 Chapter 1-9 of the Book of Jeremiah from the Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapter 1-9 of the Book of Jeremiah from the Young's Literal Translation. Chapter 1 Words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, of the priests who are in Anaphoff, in the land of Benjamin, unto whom the word of Jehovah hath been in the days of Josiah, son of Ammon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And it is in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, till the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, till the removal of Jerusalem in the fifth month. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me saying, Before I form thee in the belly I have known thee, and before thou comest forth from the womb I have separated thee, a prophet to nations I have made thee. And I say, Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, I have not known, to speak, for I am a youth. And Jehovah sayeth unto me, Do not say I am a youth, for to all to whom I send thee thou goest, and all that I command thee, thou speakest. Be not afraid of their faces, for with thee am I to deliver thee an affirmation of Jehovah. And Jehovah puteth forth his hand, and strikeeth against my mouth. And Jehovah sayeth unto me, Lo, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have charged thee this day concerning the nations, and concerning the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me saying, What art thou seeing, Jeremiah? And I say, A rod of an almond tree I am seeing, and Jehovah sayeth unto me, Thou hast seen, for I am watching over my word to do it. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time saying, What art thou seeing? And I say, A blown pot I am seeing, and its face is from the north, and Jehovah sayeth unto me, From the north is the evil loosed against all inhabitants of the land. For lo, I am calling for all families of the kingdoms of the north, an affirmation of Jehovah. And they have come, and put each his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and by its walls round about, and by all cities of Judah. And I have spoken my judgments with them concerning all their evil, in that they have forsaken me, and make perfume to other gods, and bow themselves to the works of their own hands. And thou, thou dost gird up thy loins, and hast arisen, and spoken unto them all that I command thee, be not affrighted because of them, lest I affright thee before them. And I, lo, I have given thee this day for a fenced city, and for an iron pillar, and for brazen walls over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its heads, to its priests, and to the people of the land. And they have fought against thee, and they prevail not against thee, for with thee am I, an affirmation of Jehovah, to deliver thee. Chapter 2 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me saying, Go, and thou hast called in the ears of Jerusalem saying, Thus said Jehovah, I have remembered for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, thy going after me in a wilderness, in a land not sown. Holy is Israel to Jehovah, the first fruit of his increase. All consuming him are guilty, evil cometh in unto them, an affirmation of Jehovah. Hear a word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all ye families of the house of Israel. Thus said Jehovah, What? Have your fathers found in me perversity, that they have gone far off from me, and go after the vanity and become vain, and have not said, Where is Jehovah, who bringeth us up out of the land of Egypt, who leadeth us in a wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a dry land and of death shade, in a land none hath passed through it, nor dwelt half man there? Yea, I bring you into a land of fruitful fields, to eat its fruit and its goodness, and ye come in and defile my land, and mine inheritance hath made an abomination. The priests hath not said, Where is Jehovah, and those handling the law hath not known me, and the shepherds transgressed against me, and the prophets hath prophesied by Ba'al, and after those who prophet not have gone. Therefore yet I plead with you, an affirmation of Jehovah, and with your sons' sons I plead, for pass to the isles of Chittim and see, and to Qidar send, and consider well, and see if there hath been like this. Hath a nation changed gods, and they are no gods, and my people hath changed its honor for that which doth not profit. Be astonished ye heavens at this, yea, be frightened, be greatly wasted, an affirmation of Jehovah. For two evils hath my people done, me they have forsaken, a fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves wells, broken wells that contain not the waters. A servant is Israel? Is he a child of the house? Wherefore hath he been for a prey? Against him roar do young lions, they have given forth their voice, and make his land become a desolation, his cities have been burnt without inhabitant. Also, sons of Noth and Tahopanese, consume thee the crown of the head. Doth thou not do this to thyself? By thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, at the time he is leading thee in the way? And now, what, to thee in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? And what, to thee in the way of Ashur, to drink the waters of the river? Instruct thee, doth thy wickedness, and thy backslidings reprove thee. Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing is thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, and my fear not being on thee, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of hosts. For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, drawn away thy bands, and sayest, I do not serve. For on every high height, and under every green tree, thou art wandering a harlot. And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, and how hast thou been turned to me, to the degenerate shoots of a strange vine? But though thou dost wash with miter, and dost multiply to thyself soap, marked is thine iniquity before me, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. How sayest thou, I have not been defiled, after the Ba'alim I have not gone? See thy way in a valley, know what thou hast done, a swift dromedary winding her ways, a wild ass accustomed to a wilderness, in the desire of her soul she hath swallowed up wind, her meeting, who doth turn her back? None seeking her do weary themselves, in her month they find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst, and thou sayest, it is incurable, no, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go. As the shame of the thief when he has found, so put to shame have been the house of Israel, they, their kings, their heads, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to wood, my father art thou, and to a stone, thou hast brought me forth. For they turned unto me the back, and not the face, and in the time of their vexation they say, arise thou, and save us, and where are thy gods, that thou hast made to thyself? Let them arise, if they may save thee, in the time of thy vexation, for the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah. Why do ye strive with me? All of you have transgressed against me, an affirmation of Jehovah. In vain I have smitten your sons, instruction they have not accepted. Devoured have your swords, your prophets, as a destroying lion. Oh, generation, see ye the word of Jehovah! A wilderness have I been to Israel, a land of thick darkness? Wherefore have my people said, We mourned, we come not in again unto thee? Doth a virgin forget her ornaments, a bride her bands? And my people have forgotten me, days without number. What? Doth thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways. Also in thy skirts have been found the blood of innocent needy souls, not by digging have I found them, but upon all these. And thou sayest, Because I have been innocent, surely turned back hath his anger from me? Lo, I have been judged with thee, because of thy saying, I have not sinned. What? Thou art very vile to repeat thy way, even if Egypt thou art ashamed, as thou hast been ashamed of Ashur. Also from this thou goest out, and thy hands on thy head, for Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, and thou dost not give prosperity to them. Chapter 3 Saying, Lo, one sendeth away his wife, and she hath gone from him, and she hath been to another man. Doth he turn back unto her again? Greatly defiled is not that land? And thou hast committed whoredom with many lovers, and turn again to me an affirmation of Jehovah. Lift thine eyes to the high places and see, where hast thou not been lain with? On the ways thou hast sat for them, as an Arab in a wilderness, and thou defilest the land by thy fornications, and by thy wickedness. And withheld our showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, thou hast refused to be ashamed. Hast thou not henceforth called to me? My father, thou art the leader of my youth? Doth he keep to the age? Watch forever? Lo, these things thou hast spoken, and thou dost the evil things, and prevailest. And Jehovah sayeth unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and commiteth fornication there. And I say, after her doing all these, unto me thou dost turn back, and she hath not turned back, and see it doth her treacherous sister Judah. And I see when, for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce unto her, that treacherous Judah her sister hath not feared, and goeth and commiteth fornication she also. And it hath come to pass from the vileness of her fornication that the land is defiled, and she commiteth fornication with stone and with wood. And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned back unto me with all her heart, but with falsehood and affirmation of Jehovah. And Jehovah sayeth unto me, justified herself half backsliding Israel more than treacherous Judah. Go, and thou hast proclaimed these words toward the north, and hast said, Turn back, O backsliding Israel, and affirmation of Jehovah. I cause not mine anger to fall upon you, for I am kind and affirmation of Jehovah. I watch not to the age. Only know thine iniquity, for against Jehovah thy God thou hast transgressed, and thou dost scatter thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and to my voice thou hast not hearkened, Turn back, O backsliding sons, and affirmation of Jehovah, for I have ruled over you, and taken you one of a city and two of a family, and have brought you to Zion, and I have given to you shepherds according to mine own heart, and they have fed you with knowledge and understanding. And it hath come to pass when he are multiplied, and hath been fruitful in the land in those days and affirmation of Jehovah. They say not any more, the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, nor doth it go up on the heart, nor do they remember concerning it, nor do they inspect, nor is it made again. At that time they cried to Jerusalem, O throne of Jehovah, and gathered unto her hath been all the nations, for the name of Jehovah to Jerusalem, nor do they go any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days do the house of Jehovah go unto the house of Israel, and they come together from the land of the south, unto the land that I caused your fathers to inherit. And I have said, how do I put thee among the sons, and give to thee a desirable land, a beautyous inheritance of the hosts of nations? And I say, my father, you do call to me, and from after me you do not turn back. But a woman hath deceived her friend, so ye have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah. A voice on high places is heard, weeping, supplications of the sons of Israel, for they have made perverse their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God. Turn back, O backsliding sons, I cause your backsliding to cease. Behold us, we have come to thee, for thou art Jehovah our God, surely in vain from the heights, the multitude of mountains, surely in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel, and the shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flock and their herd, their sons and their daughters. We have lain down in our shame, and cover us doth our confusion, for against Jehovah our God we have sinned, we and our fathers from our youth, even unto this day, nor have we hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God. Chapter 4 If thou dost turn back, O Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah, unto me turn back, and if thou dost turn aside thine abominations from my face, then thou dost not bemoan, and thou hast sworn, Jehovah liveth in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, and blessed themselves in him have nations, and in him they boast themselves. For thus said Jehovah, to the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem, and to themselves tillage, and do not so unto the thorns, be circumcised to Jehovah, and turn aside the foreskins of your heart, O man of Judah, and he inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury go out as fire, and hath burned, and there is none quenching, because of the evil of your doings. Declare in Judah, and in Jerusalem sound, and say ye, blow a trumpet in the land, be gathered, and we go into the fenced city. Lift up an ensign Zion word, strengthen yourselves, stand not still, for evil I am bringing in from the north, and a great destruction. Gone up half a lion from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations half journeyed, he hath come forth from his place to make thy land become a desolation, thy cities are laid waste without inhabitant. For this, burdened on sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of Jehovah hath not turned back from us, and it hath come to pass in that day, an affirmation of Jehovah, perish doth the heart of the king, and the heart of the princes, and astonished have been the priests, and the prophets do wonder, and I say, ah, Lord Jehovah, surely thou hast entirely forgotten this people in Jerusalem saying, peace is for you, and hath a sword unto the soul. At that time it is said of this people and of Jerusalem, a dry wind of high places in the wilderness, the way of the daughter of my people, not for winnowing, nor for cleansing. A full wind from these doth come for me, now also I speak judgments with them. Low as clouds he cometh up, and as a hurricane his chariots, lighter than eagles have been his horses, flow to us, for we have been spoiled. Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved, till when dost thou lodge in thy heart thoughts of thy strength. For a voice is declaring from Dan, and sounding sorrow from Mount Ephraim. Make ye mention to the nations, low, sound ye to Jerusalem, besegers are coming from the land afar off, and they give forth against cities of Judah their voice. Keepers of a field they have been against her round about, for with me she hath been rebellious an affirmation of Jehovah. Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, this is thy vexation, for it is bitter, for it hath struck unto thy heart. My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at the walls of my heart. Make a noise for me doth my heart, I am not silent, for the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul, a shout of battle, destruction on destruction is proclaimed, for spoiled hath been all the land, suddenly spoiled hath been my tents, in a moment my curtains. Till when do I see an ensign, do I hear the voice of a trumpet? For my people are foolish, me they have not known, foolish sons are they, ye they are not intelligent, wise are they to do evil, and to do good they have not known. I looked to the land and lo, waste and void, and unto the heavens, and their light is not. I have looked to the mountains, and lo they are trembling, and all the hills moved themselves lightly. I have looked and lo, man is not, and all fowls of the heavens have fled. I have looked and lo, the fruitful place is a wilderness, and all its cities have been broken down because of Jehovah, because of his fierceness of his anger. For thus said Jehovah, all the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not. For this doth the land mourn, and black have been the heavens above, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not repented, nor do I turn back from it. From the voice of the horseman, and of him shooting with a bow, all the city is fleeing, they have come into thickets, and on cliffs they step. All the city is forsaken, and there is no one dwelling in them. And thou, O spoiled one, what dost thou? For thou putest on scarlet, for thou adornest thyself with ornaments of gold, for thou rendest with pain thine eyes. In vain thou dost make thyself fair, kicked against thee, have doting ones, thy life they do seek. For a voice as of a sick woman I have heard, distress as singing forth a firstborn, the voice of the daughter of Zion, she bewaileth herself, she spreadeth out her hands, woe to me now, for weary is my soul of slayers! Chapter 5 Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, and see I pray you, and know, and seek in her broad places, if ye find a man. If there be one doing judgment, seeking steadfastness, then am I propitious to her. And if they say, Jehovah liveth, surely to a falsehood they swear. Jehovah, thine eyes, are they not on steadfastness? Thou hast smitten them, and they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive instruction. They made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to turn back. And I, I said, surely these are poor, they have been foolish, for they have not known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. I get me to the great, and I speak with them, for they have known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. Surely they together have broken the yoke, they have drawn away the bands. Therefore, smitten them, have a lion out of the forest, a wolf of the desert stoff spoil them. A leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who is going out of them is torn, for many have been their transgressions, mighty men have been their backslidings. For this I am not propitious to thee. Thy sons have forsaken me, and are satisfied by that which is not God. I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, and at the house of a harlot they gather themselves together, fed horses. They have been early risers, each to the wife of his neighbor they nay. For these do I not lay at charge, an affirmation of Jehovah. And on a nation which is this, doth not my soul avenge itself? Go ye upon her walls, and destroy, and a completion make not. Turn aside her branches, for they are not Jehovah's. For dealt treacherously against me have the house of Israel and the house of Judah an affirmation of Jehovah. They have lied against Jehovah, and they say, it is not he, nor come in against us doth evil, yea, sword and famine we do not see, and the prophets come wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it is done by them. Therefore thus said Jehovah, God of hosts, because of your speaking this word lo, I am making my words in thy mouth become fire, and this people would, and it hath devoured them. Lo, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel an affirmation of Jehovah. A nation strong it is, a nation from of old it is, a nation thou knowest not its tongue, nor understandest what it speaketh. Its quiver is as an open sepulcher, all of them mighty ones, and it hath consumed thy harvest and thy bread. They consume thy sons and thy daughters, it consumeeth thy flock and thy herd, it consumeeth thy wine and thy fig tree, it maketh poor thy fenced cities, in which thou art trusting by the sword, and even in those days an affirmation of Jehovah I do not make you a completion. And it hath come to pass when ye say, for what hath Jehovah our God done to us all these, that thou hast said unto them, as ye have forsaken me, and serve the gods of a foreigner in your land so do ye serve strangers in a land not yours. Declare ye this in the house of Jacob and sound ye it in Judah, saying, hear ye, I pray you this, O people, foolish and without heart, eyes they have, and they see not, ears they have, and they hear not. Me do ye not fear an affirmation of Jehovah? For my presence are ye not pained? Who hath made sand the border of the sea, a limit age-during, and it passeth not over it? They shake themselves, and they are not able, yea, sound it have its bellows, and they pass not over. And this people hath turned and rebellious heart, they have turned aside, and they go on, and they have not said in their heart, let us fear we pray you Jehovah our God, who is giving reign, the sprinkling and the gathered in its season, the appointed weeks of harvest, he keepeth for us. Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept the good from you. For the wicked have been found among my people, it looketh about the trap, men they capture as a cage full of fowls, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have been great and are rich. They have been fat, they have shown, yea they have overpassed the acts of the evil, judgment they have not judged, the judgment of the fatherless, and they prosper, and the judgment of the needy they have not judged. For these do I not inspect, an affirmation of Jehovah, on a nation such as this, that hath not my soul avenge itself? An astonishing and horrible thing hath been in the land. The prophets have prophesied falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people have loved it so. And what do they at its latter end? Chapter 6. Strengthen yourselves, sons of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem, and in Tekoa blow ye a trumpet, and over Beth Hukrem lift ye up a flame, for evil hath been seen from the north, and great destruction. The comely and the delicate one I have cut off, the daughter of Zion. Unto her come do shepherds and their droves, they have stricken tents by her round about, they have fed each in his own station. Sanctify ye against her the battle, rise, and we go up at noon. Woe to us, for turned half the day, for stretched out are the shades of evening. Rise, and we go up by night, and destroy her palaces. For thus said Jehovah of hosts, cut down her wood, and pour out against Jerusalem a mount. She is the city to be inspected holy. She is oppression in her midst, as the digging of a well is for its waters. So she hath digged for her wickedness. Violence and spoil is heard in her, before my face continually are sickness and smiting. Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest I soul be alienated from thee, lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited. Thus said Jehovah of hosts, they surely glean as a vine the remnant of Israel, put back thy hand as a gatherer to the baskets. To whom do I speak, and testify, and they hear? Low, their ear is uncircumcised, and they are not able to attend. Low, a word of Jehovah have been to them for a reproach, and a light not in it. And with the fury of Jehovah I have been filled, I have been weary of containing, to pour it on the suckling in the street and on the assembly of youths together, for even husband with wife are captured, and elder with one full of days, and their houses have been turned to others, fields and wives together, for I stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, an affirmation at least unto their greatest, everyone is gaining dishonest gain and from profit even unto priest, everyone is dealing falsely, and they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, saying peace, peace, and there is no peace. They were ashamed when they did abomination, yay, they are not at all ashamed, yay, blushing they have not known, therefore they do fall among those falling, in the time when they suspected them, they stumble, said Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah, stand ye by the ways and see, and ask for paths of old, where is this, the good way, and go ye in it, and find rest for yourselves, and they say we do not go, and I have raised up for you, watch men, attend ye to the voice of the trumpet, and they say we do not attend, therefore hear, O nations, and know company, that which is upon them. Hear, O earth, lo, I am bringing evil on this people, the fruit of their devices, for to my words they gave no attention, and my law, they kick against it. Why is this to me, frankincense from sheba cometh, and the sweet cane from a land afar off, your burnt offerings are not for acceptance, and your sacrifices have not been sweet to me. Therefore thus said Jehovah, lo, I do give to this people stumbling blocks, and stumbled against them have fathers and sons together, the neighbor and his friend do perish. Thus said Jehovah, lo, a people have come from a north country, and a great nation is stirred up from the sides of the earth. Bow and javelin they take hold of, fiercities, and they have no mercy, their voice as a sea doth sound, and on horses they ride, set in array of war against thee, O daughter of Zion. We have heard it sound, feeble have been our hands, distress have seized us, pain as of a travailing woman. Go not forth to the field, and in the way walk not, for a sword hath the enemy, fear is round about. O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes, the mourning of an only one make for a lamentation most bitter, for suddenly come doth the spoiler against us. A watchtower I have given thee, among my people a fortress, and thou knowest, and hast tried their way. All of them are turned aside by apostates, walking slanderously, brass and iron, all of them are corruptors. The bellows have been burnt, by fire hath the lead been consumed, in vain hath a refiner refined, and the wicked have not been drawn away. Silver rejected, they have called to them, for Jehovah hath kicked against them. Chapter 7 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah saying, stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and thou hast proclaimed there this word, and hast said, hear a word of Jehovah all ye of Judah, who are coming in at these gates to bow before Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and I cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust for yourselves unto the words of falsehood saying, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are they. For if ye do thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye do judgment thoroughly between a man and his neighbor, sojourner, fatherless, and widow ye oppress not, and innocent blood do not shed in this place, and after other gods do not walk for evil to yourselves, then I have caused you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from age even unto age. Low ye are trusting for yourselves on the words of falsehood, so as not to profit, stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, and swearing to falsehood, and giving perfume to Baal and going after other gods, whom ye knew not. And ye have come in and stood before me in this house on which my name is called and have said, we have been delivered in order to do all these abominations. A den of burglars hath this house on which my name is called been in your eyes, even I low, I have seen an affirmation of Jehovah. But go ye, I pray you, unto my place that is in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at first, and see that which I have done to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because of your doing all these works, an affirmation of Jehovah, and I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened, and I call you, and ye have not answered. I also to the house on which my name is called, in which ye are trusting and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers have done as I have done to Shiloh. And I have cast you from before my face, as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. And thou dost not pray for this people, nor lift up for them crying in prayer, nor intercede with me, for I hear thee not. Art thou not seeing what they are doing in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem? The sons are gathering wood, and the fathers are causing the fire to burn, and the women are needing dough to make cakes to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out vibrations to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger. Me are they provoking to anger? An affirmation of Jehovah. Is it not themselves, for the shame of their own faces? Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, lo, my anger and my furious poured out on this place, on man and beast, and on tree of the field, and on fruit of the ground, and it hath burned, and it is not quenched. Thus said Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, your burnt offerings add to your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh, for I did not speak with your fathers, nor did I command them in the day of my bringing them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt offering and sacrifice. But this thing I commanded them, saying, hearken to my voice, and I have been to you for God, and ye ye are to me for a people, and have walked in all the way that I command you, so that it is well and they have not harkened, nor inclined their ear, and they walk in the councils in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and are for backward and not for forward. Even from the day when your fathers went out of the land of Egypt till this day, I send to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending, and they have not harkened unto me, nor inclined their ear, and hardened their neck, they have done evil above their fathers, and thou hast spoken unto them all these words, and they do not harken to thee, and thou hast called unto them, and they do not answer thee, and thou hast said unto them, this is the nation that hath not harkened to the voice of Jehovah its God, nor have they accepted instruction, perished hath steadfastness, yea, it hath been cut off from their mouth, cut off thy crown and cast it away, and lift up on high places of temptation, for Jehovah hath rejected, and he leaveth the generation of his wrath, for the sons of Judah have done the evil thing in my eyes, an affirmation of Jehovah, they have set their abominations in the house on which my name is called, to defile it, and have built the high places of Tophet, that are in the valley of the son of Hennom, to burn their sons and their daughters with fire, which I did not command, nor did it come up on my heart. Before low days are coming an affirmation of Jehovah, and it is not said anymore, the Tophet and valley of the son of Hennom, but valley of the slaughter, and they have buried in Tophet without place, and the carcass of this people hath been for food to a fowl of the heavens, and to a beast of the earth, and there is none troubling, and I have caused to cease from cities of Judah, and from streets of Jerusalem, and from cities of joy, and the voice of gladness, voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, for the land of become a desolation. Chapter 8 At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, they bring the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves, and have spread them to sun and to moon, and to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, and that they have served, and that they have walked after, and that they have sought, and to which they have bowed themselves, they are not gathered nor buried, they are fordung on the face of the ground, and chosen is death rather than life by all the remnant who are left of this evil family, in all the remaining places wither I have driven them, an affirmation of Jehovah of hosts, and thou hast said unto them, thus said Jehovah, do they fall and not rise? Doth he turn back and not return? Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem turned back, a perpetual backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, they have refused to turn back. I have given attention, yea, I hearken, they do not speak right, no man hath repented of his wickedness and done. Everyone hath turned to his courses as a horse is rushing into battle. Even a stork in the heavens hath known her seasons, and turtle and swallow and crane have watched the time of their coming, and my people have not known the judgment of Jehovah. How do ye say, we are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? Surely lo, falsely it hath wrought, the false pen of Jehovah, ashamed have been the wise, they have been affrighted and are captured, lo, against a word of Jehovah they kicked, and the wisdom of what have they? Therefore I give their wives to others, their fields to dispossessors, for from the least even unto the greatest everyone is gaining dishonest gain, from profit even unto priest, everyone is dealing falsely. And they heal the breach of the daughter people slightly, saying peace, peace, and there is no peace. They were ashamed when they did abomination, yay, they are not at all ashamed, and blushing they have not known. Therefore they do fall among falling ones, in the time of their inspection they stumble, said Jehovah. I utterly consume them, an affirmation of Jehovah. There are no grapes in the vine, yay, there are no figs in the tree, and the leaf have faded, and the strength they have passeth from them. Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go into the fenced cities, and we are silent there, for Jehovah our God hath made us silent, yay he causeth us to drink water of gall, for we have sinned against Jehovah. Looking for peace, and there is no good, for a time of healing and lo, terror. From Dan hath been heard the snorting of his horses, from the voice of the naeings of his mighty ones, trembled half all the land, and they come in and consume the land and its fullness, the city and the inhabitants in it. For lo, I am sending among you serpents, vipers that have no charmer, and they have bitten you, an affirmation of Jehovah. My refreshing for me is sorrow, for me my heart is sick, lo, the voice of a cry of the daughter of my people, from a land afar off. Is Jehovah not in Zion? Is her king not in her? Wherefore have they provoked me with their graven images, with the vanities of a foreigner? Harvest hath passed, summer hath ended, and we, we have not been saved. For a breach of the daughter of my people have I been broken, I have been black, astonishment appeased me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician here? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up? Chapter 9 Houdoth make my head waters and mine eye a fountain of tears, and I weep by day and by night for the wounded of the daughter of my people. Houdoth give me in a wilderness, a lodging place of travelers, and I leave my people and go from where all of them are adulterers and assembly of treacherous ones and they bend their tongue, their bow is a lie, and not for steadfastness have they been mighty in the land, for from evil unto evil they have gone forth, and me they have not known an affirmation of Jehovah. Each of his friend beware ye, and on any brother do not trust for every brother doth utterly supplant, for every friend slanderously doth walk, and each at his friend they mock and truth they do not speak. They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, to commit iniquity they have labored. Thy dwelling is in the midst of deceit through deceit they refused to know me, an affirmation of Jehovah. Therefore, thus said Jehovah of hosts, Lo, I am refining them and have tried them, for how do I do because of the daughter of my people? A slaughtering arrow is their tongue, deceit it hath spoken in its mouth, peace with its neighbor its speaketh, and in its heart it layeth its ambush. For these things do I not see after them, an affirmation of Jehovah against a nation such as this doth not my soul avenge itself? For the mountains I lift up, weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, for they have been burnt up without passing over, nor have they heard the voice of cattle from the fowl of the heavens unto the beast they have fled, they have gone, and I make Jerusalem become heaps, a habitation of dragons and the cities of Judah I make a desolation without inhabitant. Who is the wise man, and he understandeth this, and he to whom the mouth of Jehovah spake, and he doth declare it? For what hath the land perished? It hath been burnt up as a wilderness without any passing through, and Jehovah sayeth, because of their forsaking my law that I set before them, and they have not hearkened to my voice, nor walked in it, and they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baalim that their fathers taught them. Therefore, thus said Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, lo, I am causing them, this people, to eat and I have caused them to drink water of Gaul, and I have scattered them among nations which they knew not, they and their fathers, and have sent after them the sword, till I have consumed them. Thus said Jehovah of hosts, consider ye, and call for mourning women, and they come, and to the wise women send, and they come, and they hasten, and lift up for us a wailing, and run down our eyes do waters flow. For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, how have we been spoiled? We have been greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our tabernacles. But here ye women, a word of Jehovah, and your ear receiveeth a word of his mouth, and teach ye your daughters wailing, and each her neighbor lamentation. For death hath come up into our windows, it hath come into our palaces, to cut off the suckling from without young men from the broad places, speak thus an affirmation of Jehovah, and fallen hath the carcass of man as dung on the face of the field, and as a handful after the reaper, and there is none gathering. Thus said Jehovah, let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, let the mighty boast himself in his might, let not the rich boast himself in his riches, but in this let the boaster boast himself in understanding and knowing me, for I am Jehovah doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I have delighted an affirmation of Jehovah. Low days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, and I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin on Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, and on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, and on all cutting the corner of the beard, who are dwelling in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. The end of chapters one through nine of the book of Jeremiah from the young's literal translation of the Bible. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapters ten through twenty of the book of Jeremiah from the young's literal translation of the Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapters ten through twenty of the book of Jeremiah from the young's literal translation. Chapter ten. Hear ye the word, O house of Israel, that Jehovah hath spoken for you. Thus said Jehovah, unto the way of the nations, accustom not yourselves, and by the signs of the heavens be not affrighted, for the nations are affrighted by them. For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, for a tree from a forest hath one cut, work of the hands of an artificer with an axe, with silver and with gold they with nails and with hammers they fix it, and it doth not stumble. As a palm they are stiff, and they speak not, they are surely born, for they step not, be not affrighted of them, for they do no evil, yea, also to do good is not in them. Because there is none like thee, O Jehovah, great art thou, and great thy name in might. Who doth not fear thee king of the nations? For to thee it is becoming, for all the wise of the nations, and in all their kingdom there is none like thee. And in one they are brutish and foolish, and instruction of vanities is the tree itself. Spread out silver from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uthaz, work of an artisan, and of the hands of a refiner, blue and purple is their clothing, work of the skillful, all of them. And Jehovah is a God of truth, he is a living God, and king aged during. From his wrath, shake doth the earth, and nations endure not his indignation. Thus do ye say to them, the gods who the heavens and the earth have not made, they do perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. The maker of the earth by his power, the establisher of the world by his wisdom, who by his understanding stretched forth the heavens. At the voice he giveth forth, a multitude of waters is in the heavens, and he causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, lightnings for rain he hath made, and bringeth out wind from his treasures. Brutish is every man by knowledge, put to shame is every refiner by a graven image, for false is his molten image, and there is no breath in them. Vanity are they, work of erring ones, in the time of their inspection they perish. Not like these is the portion of Jacob, for framer of all things is he, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance, Jehovah of hosts is his name. Gather from the land thy merchandise, O dweller in the bulwark, for thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and have been an adversary to them, so that they are found out. Woe to me for my breaking, grievous have been my smiting, and I said only this is my sickness, and I bear it. My tent hath been spoiled, and all my cords have been broken, my sons have gone out from me, and they are not. There is none stretching out any more my tent, and raising up my curtains, for the shepherds have become Brutish, and Jehovah they have not sought, therefore they have not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered. A voice of a report, Lo, it hath even a great shaking from the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a habitation of dragons. I have known, O Jehovah, that not of man is his way, not of man the going and establishing of his step. Chastise me, O Jehovah, only in judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou make me small. Pour out thy fury on the nations that have not known thee, and on the families that have not called in thy name, for they have eaten up Jacob. Yay, they have eaten him up. Yay, they consume him, and his habitation they have made desolate. Chapter 11 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying Hear ye the words of this covenant, and ye have spoken unto the men of Judah, and unto the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou hast said unto them, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Cursed is the man who doth not obey the words of this covenant, that I commanded your fathers in the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace saying, hearken to my voice, and ye have done them, according to all that I command you, and ye have been to me for a people, and I am to you for God, in order to establish the oath that I have sworn to your fathers, to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey as this day, and I answer and say, amen Jehovah, and Jehovah sayeth 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 ye have done them, for I certainly testified against your fathers in the day of my bringing them up out of the land of Egypt, till this day, rising early and testifying, saying, hearken to my voice, and they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, and they walk each in the wilderness of their evil heart, and I bring on them all the words of this covenant that I commanded to do, and they did not, and Jehovah sayeth unto me, a conspiracy is found in the men of Judah, and in the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned back to the iniquities of their first fathers, who refused to hear my words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them, the house of Israel and the house of Judah have made void my covenant with their fathers. Therefore thus said Jehovah, lo, I am bringing in unto them evil, that they are not able to go out from, and they have cried unto me, and I do not hearken unto them, and the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem have gone, and they have cried unto the gods, to whom they are making perfume, and they give no deliverance at all to them in the time of their vexation. For the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem, ye have placed altars to a shameful thing, altars to make perfume to bawl, and thou, thou dost not pray for this people, nor dost thou lift up for them cry and prayer, for I do not hearken in the time of their calling unto me for their vexation. What, to my beloved in my house, her doing wickedness with many, and the holy flesh do pass over thee? When thou dost evil, then thou exaltest, and olive green, fair of goodly fruit hath Jehovah called thy name at the noise of a great tumult, he hath kindled fire against it, and broken hath been its thin branches, and Jehovah of hosts who is planting thee hath spoken evil concerning thee for the evil of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah that they have done to themselves to provoke me to anger, to make perfume to bawl, and O Jehovah, cause me to know and I know, then thou hast showed me their doings, and I am as a trained lamb brought to slaughter, and I have not known that against me they have devised devices. We destroy the tree with its food, and cut him off from the land of the living, and his name is not remembered again. And O Jehovah of hosts judging righteousness, trying reigns and heart, I do see vengeance against them, for unto thee I have revealed my cause. Therefore thus said Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth who are seeking thy life saying do not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, and thou dost not die by our hands. Therefore thus said Jehovah of hosts lo, I am seeing after them the chosen ones die by sword, their sons and their daughters die by famine, and they have no remnant, for I bring evil unto the men of Anathoth, the year of their inspection. Chapter 12 Righteous art thou O Jehovah when I plead towards thee only judgments do I speak with thee wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper, and rest have been all treacherous dealers. Thou hast planted them, yea they have taken root, they go on yea they have made fruit near art thou in their mouth, and far off from their reins. And thou O Jehovah, thou hast known me, thou seeest me, and hast tried my heart with thee, draw them away as sheep to slaughter and separate them for a day of slaughter. Tell when doth the earth mourn and the herb of the whole field wither for the wickedness of those dwelling in it consumed have been beast and fowl, because they said he doth not see our latter end for with footmen thou hast run, and they weary thee and how dost thou fret thyself with horses even in the land of peace in which thou art confident and how dost thou in the rising of Jordan for even thy brethren and the house of thy father even they dealt treacherously against thee even they, they called after thee fully trust not in them when they speak to thee good things. I have forsaken my house, I have left mine inheritance, I have given the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies mine inheritance have been to me as a lion in a forest she gave forth against me with her voice therefore I have hated her a speckled fowl is mine inheritance to me, is the fowl round about against her? come, assemble every beast of the field come ye for food many shepherds did destroy my vineyard they have trodden down my portion they have made my desirable portion become a wilderness, a desolation he have made it become a desolation the desolation have mourned unto me desolated have been all the land but there is no one laying it to heart on all high places in the plain have spoilers come in for the sword of Jehovah is consuming from the end of the land even unto the end of the land there is no peace to any flesh they sowed wheat and have thorns reaped they have become sick they profit not and they have been ashamed of your increases because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbors who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people Israel to inherit though I am plucking them from off their ground and the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst and it have been after my plucking them out I turn back and have pitied them and I have brought them back from the inheritance and each to his land and it have come to pass if they learn well the ways of my people to swear by my name Jehovah liveeth as they taught my people to swear by Baal then they have been built up in the midst of my people and if they do not hearken then I have plucked up that nation plucking up and destroying an affirmation of Jehovah Chapter 13 said Jehovah unto me go and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen and hast placed it on thy loins and into water thou dost not cause it to enter and I get the girdle according to the word of Jehovah and I place it on my loins and there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time saying take the girdle that thou hast got that is on thy loins and rise go to freight and hide it there in a hole of the rock and I go and hide it by freight as Jehovah commanded me and it cometh to pass at the end of many days that Jehovah sayeth unto me rise go to freight and take thence the girdle that I commanded thee to hide there and I go to freight and dig and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it and lo the girdle hath been marred it is not profitable for anything and there is a word of Jehovah unto me saying thus said Jehovah thus do I mar the excellency of Judah and the great excellency of Jerusalem this evil people who refuse to hear my words who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and go after other gods to serve them and to bow themselves to them yay it is as this girdle that is not profitable for anything for as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man so I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah and affirmation of Jehovah to be to me for a people and for a name and for praise and for beauty and they have not hearkened and thou hast said unto them this word thus said Jehovah, God of Israel every bottle is full of wine and they have said unto thee do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine and thou hast said unto them thus said Jehovah lo I am filling all the inhabitants of this land and the kings who sit for David on his throne and the priests and the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness and have dashed them against one another and the fathers and the sons together and affirmation of Jehovah I do not pity nor spare nor have I mercy so as not to destroy them hear and give ear be not haughty for Jehovah have spoken give ye to Jehovah your God honor before he doth cause darkness and before your feet stumble on dark mountains and he hath waited for light and he hath made it for death shade and hath appointed it for thick darkness and if ye do not hear it in secret places doth my soul weep because of pride, yea it weepeth sore and the tear cometh down mine eyes for the flock of Jehovah have been taken captive say to the king and to the mistress make yourselves low sit still for come down have your principalities the crown of your beauty the cities of the south have been shut up and there is none opening Judah hath been removed all of her she hath been removed completely lift up your eyes and see those coming in from the north where is the drove given to thee thy beautiful flock what dost thou say when he looketh over thee and thou thou hast taught them to be over thee leaders for head do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman and when thou dost say in thy heart wherefore have these met me for the abundance of thine iniquity have thy skirts been uncovered have thy heels suffered violence doth a kushite change his skin and a leopard his spots ye also are able to do good who are accustomed to do evil and I scatter them as stubble passing away by a wind of the wilderness this is thy lot the portion of thy measures from me an affirmation of Jehovah because thou hast forgotten me and dost trust in falsehood I also hath made bare thy skirts before thy face and thy shame hath been seen thine adulteries and thy name's the wickedness of thy hordom on heights in a field I have seen thine abominations woe to thee O Jerusalem thou art not cleansed after when is it again Chapter 14 that which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths mourned hath Judah and her gates hath languished they have mourned to the earth and the cry of Jerusalem hath gone up and their honorable ones have sent their little ones to the water they have come unto us they have not found water they have turned back their vessels empty they have been ashamed and have blushed and covered their head because the ground hath been broken for there hath been no rain in the land ashamed have been husband men they have covered their head for even the hind in the field hath brought forth to forsake it for there hath been no grass and wild asses have stood on high places followed up wind like dragons consumed hath been their eyes for there is no herb surely our iniquities hath testified against us O Jehovah work for thy namesake for many hath been our backslidings against thee we have sinned O hope of Israel it's savior in time of trouble why art thou as a sojourner in the land and as a traveler turned aside to lodge why art thou as one dumb as a mighty one is able to save and thou art in our midst O Jehovah and thy name over us is called leave us not thus said Jehovah concerning this people well they have loved to wander their feet they have not restrained and Jehovah hath not accepted them now doth he remember their iniquity and inspect their sin and Jehovah sayeth unto me thou dost not pray for this people for good when they hast I harken not unto their cry and when they cause to ascend burnt offering and present I accept them not for by sword and by famine and by pestilence I am consuming them and I say ah Lord Jehovah no the prophets are saying to them ye do not see a sword ye famine is not to you for true peace I give to you in this place and Jehovah sayeth unto me falsehood prophets are prophesying in my name I did not send them nor command them nor have I spoken unto them a false vision and divination and vanity and the deceit of their own heart they are prophesying to you therefore thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name and I have not sent them and they are saying sword and famine is not in this land by sword and by famine are these prophets consumed and the people to whom they are prophesying are cast into outplaces of Jerusalem because of the famine and of the sword and they have none burying them them their wives and their sons and their daughters and I have poured out upon them this evil and thou hast said unto them this word tears come down my eyes night and day and they do not cease for with a great breach broken have been the virgin daughter of my people very grievous stroke if I have gone forth to the field then low the pierced of the sword and if I have entered the city then low the diseased of famine for both prophet and priest have gone up and down unto a land that they knew not hast thou utterly rejected Judah Zion hath thy soul loathed wherefore hast thou smitten us and there is no healing to us looking for peace and there is no good and for a time of healing and lo terror we have known O Jehovah our wickedness the iniquity of our fathers for we have sinned against thee do not despise for thy namesake dishonor not the throne of thine honor remember bright not thy covenant with us are there among the vanities of the nations any causing rain and do the heavens give showers art not thou he O Jehovah our God wait for thee for thou thou hast done all these Chapter 15 and Jehovah saith unto me though Moses and Samuel should stand before me my soul is not toward this people sinned from before my face and they go out and it hath come to pass when they say to the whither do we go out that thou hast said unto them thus said Jehovah those who are for death to death and those who are for the sword to the sword and those who are for famine to famine and those who are for captivity to captivity and I have appointed over them four kinds and affirmation of Jehovah the sword to slay and the dogs to drag and the foul of the heavens and the beast of the earth to consume and to devour and I have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah for that which he did in Jerusalem for who hath pity on the O Jerusalem and who doth be moaned for thee and who turneth aside to ask of thy welfare thou hast left me and affirmation of Jehovah backward thou goest and I stretch out my hand against thee and I destroy thee I have been weary of repenting and I scatter them with a fan I bereaved I have destroyed my people from their ways they turned not back its widows have been more to me than the sand of the seas I brought into them against the mother a young man a spoiler at noon I caused to fall upon her suddenly wrath and trouble languished half the bearer of seven she hath breathed out her spirit gone in hath her son while yet day it hath been ashamed and their residue to the sword I give up before their enemies and affirmation of Jehovah woe to me my mother for thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land I have not lent on usury nor have they lent on usury to me all of them are reviling me Jehovah said did I not direct thee for good did I not intercede for thee in a time of evil and in a time of adversity with me doth one break iron northern iron and brass thy strength and thy treasures for a prey I do give not for price even for all thy sins and in all thy borders and I have caused thine enemies to pass over into the land thou hast not known for a fire hath been kindled in my anger against you it doth burn thou hast known oh Jehovah remember me and inspect me and take vengeance for me of my pursuers in thy longsuffering take me not away no I have borne for thee reproach thy words hath been found and I eat them and thy word is to me for a joy and for the rejoicing of my heart for thy name is called on me oh Jehovah God of hosts I have not sat in an assembly of deriders nor do I exult because of thy hand alone I have sat for with indignation thou hast filled me why hath my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable it hath refused to be healed thou art surely to me as a failing stream waters not steadfast therefore thus said Jehovah if thou turnest back then I bring thee back before me thou dost stand and if thou bringest out the precious from the vile as my mouth thou art they turn back unto thee and thou dost not turn back unto them and I have made thee to this people for a wall brazen fenced and they have fought against thee and they do not prevail against thee for with thee am I to save thee and to deliver thee an affirmation of Jehovah and I have delivered thee from the hand of evildoers and I have ransomed thee from the hand of the terrible Chapter 16 and there is a word of Jehovah unto me saying thou dost not take to thee a wife nor hast thou sons and daughters in this place for thus said Jehovah of the sons and of the daughters who are born in this place and of their mothers those bearing them and of their fathers those begetting them in this land of painful deaths they die they are not lamented nor are they buried for dung on the face of the ground they are eaten by famine are consumed and their carcass have been for food to the fowl of the heavens and to the beast of the earth for thus said Jehovah do not enter the house of a morning feast nor go to lament nor bemoan for them for I have removed my peace from this people an affirmation of Jehovah the kindness and the mercies and died have great and small in this land they are not buried and none lament for them nor have any cut himself nor become bald for them nor do they deal out to them for morning to comfort him concerning the dead nor cause them to drink a cup of consolations for his father and for his mother a house of banqueting thou dost not enter to sit with them to eat and to drink for thus said Jehovah of hosts God of Israel lo I am causing to cease from this place before your eyes and in your days the voice of joy and the voice of rejoicing the voice of bridegroom and voice of bride and it have come to pass when thou declare us to this people all these words and they have said unto thee for what hath Jehovah spoken against us all this great evil what is our iniquity and what our sin that we have sinned against Jehovah our God then thou hast said unto them because that your fathers have forsaken me an affirmation of Jehovah and go after other gods and serve them and they bow themselves to them and me have forsaken and my law not kept ye also have done evil above your fathers and lo, ye are walking each after the stubbornness of his evil heart so as not to hearken unto me and I have cast you from off this land unto a land that ye have not known ye and your fathers and ye have served their other gods and do not give to you grace therefore, lo, days are coming an affirmation of Jehovah and it is not said anymore Jehovah liveth who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt but Jehovah liveth who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands wither he drove them and I have brought them back to their land that I gave to their fathers lo, I am sending for many fishers and affirmation of Jehovah and they have fished them and after this I send for many hunters and they have hunted them from off every mountain and from off every hill and from holes of the rocks for mine eyes are upon all their ways they have not been hidden from my face nor have their iniquity been concealed from before mine eyes and I have recompensed a first a second time their iniquity and their sin because of their polluting my land with a carcass of their detestable things yea, their abominable things have filled mine inheritance oh Jehovah my strength and my fortress and my refuge in a day of adversity unto thee nations do come from the ends of earth and say only falsehood did our fathers inherit vanity and none among them is profitable doth man make for himself gods and they know gods therefore lo, I am causing to know at this time I cause them to know my hand and my might and they have known that my name is Jehovah Chapter 17 the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron with the point of a diamond graven on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of your altars as their sons remember their altars and their shrines by the green tree by the high hills oh my mountain in the field my strength all thy treasures for a prey I give thy high places for sin in all thy borders and thou hast let go even through thyself of thine inheritance that I gave to thee and I have caused thee to serve thine enemies in a land that thou hast not known for a fire ye have kindled in mine anger unto the age it doth burn thus said Jehovah cursed is the man who doth trust in man and have made flesh his arm his heart turneth and he hath been as a naked thing in a desert and doth not see when good cometh and hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness a salt land and not inhabited blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah and whose confidence hath been Jehovah and hath been as a tree planted by waters and by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots and he doth not see when he'd cometh and his leaf hath been green and in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful nor doth he cease from making fruit crooked is the heart above all things and it is incurable who doth know it I Jehovah do search the heart try the reigns even to give to each according to his way according to the fruit of his doings a partridge hatching and not bringing forth is one making wealth and not by right in the midst of his days he doth forsake it and in his letter and he is a fool a throne of honor on high from the beginning the place of our sanctuary the hope of Israel is Jehovah all forsaking thee are ashamed and my apostates in the earth are written for they have forsaken Jehovah a fountain of living waters heal me of Jehovah and I am healed save me and I am saved for my praise art thou lo they are saying unto me the word of Jehovah pray let it come and I hasten not from feeding after thee and the desperate day I have not desired thou thou hast known the produce of my lips before thy face it have been be not thou to me for a terror my hope art thou in a day of evil let my pursuers be ashamed and let not me be ashamed me let them be affrighted and let not me be affrighted me bring in on them a day of evil and a second time with destruction destroy them thus said Jehovah unto me go and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people by which kings of Judah come in and by which they go out and in all gates of Jerusalem and thou hast said unto them hear a word of Jehovah ye kings of Judah and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who are coming in by these gates do yourselves and ye bear not a burden on the day of rest nor have ye brought it in by the gates of Jerusalem nor do ye take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest ye any work ye do not do and ye have sanctified the day of rest as I have commanded your fathers and they have not harkened nor inclined their ear and they stiffen their neck not to hear and not to receive instruction and it have been if ye certainly unto me an affirmation of Jehovah so as not to bring in a burden by the gates of this city on the day of rest and to sanctify the day of rest so as not to do in it any work then entered by the gates of this city have kings and princes sitting on the throne of David writing in a chariot and on horses they and their princes the man of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and