Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion travailed,
she gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says the LORD.
“Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her.
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts;
that you may drink deeply,
and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
12 For the LORD says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you will nurse.
You will be carried on her side,
and will be dandled on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14 You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice,
and your bones will flourish like the tender grass.
The LORD’s hand will be known among his servants;
and he will have indignation against his enemies.
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,
and his chariots will be like the whirlwind;
to give his anger with fierceness,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh;
and those slain by the LORD will be many.
17 “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the middle, eating pig’s meat, abominable things, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together,” says the LORD.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. The time comes that I will gather all nations and languages, and they will come, and will see my glory.
19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the LORD’s house. 21 Of them I will also select priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,” says the LORD, “so your offspring and your name shall remain. 23 It shall happen that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before me,” says the LORD. 24 “They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
† 1:2 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “LORD” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name.
‡ 1:4 or, seed
§ 1:10 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
† 1:24 The word translated “Lord” (mixed case) is “Adonai.”
‡ 1:25 tin is a metal that is separated from silver during the refining and purification process.
† 3:1 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
† 5:10 literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares.
‡ 5:10 1 bath is about 22 liters or 5.8 U. S. gallons
§ 5:10 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels
† 5:10 1 efah is about 22 liters or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks—only one tenth of what was sown.
‡ 5:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
† 7:14 “Immanuel” means “God with us”.
‡ 7:23 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1000 shekels is about 10 kilograms or 22 pounds.
† 8:1 “Maher Shalal Hash Baz” means “quick to the plunder, swift to the prey”.
† 14:9 Sheol is the place of the dead.
‡ 14:11 Sheol is the place of the dead.
§ 14:15 Sheol is the place of the dead.
† 25:6 literally, fat things
† 28:15 Sheol is the place of the dead.
‡ 28:18 Sheol is the place of the dead.
† 29:2 or, Ariel
† 34:14 literally, lilith, which could also be a night demon or night monster
† 38:10 Sheol is the place of the dead.
‡ 38:18 Sheol is the place of the dead.
† 45:5 or, equip
† 52:15 or, sprinkle
† 53:11 So read the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint. Masoretic Text omits “the light”.
† 57:9 Sheol is the place of the dead.
† 61:1 LXX and DSS add: recovery of sight to the blind
† 62:4 Hephzibah means “I delight in her”.
‡ 62:4 Beulah means “married”
Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah
1
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The LORD’s† word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Now the LORD’s word came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
Before you were born, I sanctified you.
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord‡ GOD! Behold,§ I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
7 But the LORD said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 8 Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says the LORD.
9 Then the LORD stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.”
13 The LORD’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.”
14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the LORD.
“They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness,
in that they have forsaken me,
and have burned incense to other gods,
and worshiped the works of their own hands.
17 “You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 For behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says the LORD, “to rescue you.”
2
1 The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘The LORD says,
“I remember for you the kindness of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you went after me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to the LORD,
the first fruits of his increase.
All who devour him will be held guilty.
Evil will come on them,” ’ says the LORD.”
4 Hear the LORD’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5 The LORD says,
“What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
that they have gone far from me,
and have walked after worthless vanity,
and have become worthless?
6 They didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no one passed through,
and where no man lived?’
7 I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruit and its goodness;
but when you entered, you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
and those who handle the law didn’t know me.
The rulers also transgressed against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says the LORD,
“and I will contend with your children’s children.
10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see.
Send to Kedar, and consider diligently,
and see if there
