Jeremiah:17-20

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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 ; * Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills . * 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 . * 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 . * Thus saith the LORD ; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arm , and whose heart departeth from the LORD . * 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 . * Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD , and whose hope the LORD is . * 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 . * The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked : who can know it ? * 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 . * 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 . * A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary . * 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 . * Heal me , O LORD , and I shall be healed ; save me , and I shall be saved : for thou art my praise . * Behold , they say unto me , Where is the word of the LORD ? let it come now . * 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 . * Be not a terror unto me : thou art my hope in the day of evil . * 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 . * 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 ; * 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 : * 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 ; * 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 . * But they obeyed not , neither inclined their ear , but made their neck stiff , that they might not hear , nor receive instruction . * 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 ; * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying , * Arise , and go down to the potter 's house , and there I will cause thee to hear my words . * Then I went down to the potter 's house , and , behold , he wrought a work on the wheels . * And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter : so he made it again another vessel , as seemed good to the potter to make it . * Then the word of the LORD came to me , saying , * O house of Israel , cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the LORD . Behold , as the clay is in the potter 's hand , so are ye in mine hand , O house of Israel . * At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to pluck up , and to pull down , and to destroy it ; * If that nation , against whom I have pronounced , turn from their evil , I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them . * And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to build and to plant it ; * If it do evil in my sight , that it obey not my voice , then I will repent of the good , wherewith I said I would benefit them . * Now therefore go to , speak to the men of Judah , and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem , saying , Thus saith the LORD ; Behold , I frame evil against you , and devise a device against you : return ye now every one from his evil way , and make your ways and your doings good . * And they said , There is no hope : but we will walk after our own devices , and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart . * Therefore thus saith the LORD ; Ask ye now among the heathen , who hath heard such things : the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing . * Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken ? * Because my people hath forgotten me , they have burned incense to vanity , and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths , to walk in paths , in a way not cast up ; * To make their land desolate , and a perpetual hissing ; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished , and wag his head . * I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy ; I will shew them the back , and not the face , in the day of their calamity . * Then said they , Come , and let us devise devices against Jeremiah ; for the law shall not perish from the priest , nor counsel from the wise , nor the word from the prophet . Come , and let us smite him with the tongue , and let us not give heed to any of his words . * Give heed to me , O LORD , and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me . * Shall evil be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my soul . Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them , and to turn away thy wrath from them . * Therefore deliver up their children to the famine , and pour out their blood by the force of the sword ; and let their wives be bereaved of their children , and be widows ; and let their men be put to death ; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle . * Let a cry be heard from their houses , when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them : for they have digged a pit to take me , and hid snares for my feet . * Yet , LORD , thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me : forgive not their iniquity , neither blot out their sin from thy sight , but let them be overthrown before thee ; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger . * Thus saith the LORD , Go and get a potter 's earthen bottle , and take of the ancients of the people , and of the ancients of the priests ; * And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom , which is by the entry of the east gate , and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee , * And say , Hear ye the word of the LORD , O kings of Judah , and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Behold , I will bring evil upon this place , the which whosoever heareth , his ears shall tingle . * Because they have forsaken me , and have estranged this place , and have burned incense in it unto other gods , whom neither they nor their fathers have known , nor the kings of Judah , and have filled this place with the blood of innocents ; * They have built also the high places of Baal , to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal , which I commanded not , nor spake it , neither came it into my mind : * Therefore , behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that this place shall no more be called Tophet , nor The valley of the son of Hinnom , but The valley of slaughter . * And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies , and by the hands of them that seek their lives : and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven , and for the beasts of the earth . * And I will make this city desolate , and an hissing ; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof . * And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters , and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness , wherewith their enemies , and they that seek their lives , shall straiten them . * Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee , * And shalt say unto them , Thus saith the LORD of hosts ; Even so will I break this people and this city , as one breaketh a potter 's vessel , that cannot be made whole again : and they shall bury them in Tophet , till there be no place to bury . * Thus will I do unto this place , saith the LORD , and to the inhabitants thereof , and even make this city as Tophet : * And the houses of Jerusalem , and the houses of the kings of Judah , shall be defiled as the place of Tophet , because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven , and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods . * Then came Jeremiah from Tophet , whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of the LORD 'S house ; and said to all the people , * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Behold , I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it , because they have hardened their necks , that they might not hear my words . * Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest , who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD , heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things . * Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet , and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin , which was by the house of the LORD . * And it came to pass on the morrow , that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks . Then said Jeremiah unto him , The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur , but Magormissabib . * For thus saith the LORD , Behold , I will make thee a terror to thyself , and to all thy friends : and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies , and thine eyes shall behold it : and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall carry them captive into Babylon , and shall slay them with the sword . * Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city , and all the labours thereof , and all the precious things thereof , and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies , which shall spoil them , and take them , and carry them to Babylon . * And thou , Pashur , and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity : and thou shalt come to Babylon , and there thou shalt die , and shalt be buried there , thou , and all thy friends , to whom thou hast prophesied lies . * O LORD , thou hast deceived me , and I was deceived : thou art stronger than I , and hast prevailed : I am in derision daily , every one mocketh me . * For since I spake , I cried out , I cried violence and spoil ; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me , and a derision , daily . * Then I said , I will not make mention of him , nor speak any more in his name . But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones , and I was weary with forbearing , and I could not stay . * For I heard the defaming of many , fear on every side . Report , say they , and we will report it . All my familiars watched for my halting , saying , Peradventure he will be enticed , and we shall prevail against him , and we shall take our revenge on him . * But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one : therefore my persecutors shall stumble , and they shall not prevail : they shall be greatly ashamed ; for they shall not prosper : their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten . * But , O LORD of hosts , that triest the righteous , and seest the reins and the heart , let me see thy vengeance on them : for unto thee have I opened my cause . * Sing unto the LORD , praise ye the LORD : for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers . * Cursed be the day wherein I was born : let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed . * Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father , saying , A man child is born unto thee ; making him very glad . * And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew , and repented not : and let him hear the cry in the morning , and the shouting at noontide ; * Because he slew me not from the womb ; or that my mother might have been my grave , and her womb to be always great with me . * Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow , that my days should be consumed with shame ? * The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah , and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , saying ,

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