1Then said Jehovah unto me , Though Moses and Samuel stood before me , yet my mind would not be toward this people : cast them out of my sight , and let them go forth . 2And it shall come to pass , when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth ? then thou shalt tell them , Thus saith Jehovah : Such as are for death , to death ; and such as are for the sword , to the sword ; and such as are for the famine , to the famine ; and such as are for captivity , to captivity . 3And I will appoint over them four kinds , saith Jehovah : the sword to slay , and the dogs to tear , and the birds of the heavens , and the beasts of the earth , to devour and to destroy . 4And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh , the son of Hezekiah , king of Judah , for that which he did in Jerusalem .
The Consequences of Rejection
5For who will have pity upon thee , O Jerusalem ? or who will bemoan thee ? or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare ? 6Thou hast rejected me , saith Jehovah , thou art gone backward: therefore have I stretched out my hand against thee , and destroyed thee ; I am weary with repenting . 7And I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them of children , I have destroyed my people ; they returned not from their ways . 8Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas ; I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday : I have caused anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly . 9She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost ; her sun is gone down while it was yet day ; she hath been put to shame and confounded : and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah .
Jeremiah's Personal Struggles
10Woe is me , my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent , neither have men lent to me ; yet every one of them doth curse me . 11Jehovah said, Verily I will strengthen thee for good ; verily I will cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in the time of affliction . 12Can one break iron , even iron from the north , and brass ? 13Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price , and that for all thy sins , even in all thy borders . 14And I will make them to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not ; for a fire is kindled in mine anger , which shall burn upon you .
The Call to Repentance
15O Jehovah , thou knowest ; remember me , and visit me , and avenge me of my persecutors ; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach . 16Thy words were found , and I did eat them ; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart : for I am called by thy name , O Jehovah , God of hosts . 17I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry , nor rejoiced ; I sat alone because of thy hand ; for thou hast filled me with indignation . 18Why is my pain perpetual , and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed ? wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook , as waters that fail ? 19Therefore thus saith Jehovah , If thou return , then will I bring thee again , that thou mayest stand before me ; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile , thou shalt be as my mouth : they shall return unto thee , but thou shalt not return unto them . 20And I will make thee unto this people a fortified brazen wall ; and they shall fight against thee , but they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee , saith Jehovah . 21And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked , and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible .