Jeremiah 1

New International Version

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth^(A) in the territory of Benjamin. ²The word of the Lord came^(B) to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah^(C) son of Amon king of Judah, ³and through the reign of Jehoiakim^(D) son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah^(E) son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.^(F)

The Call of Jeremiah

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

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb^(G) I knew^[a]^(H) you,
before you were born^(I) I set you apart;^(J)
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.^(K)”

⁶“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak;^(L) I am too young.”^(M)

⁷But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸Do not be afraid^(N) of them, for I am with you^(O) and will rescue^(P) you,” declares the Lord.^(Q)

⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched^(R) my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.^(S) ¹⁰See, today I appoint you over nations^(T) and kingdoms to uproot^(U) and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”^(V)

¹¹The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”^(W)

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

¹²The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching^[b]^(X) to see that my word is fulfilled.”

¹³The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”^(Y)

“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”

¹⁴The Lord said to me, “From the north^(Z) disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. ¹⁵I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.

“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
    in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
    and against all the towns of Judah.^(AA)
¹⁶I will pronounce my judgments^(AB) on my people
    because of their wickedness^(AC) in forsaking me,^(AD)
in burning incense to other gods^(AE)
    and in worshiping^(AF) what their hands have made.^(AG)

¹⁷“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say^(AH) to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified^(AI) by them, or I will terrify you before them. ¹⁸Today I have made you^(AJ) a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. ¹⁹They will fight against you but will not overcome^(AK) you, for I am with you^(AL) and will rescue^(AM) you,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 1:5 Or chose
Jeremiah 1:12 The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree.

Jeremiah 18

New International Version

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay^(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,^(B) Israel. ⁷If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,^(C) torn down and destroyed, ⁸and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent^(D) and not inflict on it the disaster^(E) I had planned. ⁹And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built^(F) up and planted, ¹⁰and if it does evil^(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider^(H) the good I had intended to do for it.^(I)

¹¹“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster^(J) for you and devising a plan^(K) against you. So turn^(L) from your evil ways,^(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’^(N) ¹²But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.^(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.^(P)’”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations:
    Who has ever heard anything like this?^(Q)
A most horrible^(R) thing has been done
    by Virgin^(S) Israel.
¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon
    ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
    ever stop flowing?^[a]
¹⁵Yet my people have forgotten^(T) me;
    they burn incense^(U) to worthless idols,^(V)
which made them stumble^(W) in their ways,
    in the ancient paths.^(X)
They made them walk in byways,
    on roads not built up.^(Y)
¹⁶Their land will be an object of horror^(Z)
    and of lasting scorn;^(AA)
all who pass by will be appalled^(AB)
    and will shake their heads.^(AC)
¹⁷Like a wind^(AD) from the east,
    I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face^(AE)
    in the day of their disaster.”

¹⁸They said, “Come, let’s make plans^(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest^(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,^(AH) nor the word from the prophets.^(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues^(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”

¹⁹Listen to me, Lord;
    hear what my accusers^(AK) are saying!
²⁰Should good be repaid with evil?^(AL)
    Yet they have dug a pit^(AM) for me.
Remember that I stood^(AN) before you
    and spoke in their behalf^(AO)
    to turn your wrath away from them.
²¹So give their children over to famine;^(AP)
    hand them over to the power of the sword.^(AQ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;^(AR)
    let their men be put to death,
    their young men^(AS) slain by the sword in battle.
²²Let a cry^(AT) be heard from their houses
    when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit^(AU) to capture me
    and have hidden snares^(AV) for my feet.
²³But you, Lord, know
    all their plots to kill^(AW) me.
Do not forgive^(AX) their crimes
    or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
    deal with them in the time of your anger.^(AY)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.

Jeremiah 32

New International Version

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth^(A) year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth^(B) year of Nebuchadnezzar. ²The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging^(C) Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined^(D) in the courtyard of the guard^(E) in the royal palace of Judah.

³Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy^(F) as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture^(G) it. ⁴Zedekiah^(H) king of Judah will not escape^(I) the Babylonians^[a]^(J) but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵He will take^(K) Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him,^(L) declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”^(M)

⁶Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth,^(N) because as nearest relative it is your right and duty^(O) to buy it.’

⁸“Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field^(P) at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; ⁹so I bought the field^(Q) at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[b] of silver.^(R) ¹⁰I signed and sealed the deed,^(S) had it witnessed,^(T) and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— ¹²and I gave this deed to Baruch^(U) son of Neriah,^(V) the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed^(W) and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. ¹⁵For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’^(X)

¹⁶“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch^(Y) son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

¹⁷“Ah, Sovereign Lord,^(Z) you have made the heavens and the earth^(AA) by your great power and outstretched arm.^(AB) Nothing is too hard^(AC) for you. ¹⁸You show love^(AD) to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps^(AE) of their children^(AF) after them. Great and mighty God,^(AG) whose name is the Lord Almighty,^(AH) ¹⁹great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.^(AI) Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind;^(AJ) you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.^(AK) ²⁰You performed signs and wonders^(AL) in Egypt^(AM) and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown^(AN) that is still yours. ²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand^(AO) and an outstretched arm^(AP) and with great terror.^(AQ) ²²You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(AR) ²³They came in and took possession^(AS) of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law;^(AT) they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster^(AU) on them.

²⁴“See how the siege ramps^(AV) are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague,^(AW) the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said^(AX) has happened,^(AY) as you now see. ²⁵And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field^(AZ) with silver and have the transaction witnessed.^(BA)’”

²⁶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.^(BB) Is anything too hard for me?^(BC) ²⁸Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar^(BD) king of Babylon, who will capture it.^(BE) ²⁹The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down,^(BF) along with the houses^(BG) where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings^(BH) to other gods.^(BI)

³⁰“The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth;^(BJ) indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger^(BK) with what their hands have made,^(BL) declares the Lord. ³¹From the day it was built until now, this city^(BM) has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove^(BN) it from my sight. ³²The people of Israel and Judah have provoked^(BO) me by all the evil^(BP) they have done—they, their kings and officials,^(BQ) their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. ³³They turned their backs^(BR) to me and not their faces; though I taught^(BS) them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.^(BT) ³⁴They set up their vile images^(BU) in the house that bears my Name^(BV) and defiled^(BW) it. ³⁵They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(BX) to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek,^(BY) though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind^(BZ)—that they should do such a detestable^(CA) thing and so make Judah sin.^(CB)

³⁶“You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague^(CC) it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ³⁷I will surely gather^(CD) them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger^(CE) and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.^(CF) ³⁸They will be my people,^(CG) and I will be their God. ³⁹I will give them singleness^(CH) of heart and action, so that they will always fear^(CI) me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. ⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant^(CJ) with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire^(CK) them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.^(CL) ⁴¹I will rejoice^(CM) in doing them good^(CN) and will assuredly plant^(CO) them in this land with all my heart and soul.^(CP)

⁴²“This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity^(CQ) on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised^(CR) them. ⁴³Once more fields will be bought^(CS) in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate^(CT) waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’ ⁴⁴Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds^(CU) will be signed, sealed and witnessed^(CV) in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev,^(CW) because I will restore^(CX) their fortunes,^[c] declares the Lord.”