Bible Verses

Jeremiah 1-3:5

Jeremiah 1

¹My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the LORD told me to say. ²The LORD first spoke to me in the thirteenth year that Josiah was king of Judah, ³and he continued to speak to me during the rule of Josiah's son Jehoiakim. The last time the LORD spoke to me was in the fifth month of the eleventh year that Josiah's son Zedekiah was king. That was also when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.

The LORD Chooses Jeremiah

⁴The LORD said:

⁵"Jeremiah, I am your Creator,

and before you were born,

I chose you to speak for me

to the nations."

⁶I replied, "I'm not a good speaker, LORD, and I'm too young."

⁷"Don't say you're too young," the LORD answered. "If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don't leave out a word! ⁸I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don't be afraid."

⁹The LORD reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, "I am giving you the words to say, ¹⁰and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again."

¹¹The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"

I answered, "A branch of almonds that ripen early."

¹²"That's right," the LORD replied, "and I always rise early to keep a promise." ¹³Then the LORD showed me something else and asked, "What do you see now?"

I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water in the north, and it's about to spill out toward us."

¹⁴The LORD said:

I will pour out destruction

all over the land.

¹⁵Just watch while I send

for the kings of the north.

They will attack and capture

Jerusalem and other towns,

then set up their thrones

at the gates of Jerusalem.

¹⁶I will punish my people,

because they are guilty

of turning from me

to worship idols.

¹⁷Jeremiah, get ready!

Go and tell the people

what I command you to say.

Don't be frightened by them,

or I will make you terrified

while they watch.

¹⁸My power will make you strong

like a fortress

or a column of iron

or a wall of bronze.

You will oppose all of Judah,

including its kings and leaders,

its priests and people.

¹⁹They will fight back,

but they won't win.

I, the LORD, give my word--

I won't let them harm you.

Jeremiah 2

Israel's Unfaithfulness

¹The LORD told me ²to go to Jerusalem and tell everyone that he had said:

When you were my young bride,

you loved me

and followed me

through the barren desert.

³You belonged to me alone,

like the first part of the harvest,

and I severely punished

those who mistreated you.

⁴Listen, people of Israel, ⁵and I, the LORD, will speak.

I was never unfair

to your ancestors,

but they left me

and became worthless

by following worthless idols.

⁶Your ancestors refused

to ask for my help,

though I had rescued them

from Egypt

and led them through

a treacherous, barren desert,

where no one lives

or dares to travel.

⁷I brought you here to my land,

where food is abundant,

but you made my land filthy

with your sins.

⁸The priests who teach my laws

don't care to know me.

Your leaders rebel against me;

your prophets

give messages from Baal

and worship false gods.

The LORD Accuses His People

⁹I will take you to court

and accuse you

and your descendants

¹⁰of a crime that no nation

has ever committed before.

Just ask anyone, anywhere,

from the eastern deserts

to the islands in the west.

¹¹You will find that no nation

has ever abandoned its gods

even though they were false.

I am the true and glorious God,

but you have rejected me

to worship idols.

¹²Tell the heavens

to tremble with fear!

¹³You, my people, have sinned

in two ways--

you have rejected me,

the source

of life-giving water,

and you've tried to collect water

in cracked and leaking pits

dug in the ground.

¹⁴People of Israel,

you weren't born slaves;

you were captured in war.

¹⁵Enemies roared like lions

and destroyed your land;

towns lie burned and empty.

¹⁶Soldiers from the Egyptian towns

of Memphis and Tahpanhes

have cracked your skulls.

¹⁷It's all your own fault!

You stopped following me,

the LORD your God,

¹⁸and you trusted the power

of Egypt and Assyria. ¹⁹Your own sins will punish you,

because it was a bitter mistake

for you to reject me

without fear of punishment.

I, the LORD All-Powerful,

have spoken.

²⁰Long ago you left me

and broke all ties between us,

refusing to be my servant.

Now you worship other gods

by having sex

on hilltops or in the shade

of large trees. ²¹You were a choice grapevine,

but now you produce nothing

but small, rotten grapes.

Israel Is Stained with Guilt

²²The LORD said:

People of Israel,

you are stained with guilt,

and no soap or bleach

can wash it away.

²³You deny your sins

and say, "We aren't unclean.

We haven't worshiped Baal." But think about what you do

in Hinnom Valley. And you run back and forth

like young camels,

as you rush to worship one idol

after another.

²⁴You are a female donkey

sniffing the desert air,

wanting to mate

with just anyone.

You are an easy catch!

²⁵Your shoes are worn out,

and your throat is parched

from running here and there

to worship foreign gods.

"Stop!" I shouted,

but you replied, "No!

I love those gods too much."

²⁶You and your leaders

are more disgraceful

than thieves--

you and your kings,

your priests and prophets

²⁷worship stone idols

and sacred poles

as if they had created you

and had given you life.

You have rejected me,

but when you're in trouble,

you cry to me for help.

²⁸Go cry to the gods you made!

There should be enough of them

to save you,

because Judah has as many gods

as it has towns.

Israel Rebels against the LORD

²⁹The LORD said to Israel:

You accuse me of not saving you,

but I say you have rebelled.

³⁰I tried punishing you,

but you refused

to come back to me,

and like fierce lions

you killed my prophets.

³¹Now listen to what I say!

Did I abandon you in the desert

or surround you with darkness?

You are my people,

yet you have told me,

"We'll do what we want,

and we refuse

to worship you!"

³²A bride could not forget

to wear her jewelry

to her wedding,

but you have forgotten me

day after day.

³³You are so clever

at finding lovers

that you could give lessons

to a prostitute.

³⁴You killed innocent people

for no reason at all.

And even though their blood

can be seen on your clothes,

³⁵you claim to be innocent,

and you want me to stop

being angry with you.

So I'll take you to court,

and we'll see who is right.

³⁶When Assyria let you down,

you ran to Egypt,

but you'll find no help there,

³⁷and you will leave

in great sadness. I won't let you find help

from those you trust.

Jeremiah 3

Sin and Shame

¹The LORD said to the people of Israel:

If a divorced woman marries,

can her first husband

ever marry her again?

No, because this

would pollute the land.

But you have more gods

than a prostitute has lovers.

Why should I take you back?

²Just try to find one hilltop

where you haven't gone

to worship other gods

by having sex. You sat beside the road

like a robber in ambush,

except you offered yourself

to every passerby.

Your sins of unfaithfulness

have polluted the land.

³So I, the LORD, refused

to let the spring rains fall.

But just like a prostitute,

you still have no shame

for what you have done.

⁴You call me your father

or your long-lost friend;

⁵you beg me to stop being angry,

but you won't stop sinning.