Jeremiah 1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,(A) 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.(B) 3 It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.(C)
Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”(D)
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”(E) 7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”(F)
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.(G)
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”(H)
11 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”(I) 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching[a] over my word to perform it.” 13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.”(J)
14 Then the Lord said to me: “Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land.(K) 15 For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come, and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah.(L) 16 And I will utter my judgments against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.(M) 17 But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them.(N) 18 And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.(O) 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.”(P)
God Pleads with Israel to Repent
2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.(Q)
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
the first fruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it were held guilty;
disaster came upon them,
says the Lord.(R)
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they went far from me
and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves?(S)
6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord,
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,
where no one lives?”(T)
7 I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruits and its good things.
But when you entered you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.(U)
8 The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers[b] transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.(V)
9 Therefore once more I accuse you,
says the Lord,
and I accuse your children’s children.(W)
10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look;
send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has ever been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for something that does not profit.(X)
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked; be utterly desolate,
says the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
that can hold no water.(Y)
14 Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become plunder?(Z)
15 The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.(AA)
16 Moreover, the people of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have broken the crown of your head.(AB)
17 Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
while he led you in the way?(AC)
18 What then do you gain by going to Egypt,
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria,
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?(AD)
19 Your wickedness will punish you,
and your faithlessness will convict you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
for you to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
says the Lord God of hosts.(AE)
20 For long ago you broke your yoke
and burst your bonds,
and you said, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawled and prostituted yourself.(AF)
21 Yet I planted you as a choice vine
from the purest stock.
How then did you turn degenerate
and become a wild vine?(AG)
22 Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,
says the Lord God.(AH)
23 How can you say, “I am not defiled;
I have not gone after the Baals”?
Look at your way in the valley;
know what you have done:
a restive young camel interlacing her tracks,(AI)
24 a wild ass at home in the wilderness
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.(AJ)
25 Keep your feet from going bare
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, “It is no use,
for I have loved strangers,
and after them I will go.”(AK)
26 As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,(AL)
27 who say to a tree, “You are my father,”
and to a stone, “You gave me birth.”
For they have turned their backs to me
and not their faces.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
“Come and save us!”(AM)
28 But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them come, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble,
for you have as many gods
as you have towns, O Judah.(AN)
29 Why do you complain against me?
You have all rebelled against me,
says the Lord.(AO)
30 In vain I have struck down your children;
they accepted no correction.
Your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.(AP)
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord![c]
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, “We are free;
we will come to you no more”?(AQ)
32 Can a young woman forget her ornaments
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.(AR)
33 How well you direct your course
to seek lovers!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
the lifeblood of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things[d](AS)
35 you say, “I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.”
Now I am bringing you to judgment
for saying, “I have not sinned.”(AT)
36 Why do you go about so much
to change your way?
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.(AU)
37 From there also you will come away
with your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper through them.(AV)
Unfaithful Israel
3 If[e] a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not such a land be greatly polluted?
You have prostituted yourself with many lovers,
and would you return to me?
says the Lord.(AW)
2 Look up to the bare heights[f] and see!
Where have you not been lain with?
By the waysides you sat waiting for lovers,
like a nomad in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your prostitutions and wickedness.(AX)
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come,
yet you have the forehead of a prostitute;
you refuse to be ashamed.(AY)
4 Have you not just now called to me,
“My Father, you are the friend of my youth—(AZ)
5 will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?”
This is how you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.(BA)
A Call to Repentance
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and prostituted herself there?(BB) 7 And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me,” but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.(BC) 8 She[g] saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce, yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and prostituted herself.(BD) 9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.(BE) 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart but only in pretense, says the Lord.(BF)
11 Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah.(BG) 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, faithless Israel,
says the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.(BH)
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree
and have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord.(BI)
14 Return, O faithless children,
says the Lord,
for I am your husband;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.(BJ)
15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.(BK) 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, nor shall another one be made.(BL) 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.(BM) 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.(BN)
19 I thought
how I would set you among my children
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage of all the nations.
And I thought you would call to me, “My Father,”
and would not turn from following me.(BO)
20 Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband,
so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.(BP)
21 A voice on the bare heights[h] is heard,
the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children,
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God:(BQ)
22 Return, O faithless children,
I will heal your faithlessness.
“Here we come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.(BR)
23 Truly the hills are[i] a delusion,
a tumult on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.(BS)
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”(BT)
4 If you return, O Israel,
says the Lord,
if you return to me,
if you remove your abominations from my presence
and do not waver,(BU)
2 and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!”
in truth, in justice, and in uprightness,
then nations shall be blessed[j] by you,[k]
and by you[l] they shall boast.(BV)
3 For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns.(BW)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or else my wrath will go forth like fire
and burn with no one to quench it,
because of the evil of your doings.(BX)
Invasion and Desolation of Judah Threatened
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet through the land;
shout aloud[m] and say,
“Gather together, and let us go
into the fortified cities!”(BY)
6 Raise a standard toward Zion;
flee for safety; do not delay,
for I am bringing evil from the north
and a great destruction.(BZ)
7 A lion has gone up from its thicket;
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.(CA)
8 Because of this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail:
“The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.”(CB)
9 On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.(CC) 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”(CD)
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights[n] in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,(CE) 12 a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.(CF)
13 Look! He comes up like clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!(CG)
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness
so that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil schemes
lodge within you?(CH)
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim.
16 Tell the nations, “Here they are!”
Proclaim against Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.(CI)
17 They have closed in around her like watchers of a field
because she has rebelled against me,
says the Lord.(CJ)
18 Your ways and your doings
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom; how bitter it is!
It has reached your very heart.”(CK)
Sorrow for a Doomed Nation
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I[o] hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.(CL)
20 Disaster overtakes disaster;
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in a moment.(CM)
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For my people are foolish;
they do not know me;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil
but do not know how to do good.”(CN)
23 I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos,
and to the heavens, and they had no light.(CO)
24 I looked on the mountains, and they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.(CP)
25 I looked, and there was no one at all,
and all the birds of the air had fled.(CQ)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.(CR)
27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.(CS)
28 Because of this the earth shall mourn
and the heavens above grow black,
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
I have not relented, nor will I turn back.(CT)
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every town takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the towns are forsaken,
and no one lives in them.(CU)
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in crimson,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.(CV)
31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,
the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”(CW)
Footnotes
- 1.12 In Heb the word for almond resembles the word for watching
- 2.8 Heb shepherds
- 2.31 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 2.34 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.1 Gk Syr: Heb Saying, If
- 3.2 Or the trails
- 3.8 Gk mss Syr: Heb I
- 3.21 Or the trails
- 3.23 Gk Syr Vg: Heb Truly from the hills is
- 4.2 Or shall bless themselves
- 4.2 Cn: Heb him
- 4.2 Cn: Heb him
- 4.5 Or shout, take your weapons: Heb shout, fill (your hand)
- 4.11 Or the trails
- 4.19 Or for you, O my soul,
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.