katapi logo - katapi - New Study Bible ... by URL bible references - | DB1 | New Jerusalem Bible

Jeremiah 1:1-3:5

JEREMIAH. (7th-6th cent. BCE). (Jr.1.1-3)

11 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of Yahweh came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign; 3 then in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the deportation of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.

The call of Jeremiah. (Jr.1.4-10)

4 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying:
5 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I appointed you as prophet to the nations.'
6 I then said, 'Ah, ah, ah, Lord Yahweh; you see, I do not know how to speak: I am only a child!'
7 But Yahweh replied,
'Do not say, 'I am only a child,'
for you must go to all to whom I send you
and say whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of confronting them,
for I am with you to rescue you,
Yahweh declares.'
9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me:
'There! I have put my words into your mouth.
10 Look, today I have set you
over the nations and kingdoms,
to uproot and to knock down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.'

Two visions. (Jr.1.11-19)

11 The word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' I answered, 'I see a branch of the Watchful Tree.' 12 Then Yahweh said, 'Well seen, for I am watching over my word to perform it.' 13 A second time the word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see a cooking pot on the boil, with its mouth tilting from the north.' 14 Then Yahweh said:
'From the north disaster will come boiling over
on all who live in the country,
15 for I am now summoning
all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
Yahweh declares.
They will come, and each will set his throne
in front of the gates of Jerusalem,
all round, against its walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I shall pronounce my judgements on them
because of all their wickedness,
since they have abandoned me,
offering incense to other gods
and worshipping what their own hands have made. 17 'As for you, prepare yourself for action.
Stand up and tell them
all I command you.
Have no fear of them
and in their presence I will make you fearless.
18 For look, today I have made you
into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron,
a wall of bronze
to stand against the whole country:
the kings of Judah, its princes,
its priests and the people of the country.
19 They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you,
Yahweh declares,
to rescue you.'

God's care for Israel. (Jr.2.1-3)

21 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 'Go and shout this in Jerusalem's ears:
'Yahweh says this:
'I remember your faithful love,
the affection of your bridal days,
when you followed me through the desert,
through a land unsown.
3 Israel was sacred to Yahweh;
the first-fruits of his harvest;
all who ate this incurred guilt,
disaster befell them,
Yahweh declares.' '

The sin of Israel's ancestors. (Jr.2.4-13)

4 Listen to Yahweh's word, House of Jacob
and all the families of the House of Israel.

5 Yahweh says this,
'What did your ancestors find wrong in me
for them to have deserted me so far
as to follow Futility
and become futile themselves?

6 They never said, 'Where is Yahweh,
who brought us out of Egypt
and led us through the desert,
through a land of plains and ravines,
through a land of drought, of shadow dark as death,
a land through which no one passes
and where no human being lives?'
7 I brought you to a country of plenty,
to enjoy its produce and good things;
but when you entered you defiled my country
and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The priests never asked, 'Where is Yahweh?'
Those skilled in the Law did not know me,
the shepherds too rebelled against me
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed the Useless Ones.
9 So I must state my case against you once more,
Yahweh declares,
and state my case against your children's children:
10 Cross to the isles of the Kittim and look,
send to Kedar and carefully observe,
see if anything like this has happened before!
11 Does a nation change its gods?
—and these are not gods at all!
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory
for the Useless One!
12 You heavens, stand aghast at this,
horrified, utterly appalled,
Yahweh declares.
13 For my people have committed two crimes:
they have abandoned me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug water-tanks for themselves,
cracked water-tanks that hold no water.

What Israel's unfaithfulness led to. (Jr.2.14-19)

14 'Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into serfdom,
for him to be preyed on like this?
15 Lions have roared at him,
they have made their voices heard.
They have left this country a desert,
his towns lie burnt and uninhabited.
16 The people of Noph and Tahpanhes
have shaved your skull!
17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
by abandoning Yahweh your God,
when he was guiding you on your way?
18 What is the good of going to Egypt now
to drink the water of the Nile?
What is the good of going to Assyria
to drink the water of the River?
19 Your wickedness will bring its own punishment,
your infidelities will bring you to book,
so give thought and see
how evil and bitter it is
to abandon Yahweh your God
and not to stand in awe of me,
the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares.

Israel refuses to worship the LORD. (Jr.2.20-25)

20 'It is long ago now since you broke your yoke,
burst your bonds and said,
'I will not serve!'
Yet on every high hill
and under every green tree
you have sprawled and played the whore.
21 Yet I had planted you, a red vine
of completely sound stock.
How is it you have turned into seedlings
of a vine that is alien to me?
22 Even though you scrub yourself with soda
and put in quantities of soap,
the stain of your guilt would still be visible to me,
the Lord Yahweh declares.
23 How dare you say, 'I am not defiled,
I have not run after the Baals?'
Look at your behaviour in the Valley,
realise what you have done.
24 A wild she-donkey, at home in the desert,
snuffing the breeze in desire;
who can control her when she is on heat?
Males need not trouble to look for her,
they will find her in her month.
25 Beware! Your own foot will go unshod,
your own throat grow dry!
But you said, 'It is no use! No!
For I love the Strangers
and they are the ones I shall follow.'

Israel deserves to be punished. (Jr.2.26-37)

26 'Like a thief ashamed at being caught,
so will the House of Israel be:
they, their kings, their chief men,
their priests and their prophets,
27 who say to a piece of wood, 'You are my father,'
and to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.'
For they turn to me their backs,
never their faces;
yet when trouble comes they shout,
'Get up! Save us!'
28 Where are your gods you made for yourself?
Let them get up if they can save you
when trouble comes!
For you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah! 29 Why make out a case against me?
You have all rebelled against me,
Yahweh declares.
30 In vain I have struck your children,
they have not accepted correction;
your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a marauding lion.
31 Now you of this generation,
listen to what Yahweh says:
Have I been a desert for Israel,
or a land of gloom?
Why do my people say,
'We are our own masters,
we will come to you no more'?
32 Does a girl forget her ornaments,
a bride her sash?
And yet my people have forgotten me,
days beyond number. 33 'How well you set your course
in pursuit of love!
And so you have schooled your ways
to wicked deeds.
34 The very skirts of your robe are stained
with the blood of the poor,
of innocent men you never caught breaking and entering!
And in spite of all this,
35 you say, 'I am innocent,
let his anger turn from me!'
Now I pass sentence on you
for saying, 'I have not sinned.' 36 'How frivolously you undertake
a change of course!
But you will be disappointed by Egypt
just as you were by Assyria.
37 You will have to leave there too
with your hands on your head,
for Yahweh has rejected those that you rely on,
you will come to no good with them.'

Unfaithful Israel. (Jr.3.1-5)

31 'If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes someone else's,
has he the right to go back to her?
Has not that piece of land been totally polluted?
And you, having played the whore with many lovers,
you claim the right to come back to me!
　Yahweh demands.
2 'Lift your eyes to the bare heights and look!
Where have you not offered your sex!
You waited by the roadside for them like an Arab in the desert.
You have polluted the country with your prostitution and your vices:
3 this is why the showers have been withheld,
the late rains have not come.

'But you maintained a Prostitute's bold front,
with no trace of a blush.
4 From now on, do not cry out at me, 'My father!
My beloved ever since I was young!
5 Will he keep up his anger for ever,
maintain his wrath to the end?'
You say this but still go on sinning,
being so obstinate.'

Any problem with this page ? Please e-mail me. © this page layout: Paul Ingram 2016.