Day 283 of 365

¹"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" says the Lord.

²Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people: "You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings," says the Lord.

³"I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

⁴I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking," says the Lord.

⁵"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: 'The Lord our righteousness.'

⁷Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that they shall no more say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt';

⁸but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.' They shall dwell in their own land."'

⁹Concerning the prophets: My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. "Their course is evil, and their might is not right;

¹¹for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness," says the Lord.

¹²"Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation," says the Lord.

¹³"I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

¹⁴In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.'

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.

¹⁷They say continually to those who despise me, "The Lord has said, 'You shall have peace'"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, "No evil shall come on you."

¹⁸For who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord, his wrath, has gone forth. Yes, a whirling storm. It shall burst on the head of the wicked.

²⁰The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly.

²¹I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²²But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

²³Am I a God at hand,' says the Lord, 'and not a God afar off?

²⁴Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?' says the Lord. 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord.

²⁵'I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed."

²⁶How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart,

²⁷who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

²⁸The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?' says the Lord.

²⁹'Isn't my word like fire?' says the Lord; 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

³⁰Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,' says the Lord, 'who steal my words everyone from his neighbor.

³¹Behold, I am against the prophets,' says the Lord, 'who use their tongues, and say, "He says."

³²Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,' says the Lord, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I did not send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all,' says the Lord.

³³'When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, "What is the burden of the Lord?" Then you shall tell them, "What burden! I will cast you off," says the Lord.

³⁴As for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, "The burden of the Lord," I will even punish that man and his house.

³⁵You shall say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, "What has the Lord answered?" and, "What has the Lord spoken?"

³⁶You shall mention the burden of the Lord no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

³⁷You shall say to the prophet, "What has the Lord answered you?" and, "What has the Lord spoken?"

³⁸But if you say, "The burden of the Lord"; therefore thus says the Lord: Because you say this word, "The burden of the Lord," and I have sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of the Lord'";

³⁹therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence:

⁴⁰and I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"

¹The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the Lord's temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

²One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

³Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad."

⁴The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.

⁶For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

⁷I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart.'

⁸As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says the Lord, 'So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,

⁹I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.

¹⁰I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"

¹The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

²which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

³"From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

⁴The Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear)

⁵saying, 'Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forevermore;

⁶and do not go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm.

⁷Yet you have not listened to me,' says the Lord; 'that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.'

⁸Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Because you have not heard my words,

⁹behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the Lord, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

¹⁰Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

¹¹This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

¹²It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.

¹³I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

¹⁴For many nations and great kings shall make bondservants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'"

¹⁵For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to me: "Take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.

¹⁶They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them."

¹⁷Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom the Lord had sent me:

¹⁸Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

¹⁹Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

²⁰and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

²¹Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;

²²and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;

²³Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners of their beard cut off;

²⁴and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness;

²⁵and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;

²⁶and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷"You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you."'

²⁸It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "You shall surely drink.

²⁹For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,"' says the Lord of hosts.

³⁰Therefore prophesy you against them all these words, and tell them, 'The Lord will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,' says the Lord.

³²'Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.'

³³The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

³⁴Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in dust, you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.

³⁵The shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

³⁶A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! For the Lord lays waste their pasture.

³⁷The peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

³⁸He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger."

¹See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!

²It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron's beard; that came down on the edge of his robes;

³like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion: for there the Lord gives the blessing, even life forevermore.

¹Listen, sons, to a father's instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;

²for I give you sound learning. Do not forsake my law.

³For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.

⁴He taught me, and said to me: "Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.

⁵Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget, neither swerve from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.

⁸Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.

⁹She will give to your head a garland of grace. She will deliver a crown of splendor to you."

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have taught you in the way of wisdom. I have led you in straight paths.

¹²When you go, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take firm hold of instruction. Do not let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter into the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of evil men.

¹⁵Avoid it, and do not pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.

¹⁶For they do not sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what they stumble over.

²⁰My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.

²¹Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.

²³Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

²⁴Put away from yourself a perverse mouth. Put corrupt lips far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶Make the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.