Jer 12, Jer 25, Jer 36 | ESV | STEP | Righteous are you, O Lord , when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper ? Why do all who are treacherous thrive ?

1 ^aRighteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
^bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all ^cwho are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
^dyou are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 ^eBut you, O Lord, know me;
^fyou see me, and test my heart toward you.
^gPull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for ^hthe day of slaughter.
4 ⁱHow long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
^jFor the evil of those who dwell in it
^kthe beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in ^lthe thicket of the Jordan?
6 For ^meven your brothers and the house of your father,
ⁿeven they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
^odo not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7 “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned ^pmy heritage;
I have given ^qthe beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 ^rMy heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is ^smy heritage to me like ^ta hyena’s lair?
Are the ^ubirds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^vassemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
^wthey have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, ^xit mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
^ybut no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 ^zThey have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
^aathey have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their ^{▼▼Hebrew your} harvests
^acbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all ^admy evil neighbors ^aewho touch the heritage that ^afI have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^agand I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^ahto swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^aithen they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 ^ajBut if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

1 ^akThe word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, ^alfrom the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^ampersistently to you, ^anbut you have not listened. 4 ^aoYou have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^appersistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ^aq‘Turn now, every one of you, ^arfrom his evil way and evil deeds, and ^asdwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 ^atDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^auor provoke me to anger ^avwith the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 ^awYet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^axthat you might provoke me to anger ^aywith the work of your hands to your own harm.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 ^azbehold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^bamy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^bband make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, ^bcI will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^bdthe grinding of the millstones and ^bethe light of the lamp. 11 ^bfThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^bgthese nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^bhseventy years. 12 Then after ^biseventy years are completed, ^bjI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^bkthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^blmaking the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^bmin this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 ^bnFor many nations ^boand great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^bpand I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ^bq“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^brthe sword that I am sending among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, ^bsand made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 ^btJerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, ^buto make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 ^bvPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and ^bwall the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of ^bxthe land of Uz and all the kings of ^bythe land of the Philistines ( ^bzAshkelon, ^caGaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^cbAshdod); 21 ^ccEdom, ^cdMoab, and the sons of ^ceAmmon; 22 all the kings of ^cfTyre, all the kings of ^cgSidon, and the kings of the coastland across ^chthe sea; 23 ^ciDedan, ^cjTema, ^ckBuz, and all who cut ^clthe corners of their hair; 24 all the ^cmkings of Arabia and all the kings of ^cnthe mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^coElam, and all the kings of ^cpMedia; 26 all the kings of ^cqthe north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of ^crBabylon ^{▼▼Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon} shall drink.

27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^ctDrink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of ^cuthe sword that I am sending among you.’

28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^cvYou must drink! 29 For behold, ^cwI begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, ^cxfor I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

^cy“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
^czand shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for ^dathe Lord has an indictment against the nations;
^dbhe is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,

declares the Lord.’
32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
^dcand a great tempest is stirring
^ddfrom the farthest parts of the earth!
33 ^de“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. ^dfThey shall not be lamented, ^dgor gathered, or buried; ^dhthey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 ^di“Wail, ^djyou shepherds, and cry out,
^dkand roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain ^dlfor the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry ^dmof the shepherds,
^dnand the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 ^doand the peaceful folds are devastated
^dpbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion ^dqhe has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of ^drthe sword of the oppressor,
^dsand because of his fierce anger.”

Jeremiah 36

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

1 In the ^dtfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take ^dua scroll and ^dvwrite on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and ^dwJudah ^dxand all the nations, ^dyfrom the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 ^dzIt may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, ^easo that every one may turn from his evil way, and ^ebthat I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called ^ecBaruch the son of Neriah, and ^edBaruch wrote on ^eea scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered ^efBaruch, saying, ^eg“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6 so you are to go, and ^ehon a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7 ^eiIt may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, ^ejand that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

9 ^ekIn the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^elin the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem ^emproclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in ^enthe chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^eoShaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and ^epall the officials were sitting there: ^eqElishama the secretary, ^erDelaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^esElnathan ^etthe son of Achbor, ^euGemariah the son of ^evShaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^ewShelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^ex“We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^eywhile I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in ^ezthe chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was ^fathe ninth month, and the king was sitting in ^fbthe winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet ^fcneither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, ^fdnor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when ^feElnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^ffurged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^fgking’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^fhShelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^fiBaruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, ^fj“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^fkHe shall have none ^flto sit on the throne of David, ^fmand his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 ^fnAnd I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^foBaruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^fpwrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.