Aug 19 - Jeremiah 10-13
Jeremiah
1Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel2Thus says the Lord: "Do not choose to learn according to the ways of the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of heaven, which the Gentiles fear3For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe4He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart5They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.6O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength7Who will not fear you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is nothing similar to you8Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood9Rolled silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is their clothing. All these things are the work of artists10But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his threats11"And so, you shall speak to them in this way: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth and from among those places which are under heaven12He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding13At his voice, he grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his storehouses14Every man has become a fool concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there is no spirit in these things15These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish16Jacob’s portion is not like their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name17Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege.18For thus says the Lord: "Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they may be found.19Woe to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it20My tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my curtains21For the pastors have acted foolishly, and they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not understood, and all their flock has been dispersed22Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place for serpents23I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps24Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing25Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and they have utterly destroyed his honor
1The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying2"Listen to the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem3And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who will not listen to the words of this covenant4which I commanded to your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, away from the iron furnace, saying: Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you, and then you will be my people and I will be your God5So shall I uphold the oath which I swore to your fathers, that I would give them a land flowing with milk and honey, just as it is this day." And I answered by saying: "Amen, O Lord.6And the Lord said to me: "Shout all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Listen to the words of the covenant, and do them7For when testing, I tested your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, even until this day. Rising early, I tested them, and I said: Listen to my voice8But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, each one of them walked in the depravity of his own evil heart. And so, I brought over them all the words of this covenant, which I instructed them to do. But they would not do them.9And the Lord said to me: "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem10They have returned to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to listen to my words. And likewise, they have gone after strange gods, so that they may serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have treated as void my covenant, which I made with their fathers11For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead evils over them, from which they will not be able to escape. And they will cry out to me, and I will not heed them12And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go forth, and they will cry out to the gods, to whom they offer libations, and they will not save them in the time of their affliction13For according to the number of your cities, so were your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem, so did you establish altars of confusion, altars to offer libations to Baal14Therefore, you should not choose to pray for this people, and you should not take up praise and petitioning on their behalf. For I will not heed them in the time of their outcry to me, in the time of their affliction15Why has my beloved wrought great wickedness in my house? How can the holy flesh take away from you your wickedness, in which you have gloried16The Lord has called your name: a beautiful, fruitful, splendid, and productive olive tree. At the voice of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and its greenery was burned up17And the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced an evil against you, concerning the evils of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves so as to provoke me, by offering libations to Baal.18But you, O Lord, have revealed this to me, and I have understood. Then you displayed their efforts to me19And I was like a meek lamb, who is being carried to be a victim. And I did not realize that they had devised plans against me, saying: "Let us place wood upon his bread, and let us eradicate him from the land of the living, and let his name no longer be remembered.20But you, O Lord of hosts, who judges justly, and who tests the temperament and the heart, let me see your vengeance against them. For I have revealed my case to you21"Because of this, thus says the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who are seeking your life, and who are saying: ‘You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and you shall not die by our hands.22Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit upon them. Their young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by famine23And there will be nothing left of them. For I will lead an evil over the men of Anathoth: the year of their visitation.
