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“Roam the streets of Yerushalayim
look around, observe and ask in its open spaces:
if you can find anyone (if there is anyone!)
who acts with justice and seeks the truth,
I will pardon her.
And though they say, ‘As Adonai lives,’
the fact is that they are swearing falsely.”

Adonai, your eyes look for truth.
You struck them, but they weren’t affected;
you [nearly] destroyed them,
but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than rock,
refusing to repent.

My reaction was, “These must be the poor,
the foolish, not knowing the way of Adonai
or the rulings of their God.
I will go to the prominent men,
and I will speak to them;
for they know the way of Adonai
and the rulings of their God.”
But these had completely broken the yoke
and torn the harness off.
This is why a forest lion kills them,
why a desert wolf can plunder them,
why a leopard guards their cities —
all who leave are torn to pieces —
because their crimes are many,
their backslidings keep increasing.

“Why should I forgive you?
Your people have abandoned me
and sworn by non-gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery,
thronging to the brothels.
They have become like well-fed horses,
lusty stallions, each one neighing
after his neighbor’s wife.
Should I not punish for this?” asks Adonai.
“Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?”

10 Go through her rows [of vines], and destroy them
(but don’t destroy them completely):
strip away her branches,
they do not belong to Adonai.
11 “For the house of Isra’el
and the house of Y’hudah
have thoroughly betrayed me,” says Adonai.

12 They have denied Adonai,
they have said, “He won’t do anything,
calamity will not strike us,
we will see neither sword nor famine.
13 The prophets are merely wind,
they do not have the word;
the things that they are predicting
will happen only to them.”

14 Therefore Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot says:

“Because you people speak this way,
I will make my words fire in your mouth, [Yirmeyahu,]
and this people wood;
so that it will devour them.
15 I will bring on you, house of Isra’el,
a distant nation,” says Adonai,
“an enduring nation, an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know —
you will not understand what they are saying.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave,
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They will eat up your harvest and your bread,
they will eat up your sons and your daughters,
they will eat up your flocks and your herds,
they will eat up your vines and your fig trees;
with the sword they will beat down
your fortified cities, in which you trust.
18 But even in those days,” says Adonai,
“I will not completely destroy you.
19 And when your people ask, ‘Why has Adonai
our God done all these things to us?’
you are to give them this answer:
‘Just as you abandoned me
and served strange gods in your own land,
so likewise you will serve strangers
in a land that is not your own.’
20 Announce this in the house of Ya‘akov,
proclaim it in Y’hudah; say:
21 ‘Hear this, stupid, brainless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear:
22 Don’t you fear me? — says Adonai.
Won’t you tremble at my presence?
I made the shore the limit for the sea;
by eternal decree it cannot pass.
Its waves may toss, but to no avail;
although they roar, they cannot cross it.
23 But this people has a rebellious, defiant heart;
they have rebelled and gone!
24 They don’t say to themselves,
“Let’s fear Adonai our God,
who gives the fall and spring rains in season,
who reserves us the weeks assigned for harvest.”
25 Your crimes have overturned nature’s rules,
your sins have kept back good from you.’
26 “For among my people there are wicked men,
who, like fowlers, lie in wait and set traps
to catch their fellow human beings.
27 Their houses are as full of fraud
as a cage full of birds.
They grow rich and great, 28 sleek and bloated;
they excel in acts of wickedness
but do not plead on behalf of the orphan,
thus enabling his cause to succeed;
nor do they judge in favor of the poor.

29 “Should I not punish for this?” asks Adonai.
“Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?
30 A shocking and horrifying thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies,
the cohanim obey the prophets,
and my people love it that way.
But what will you do at the end of it all?

“Head for cover, people of Binyamin,
get out of Yerushalayim!
Blow the shofar in T’koa,
light the beacon on Beit-Hakerem.
For disaster threatens from the north,
with great destruction.
Although she is beautiful and delicate,
I am cutting off the daughter of Tziyon.”

Shepherds advance on her with their flocks;
all around her they pitch their tents,
each grazing his own plot of pasture.
“Prepare for war against her!
Get up! Let’s attack at noon!”
“Woe to us! for the day is waning,
evening shadows are lengthening.”
“Get up! Let’s attack at night!
Let’s destroy her palaces!”

For Adonai-Tzva’ot says this:

“Cut down her trees, and raise a siege-ramp
against Yerushalayim!
This is the city to be punished;
in her there is nothing but oppression.
Just as a cistern keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps her wickedness fresh!
Violence and destruction are heard within her,
always before me sickness and wounds.
Accept correction, Yerushalayim,
or I will be estranged from you
and turn you into a desolate waste,
a land without inhabitants.”

Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:

“They will glean the remnant of Isra’el
as thoroughly as in a vineyard —
one last time, like a grape-picker,
pass your hand over the vines.”

10 To whom should I speak? Whom should I warn?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are dull, they can’t pay attention.
For them the word of Adonai has become
unattractive, an object of scorn.
11 This is why I am full of Adonai’s fury;
I am weary of holding it back.

“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the groups of young men gathered;
for husbands and wives will be taken together,
seniors as well as the very old.
12 Their homes will be turned over to others,
their fields together with their wives.
Yes, I will stretch out my hand against those
who are living in the land,” says Adonai.
13 “For from the least to the greatest of them,
all are greedy for gains;
prophets and cohanim alike,
they all practice fraud —
14 they dress the wound of my people,
but only superficially,
saying, ‘There is perfect shalom,’
when there is no shalom.

15 “They should be ashamed
of their detestable deeds,
but they are not ashamed at all;
they don’t know how to blush.
Therefore when others fall,
they too will fall;
when I punish them,
they will stumble,” says Adonai.

16 Here is what Adonai says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask about the ancient paths,
‘Which one is the good way?’
Take it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not take it.’
17 I appointed sentinels to direct them:
‘Listen for the sound of the shofar.’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 So hear, you nations; know, you assembly,
what there is against them.
19 Hear, oh earth! I am going
to bring disaster on this people;
it is the consequence
of their own way of thinking;
for they pay no attention to my words;
and as for my Torah, they reject it.
20 What do I care about incense from Sh’va
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are unacceptable,
your sacrifices don’t please me.”

21 Therefore thus says Adonai:

“I will put obstacles in the way of this people
that they will stumble over —
fathers and sons, neighbors and friends,
all will perish together.”

22 Here is what Adonai says:

“A people is coming from the land of the north,
a great nation will be aroused from the ends of the earth.
23 They will take hold of bow and spear;
they are cruel; they have no compassion:
their noise as they ride on horses
is like the roaring sea;
and they are equipped for battle
against you, daughter of Tziyon.
24 ‘We have heard the news,
and our hands fall limp;
anguish has seized us,
pain like a mother’s in childbirth.’”

25 Don’t go into the countryside,
don’t walk out on the road;
for the sword of the enemy is spreading
terror in every direction.

26 Daughter of my people,
put on sackcloth, roll in ashes,
mourn as if for an only son,
wail most bitterly;
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.

27 “I have made you a refiner and tester of my people,
to know and test how they behave.
28 All of them are total rebels,
spreading slanderous gossip;
they are bronze and iron, [inferior metals,]
all of them corrupt.
29 The bellows blast away;
and though the lead is consumed by the fire,
in vain has the smelter refined,
for the wicked have not been separated.
30 They are called ‘rejected silver,’
because Adonai has rejected them.”

This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: “Stand at the gate of the house of Adonai and proclaim this word: ‘Listen to the word of Adonai, all you from Y’hudah who enter these gates to worship Adonai! Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “Improve your ways and actions, and I will let you stay in this place. Don’t rely on that deceitful slogan, ‘The temple of Adonai, the temple of Adonai these [buildings] are the temple of Adonai.’ No, but if you really improve your ways and actions; if you really administer justice between people; if you stop oppressing foreigners, orphans and widows; if you stop shedding innocent blood in this place; and if you stop following other gods, to your own harm; then I will let you stay in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors forever and ever. Look! You are relying on deceitful words that can’t do you any good. First you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer to Ba‘al and go after other gods that you haven’t known. 10 Then you come and stand before me in this house that bears my name and say, ‘We are saved’ — so that you can go on doing these abominations! 11 Do you regard this house, which bears my name, as a cave for bandits? I can see for myself what’s going on,” says Adonai. 12 “Go to the place in Shiloh that used to be mine, that used to bear my name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Isra’el. 13 I spoke to you again and again, but you wouldn’t listen. I called you, but you wouldn’t answer. Now,” says Adonai, “because you have done all these things, 14 I will do to the house that bears my name, on which you rely, and to the place I gave you and your ancestors, what I did to Shiloh; 15 and I will drive you out of my presence, just as I drove out all your kinsmen, all the descendants of Efrayim.”’

16 “So you, [Yirmeyahu,] don’t pray for this people! Don’t cry, pray or intercede on their behalf with me; because I won’t listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Y’hudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim? 18 The children gather the wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and, just to provoke me, they pour out drink offerings to other gods! 19 Are they really provoking me,” asks Adonai, “or are they provoking themselves, to their own ruin?”

20 Therefore, here is what Adonai Elohim says: “My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on men, animals, trees in the fields and produce growing from the ground; and it will burn without being quenched.”

