07 August - Jeremiah 1-3

Jude Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:37 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

JEREMIAH 1

1The words of Yirmeyahu the son of Ḥilqiyahu, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Binyamin,

2to whom the word of יהוה came in the days of Yoshiyahu son of Amon, sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

3And it came in the days of Yehoyaqim, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, until the end of the eleventh year of Tsiḏqiyahu, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, until the exile of Yerushalayim in the fifth month.

4Now the word of יהוה came to me, saying,

5“Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I did set you apart – I appointed you a prophet to nations.”

6And said I, “Ah, Master יהוה! See, I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth.”

7And יהוה said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ but go to all to whom I send you, and speak whatever I command you.

8“Do not fear their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares יהוה.

9Then יהוה put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and יהוה said to me, “See, I have put My words in your mouth.

10“See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the reigns, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

11And the word of יהוה came to me, saying, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

12And יהוה said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to do it.”

13And the word of יהוה came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”

14And יהוה said to me, “Out of the north evil is set loose on all the inhabitants of the land.

15“For look, I am calling all the clans of the reigns of the north,” declares יהוה. “And they shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Yerushalayim, against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Yehuḏah.

16“And I shall pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their evil, because they have forsaken Me, burned incense to other mighty ones, and bowed themselves to the works of their own hands.

17“Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not break down before their faces, lest I break you before them.

18“For look, I have made you this day a walled city and an iron column, and bronze walls against all the land, against the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, against her heads, against her priests, and against the people of the land.

19“And they shall fight against you, but not prevail against you. For I am with you,” declares יהוה, “to deliver you.”

JEREMIAH 2

1And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,

2“Go, and you shall cry in the hearing of Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridehood, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3“Yisra’ĕl was set-apart to יהוה, the first-fruits of His increase. All who ate of it became guilty – evil came upon them,” declares יהוה.’ ”

4Hear the word of יהוה, O house of Ya‛aqoḇ and all the clans of the house of Yisra’ĕl.

5Thus said יהוה, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

6“And did not they say, ‘Where is יהוה, who brought us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land that no one passed through and where no one dwelt?’

7“Then I brought you into a garden land, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.

8“The priests did not say, ‘Where is יהוה?’ And those who handle the Torah did not know Me, and the shepherdsa transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Ba‛al, and walked after matters that did not profit.

9“Therefore I still contend with you,” declares יהוה, “and with your children’s children I contend.

10“For, pass beyond the isles of Kittim and see, and send to Qĕḏar and observe well, and see if there has been any like this.

11“Has a nation changed its mighty ones, which are not mighty ones? But My people have changed My esteema for that which does not profit.

12“Be amazed, O heavens, at this, and be frightened, be utterly dried up,” declares יהוה.

13“For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living watersa, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns, which do not hold water.

14“Is Yisra’ĕl a servant? Was he born in the house? Why is he given to plunder?

15“The young lions roared at him, they growled, and made his land waste; his cities have been burned, without inhabitant.

16“Even the sons of Noph and of Taḥpanḥes have shaven the crown of your head.

17“Have you not done this to yourself, by forsaking יהוה your Elohim when He led you in the way?

18“And now why take the way to Mitsrayim, to drink the waters of Shiḥor? Or why take the way to Ashshur, to drink the waters of the River?

19“Your own evil instructs you, and your backslidings reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter that you have forsaken יהוה your Elohim, and that My fear is not in you,” declares the Master יהוה of hosts.

20“For of old you have broken your yoke and tore of your bonds. And you said, ‘I am not serving You,’ when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, a whore.

21“Yet I had planted you a choice vine, all of it a true seed. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of a strange vine?

22“Although you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your crookedness is ingrained before Me,” declares the Master יהוה.

23“How do you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Ba‛als’? See your way in the valley, know what you have done: a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,

24a wild donkey used to the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the desire of her being – in her time of mating, who turns her away? All those who seek her need not weary themselves; in her month they find her.

25“Keep your foot from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is useless, because I love strangers, and after them I go.’

26“As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Yisra’ĕl ashamed – they and their sovereigns and their heads, and their priests and their prophets,

27saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their calamity they say, ‘Arise and save us.’

28“But where are your mighty ones that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, see if they save you in the time of your calamity. Because your mighty ones have become as many as your cities, O Yehuḏah.

29“Why do you complain to Me? You all have transgressed against Me,” declares יהוה.

30“In vain have I smitten your children – they received no instruction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.

31“O generation, see the word of יהוה! Have I been a wilderness to Yisra’ĕl, Or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We have broken loose; we come to You no more’?

32“Would a maiden forget her ornaments, or a bride her headband? Yet My people have forgotten Me, days without number.

33“Why do you embellish your way to seek love? Therefore you have even taught the evil women your ways.

34“Even on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. You did not find them breaking in, but in spite of all these,

35you say, ‘Because I am innocent, certainly His displeasure shall turn from me.’ See, I shall bring judgment on you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

36“Why do you go about so much to change your way? Even of Mitsrayim you are to be ashamed, as you were ashamed of Ashshur.

37“Even from this one you shall go forth, with your hands on your head. For יהוה has rejected those you trust, and you shall not prosper by them.

JEREMIAH 3

1Elohim said, “If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, does he return to her again? Would not that land be made greatly unclean? But you have committed whoring with many lovers. And would you return to Me?” declares יהוה.

2“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see: where have you not lain with men? Besides the ways you have sat for them like an Araḇian in the wilderness. And you made the land unclean with your whorings and your evil.

3“Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain. You have had a whore’s forehead, you refuse to be ashamed.

4“Shall you not from now on cry to Me, ‘My father, You are the guide of my youth?

5‘Does one bear a grudge forever? Does one keep it to the end?’ See, you have spoken and done the evils that you could.”

6And יהוה said to me in the days of Yoshiyahu the sovereign, “Have you seen what backsliding Yisra’ĕl has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there committed whoring.

7“And after she had done all these, I said ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Yehuḏah saw it.

8“And I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Yisra’ĕl had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Yehuḏah did not fear, but went and committed whoring too.

9“And it came to be, through her frivolous whoring, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and wood.

10“And yet for all this her treacherous sister Yehuḏah has not turned to Me with all her heart, but falsely,” declares יהוה.

11And יהוה said to me, “Backsliding Yisra’ĕl has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Yehuḏah.

12“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, O backsliding Yisra’ĕl,’ declares יהוה, ‘I shall not look on you in displeasure, for I am kind,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I do not bear a grudge forever.

13‘Only, acknowledge your crookedness, because you have transgressed against יהוה your Elohim, and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares יהוה.

14“Return, O backsliding children,” declares יהוה, “for I shall rule over you, and shall take you, one from a city and two from a clana, and shall bring you to Tsiyon.

15“And I shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16“And it shall be, when you have increased, and shall bear fruit in the land in those days,” declares יהוה, “that they no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of יהוה.’ Neither would it come to heart, nor would they remember it, nor would they visit it, nor would it be made again.

17“At that time Yerushalayim shall be called the throne of יהוה, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of יהוה, to Yerushalayim, and no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

18“In those days the house of Yehuḏah shall go to the house of Yisra’ĕl, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

19“But I said, ‘How would I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a splendid inheritance of the hosts of nations?’ “And I said, ‘Call Me, “My Father,” and do not turn away from Me.’

20“But indeed as a wife betrays her husband, so have you betrayed Me, O house of Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה.

21A voice was heard on the bare heights, weeping supplications of the children of Yisra’ĕl, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten יהוה their Elohim.

22“Return, O backsliding children, I shall make your backslidings cease.” “See, we have come to You, for You are יהוה our Elohim.

23“Truly, delusion comes from the high hills, the noisy throng on the mountains. Truly, in יהוה our Elohim is the deliverance of Yisra’ĕl.

24“For shame has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25“We shall lie down in our shame, while our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against יהוה our Elohim, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of יהוה our Elohim.”