Book of Jeremiah bible study chapters 10 through 18

            Here is the second part of the book of Jeremiah presenting the prophecies of Jeremiah who encouraged the Israelites and Judah to repent but they did not heed Jeremiah, so then Jeremiah then would prophecy their captivity and also exposed the false prophets who prophesied peace and no judgment. Jeremiah often prayed for the people, especially here in this group of chapters even though he was told by God that his prayers for the people would not be heard and told to not pray for them because of the peoples’ wickedness. This is a continuation of the first bible study, and here is a link it, which contains chapters 1 through 9 of the book of Jeremiah

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-jeremiah-bible-study-chapters-1-through-9/10200816934239249

In Jeremiah chapter 10 the people are encouraged to hear the word of the Lord, who then is exalted and shown to be so much superior to the worthless idols that the heathen worship in this prayer/praise/prophecy chapter

(Jeremiah 10:1)  Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

(Jeremiah 10:2)  Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,

(Jeremiah 10:3)  for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

(Jeremiah 10:4)  They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.

(Jeremiah 10:5)  Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."

(Jeremiah 10:6)  There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.

(Jeremiah 10:7)  Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.

(Jeremiah 10:8)  They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!

(Jeremiah 10:9)  Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.

(Jeremiah 10:10)  But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

(Jeremiah 10:11)  Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens."

(Jeremiah 10:12)  It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

(Jeremiah 10:13)  When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

(Jeremiah 10:14)  Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.

(Jeremiah 10:15)  They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

(Jeremiah 10:16)  Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name.

(Jeremiah 10:17)  Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege!

(Jeremiah 10:18)  For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it."

(Jeremiah 10:19)  Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it."

(Jeremiah 10:20)  My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains.

(Jeremiah 10:21)  For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

(Jeremiah 10:22)  A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!-- a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

(Jeremiah 10:23)  I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

(Jeremiah 10:24)  Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

(Jeremiah 10:25)  Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

In chapter 11 of Jeremiah the prophet is commanded by God to go then remind the people of their covenant, and speak judgment for their breaking it, and their severe idolatry and other offenses, even being ordered not to pray for them and those who would persecute Jeremiah would face punishment

(Jeremiah 11:1)  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

(Jeremiah 11:2)  "Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 11:3)  You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant

(Jeremiah 11:4)  that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,

(Jeremiah 11:5)  that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day." Then I answered, "So be it, LORD."

(Jeremiah 11:6)  And the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them.

(Jeremiah 11:7)  For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.

(Jeremiah 11:8)  Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not."

(Jeremiah 11:9)  Again the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 11:10)  They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers.

(Jeremiah 11:11)  Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.

(Jeremiah 11:12)  Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble.

(Jeremiah 11:13)  For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

(Jeremiah 11:14)  "Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.

(Jeremiah 11:15)  What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?

(Jeremiah 11:16)  The LORD once called you 'a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.' But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.

(Jeremiah 11:17)  The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal."

(Jeremiah 11:18)  The LORD made it known to me and I knew; then you showed me their deeds.

(Jeremiah 11:19)  But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more."

(Jeremiah 11:20)  But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.

(Jeremiah 11:21)  Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand"--

(Jeremiah 11:22)  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine,

(Jeremiah 11:23)  and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment."

In Jeremiah chapter 12 the prophet encourages punishment on the wicked but still God hates His heritage because of its evil, however He promises punishment on others who come against Israel too

(Jeremiah 12:1)  Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

(Jeremiah 12:2)  You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart.

(Jeremiah 12:3)  But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

(Jeremiah 12:4)  How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, "He will not see our latter end."

(Jeremiah 12:5)  "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

(Jeremiah 12:6)  For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you."

(Jeremiah 12:7)  "I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.

(Jeremiah 12:8)  My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.

(Jeremiah 12:9)  Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.

(Jeremiah 12:10)  Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my portion; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

(Jeremiah 12:11)  They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no man lays it to heart.