this city hath remained to the age when they have come in from cities of Judah and from suburbs of Jerusalem and from the land of Benjamin and from the low country and from the hill country and from the south bringing in burnt offering and sacrifice and present and frankincense and bringing praise to the house of Jehovah and if ye do not harken unto me to sanctify the day of rest and so as not to bear a burden and to come in at the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest and it hath kindled a fire in its gates and it hath consumed the high places of Jerusalem and it is not quenched Chapter 18 the word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah saying rise and thou hast gone to the potter's house and there I cause thee to hear my words and I go down to the potter's house and lo he is doing a work on the stones and Mard is the vessel that he is making as clay in the hand of the potter and he hath turned and he maketh it another vessel as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make and there is a word of Jehovah to me saying as this potter am I not able to do to you oh house of Israel and affirmation of Jehovah lo as clay in the hand of the potter so are ye in my hand oh house of Israel the moment I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to break down and to destroy and that nation hath turned from its evil because I have spoken against it then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it and the moment I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant and it hath done the evil thing in my eyes so as not to hearken to my voice then I have repented of the good that I have spoken of doing to it and now speak I pray thee unto men of Judah and against inhabitants of Jerusalem saying thus said Jehovah lo I am framing against you evil and devising against you a device turn back I pray you each from his evil way and amend your ways and your doings and they have said it is incurable for after our own devices we do go and each the stubbornness of his evil heart we do therefore thus said Jehovah ask I pray you among the nations who hath hurt like these a very horrible thing hath the virgin of Israel done doth snow of Lebanon cease from the rock of the field failed are the cold strange waters that flow but my people have forgotten me to a vain thing they make perfume and they cause them to stumble in their ways paths of old to walk in paths a way not raised up to make their land become a desolation a hissing age during every passer by it is astonished and be monoth with his head as an east wind I scatter them before an enemy the neck and not the face I shoe them in the day of their calamity and they say come and we devise against Jeremiah devices for law doth not perish from the priest nor counsel from the wise nor the word from the prophet come and we smite him with a tongue and we do not attend to any of his words give attention to Jehovah unto me and hearken to the voice of those contending with me is evil recompensed instead of good that they have dug a pit from my soul remember my standing before thee to speak good of them to turn back thy wrath from them therefore give up their sons to famine and cause them to run on the sides of the sword and their wives are bereaved and widows and their men are slain by death their young men smitten by sword and battle a cry as heard from their houses for thou bringest against them suddenly a troop for they dug a pit to capture me and snares they have hidden from my feet and thou oh Jehovah thou hast known all their counsel against me is for death thou dost not cover over their iniquity nor their sin from before the blottest out and they are made to stumble before thee in the time of thine anger work against them Chapter 19 Thou hast said Jehovah go and thou hast got a potter's earthen vessel and of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests and thou hast gone forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom that is at the opening of the gate of the pottery and has proclaimed there the words that I speak unto thee and hast said hear a word of Jehovah ye kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem thus said Jehovah of hosts God of Israel lo I am bringing in evil on this place at which the ears of everyone who is hearing it do tingle because that they have forsaken me and make known this place and make perfume in it to other gods that they knew not they and their fathers and the kings of Judah and they have filled this place with innocent blood and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire burnt offerings to Baal that I commanded not nor spake of nor did it come up on my heart therefore lo days are coming an affirmation of Jehovah and this place is not called anymore to that and valley of the son of Hinnom but valley of slaughter and I have made void the council of Judah and Jerusalem in this place and have caused them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those seeking their life and I have given their carcass for food to the foul of the heavens and to the beast and I have made this city for a desolation and for a hissing every passer by it is astonished and doth hiss for all its plagues and I have caused them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters and each the flesh of his friend do they eat in the siege and in the straightness with which straighten them do their enemies and those seeking their life and thou hast broken the bottle before the eyes of the men who are going with thee and hast said unto them thus said Jehovah of hosts thus do I break this people and this city as one breaketh the potter's vessel that is not able to be repaired again and in Tofet they bury without place to bury so I do to this place an affirmation of Jehovah and to its inhabitants so as to make this city as Tofet and the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah have been as the place of Tofet defiled even all the houses on whose roofs they have made perfume to all the host of the heavens so as to pour out oblations to other gods and Jeremiah cometh in from Tofet whether Jehovah had sent him to prophesy and he standeth in the court of the house of Jehovah and he sayeth unto all the people thus Jehovah of hosts God of Israel lo I am bringing in unto this city and on all its cities all the evil that I have spoken against it for they hardened their neck not to hear my words Chapter 20 and Pashur son of Imer the priest who also is overseer leader in the house of Jehovah heareth Jeremiah prophesying these things and Pashur smiteeth Jeremiah the prophet and puteth him unto the stocks that are by the high gate of Benjamin that is by the house of Jehovah and it cometh to pass on the morrow that Pashur bringeth out Jeremiah the stocks and Jeremiah sayeth unto him not Pashur hath Jehovah called thy name but Magor misabib for thus said Jehovah lo I am making thee for a fear to thyself and to all loving thee and they have fallen by the sword of their enemies and thine eyes are beholding and all Judah I give into the hand of the king of Babylon and he hath removed them to Babylon and he hath smitten them with the sword and I have given all the strength of this city and all its labor and all its precious things yea all the treasures of the kings of Judah I do give into the hand of their enemies and they have spoiled them and taken them and have brought them into Babylon and thou Pashur and all dwelling in thy house do go into captivity and Babylon thou dost enter and there thou dyest and there thou art buried thou and all loving thee to whom thou hast fight falsely thou hast persuaded me oh Jehovah and I am persuaded thou hast hearted me and dost prevail I have been for a laughter all the day everyone is mocking at me because from the time I speak I cry out violence and destruction I cry for the word of Jehovah hath been to me for reproach and for derision all the day and I said I do not mention him nor do I speak any more in his name and it hath been in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I have been weary of containing and I am not able for I have heard the evil report of many fear is round about declare and we declare it all mine allies are watching for my halting perhaps he is enticed and we prevail over him and we take our vengeance out of him and Jehovah is with me as a terrible mighty one therefore my persecutors stumble and prevail not they have been exceedingly ashamed for they have not acted wisely confusion age during is not forgotten and oh Jehovah of hosts trier of the righteous beholder of reins and heart I do see thy vengeance out of them for unto thee I have revealed my cause sing ye to Jehovah praise Jehovah for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil doers cursed is the day in which I was born the day that my mother bear me let it not be blessed cursed is the man who bore tidings to my father saying born to thee hath been a child a male making him very glad then hath that man been as the cities that Jehovah overthrew and repented not and he hath heard a cry at morning and a shout at time of noon because he hath not put me to death from the womb and my mother is to me my grave and her womb a pregnancy age during why is this from the womb I have come out to see labor and sorrow yay consumed in shame are my days the end of chapters 10 through 20 of the book of Jeremiah from the young's literal translation of the Bible recording by Mark Penfold