Jeremiah:14-17
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The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth .
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Judah mourneth ,
and the gates thereof languish ;
they are black unto the ground ;
and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up .
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And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters :
they came to the pits ,
and found no water ;
they returned with their vessels empty ;
they were ashamed and confounded ,
and covered their heads .
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Because the ground is chapt ,
for there was no rain in the earth ,
the plowmen were ashamed ,
they covered their heads .
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Yea ,
the hind also calved in the field ,
and forsook it ,
because there was no grass .
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And the wild asses did stand in the high places ,
they snuffed up the wind like dragons ;
their eyes did fail ,
because there was no grass .
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O LORD ,
though our iniquities testify against us ,
do thou it for thy name '
s sake :
for our backslidings are many ;
we have sinned against thee .
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O the hope of Israel ,
the saviour thereof in time of trouble ,
why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land ,
and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night ?
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Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied ,
as a mighty man that cannot save ?
yet thou ,
O LORD ,
art in the midst of us ,
and we are called by thy name ;
leave us not .
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Thus saith the LORD unto this people ,
Thus have they loved to wander ,
they have not refrained their feet ,
therefore the LORD doth not accept them ;
he will now remember their iniquity ,
and visit their sins .
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Then said the LORD unto me ,
Pray not for this people for their good .
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When they fast ,
I will not hear their cry ;
and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation ,
I will not accept them :
but I will consume them by the sword ,
and by the famine ,
and by the pestilence .
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Then said I ,
Ah ,
Lord GOD !
behold ,
the prophets say unto them ,
Ye shall not see the sword ,
neither shall ye have famine ;
but I will give you assured peace in this place .
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Then the LORD said unto me ,
The prophets prophesy lies in my name :
I sent them not ,
neither have I commanded them ,
neither spake unto them :
they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination ,
and a thing of nought ,
and the deceit of their heart .
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Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name ,
and I sent them not ,
yet they say ,
Sword and famine shall not be in this land ;
By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed .
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And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword ;
and they shall have none to bury them ,
them ,
their wives ,
nor their sons ,
nor their daughters :
for I will pour their wickedness upon them .
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Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them ;
Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day ,
and let them not cease :
for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach ,
with a very grievous blow .
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If I go forth into the field ,
then behold the slain with the sword !
and if I enter into the city ,
then behold them that are sick with famine !
yea ,
both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not .
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Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ?
hath thy soul lothed Zion ?
why hast thou smitten us ,
and there is no healing for us ?
we looked for peace ,
and there is no good ;
and for the time of healing ,
and behold trouble !
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We acknowledge ,
O LORD ,
our wickedness ,
and the iniquity of our fathers :
for we have sinned against thee .
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Do not abhor us ,
for thy name '
s sake ,
do not disgrace the throne of thy glory :
remember ,
break not thy covenant with us .
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Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain ?
or can the heavens give showers ?
art not thou he ,
O LORD our God ?
therefore we will wait upon thee :
for thou hast made all these things .
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Then said the LORD unto me ,
Though Moses and Samuel stood before me ,
yet my mind could not be toward this people :
cast them out of my sight ,
and let them go forth .
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And it shall come to pass ,
if they say unto thee ,
Whither shall we go forth ?
then thou shalt tell them ,
Thus saith the LORD ;
Such as are for death ,
to death ;
and such as are for the sword ,
to the sword ;
and such as are for the famine ,
to the famine ;
and such as are for the captivity ,
to the captivity .
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And I will appoint over them four kinds ,
saith the LORD :
the sword to slay ,
and the dogs to tear ,
and the fowls of the heaven ,
and the beasts of the earth ,
to devour and destroy .
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And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth ,
because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah ,
for that which he did in Jerusalem .
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For who shall have pity upon thee ,
O Jerusalem ?
or who shall bemoan thee ?
or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest ?
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Thou hast forsaken me ,
saith the LORD ,
thou art gone backward :
therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee ,
and destroy thee ;
I am weary with repenting .
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And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land ;
I will bereave them of children ,
I will destroy my people ,
since they return not from their ways .
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Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas :
I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday :
I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly ,
and terrors upon the city .
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She that hath borne seven languisheth :
she hath given up the ghost ;
her sun is gone down while it was yet day :
she hath been ashamed and confounded :
and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies ,
saith the LORD .
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Woe is me ,
my mother ,
that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth !
I have neither lent on usury ,
nor men have lent to me on usury ;
yet every one of them doth curse me .
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The LORD said ,
Verily it shall be well with thy remnant ;
verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction .
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Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel ?
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Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price ,
and that for all thy sins ,
even in all thy borders .
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And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not :
for a fire is kindled in mine anger ,
which shall burn upon you .
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O LORD ,
thou knowest :
remember me ,
and visit me ,
and revenge me of my persecutors ;
take me not away in thy longsuffering :
know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke .
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Thy words were found ,
and I did eat them ;
and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart :
for I am called by thy name ,
O LORD God of hosts .
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I sat not in the assembly of the mockers ,
nor rejoiced ;
I sat alone because of thy hand :
for thou hast filled me with indignation .
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Why is my pain perpetual ,
and my wound incurable ,
which refuseth to be healed ?
wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar ,
and as waters that fail ?
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Therefore thus saith the LORD ,
If thou return ,
then will I bring thee again ,
and thou shalt stand before me :
and if thou take forth the precious from the vile ,
thou shalt be as my mouth :
let them return unto thee ;
but return not thou unto them .
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And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall :
and they shall fight against thee ,
but they shall not prevail against thee :
for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee ,
saith the LORD .
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And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked ,
and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible .
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The word of the LORD came also unto me ,
saying ,
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Thou shalt not take thee a wife ,
neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place .
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For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place ,
and concerning their mothers that bare them ,
and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land ;
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They shall die of grievous deaths ;
they shall not be lamented ;
neither shall they be buried ;
but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth :
and they shall be consumed by the sword ,
and by famine ;
and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven ,
and for the beasts of the earth .
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For thus saith the LORD ,
Enter not into the house of mourning ,
neither go to lament nor bemoan them :
for I have taken away my peace from this people ,
saith the LORD ,
even lovingkindness and mercies .
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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 :
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Neither shall men tear themselves 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 .
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Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting ,
to sit with them to eat and to drink .
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For thus saith the LORD of hosts ,
the God of Israel ;
Behold ,
I will cause to cease out of this place in 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 .
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And it shall come to pass ,
when thou shalt shew 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 ?
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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 ;
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And ye have done worse than your fathers ;
for ,
behold ,
ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart ,
that they may not hearken unto me :
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Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not ,
neither ye nor your fathers ;
and there shall ye serve other gods day and night ;
where I will not shew you favour .
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Therefore ,
behold ,
the days come ,
saith the LORD ,
that it shall no more be said ,
The LORD liveth ,
that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ;
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But ,
The LORD liveth ,
that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north ,
and from all the lands whither he had driven them :
and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers .
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Behold ,
I will send for many fishers ,
saith the LORD ,
and they shall fish them ;
and after will I send for many hunters ,
and they shall hunt them from every mountain ,
and from every hill ,
and out of the holes of the rocks .
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For mine eyes are upon all their ways :
they are not hid from my face ,
neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes .
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And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double ;
because they have defiled my land ,
they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things .
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O LORD ,
my strength ,
and my fortress ,
and my refuge in the day of affliction ,
the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth ,
and shall say ,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies ,
vanity ,
and things wherein there is no profit .
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Shall a man make gods unto himself ,
and they are no gods ?
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Therefore ,
behold ,
I will this once cause them to know ,
I will cause them to know mine hand and my might ;
and they shall know that my name is The LORD .
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The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron ,
and with the point of a diamond :
it is graven upon the table of their heart ,
and upon the horns of your altars ;
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Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills .
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O my mountain in the field ,
I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil ,
and thy high places for sin ,
throughout all thy borders .
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And thou ,
even thyself ,
shalt discontinue from thine 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 mine anger ,
which shall burn for ever .
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Thus saith the LORD ;
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man ,
and maketh flesh his arm ,
and whose heart departeth from the LORD .
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For he shall be like the heath in the desert ,
and shall not see when good cometh ;
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness ,
in a salt land and not inhabited .
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Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD ,
and whose hope the LORD is .
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For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters ,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river ,
and shall not see when heat cometh ,
but her leaf shall be green ;
and shall not be careful in the year of drought ,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit .
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The heart is deceitful above all things ,
and desperately wicked :
who can know it ?
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I the LORD search the heart ,
I try the reins ,
even to give every man according to his ways ,
and according to the fruit of his doings .
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As the partridge sitteth on eggs ,
and hatcheth them not ;
so he that getteth riches ,
and not by right ,
shall leave them in the midst of his days ,
and at his end shall be a fool .
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A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary .
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O LORD ,
the hope of Israel ,
all that forsake thee shall be ashamed ,
and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth ,
because they have forsaken the LORD ,
the fountain of living waters .
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Heal me ,
O LORD ,
and I shall be healed ;
save me ,
and I shall be saved :
for thou art my praise .
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Behold ,
they say unto me ,
Where is the word of the LORD ?
let it come now .
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As for me ,
I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee :
neither have I desired the woeful day ;
thou knowest :
that which came out of my lips was right before thee .
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Be not a terror unto me :
thou art my hope in the day of evil .
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Let them be confounded that persecute me ,
but let not me be confounded :
let them be dismayed ,
but let not me be dismayed :
bring upon them the day of evil ,
and destroy them with double destruction .
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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 the which they go out ,
and in all the gates of Jerusalem ;
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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 :
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Thus saith the LORD ;
Take heed to yourselves ,
and bear no burden on the sabbath day ,
nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ;
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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 .
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But they obeyed not ,
neither inclined their ear ,
but made their neck stiff ,
that they might not hear ,
nor receive instruction .
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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 hallow the sabbath day ,
to do no work therein ;
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Then shall there enter into 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 remain for ever .
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And they shall come from the cities of Judah ,
and from the places about Jerusalem ,
and from the land of Benjamin ,
and from the plain ,
and from the mountains ,
and from the south ,
bringing burnt offerings ,
and sacrifices ,
and meat offerings ,
and incense ,
and bringing sacrifices of praise ,
unto the house of the LORD .
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But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day ,
and not to bear a burden ,
even entering 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 .
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The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD ,
saying ,