(Jeremiah 12:12)  Upon all the bare heights in the desert destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no flesh has peace.

(Jeremiah 12:13)  They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the LORD."

(Jeremiah 12:14)  Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: "Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

(Jeremiah 12:15)  And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land.

(Jeremiah 12:16)  And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, 'As the LORD lives,' even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.

(Jeremiah 12:17)  But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD."

In Jeremiah chapter 13 the prophet is told to bury a loincloth by the Euphrates and then finds it spoiled, then Jeremiah is then instructed preach against the pride of the people, encouraging repentance but judgment to follow if they don’t listen, and the Lord sees all evil and judges it, too

(Jeremiah 13:1)  Thus says the LORD to me, "Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water."

(Jeremiah 13:2)  So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist.

(Jeremiah 13:3)  And the word of the LORD came to me a second time,

(Jeremiah 13:4)  "Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock."

(Jeremiah 13:5)  So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

(Jeremiah 13:6)  And after many days the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there."

(Jeremiah 13:7)  Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

(Jeremiah 13:8)  Then the word of the LORD came to me:

(Jeremiah 13:9)  "Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 13:10)  This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.

(Jeremiah 13:11)  For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

(Jeremiah 13:12)  "You shall speak to them this word: 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Every jar shall be filled with wine."' And they will say to you, 'Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?'

(Jeremiah 13:13)  Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 13:14)  And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'"

(Jeremiah 13:15)  Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken.

(Jeremiah 13:16)  Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.

(Jeremiah 13:17)  But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

(Jeremiah 13:18)  Say to the king and the queen mother: "Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head."

(Jeremiah 13:19)  The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile.

(Jeremiah 13:20)  "Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?

(Jeremiah 13:21)  What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor?

(Jeremiah 13:22)  And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up and you suffer violence.

(Jeremiah 13:23)  Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.

(Jeremiah 13:24)  I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert.

(Jeremiah 13:25)  This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

(Jeremiah 13:26)  I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen.

(Jeremiah 13:27)  I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?"

Jeremiah chapter 14 deals with the drought that has come upon Judah and then the prophet is told to not pray for the people for the third time and the Lord tells Jeremiah about the false prophets who prophesy peace, and yet Jeremiah then pleads for mercy for the people with God

(Jeremiah 14:1)  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

(Jeremiah 14:2)  "Judah mourns, and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

(Jeremiah 14:3)  Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads.

(Jeremiah 14:4)  Because of the ground that is dismayed, since there is no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

(Jeremiah 14:5)  Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

(Jeremiah 14:6)  The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail because there is no vegetation.

(Jeremiah 14:7)  "Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.

(Jeremiah 14:8)  O you hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

(Jeremiah 14:9)  Why should you be like a man confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot save? Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not leave us."

(Jeremiah 14:10)  Thus says the LORD concerning this people: "They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins."

(Jeremiah 14:11)  The LORD said to me: "Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

(Jeremiah 14:12)  Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."

(Jeremiah 14:13)  Then I said: "Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

(Jeremiah 14:14)  And the LORD said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

(Jeremiah 14:15)  Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not come upon this land': By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.

(Jeremiah 14:16)  And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them--them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

(Jeremiah 14:17)  "You shall say to them this word: 'Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.

(Jeremiah 14:18)  If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.'"

(Jeremiah 14:19)  Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

(Jeremiah 14:20)  We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you.

(Jeremiah 14:21)  Do not spurn us, for your name's sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.

(Jeremiah 14:22)  Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.

In Jeremiah chapter 15 the Lord promises severe judgment on the people of Judah for  king Manasseh’s evils and also promises restoration and deliverance for any repentance from evil

(Jeremiah 15:1)  Then the LORD said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!

(Jeremiah 15:2)  And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: "'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.'

(Jeremiah 15:3)  I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

(Jeremiah 15:4)  And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 15:5)  "Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will grieve for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

(Jeremiah 15:6)  You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you-- I am weary of relenting.

