«O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction.

I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.

The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.»

«Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.

Arise, and let us go by night, And let us destroy her palaces.»

For thus has the LORD of hosts said: «Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst.

As a fountain wells up with water, So she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds.

Be instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not inhabited.»

Thus says the LORD of hosts: «They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.»

To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.

Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD. I am weary of holding it in. «I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of days.

And their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,» says the LORD.

«Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.

They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, «Peace, peace!́ When there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down,» says the LORD.

Thus says the LORD: «Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, «We will not walk in it.́

Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, «Listen to the sound of the trumpet!́ But they said, «We will not listen.́

Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.

Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people-- The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it.

For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.»

Therefore thus says the LORD: «Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.»

Thus says the LORD: «Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

They will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.»

We have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor.

Do not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.

O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.

«I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way.

They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters;

The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.

People will call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them.»

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

For then the king of Babylońs army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah́s house.

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, «Why do you prophesy and say, «Thus says the LORD: «Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face, and see him eye to eye;

then he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him,» says the LORD; «though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed»́?»

And Jeremiah said, «The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

«Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, «Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.»́

Then Hanamel my unclés son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, «Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.́ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money--seventeen shekels of silver.

And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales.

So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open;

and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my unclés son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

«Then I charged Baruch before them, saying,

«Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: «Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.»

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: «Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.»́

«Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying:

«Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them--the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.

You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself a name, as it is this day.

You have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them--»a land flowing with milk and honey.»

And they came in and took possession of it, but they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

«Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it!

And You have said to me, O Lord GOD, «Buy the field for money, and take witnesses»!--yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.»́

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

«Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?

Therefore thus says the LORD: «Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger;

because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,́ says the LORD.

«For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face

because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger--they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.

But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.́

«Now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, «It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.

They shall be My people, and I will be their God;

then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.́

«For thus says the LORD: «Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, «It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.»

Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,́ says the LORD.»