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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying,

"^(a)Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord , all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord !'"

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "^(b)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

^(c)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘^[a]This is the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord .'

For ^(d)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ^(e)practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

if you do not oppress the alien, the ^[b](f)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed ^(g)innocent blood in this place, nor ^(h)walk after other gods to your own ruin,

then I will let you ⁽ⁱ⁾dwell in this place, in the ^(j)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

"Behold, you are trusting in ^(k)deceptive words to no avail.

Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and ^[c](l)offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after ^(m)other gods that you have not known,

then ⁽ⁿ⁾come and stand before Me in ^(o)this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!'—that you may do all these abominations?

Has ^(p)this house, which is called by My name, become a ^(q)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, ^(r)I, even I, have seen it," declares the Lord .

"But go now to My place which was in ^(s)Shiloh, where I ^(t)made My name dwell at the first, and ^(u)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

And now, because you have done all these things," declares the Lord , "and I spoke to you, ^(v)rising up early and ^(w)speaking, but you did not hear, and I ^(x)called you but you did not answer,

therefore, I will do to the ^(y)house which is called by My name, ^(z)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I ^(aa)did to Shiloh.

I will ^(ab)cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the ^[d]offspring of ^(ac)Ephraim.

"As for you, ^(ad)do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.

Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The ^[e]children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they ^(ae)pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to ^(af)spite Me.

^(ag)Do they spite Me?" declares the Lord . "Is it not themselves they spite, to ^[f]their own ^(ah)shame?"

Therefore thus says the Lord ^[g] God , "Behold, My ^(ai)anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the ^(aj)trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched."

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your ^(ak)burnt offerings to your sacrifices and ^(al)eat flesh.

For I did not ^(am)speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

But this is ^[h]what I commanded them, saying, ‘^(an)Obey My voice, and ^(ao)I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may ^(ap)be well with you.'

Yet they ^(aq)did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and ^[i](ar)went backward and not forward.

Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have ^(as)sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.

Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but ^(at)stiffened their neck; they ^(au)did more evil than their fathers.

"You shall ^(av)speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will ^(aw)not answer you.

You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that ^(ax)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; ^[j](ay)truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

‘^(az)Cut off ^[k]your hair and cast it away, And ^(ba)take up a lamentation on the bare heights; For the Lord has ^(bb)rejected and forsaken The generation of His wrath.'

For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight," declares the Lord , "they have ^(bc)set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

They have ^(bd)built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to ^(be)burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I ^(bf)did not command, and it did not come into My ^[l]mind.

"^(bg)Therefore, behold, days are coming," declares the Lord , "when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will ^(bh)bury in Topheth ^[m]because there is no other place.

The ^(bi)dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.

Then I will make to ^(bj)cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the ^(bk)land will become a ruin.

"At that time," declares the Lord , "they will ^(a)bring out 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 the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.

They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the ^(b)host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered ^(c)or buried; ^(d)they will be as dung on the face of the ground.

And ^(e)death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the ^(f)places to which I have driven them," declares the Lord of hosts.

"You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord , "Do men ^(g)fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not ^[a]repent?

"Why then has this people, Jerusalem, ^(h)Turned away in continual apostasy? They ⁽ⁱ⁾hold fast to deceit, They ^(j)refuse to return.

"I ^(k)have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; ^(l)No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?' Everyone turned to his course, Like a ^(m)horse charging into the battle.

"Even the stork in the sky ⁽ⁿ⁾Knows her seasons; And the ^(o)turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their ^[b]migration; But ^(p)My people do not know The ordinance of the Lord .

"^(q)How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.

"The wise men are ^(r)put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have ^(s)rejected the word of the Lord , And what kind of wisdom do they have?

"Therefore I will ^(t)give their wives to others, Their fields to ^[c]new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is ^(u)greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit.

"They ^(v)heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.

"Were they ^(w)ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall ^(x)fall among those who fall; At the ^(y)time of their punishment they shall be brought down," Says the Lord .

"I will ^(z)surely snatch them away," declares the Lord ; "There will be ^(aa)no grapes on the vine And ^(ab)no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away."'"

Why are we sitting still? ^(ac)Assemble yourselves, and let us ^(ad)go into the fortified cities And let us perish there, Because the Lord our God has doomed us And given us ^(ae)poisoned water to drink, For ^(af)we have sinned against the Lord .

We ^(ag)waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

From ^(ah)Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his ^(ai)stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and ^(aj)devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants.

"For behold, I am ^(ak)sending serpents against you, Adders, for which there is ^(al)no charm, And they will bite you," declares the Lord .

^[d]My ^(am)sorrow is beyond healing, My ^(an)heart is faint within me!

Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a ^(ao)distant land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?" "Why have they ^(ap)provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign ^[e](aq)idols?"

"Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved."

For the ^(ar)brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I ^(as)mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.

Is there no ^(at)balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? ^(au)Why then has not the ^[f]health of the daughter of my people ^[g]been restored?

In the beginning of the reign of ^(a)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord , saying,

"Thus says the Lord , ‘^(b)Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(c)come to worship in the Lord's house ^(d)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(e)Do not omit a word!

^(f)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that ^(g)I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.'

And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord , "^(h)If you will not listen to Me, to ⁽ⁱ⁾walk in My law which I have set before you,

to listen to the words of ^(j)My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you ^[a]again and again, but you have not listened;

then I will make this house like ^(k)Shiloh, and this city I will make a ^(l)curse to all the nations of the earth."'"

The ^(m)priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord .

When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "⁽ⁿ⁾You must die!

Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be ^(o)desolate, without inhabitant'?" And ^(p)all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord .

When the ^(q)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and sat in the ^(r)entrance of the New Gate of the Lord's house.

Then the priests and the prophets ^(s)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, "A ^(t)death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied ^(u)against this city as you have heard in your hearing."

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, "^(v)The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

Now therefore ^(w)amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will ^[b]change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.

But as for me, behold, ^(x)I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight.

Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^(y)innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."

Then the officials and all the people ^(z)said to the priests and to the prophets, "No ^(aa)death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."

Then ^(ab)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

"^[c](ac)Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus the Lord of hosts has said, "^(ad)Zion will be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem will become ruins, And the ^(ae)mountain of the house as the ^[d]high places of a forest."'

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not ^(af)fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord , and ^(ag)the Lord ^[e]changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are ^(ah)committing a great evil against ourselves."

Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord , Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(ai)Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.

When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the ^(aj)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and ^(ak)fled and went to Egypt.

Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(al)Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt.

And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^(am)slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the ^[f]burial place of the ^[g]common people.

But the hand of ^(an)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(ao)not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.