21 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el: “You may as well eat the meat of your burnt offerings along with that of your sacrifices. 22 For I didn’t speak to your ancestors or give them orders concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. 23 Rather, what I did order them was this: ‘Pay attention to what I say. Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. In everything, live according to the way that I order you, so that things will go well for you.’ 24 But they neither listened nor paid attention, but lived according to their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, thus going backward and not forward. 25 You have done this from the day your ancestors came out of Egypt until today. Even though I sent you all my servants the prophets, sending them time after time, 26 they would not listen or pay attention to me, but stiffened their necks; they did worse than their ancestors. 27 So tell them all this; but they won’t listen to you; likewise, call to them; but they won’t answer you. 28 Therefore, say to them,

‘This is the nation that has not listened
to the voice of Adonai their God.
They won’t take correction; faithfulness has perished;
it has vanished from their mouths.

29 Cut off your hair, and throw it away,
take up a lament on the bare hills,
for Adonai has rejected and abandoned
the generation that rouses his anger.’

30 “For the people of Y’hudah have done what is evil from my perspective,” says Adonai; “they have set up their detestable things in the house which bears my name, to defile it. 31 They have built the high places of Tofet in the Ben-Hinnom Valley, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, something I never ordered; in fact, such a thing never even entered my mind! 32 Therefore, the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when it will no longer be called either Tofet or the Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter — they will put the dead in Tofet, because there will be no space left [anywhere else]. 33 The corpses of this people will become food for the birds in the air and the wild animals; no one will frighten them away. 34 Then in the cities of Y’hudah and the streets of Yerushalayim I will silence the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of bridegroom and bride; because the land will be reduced to ruins.

“At that time,” says Adonai, “[these enemies] will remove the bones of the kings of Y’hudah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the cohanim, the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim from their graves. They will spread them out, exposed to the sun, the moon and the entire army of heaven, whom they loved, served, walked after, sought after and worshipped. The bones will not be collected or reburied but will be left lying on the ground like dung. All the survivors of this evil family who remain wherever I have driven them will prefer death to life,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. “You are to tell them that Adonai says:

‘If a person falls, doesn’t he get up again?
If someone goes astray, doesn’t he turn back?
Why do these people keep backsliding?
Why is their backsliding so persistent?
They cling to deceit and refuse to return!
I listened attentively but they spoke nothing right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, “What have I done!”
Each runs off in his own direction,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Storks in the sky know their seasons;
doves, swallows and cranes their migration times;
but my people do not know
the rulings of Adonai!

“‘How can you say, “We are wise;
Adonai’s Torah is with us,”
when in fact the lying pen of the scribes
has turned it into falsehood?
The wise are put to shame,
alarmed, entrapped.
They have rejected the word of Adonai,
so what wisdom do they have?

10 “‘Therefore I will give their wives to others,
and their fields to those who take them over;
for from the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gains;
prophets and cohanim alike
all practice fraud —
11 they dress the wound of the daughter of my people,
but only superficially,
saying, “There is perfect shalom,”
when there is no shalom.
12 They should be ashamed
of their detestable deeds,
but they are not ashamed at all,
they don’t know how to blush.
So when others fall, they too will fall;
when I punish them, they will stumble,’

says Adonai.

13 “‘I will put an end to them,’ says Adonai.
‘There are no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree;
the leaf has withered; and what I have given them
will pass from their possession.’”

14 “Why are we sitting still? Assemble!
Let’s enter the fortified cities
and meet our doom there!
For Adonai our God has doomed us;
he has given us bitter water to drink,
because we have sinned against Adonai.
15 When we look for peace, nothing good comes;
when we seek a time of healing, instead there is terror.”

16 From Dan can be heard the snorting of his horses;
when his stallions neigh, the whole land trembles.
For they come devouring the land and all in it,
the city and those who dwell there.
17 “Yes, now I am sending snakes among you,
vipers that no one can charm,
and they will bite you,” says Adonai.

18 My grief has no cure, I am sick at heart.
19 Listen to my people’s cry of distress
out of a distant land:
“Is Adonai no longer in Tziyon?
Is her king no longer there?”

“Why do they provoke me with their idols
and their futile foreign gods?”

20 “The harvest has passed, the summer is over,
and still we are not saved.”

21 The daughter of my people is broken,
and it’s tearing me to pieces;
everything looks dark to me,
horror seizes me.
22 Has Gil‘ad exhausted its healing resin?
Is no physician there?
If there is, then why is the daughter of my people
so slow to recover her health?
23 (9:1) I wish my head were made of water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears,
so that I could cry day and night
over the slain of the daughter of my people!

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