Day 172 of 365

¹"If you will return, Israel," says the Lord, "if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed;

²and you shall swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory."

³For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

⁵Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land!' Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities!'

⁶Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Do not wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction."

⁷A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

⁸For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the Lord hasn't turned back from us.

⁹"It shall happen at that day," says the Lord, "that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder."

¹⁰Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'You shall have peace;' whereas the sword reaches to the heart."

¹¹At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;

¹²a full wind from these shall come for me. Now I will also utter judgments against them."

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.

¹⁴Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?

¹⁵For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:

¹⁶"Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, 'Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,'" says the Lord.

¹⁸"Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart."

¹⁹My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

²⁰Destruction on destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.

²¹How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

²²"For my people are foolish, they do not know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

²³I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.

²⁵I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled.

²⁶I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, before his fierce anger.

²⁷For thus says the Lord, "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

²⁸For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not relented, neither will I turn back from it."

²⁹Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.

³⁰You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you dress yourselves with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself beautiful; your lovers despise you, they seek your life.

³¹For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, saying, "Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers."

¹"Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.

²Though they say, 'As the Lord lives;' surely they swear falsely."

³O Lord, do your eyes not look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

⁴Then I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the Lord, nor the law of their God.

⁵I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of the Lord, and the law of their God." But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

⁶Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.

⁷"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.

⁸They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.

⁹Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" says the Lord; "and shouldn't my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰"Go up on her walls, and destroy; but do not make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not the Lord's.

¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me," says the Lord.

¹²They have denied the Lord, and said, "It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.

¹³The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them."

¹⁴Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, "Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

¹⁵Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel," says the Lord. "It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, neither understand what they say.

¹⁶Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men.

¹⁷They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

¹⁸"But even in those days," says the Lord, "I will not make a full end with you.

¹⁹It will happen, when you say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' Then you shall say to them, 'Just like you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

²⁰"Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

²¹'Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and do not see; who have ears, and do not hear:

²²Do you not fear me?' says the Lord 'Won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? And though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.'

²³"But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.

²⁴Neither do they say in their heart, 'Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.'

²⁵"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.

²⁶For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.

²⁷As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

²⁸They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they do not judge the right of the needy.

²⁹"Shall I not punish for these things?" says the Lord. "Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰"An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.

³¹The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

¹"Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.

²The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.

³Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her all around; they shall feed everyone in his place."

⁴"Prepare war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

⁵Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces."

⁶For the Lord of hosts said, "Cut down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

⁷As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.

⁸Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited."

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts, "They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets."

¹⁰To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can't listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.

¹¹Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord. I am weary with holding in. "Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is full of days.

¹²Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land," says the Lord.

¹³"For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

¹⁴They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, 'Peace, peace!' when there is no peace.

¹⁵Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down," says the Lord.

¹⁶Thus says the Lord, "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not walk in it."

¹⁷"I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'" But they said, "We will not listen!"

¹⁸"Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.

¹⁹Hear, earth! 'Behold, I will bring disaster on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

²⁰To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.'

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.'

²²"Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, a people comes from the north country. A great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

²³They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.'"

²⁴"We have heard its report; our hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of us, and pains as of a woman in labor.

²⁵Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror, are on every side."

²⁶"Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us."

²⁷"I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people; that you may know and try their way."

²⁸"They are all grievous rebels, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.

²⁹The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.

³⁰Men will call them 'rejected silver,' because the Lord has rejected them."

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

²"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 in at these gates to worship the Lord.

³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

⁴Do not trust in lying words, saying, "The Lord's temple, The Lord's temple, The Lord's temple, are these."

⁵For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

⁶if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:

⁷then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forevermore.

⁸Behold, you trust in lying words, that can't profit.

⁹Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,

¹⁰and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, "We are delivered"; that you may do all these abominations?

¹¹Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord.

¹²But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

¹³Now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer:

¹⁴therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

¹⁵I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

¹⁶Therefore do not pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

¹⁷Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

¹⁹Do they provoke me to anger?" says the Lord. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?"

²⁰Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched."

²¹Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.

²²For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

²³but this thing I commanded them, saying, 'Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'

²⁴But they did not listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

²⁵Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

²⁶yet they did not listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers."

²⁷"You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you.

²⁸You shall tell them, 'This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

²⁹Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'"

³⁰"For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight," says the Lord: "they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

³¹They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

³²Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.

³³The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

³⁴Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste."