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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Then 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 ,
and I ordained 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 thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee ,
and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak .
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Be not afraid of their faces :
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 throw down ,
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 will hasten 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 toward the north .
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Then the LORD said unto me ,
Out of the north an 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 entering 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 ,
who have forsaken me ,
and have burned incense unto other gods ,
and worshipped the works 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 their faces ,
lest I confound thee before them .
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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 .
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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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Moreover 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 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 .
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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 .
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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 iniquity have your fathers found in me ,
that they are gone far from me ,
and have walked after vanity ,
and are become vain ?
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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 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 .
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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 .
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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 the isles of Chittim ,
and see ;
and send unto Kedar ,
and consider diligently ,
and see if there be such a thing .
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Hath a nation changed their gods ,
which are yet no gods ?
but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit .
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Be astonished ,
O ye heavens ,
at this ,
and be horribly afraid ,
be ye very desolate ,
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 homeborn slave ?
why is he spoiled ?
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The young lions roared upon him ,
and yelled ,
and they made his land waste :
his cities are burned without inhabitant .
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Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head .
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Hast thou not procured this unto thyself ,
in 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 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 ?
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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 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 .
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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 .
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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 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 ;
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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 .
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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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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 .
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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 plead 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 own 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 ?
a land of darkness ?
wherefore say my people ,
We are lords ;
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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Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love ?
therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways .
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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 .
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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 .
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Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ?
thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt ,
as thou wast ashamed of Assyria .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me ,
My father ,
thou art the guide of my youth ?
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom ,
that she defiled the land ,
and committed adultery with stones and with stocks .
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And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart ,
but feignedly ,
saith the LORD .
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And the LORD said unto me ,
The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah .
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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 .
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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 green tree ,
and ye have not obeyed my voice ,
saith the LORD .
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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 :
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And I will give you pastors according to mine heart ,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding .
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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 .
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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 imagination 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 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 .
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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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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 .
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Return ,
ye backsliding children ,
and I will heal your backslidings .
Behold ,
we come unto thee ;
for thou art the LORD our God .
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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 .
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For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ;
their flocks and their herds ,
their sons and their daughters .
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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 .
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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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And thou shalt swear ,
The LORD liveth ,
in truth ,
in judgment ,
and in righteousness ;
and the nations shall bless themselves in him ,
and in him shall they glory .
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For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem ,
Break up your 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 come 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 trumpet in the land :
cry ,
gather together ,
and say ,
Assemble yourselves ,
and let us go into the defenced cities .
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Set up the standard toward Zion :
retire ,
stay not :
for I will bring evil from the north ,
and a great destruction .
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The lion is come up from his thicket ,
and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way ;
he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ;
and thy cities shall be laid waste ,
without an inhabitant .
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For this gird you with sackcloth ,
lament and howl :
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 perish ,
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 to this people and to Jerusalem ,
A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people ,
not to fan ,
nor to cleanse ,
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Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me :
now also will I give sentence against them .
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Behold ,
he shall come up as clouds ,
and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind :
his horses are swifter than eagles .
Woe unto us !
for we are spoiled .
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O Jerusalem ,
wash thine heart from wickedness ,
that thou mayest be saved .
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?
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For a voice declareth from Dan ,
and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim .
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Make ye mention to the nations ;
behold ,
publish against Jerusalem ,
that 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 ,
because it is bitter ,
because it reacheth unto thine heart .
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My bowels ,
my bowels !
I am pained at my very heart ;
my heart maketh a noise in me ;
I cannot hold my peace ,
because thou hast heard ,
O my soul ,
the sound of the trumpet ,
the alarm of war .
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Destruction upon destruction is cried ;
for the whole land is spoiled :
suddenly are my tents spoiled ,
and my curtains in a moment .
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How long shall I see the standard ,
and hear the sound of the trumpet ?
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For my people is foolish ,
they have not known me ;
they are sottish children ,
and they have none 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 without form ,
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 lightly .
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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 place was a wilderness ,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD ,
and by his fierce anger .
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For thus hath the LORD said ,
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 will not repent ,
neither will I turn back from it .
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The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen ;
they shall go into thickets ,
and climb up upon the rocks :
every city shall be forsaken ,
and not a man dwell therein .
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And when thou art spoiled ,
what wilt thou do ?
Though thou clothest thyself with crimson ,
though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold ,
though thou rentest thy face with painting ,
in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ;
thy lovers will despise thee ,
they will seek thy life .
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For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail ,
and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child ,
the voice of the daughter of Zion ,
that bewaileth herself ,
that spreadeth her hands ,
saying ,
Woe is me now !
for my soul is wearied because of 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 executeth judgment ,
that seeketh the truth ;
and I will pardon it .
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