dwell in this land, the kings that sit on the throne of David, the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to make them drunken.

And I will scatter one with another, the fathers with the children, saith the LORD; and I will not spare, nor overlook, nor have mercy upon their ruin.

Hearken therefore, and take heed, and resist not: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Give glory unto the LORD your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, that ye may wait for the light, when he shall make it dark and gloomy.

But if ye will not hear these things, yet my soul weepeth in secret for such hope: mine eyes are filled with tears, because the flock of the LORD is taken.

Say unto the king and to the queen, Sit down; for the crown of glory is fallen from off your heads.

The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Judah is carried away clean.

Lift up your eyes, and see how they come from the north. Where then is the flock that was commanded thee, thy glorious flock?

What wilt thou say, when he shall thus afflict thee? For thou hast made them accustomed unto thee, that they should be princes and chiefs. What is the matter? fear shall come upon thee like a woman in childbearing.

And if thou wilt say in thine heart: Why do these things befall me? Because of the multitude of thine iniquity thy hems are uncovered, and thy thighs are bared.

Can a Moor also change his skin, or a leopard his spots? So can ye also do good, because ye are accustomed to evil.

Therefore will I scatter them as stubble that is blown before the wind out of the wilderness.

This shall be thy reward, and thy portion which I have measured out unto thee, saith the LORD. Because thou hast forgotten me, and hast relied upon lies, 26. Then will I also set thy hems on high against thee, that thy shame may be seen.

For I have seen thy adulteries, and thy lewdness, and thy fornications, even thine abominations, both in the hills, and in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! When wilt thou be purified more and more?
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 14
Drought and famine. Jeremiah’s intercession.

This is the word which the LORD spake unto Jeremiah concerning the precious time: 2. Judah lieth miserable, her gates are fallen down: the land is desolate; and there is a great drought in Jerusalem.

The great send the little ones for water; but when they come to the well, they find no water, and bring their vessels empty. again. They go sad. and afflicted, and cover their heads, 4. Because the earth languisheth, because it rained not upon the earth. The husbandmen go sadly, and cover their heads.

For the hinds also, which cast in the field, leave the young, because there is no grass.

The wild beasts stand upon the hills, and gasp for breath, as the dragons, and languish, because no herb groweth.

O Lord, our iniquities have merited it: but help us for thy name’s sake: for great is our disobedience, that we have sinned against thee.

Thou art the consolation of Israel, and their helper in trouble: why standest thou as a sojourner in the land, and as a stranger that sojourneth within?

Why hast thou set thyself forth as a valiant man, desponding, and as a giant that can not help?
For thou art among us, O LORD, and we are called by thy name: forsake us not.

Thus saith the LORD concerning this people; They love to run to and fro, and they love not to tarry at home: therefore the LORD will not have them, but now remembereth their iniquity, and will punish their sins.

And the LORD said unto me, Thou shalt not ask mercy for this people.

For though they fast, yet will I not hear their supplications: though they bring burnt offerings and meat offerings, yet will they not please me; but I will destroy them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence.

And I said, O Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say unto them: Ye shall see no sword, neither shall there be any plague with you: but I will give you good peace in this place.

And the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I have not sent them, neither have I commanded them, nor spoken unto them: they preach unto you false visions, and interpretations, and idolatries, and deceitfulness of their hearts.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, when I have not sent them, and yet they preach that there shall no sword nor plague come into this land: Such prophets shall die by the sword and by the famine.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall lie by the sword, and shall famish in the streets of Jerusalem, and no man shall bury them: so shall their wives, and their sons, and their daughters; and I will pour their wickedness upon them.

And thou shalt say unto them this word, Mine eyes run down with tears day and night, and cease not: for the virgin, the daughter of my people, is horribly afflicted and miserably stricken.

When I go forth into the field, behold, they that are slain with the sword lie there: and when I come into the city, they that are famished with hunger lie there. For the prophets also, and the priests also, must go into a land which they know not.

Hast thou then rejected Judah, or hast thy soul disgusted with Zion? Why then hast thou smitten us so that no man can heal us? We hoped that there should be peace, and there is no good: we hoped that we should be healed, but, behold, there is more harm.

O LORD, we acknowledge our ungodliness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

But for thy name’s sake let us not be profaned; let not the throne of thy glory be mocked: yet remember, and let not thy covenant with us cease.

For there is none among the heathen that giveth rain: neither can heaven rain. For thou art the LORD our God, in whom we hope: for thou canst do all these things.
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 15
Punishment on the impenitent.

And the LORD said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart toward this people. Drive them away from me, and let them go.

And if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go? say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Whom death shall smite, let it smite him; whom the sword shall smite, let it smite him; whom famine shall smite, let it smite him; whom prison shall smite, let it smite him.

For I will punish them with four plagues, saith the LORD; with the sword, that they may be slain; with dogs, that they may be dragged; with the fowls of the air, and with the beasts of the earth, that they may be devoured, and be put to death.

And I will drive them to and fro throughout all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Jehizkiah king of Judah, because of his transgression in Jerusalem.

Who then will have mercy upon thee, O Jerusalem? Who then will have compassion on thee?
Who then will go and buy thee peace?

Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, and fallen away from me: therefore have I stretched out mine hand against thee, to destroy thee: I am weary of mercy.

And I will cast them out of the land with the shovel of words, and will make my people vain orphans, if they turn not from their nature, and will destroy them.

There shall be more widows for me among them than there are sands of the sea. I will bring
upon the mother of the young men a manifest destroyer, and will overtake the city with it suddenly and unawares,

She that hath seven children shall be wretched, and shall groan with her heart. For their sun shall go down in high day; and both their glory and their joy shall be at an end. And the rest will I put to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

O my mother, that thou hast born me, against whom all men dispute and quarrel in all the land! I have neither lent nor borrowed on usury, nor do men curse me.

And the LORD said, Well, I will spare you a few, and they shall prosper: and I will come to your help in trouble and in fear from among your enemies.

Thinkest thou not that there is an iron that can break the iron and brass of the north?

But I will first give your goods and your treasures into the bottle, and ye shall receive nothing for them; and that for all your sins which ye have committed in all your borders.

And I will bring you unto your enemies into a land which ye know not: for the fire is come upon you in mine anger.

O Lord, thou knowest; remember us, and take care of us, and avenge us on our persecutors.
Receive us, and consume not thine anger upon them: for thou knowest that we are reproached for thy sake.

But keep thy word from us, if we have it: and thy word is the joy and comfort of our hearts: for we are called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

We will not join the scoffers, nor rejoice with them, but we will be alone before thy hand: for thou art very angry with us.

Why