Jeremiah

Jeremiah

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4 The LORD gave me this message:

5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
      Before you were born I set you apart
      and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

6 “O Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

7 The LORD replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!” 9 Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth and said,

“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
 10 Today I appoint you to stand up
      against nations and kingdoms.
   Some you must uproot and tear down,
      destroy and overthrow.
   Others you must build up
      and plant.”

17 “Get up and prepare for action.
      Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say.
   Do not be afraid of them,
      or I will make you look foolish in front of them.
 18 For see, today I have made you strong
      like a fortified city that cannot be captured,
      like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.
   You will stand against the whole land—
      the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah.
 19 They will fight you, but they will fail.
      For I am with you, and I will take care of you.
      I, the LORD, have spoken!”

2

2 “Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the LORD says:

“I remember how eager you were to please me
      as a young bride long ago,
   how you loved me and followed me
      even through the barren wilderness.

7 “And when I brought you into a fruitful land
      to enjoy its bounty and goodness,
   you defiled my land and
      corrupted the possession I had promised you.
 8 The priests did not ask,
      ‘Where is the LORD?’
   Those who taught my word ignored me,
      the rulers turned against me,
   and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
      wasting their time on worthless idols.
 9 Therefore, I will bring my case against you,”
      says the LORD.
   “I will even bring charges against your children’s children
      in the years to come.

13 “For my people have done two evil things:
   They have abandoned me—
      the fountain of living water.
   And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
      that can hold no water at all!

Israel, an Unfaithful Wife

23 “You say, ‘That’not true!
      I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’
   But how can you say that?
      Go and look in any valley in the land!
   Face the awful sins you have done.
      You are like a restless female camel
      desperately searching for a mate.
 24 You are like a wild donkey,
      sniffing the wind at mating time.
   Who can restrain her lust?
      Those who desire her don’t need to search,
      for she goes running to them!
 25 When will you stop running?
      When will you stop panting after other gods?
   But you say, ‘Save your breath.
      I’m in love with these foreign gods,
      and I can’t stop loving them now!’

26 “Israel is like a thief
      who feels shame only when he gets caught.

31 “O my people, listen to the words of the LORD!
      Have I been like a desert to Israel?
      Have I been to them a land of darkness?
   Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God!
      We don’t need him anymore!’
 32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry?
      Does a bride hide her wedding dress?
   Yet for years on end
      my people have forgotten me.

33 “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers.
      Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!
 34 Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor,
      though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!
 35 And yet you say,
   ‘I have done nothing wrong.
      Surely God isn’t angry with me!’
   But now I will punish you severely
      because you claim you have not sinned.

3

1 “If a man divorces a woman
      and she goes and marries someone else,
   he will not take her back again,
      for that would surely corrupt the land.
   But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
      so why are you trying to come back to me?”
      says the LORD.
 2 “Look at the shrines on every hilltop.
      Is there any place you have not been defiled
      by your adultery with other gods?
   You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer.
      You sit alone like a nomad in the desert.
   You have polluted the land with your prostitution
      and your wickedness.
 3 That’s why even the spring rains have failed.
      For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless.
 4 Yet you say to me,
      ‘Father, you have been my guide since my youth.
 5 Surely you won’t be angry forever!
      Surely you can forget about it!’
   So you talk,
      but you keep on doing all the evil you can.”

9 Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10 But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

11 Then the LORD said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah! 12 Therefore, go and give this message to Israel.[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/" \l "fen-NLT-18990a" \o "See footnote a" a] This is what the LORD says:

“O Israel, my faithless people,
      come home to me again,
   for I am merciful.
      I will not be angry with you forever.
 13 Only acknowledge your guilt.
      Admit that you rebelled against the LORD your God
   and committed adultery against him
      by worshiping idols under every green tree.
   Confess that you refused to listen to my voice.
      I, the LORD, have spoken!

14 “Return home, you wayward children,”
      says the LORD,
      “for I am your master.
   I will bring you back to the land of Israel[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/" \l "fen-NLT-18992b" \o "See footnote b" b]—
      one from this town and two from that family—
      from wherever you are scattered.
 15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,
      who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.

19 “I thought to myself,
      ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’
   I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
      the finest possession in the world.
   I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’
      and I wanted you never to turn from me.
 20 But you have been unfaithful to me, you people of Israel!
      You have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband.
      I, the LORD, have spoken.”

21 Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains,
      the weeping and pleading of Israel’s people.
   For they have chosen crooked paths
      and have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 “My wayward children,” says the LORD,
      “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”

“Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply,
      “for you are the LORD our God.
 23 Our worship of idols on the hills
      and our religious orgies on the mountains
      are a delusion.
   Only in the LORD our God
      will Israel ever find salvation.
 24 From childhood we have watched
      as everything our ancestors worked for—
   their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters—
      was squandered on a delusion.
 25 Let us now lie down in shame
      and cover ourselves with dishonor,
   for we and our ancestors have sinned
      against the LORD our God.
   From our childhood to this day
      we have never obeyed him.”

4

3 This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!
      Do not waste your good seed among thorns.
 4 O people of Judah and Jerusalem,
      surrender your pride and power.
   Change your hearts before the LORD,[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/" \l "fen-NLT-19007a" \o "See footnote a" a]
      or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire
      because of all your sins.

5 sound the alarm

9 “In that day,” says the LORD,
      “the king and the officials will tremble in fear.
   The priests will be struck with horror,
      and the prophets will be appalled.”

10 Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD,
      the people have been deceived by what you said,
   for you promised peace for Jerusalem.
      But the sword is held at their throats!”

14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart
      that you may be saved.
   How long will you harbor
      your evil thoughts?

17 They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field,
      for my people have rebelled against me,”
      says the LORD.
 18 “Your own actions have brought this upon you.
      This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”

Jeremiah Weeps for His People

19 My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain!
      My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still.
   For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets
      and the roar of their battle cries.
 20 Waves of destruction roll over the land,
      until it lies in complete desolation.
   Suddenly my tents are destroyed;
      in a moment my shelters are crushed.
 21 How long must I see the battle flags
      and hear the trumpets of war?

22 “My people are foolish
      and do not know me,” says the LORD.
   “They are stupid children
      who have no understanding.
   They are clever enough at doing wrong,
      but they have no idea how to do right!”

29 At the noise of charioteers and archers,
      the people flee in terror.
   They hide in the bushes
      and run for the mountains.
   All the towns have been abandoned—
      not a person remains!
 30 What are you doing,
      you who have been plundered?
   Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing
      and put on gold jewelry?
   Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?
      Your primping will do you no good!
   The allies who were your lovers
      despise you and seek to kill you.

31 I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,
      the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child.
   It is beautiful Jerusalem[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/" \l "fen-NLT-19034c" \o "See footnote c" c]
      gasping for breath and crying out,
      “Help! I’m being murdered!”

5

1 “Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD.
      “Look high and low; search throughout the city!
   If you can find even one just and honest person,
      I will not destroy the city.
 2 But even when they are under oath,
      saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’
      they are still telling lies!”

3 LORD, you are searching for honesty.
   You struck your people,
      but they paid no attention.
   You crushed them,
      but they refused to be corrected.
   They are determined, with faces set like stone;
      they have refused to repent.

For their rebellion is great,
      and their sins are many.

7 “How can I pardon you?
      For even your children have turned from me.
   They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all!
      I fed my people until they were full.
   But they thanked me by committing adultery
      and lining up at the brothels.
 8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
      each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
 9 Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD.
      “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

11 The people of Israel and Judah
      are full of treachery against me,”
      says the LORD.
 12 “They have lied about the LORD
      and said, ‘He won’t bother us!
   No disasters will come upon us.
      There will be no war or famine.
 13 God’s prophets are all windbags
      who don’t really speak for him.
      Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

14 Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says:

“Because the people are talking like this,
      my messages will flame out of your mouth
      and burn the people like kindling wood.

18 “Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD.

20 “Make this announcement to Israel,[ HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/" \l "fen-NLT-19054a" \o "See footnote a" a]
      and say this to Judah:
 21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
      with eyes that do not see
      and ears that do not hear.
 22 Have you no respect for me?
      Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
   I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
      as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
   The waves may toss and roar,
      but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
 23 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
      They have turned away and abandoned me.
 24 They do not say from the heart,
      ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God,
   for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
      assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
 25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
      Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

30 A horrible and shocking thing
      has happened in this land—
 31 the prophets give false prophecies,
      and the priests rule with an iron hand.
   Worse yet, my people like it that way!
      But what will you do when the end comes?

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