The Berean Pursuit
These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"Ah, Lord GOD," I said, "I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!"
But the LORD told me:
"Do not say,
'I am only a child.'
For to everyone I send you,
you must go,
and all that I command you,
you must speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,"
declares the LORD.
Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me:
"Behold, I have put My words
in your mouth.
See, I have appointed you today
over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and overthrow,
to build and plant."
And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"
"I see a branch of an almond tree," I replied.
"You have observed correctly," said the LORD, "for I am watching over My word to accomplish it."
Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, "What do you see?"
"I see a boiling pot," I replied, "and it is tilting toward us from the north."
Then the LORD said to me, "Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land. For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north," declares the LORD.
"Their kings will come and set up their thrones
at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.
I will pronounce My judgments against them
for all their wickedness,
because they have forsaken Me
to burn incense to other gods
and to worship the works of their own hands.
Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them. Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD.
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says:
'I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
Israel was holy to the LORD,
the firstfruits of His harvest.
All who devoured her
found themselves guilty;
disaster came upon them,'?"
declares the LORD.
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel. This is what the LORD says:
"What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they strayed so far from Me,
and followed worthless idols,
and became worthless themselves?
They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and pits,
a land of drought and darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?'
I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but you came and defiled My land,
and made My inheritance detestable.
The priests did not ask,
'Where is the LORD?'
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,
and the leaders rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed useless idols.
Therefore, I will contend with you again,
declares the LORD,
and I will bring a case
against your children's children.
Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus
and take a look;
send to Kedar and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
Has a nation ever changed its gods,
though they are no gods at all?
Yet My people have exchanged their Glory
for useless idols.
Be stunned by this, O heavens;
be shocked and utterly appalled,"
declares the LORD.
"For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain of living water,
and they have dug their own cisterns-
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?
Why then has he become prey?
The young lions have roared at him;
they have growled with a loud voice.
They have laid waste his land;
his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved the crown of your head.
Have you not brought this on yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God
when He led you in the way?
Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
What will you gain on your way to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your own evil will discipline you;
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Consider and realize
how evil and bitter it is
for you to forsake the LORD your God
and to have no fear of Me,"
declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
"For long ago you broke your yoke
and tore off your chains,
saying, 'I will not serve!'
Indeed, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you lay down as a prostitute.
I had planted you like a choice vine
from the very best seed.
How could you turn yourself before Me
into a rotten, wild vine?
Although you wash with lye
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your guilt
is still before Me,"
declares the Lord GOD.
"How can you say, 'I am not defiled;
I have not run after the Baals'?
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.
You are a swift young she-camel
galloping here and there,
a wild donkey at home in the wilderness,
sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can restrain her passion?
All who seek her need not weary themselves;
in mating season they will find her.
You should have kept your feet from going bare
and your throat from being thirsty.
But you said, 'It is hopeless!
For I love foreign gods,
and I must go after them.'
As the thief is ashamed when he is caught,
so the house of Israel is disgraced.
They, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets
say to a tree, 'You are my father,'
and to a stone, 'You gave me birth.'
For they have turned their backs to Me
and not their faces,
yet in the time of trouble they beg,
'Rise up and save us!'
But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them rise up in your time of trouble
and save you if they can;
for your gods are as numerous
as your cities, O Judah.
Why do you bring a case against Me?
You have all rebelled against Me,"
declares the LORD.
"I have struck your sons in vain;
they accepted no discipline.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a voracious lion."
You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD:
"Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of dense darkness?
Why do My people say,
'We are free to roam;
we will come to You no more'?
Does a maiden forget her jewelry
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
for days without number.
How skillfully you pursue love!
Even the most immoral of women
could learn from your ways.
Moreover, your skirts are stained
with the blood of the innocent poor,
though you did not find them breaking in.
But in spite of all these things
you say, 'I am innocent.
Surely His anger will turn from me.'
Behold, I will judge you,
because you say, 'I have not sinned.'
How unstable you are,
constantly changing your ways!
You will be disappointed by Egypt
just as you were by Assyria.
Moreover, you will leave that place
with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those you trust;
you will not prosper by their help."
"If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Would not such a land be completely defiled?
But you have played the harlot with many lovers-
and you would return to Me?"
declares the LORD.
"Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place where you have not been violated?
You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers,
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you refuse to be ashamed.
Have you not just called to Me,
'My Father, You are my friend from youth.
Will He be angry forever?
Will He be indignant to the end?'
This you have spoken,
but you keep doing all the evil you can."
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there. I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well. Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.
And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Go, proclaim this message toward the north:
'Return, O faithless Israel,' declares the LORD.
'I will no longer look on you with anger,
for I am merciful,' declares the LORD.
'I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have rebelled against the LORD your God.
You have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every green tree
and have not obeyed My voice,'?"
declares the LORD.
"Return, O faithless children," declares the LORD, "for I am your master, and I will take you-one from a city and two from a family-and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."
"In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.
At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.
Then I said, 'How I long to make you My sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance
of all the nations!'
I thought you would call Me 'Father'
and never turn away from following Me.
But as a woman may betray her husband,
so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel,"
declares the LORD.
A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,
because they have perverted their ways
and forgotten the LORD their God.
"Return, O faithless children,
and I will heal your faithlessness."
"Here we are. We come to You,
for You are the LORD our God.
Surely deception comes from the hills,
and commotion from the mountains.
Surely the salvation of Israel
is in the LORD our God.
From our youth, that shameful god
has consumed what our fathers have worked for-
their flocks and herds,
their sons and daughters.
Let us lie down in our shame;
let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the LORD our God,
both we and our fathers;
from our youth even to this day
we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."
"If you will return, O Israel,
return to Me," declares the LORD.
"If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight
and no longer waver,
and if you can swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then the nations will be blessed by Him,
and in Him they will glory."
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
"Break up your unplowed ground,
and do not sow among the thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
and remove the foreskins of your hearts,
O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it,
because of your evil deeds."
Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
"Blow the ram's horn throughout the land.
Cry aloud and say,
'Assemble yourselves
and let us flee to the fortified cities.'
Raise a signal flag toward Zion.
Seek refuge! Do not delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
and terrible destruction.
A lion has gone up from his thicket,
and a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to lay waste your land.
Your cities will be reduced to ruins
and lie uninhabited.
So put on sackcloth,
mourn and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us."
"In that day," declares the LORD,
"the king and officials will lose their courage.
The priests will tremble in fear,
and the prophets will be astounded."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' while a sword is at our throats."
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift; a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them."
Behold, he advances like the clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem,
so that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
wicked thoughts within you?
For a voice resounds from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
Warn the nations now!
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
"A besieging army comes from a distant land;
they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against Me," declares the LORD.
"Your ways and deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your punishment; how bitter it is,
because it pierces to the heart!"
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh, the pain in my chest!
My heart pounds within me;
I cannot be silent.
For I have heard the sound of the horn,
the alarm of battle.
Disaster after disaster is proclaimed,
for the whole land is laid waste.
My tents are destroyed in an instant,
my curtains in a moment.
How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the horn?
"For My people are fools;
they have not known Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but they know not how to do good."
I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and void;
I looked to the heavens,
and they had no light.
I looked at the mountains,
and behold, they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
I looked, and no man was left;
all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert.
All its cities were torn down
before the LORD,
before His fierce anger.
For this is what the LORD says:
"The whole land will be desolate,
but I will not finish its destruction.
Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above will grow dark.
I have spoken, I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back."
Every city flees
at the sound of the horseman and archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
And you, O devastated one, what will you do,
though you dress yourself in scarlet,
though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
though you enlarge your eyes with paint?
You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you;
they want to take your life.
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child-
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands to say,
"Woe is me,
for my soul faints before the murderers!"
A song of ascents.
Out of the depths
I cry to You, O LORD!
O Lord, hear my voice;
let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.
If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,
then who, O Lord, could stand?
But with You there is forgiveness,
so that You may be feared.
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,
and in His word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning-
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is loving devotion,
and with Him is redemption in abundance.
And He will redeem Israel
from all iniquity.