Jeremiah:11-13
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ,
saying ,
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Hear ye the words of this covenant ,
and speak unto the men of Judah ,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
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And say thou unto them ,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ;
Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant ,
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Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt ,
from the iron furnace ,
saying ,
Obey my voice ,
and do them ,
according to all which I command you :
so shall ye be my people ,
and I will be your God :
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That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers ,
to give them a land flowing with milk and honey ,
as it is this day .
Then answered I ,
and said ,
So be it ,
O LORD .
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Then the LORD said unto me ,
Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah ,
and in the streets of Jerusalem ,
saying ,
Hear ye the words of this covenant ,
and do them .
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For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt ,
even unto this day ,
rising early and protesting ,
saying ,
Obey my voice .
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Yet they obeyed not ,
nor inclined their ear ,
but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart :
therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant ,
which I commanded them to do ;
but they did them not .
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And the LORD said unto me ,
A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah ,
and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem .
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They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers ,
which refused to hear my words ;
and they went after other gods to serve them :
the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers .
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Therefore thus saith the LORD ,
Behold ,
I will bring evil upon them ,
which they shall not be able to escape ;
and though they shall cry unto me ,
I will not hearken unto them .
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Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go ,
and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense :
but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble .
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For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods ,
O Judah ;
and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing ,
even altars to burn incense unto Baal .
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Therefore pray not thou for this people ,
neither lift up a cry or prayer for them :
for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble .
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What hath my beloved to do in mine house ,
seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many ,
and the holy flesh is passed from thee ?
when thou doest evil ,
then thou rejoicest .
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The LORD called thy name ,
A green olive tree ,
fair ,
and of goodly fruit :
with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it ,
and the branches of it are broken .
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For the LORD of hosts ,
that planted thee ,
hath pronounced evil against thee ,
for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah ,
which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal .
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And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it ,
and I know it :
then thou shewedst me their doings .
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But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter ;
and I knew not that they had devised devices against me ,
saying ,
Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof ,
and let us cut him off from the land of the living ,
that his name may be no more remembered .
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But ,
O LORD of hosts ,
that judgest righteously ,
that triest the reins and the heart ,
let me see thy vengeance on them :
for unto thee have I revealed my cause .
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Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth ,
that seek thy life ,
saying ,
Prophesy not in the name of the LORD ,
that thou die not by our hand :
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Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts ,
Behold ,
I will punish them :
the young men shall die by the sword ;
their sons and their daughters shall die by famine :
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And there shall be no remnant of them :
for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth ,
even the year of their visitation .
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Righteous art thou ,
O LORD ,
when I plead with thee :
yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments :
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper ?
wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?
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Thou hast planted them ,
yea ,
they have taken root :
they grow ,
yea ,
they bring forth fruit :
thou art near in their mouth ,
and far from their reins .
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But thou ,
O LORD ,
knowest me :
thou hast seen me ,
and tried mine heart toward thee :
pull them out like sheep for the slaughter ,
and prepare them for the day of slaughter .
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How long shall the land mourn ,
and the herbs of every field wither ,
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein ?
the beasts are consumed ,
and the birds ;
because they said ,
He shall not see our last end .
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If thou hast run with the footmen ,
and they have wearied thee ,
then how canst thou contend with horses ?
and if in the land of peace ,
wherein thou trustedst ,
they wearied thee ,
then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan ?
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For even thy brethren ,
and the house of thy father ,
even they have dealt treacherously with thee ;
yea ,
they have called a multitude after thee :
believe them not ,
though they speak fair words unto thee .
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I have forsaken mine house ,
I have left mine heritage ;
I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies .
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Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest ;
it crieth out against me :
therefore have I hated it .
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Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird ,
the birds round about are against her ;
come ye ,
assemble all the beasts of the field ,
come to devour .
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Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard ,
they have trodden my portion under foot ,
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness .
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They have made it desolate ,
and being desolate it mourneth unto me ;
the whole land is made desolate ,
because no man layeth it to heart .
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The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness :
for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land :
no flesh shall have peace .