1Certainly, O Lord, you are just. But if I may contend with you, while still speaking what is just to you: Why does the way of the impious prosper? Why is it well with all those who transgress and act unfairly2You planted them, and they took root. They are prospering and bearing fruit. You are near to their mouths, but far from their hearts3And you, O Lord, have known me well. You have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you. Gather them together like a flock for the sacrifice and sanctify them for the day of slaughter4How long shall the earth mourn? And how long shall the plants of every field whither because of the wickedness of the inhabitants within them? It has consumed the wild animals and the birds. For they said: "He will not see our very end.5"If you have struggled to run on foot, how will you be able to compete with horses? And if you have been secure in a land of peace, what will you do about the arrogance of the Jordan6For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even these have fought against you. And they have cried out after you with loud voice: ‘You should not believe them, when they speak good things to you.’ 7"I have abandoned my house. I have disowned my inheritance. I have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies8My inheritance has become for me like a lion in the forest. It has uttered a voice against me, therefore, I have hated it9Is my inheritance to me like a discolored bird? Is it like a bird that has entirely changed color? Approach and assemble, all beasts of the earth! Hurry, so that you may devour10Many pastors have demolished my vineyard. They have trampled my portion. They have made my desirable portion into a desert of solitude11They have squandered it, and it has grieved concerning me. The entire earth has become utterly desolate, because there is no one who understands with the heart.12The devastators have arrived, over all the ways of the wilderness. For the sword of the Lord will devour, from one end of the earth even to its furthest limits. There is no peace for all that is flesh13They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns. They received an inheritance, but it will not benefit them. You will be confounded by your own fruits, because of the wrath of the fury of the Lord14Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance that I have distributed to my people Israel: "Behold, I will root them out of their own land, and I will root the house of Judah out of their midst15And when I have rooted them out, I will turn back and take pity on them. And I will lead them back, one man to his inheritance, and another man to his land16And this shall be: if they are taught and they learn the ways of my people, so that they swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they had taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people17But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation unto utter destruction and perdition, says the Lord.
1Thus says the Lord to me: "Go, and obtain for yourself a linen waistcloth. And you shall place it over your loins, and you shall not put it into water.2And so I obtained a waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and I placed it around my loins3And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying4"Take the waistcloth, which you obtained, which is around your loins, and, rising up, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in an opening of the rock.5And so I went, and I hid it by the Euphrates, just as the Lord had instructed me6And it happened that, after many days, the Lord said to me: "Rise up, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the waistcloth, which I instructed you to hide there.7And so I went to the Euphrates, and I dug up and took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistcloth had rotted, so that it was not fit for any use8And the word of the Lord came to me, saying9"Thus says the Lord: In the same way, I will cause the arrogance of Judah and the arrogance of Jerusalem to rot10This most wicked people, they are not willing to listen to my words, for they walk in the depravity of their own heart, and they have gone after strange gods, so as to serve them and to adore them. And so, they will become like this waistcloth, which is not fit for any use11For just as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me the entire house of Israel and the entire house of Judah, says the Lord, so that they would be to me: a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory. But they did not listen12Therefore, you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Every bottle will be filled with wine.’ And they will say to you: ‘Are we ignorant that every bottle will be filled with wine?13And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings from the stock of David who sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, unto inebriation14And I will scatter them, a man from his brother, and fathers and sons similarly, says the Lord. I will not spare them, and I will not pardon them, and I will not take pity, so as not to destroy them.15Hear and pay close attention. Do not choose to lift yourself up, for the Lord has spoken16Give glory to the Lord your God, before darkness falls, and before your feet stumble on the darkened mountains. You will expect light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death and into utter darkness17But if you will not listen to this, then my soul will weep in secret before the face of your pride. It will weep bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive18"Say to the king and to the female ruler: Humble yourselves, sit down. For the crown of your glory has gone down from your head19The cities of the south have been closed, and there is no one who may open them. All of Judah has been taken away into complete captivity20Lift up your eyes and see, you who are arriving from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your famous cattle21What will you say when he visits upon you? For you have taught them against you, and you have instructed them with your own head. Will not pains take hold of you, as with a woman in labor22But if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ it is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your shame has been uncovered and the soles of your feet have been defiled23If the Ethiopian is able to change his skin, or the leopard is able to change his spots, then you also may be able to do well, though you have learned evil24And I will scatter them like chaff, which is carried away by the wind in the desert25This is your lot, and this is the portion of your measure from me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me, and you have had confidence in what is false26Therefore, I have even bared your thighs before your face, and your shame has been seen27For I have seen your adulteries, and your neighing for the wickedness of your fornication, and your abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How much longer before you will be made clean after me?