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel . * For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . * We lie down in our shame , and our confusion covereth us : for we have sinned against the LORD our God , we and our fathers , from our youth even unto this day , and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God . * If thou wilt return , O Israel , saith the LORD , return unto me : and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight , then shalt thou not remove .

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