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They have sown wheat ,
but shall reap thorns :
they have put themselves to pain ,
but shall not profit :
and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD .
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Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours ,
that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit ;
Behold ,
I will pluck them out of their land ,
and pluck out the house of Judah from among them .
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And it shall come to pass ,
after that I have plucked them out I will return ,
and have compassion on them ,
and will bring them again ,
every man to his heritage ,
and every man to his land .
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And it shall come to pass ,
if they will diligently learn the ways of my people ,
to swear by my name ,
The LORD liveth ;
as they taught my people to swear by Baal ;
then shall they be built in the midst of my people .
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But if they will not obey ,
I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation ,
saith the LORD .
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Thus saith the LORD unto me ,
Go and get thee a linen girdle ,
and put it upon thy loins ,
and put it not in water .
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So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD ,
and put it on my loins .
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And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time ,
saying ,
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Take the girdle that thou hast got ,
which is upon thy loins ,
and arise ,
go to Euphrates ,
and hide it there in a hole of the rock .
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So I went ,
and hid it by Euphrates ,
as the LORD commanded me .
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And it came to pass after many days ,
that the LORD said unto me ,
Arise ,
go to Euphrates ,
and take the girdle from thence ,
which I commanded thee to hide there .
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Then I went to Euphrates ,
and digged ,
and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it :
and ,
behold ,
the girdle was marred ,
it was profitable for nothing .
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Then the word of the LORD came unto me ,
saying ,
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Thus saith the LORD ,
After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah ,
and the great pride of Jerusalem .
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This evil people ,
which refuse to hear my words ,
which walk in the imagination of their heart ,
and walk after other gods ,
to serve them ,
and to worship them ,
shall even be as this girdle ,
which is good for nothing .
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For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man ,
so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah ,
saith the LORD ;
that they might be unto me for a people ,
and for a name ,
and for a praise ,
and for a glory :
but they would not hear .
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Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word ;
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ,
Every bottle shall be filled with wine :
and they shall say unto thee ,
Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine ?
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Then shalt thou say unto them ,
Thus saith the LORD ,
Behold ,
I will fill all the inhabitants of this land ,
even the kings that sit upon David '
s throne ,
and the priests ,
and the prophets ,
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ,
with drunkenness .
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And I will dash them one against another ,
even the fathers and the sons together ,
saith the LORD :
I will not pity ,
nor spare ,
nor have mercy ,
but destroy them .
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Hear ye ,
and give ear ;
be not proud :
for the LORD hath spoken .
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Give glory to the LORD your God ,
before he cause darkness ,
and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains ,
and ,
while ye look for light ,
he turn it into the shadow of death ,
and make it gross darkness .
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But if ye will not hear it ,
my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride ;
and mine eye shall weep sore ,
and run down with tears ,
because the LORD '
S flock is carried away captive .
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Say unto the king and to the queen ,
Humble yourselves ,
sit down :
for your principalities shall come down ,
even the crown of your glory .
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The cities of the south shall be shut up ,
and none shall open them :
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it ,
it shall be wholly carried away captive .
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Lift up your eyes ,
and behold them that come from the north :
where is the flock that was given thee ,
thy beautiful flock ?
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What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee ?
for thou hast taught them to be captains ,
and as chief over thee :
shall not sorrows take thee ,
as a woman in travail ?
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And if thou say in thine heart ,
Wherefore come these things upon me ?
For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered ,
and thy heels made bare .
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Can the Ethiopian change his skin ,
or the leopard his spots ?
then may ye also do good ,
that are accustomed to do evil .
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Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness .
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This is thy lot ,
the portion of thy measures from me ,
saith the LORD ;
because thou hast forgotten me ,
and trusted in falsehood .
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Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face ,
that thy shame may appear .
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I have seen thine adulteries ,
and thy neighings ,
the lewdness of thy whoredom ,
and thine abominations on the hills in the fields .
Woe unto thee ,
O Jerusalem !
wilt thou not be made clean ?
when shall it once be ?
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The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth .