The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

A people that provoke Me to My face continually, that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon bricks;

That sit among the graves, and lodge in the vaults; that eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

That say: 'Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou'; these are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

Behold, it is written before Me; I will not keep silence, except I have requited, yea, I will requite into their bosom,

Your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, that have offered upon the mountains, and blasphemed Me upon the hills; therefore will I first measure their wage into their bosom.

Thus saith the LORD: As, when wine is found in the cluster, one saith: 'Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it'; so will I do for My servants' sakes, that I may not destroy all.

And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains; and Mine elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.

And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for My people that have sought Me;

But ye that forsake the LORD, that forget My holy mountain, that prepare a table for Fortune, and that offer mingled wine in full measure unto Destiny,

I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer, when I spoke, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in Mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;

Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.

And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto Mine elect: 'So may the Lord GOD slay thee'; but He shall call His servants by another name;

So that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself by the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from Mine eyes.

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man, that hath not filled his days; for the youngest shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

They shall not build, and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for terror; for they are the seed blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Thus saith the LORD: The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye may build unto Me? And where is the place that may be My resting-place?

For all these things hath My hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith the LORD; but on this man will I look, even on him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.

He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he broke a dog's neck; he that offereth a meal-offering, as if he offered swine's blood; he that maketh a memorial-offering of frankincense, as if he blessed an idol; according as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations;

Even so I will choose their mockings, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear, but they did that which was evil in Mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at His word: Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for My name's sake, have said: 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may gaze upon your joy', but they shall be ashamed.

Hark! an uproar from the city, Hark! it cometh from the temple, Hark! the LORD rendereth recompense to His enemies.

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.

Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Is a land born in one day? Is a nation brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD; Shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her;

That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breast of her consolations; that ye may drink deeply with delight of the abundance of her glory.

For thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream, and ye shall suck thereof: Ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like young grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward His servants, and He will have indignation against His enemies.

For, behold, the LORD will come in fire, and His chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.

For by fire will the LORD contend, and by His sword with all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the detestable thing, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

For I know their works and their thoughts; the time cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and shall see My glory.

And I will work a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations.

And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in fitters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

And of them also will I take for the priests and for the Levites, saith the LORD.

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the LORD.

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

THE WORDS of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

Then said I: 'Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.'

But the LORD said unto me: say not: I am a child; for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak.

Be not afraid of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said unto me: Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth;

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant.

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 'Jeremiah, what seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a rod of an almond-tree.'

Then said the LORD unto me: 'Thou hast well seen; for I watch over My word to perform it.'

And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying: 'What seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is from the north.'

Then the LORD said unto me: 'Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

And I will utter My judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have offered unto other gods, and worshipped the work of their own hands.

Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee; be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.

For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.'

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the LORD: I remember for thee the affection of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

Israel is the LORD'S hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase; all that devour him shall be held guilty, evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel;

Thus saith the LORD: What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked after things of nought, and are become nought?

Neither said they: 'Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt; that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?'

And I brought you into a land of fruitful fields, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.

The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, and the rulers transgressed against Me; the prophets also prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

For pass over to the isles of the Kittites, and see, and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there hath been such a thing.

Hath a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? But My people hath changed its glory for that which doth not profit.

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye exceeding amazed, saith the LORD.

For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Is Israel a servant? Is he a home-born slave? Why is he become a prey?

The young lions have roared upon him, and let their voice resound; and they have made his land desolate, his cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.

The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes feed upon the crown of thy head.

Is it not this that doth cause it unto thee, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when He led thee by the way?

And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, neither is My fear in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands, and thou saidst: 'I will not transgress'; upon every high hill and under every leafy tree thou didst recline, playing the harlot.

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord GOD.

How canst thou say: 'I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim'? See thy way in the Valley, know what thou hast done; thou art a swift young camel traversing her ways;

A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; her lust, who can hinder it? All they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst; but thou saidst: 'There is no hope; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.'

As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

Who say to a stock: 'Thou art my father', and to a stone: 'Thou hast brought us forth', for they have turned their back unto Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say: 'Arise, and save us.'

But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble; for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

Wherefore will ye contend with Me? Ye all have transgressed against Me, saith the LORD.

In vain have I smitten your children — they received no correction; your sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore say My people: 'We roam at large; we will come no more unto Thee'?

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.

How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! Therefore — even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways;

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor; thou didst not find them breaking in; yet for all these things