bf[See ver. 3 above]
bg[See ver. 3 above]
bn[See ver. 6 above]
bo[See ver. 6 above]
bp[See ver. 6 above]
bw[See ver. 9 above]
bz[See ver. 11 above]
de[See ver. 20 above]
do[See ver. 27 above]
ed[See ver. 35 above]
ej[See ver. 37 above]

Jeremiah 4

1If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,
ato me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
band do not waver,
2 cand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then dnations shall bless themselves in him,
eand in him shall they glory.”
3For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

fBreak up your fallow ground,
and gsow not among thorns.
4 hCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
ilest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
jbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

kBlow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
lAssemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 mRaise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from nthe north,
oand great destruction.
7 pA lion has gone up from his 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
qwithout inhabitant.
8For this rput on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for sthe fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9“In that day, declares the Lord, tcourage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, usurely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from vthe bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who wspeak in judgment upon them.”

13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
xhis chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are yswifter than eagles
woe to us, zfor we are ruined!
14O Jerusalem, aawash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15For a voice abdeclares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from acMount Ephraim.
16Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
Besiegers come adfrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17Like keepers of a field aeare they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.
18Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and afit is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 agMy anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 ahCrash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
aiSuddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For ajmy people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
akThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was alwithout form and void;
amand to the heavens, and they had no light.
24I looked on anthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 aoI looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26I looked, and behold, the apfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before aqhis fierce anger.
27For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; aryet I will not make a full end.

28 asFor this the earth shall mourn,
atand the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
auI have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and avno man dwells in them.
30And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
awthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
axthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
ayYour lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31For I heard aza cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
bastretching out her hands,
Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

1 bbThe 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), 2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3“For twenty-three years, bcfrom 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 bdpersistently to you, bebut you have not listened. 4 bfYou have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord bgpersistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5saying, bhTurn now, every one of you, bifrom his evil way and evil deeds, and bjdwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 bkDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, blor provoke me to anger bmwith the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 bnYet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, bothat you might provoke me to anger bpwith the work of your hands to your own harm.

8Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 bqbehold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, brmy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, bsand make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10Moreover, btI will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, buthe grinding of the millstones and bvthe light of the lamp. 11 bwThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and bxthese nations shall serve the king of Babylon byseventy years. 12Then after bzseventy years are completed, caI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, cbthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ccmaking the land an everlasting waste. 13I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written cdin this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 ceFor many nations cfand great kings shall make slaves even of them, cgand I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

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

17So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, cjand made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 ckJerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, clto make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 cmPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20and cnall the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of cothe land of Uz and all the kings of cpthe land of the Philistines ( cqAshkelon, crGaza, Ekron, and the remnant of csAshdod); 21 ctEdom, cuMoab, and the sons of cvAmmon; 22all the kings of cwTyre, all the kings of cxSidon, and the kings of the coastland across cythe sea; 23 czDedan, daTema, dbBuz, and all who cut dcthe corners of their hair; 24all the ddkings of Arabia and all the kings of dethe mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of dfElam, and all the kings of dgMedia; 26all the kings of dhthe 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 diBabylon
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: dkDrink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of dlthe 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: dmYou must drink! 29For behold, dnI begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, dofor 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:

dp“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
dqand shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for drthe Lord has an indictment against the nations;
dshe 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,
dtand a great tempest is stirring
dufrom the farthest parts of the earth!
33 dv“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. dwThey shall not be lamented, dxor gathered, or buried; dythey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 dzWail, eayou shepherds, and cry out,
eband 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.
35No refuge will remain ecfor the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36A voice—the cry edof the shepherds,
eeand the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 efand the peaceful folds are devastated
egbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38Like a lion ehhe has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of eithe sword of the oppressor,
ejand because of his fierce anger.”

Jeremiah 29:4

4Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Jeremiah 29:12

12 ekThen you will call upon me and come and pray to me, eland I will hear you.
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