The Bible, King James version, Book 24: Jeremiah. Unknown

For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

      24:004:016 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

      24:004:017 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

      24:004:018 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

      24:004:019 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

      24:004:020 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

      24:004:021 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

      24:004:022 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

      24:004:023 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

      24:004:024 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

      24:004:025 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

      24:004:026 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

      24:004:027 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

      24:004:028 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

      24:004:029 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

      24:004:030 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

      24:004:031 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

      24:005:001 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

      24:005:002 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

      24:005:003 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

      24:005:004 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

      24:005:005 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

      24:005:006 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

      24:005:007 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

      24:005:008 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

      24:005:009 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

      24:005:010 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.

      24:005:011 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

      24:005:012 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

      24:005:013 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

      24:005:014 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

      24:005:015 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

      24:005:016 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

      24:005:017 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

      24:005:018 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

      24:005:019 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.

      24:005:020 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

      24:005:021 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

      24:005:022 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

      24:005:023 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

      24:005:024 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

      24:005:025 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

      24:005:026 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

      24:005:027 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

      24:005:028 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

      24:005:029 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

      24:005:030 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

      24:005:031 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

      24:006:001 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

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