The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision:

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair polled, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel;

thus saith the LORD: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

They are like a pillar in a garden of cucumbers, and speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.

There is none like unto Thee, O LORD; Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might.

Who would not fear Thee, O king of the nations? For it befitteth Thee; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royalty, there is none like unto Thee.

But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the vanities by which they are instructed are but a stock;

Silver beaten into plates which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple is their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men.

But the LORD God is the true God, He is the living God, and the everlasting King; at His wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide His indignation.

Thus shall ye say unto them: 'The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.'

He that hath made the earth by His power, that hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His understanding;

At the sound of His giving a multitude of waters in the heavens, when He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; when He maketh lightnings with the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries;

Every man is proved to be brutish, without knowledge, every goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image, his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

They are vanity, a work of delusion; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

Not like these is the portion of Jacob; for He is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the LORD of hosts is His name.

Gather up thy wares from the ground, O thou that abidest in the siege.

For thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.

Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous; but I said: 'This is but a sickness, and I must bear it.'

My tent is spoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth of me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

Hark! a report, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a dwelling-place of jackals.

O LORD, I know that man's way is not his own; it is not in man to direct his steps as he walketh.

O LORD, correct me, but in measure; not in Thine anger, lest Thou diminish me.

Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name; for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:

'Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and say thou unto them: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,

which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Hearken to My voice, and do them, according to all which I command you; so shall ye be My people, and I will be your God;

that I may establish the oath which I swore unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.' Then answered I, and said: 'Amen, O LORD.'

And the LORD said 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 do them.

For I earnestly forewarned your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, forewarning betimes and often, saying: Hearken to My voice.

Yet they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the stubbornness of their evil heart; therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.'

And the LORD said unto me: 'A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.

Therefore thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto Me, I will not hearken unto them.

Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to offer unto Baal.

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto Me for their trouble.'

What hath My beloved to do in My house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the hallowed flesh is passed from thee? When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

The LORD called thy name a leafy olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit; with the noise of a great tumult He hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have wrought for themselves in provoking Me by offering unto Baal.

And the LORD gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it; then Thou showedst me their doings.

But I was like a docile lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me: 'Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.'

But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see Thy vengeance on them; for unto Thee have I revealed my cause.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying: 'Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand';

therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;

And there shall be no remnant unto them; for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.

Right wouldest Thou be, O LORD, were I to contend with Thee, yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they secure that deal very treacherously?

Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

But Thou, O LORD, knowest me, Thou seest me, and triest my heart toward Thee; pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said: 'He seeth not our end.'

'If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the thickets of the Jordan?

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee, even they have cried aloud after thee; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.'

I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.

My heritage is become unto Me as a lion in the forest; she hath uttered her voice against Me; therefore have I hated her.

Is My heritage unto Me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her round about? Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

They have made it a desolation, it mourneth unto Me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

Upon all the high hills in the wilderness spoilers are come; for the sword of the LORD devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land, no flesh hath peace.

They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, they profit not; be ye then ashamed of your increase, because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

Thus saith the LORD: As for all Mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people to swear by My name: 'As the LORD liveth,' even as they taught My people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of My people.

But if they will not hearken, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith the LORD.

Thus said the LORD unto me: 'Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.'

So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it upon my loins.

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

'Take the girdle that thou hast gotten, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Perath, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.'

So I went, and hid it in Perath, as the LORD commanded me.

And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me: 'Arise, go to Perath, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.'

Then I went to Perath, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

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

Thus saith the LORD: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem,

even this evil people, that refuse to hear My words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, that it be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.

For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD, that they might be unto Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hearken.

Moreover thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Every bottle is filled with wine'; and when they shall say unto thee: 'Do we not know that every bottle is filled with wine?'

Then shalt thou say unto them: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD; I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.

Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud; for the LORD hath spoken.

Give glory to the LORD your God, before it grow dark, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight, and, while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eyes shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.

Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother: 'Sit ye down low; for your headtires are come down, even your beautiful crown.'

The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them; Judah is carried away captive all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.

Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north; where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

What wilt thou say, when He shall set the friends over thee as head, whom thou thyself hast trained against thee? Shall not pangs take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?

And if thou say in thy heart: 'Wherefore are these things befallen me?' — for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from Me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood.

Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.

Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy harlotry, on the hills in the field have I seen thy detestable acts. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean! When shall it ever be?

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they bow down in black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

And their nobles send their lads for water: they come to the pits, and find no water; their vessels return empty; they are ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.

Because of the ground which is cracked, for there hath been no rain in the land, the plowmen are ashamed, they cover their heads.

Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young, because there is no grass,

And the wild asses stand on the high hills, they gasp for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.