(Jeremiah 15:7)  I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways.

(Jeremiah 15:8)  I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly.

(Jeremiah 15:9)  She who bore seven has grown feeble; she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the LORD."

(Jeremiah 15:10)  Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.

(Jeremiah 15:11)  The LORD said, "Have I not set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress?

(Jeremiah 15:12)  Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?

(Jeremiah 15:13)  "Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.

(Jeremiah 15:14)  I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever."

(Jeremiah 15:15)  O LORD, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach.

(Jeremiah 15:16)  Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

(Jeremiah 15:17)  I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.

(Jeremiah 15:18)  Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?

(Jeremiah 15:19)  Therefore thus says the LORD: "If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.

(Jeremiah 15:20)  And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 15:21)  I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."

In Jeremiah chapter 16 the prophet is again told of all the terrible judgments and plagues for the people and if asked why Jeremiah is told to answer because their fathers have rejected God and they themselves have done worse yet and the people will know that He is the Lord

(Jeremiah 16:1)  The word of the LORD came to me:

(Jeremiah 16:2)  "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.

(Jeremiah 16:3)  For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land:

(Jeremiah 16:4)  They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

(Jeremiah 16:5)  "For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 16:6)  Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them.

(Jeremiah 16:7)  No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.

(Jeremiah 16:8)  You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.

(Jeremiah 16:9)  For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

(Jeremiah 16:10)  "And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?'

(Jeremiah 16:11)  then you shall say to them: 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law,

(Jeremiah 16:12)  and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.

(Jeremiah 16:13)  Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

(Jeremiah 16:14)  "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'

(Jeremiah 16:15)  but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

(Jeremiah 16:16)  "Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.

(Jeremiah 16:17)  For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.

(Jeremiah 16:18)  But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations."

(Jeremiah 16:19)  O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: "Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.

(Jeremiah 16:20)  Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!"

(Jeremiah 16:21)  "Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD."

Jeremiah talks of the sin of Jerusalem and contrasts good and evil people then Jeremiah then prays to be healed and sent to the people, which he is and told what to say and they are told of the consequences of keeping and not keeping the Sabbath day by not carrying loads on the Sabbath day into Jerusalem

(Jeremiah 17:1)  "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars,

(Jeremiah 17:2)  while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills,

(Jeremiah 17:3)  on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory.

(Jeremiah 17:4)  You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever."

(Jeremiah 17:5)  Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.

(Jeremiah 17:6)  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

(Jeremiah 17:7)  "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

(Jeremiah 17:8)  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."

(Jeremiah 17:9)  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

(Jeremiah 17:10)  "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."

(Jeremiah 17:11)  Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.

(Jeremiah 17:12)  A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

(Jeremiah 17:13)  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

(Jeremiah 17:14)  Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

(Jeremiah 17:15)  Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!"

(Jeremiah 17:16)  I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face.

(Jeremiah 17:17)  Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

(Jeremiah 17:18)  Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!

(Jeremiah 17:19)  Thus said the LORD to me: "Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem,

(Jeremiah 17:20)  and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

(Jeremiah 17:21)  Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

(Jeremiah 17:22)  And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

(Jeremiah 17:23)  Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.

(Jeremiah 17:24)  "'But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it,

(Jeremiah 17:25)  then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.

(Jeremiah 17:26)  And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD.

(Jeremiah 17:27)  But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.'"

In Jeremiah chapter 18 the Lord wants to do with the people as a potter, and Jeremiah is again told to encourage people to repent of their deeds but they won’t hear and plot against Jeremiah who then prays against them

(Jeremiah 18:1)  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

(Jeremiah 18:2)  "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words."

(Jeremiah 18:3)  So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

(Jeremiah 18:4)  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

(Jeremiah 18:5)  Then the word of the LORD came to me:

(Jeremiah 18:6)  "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

(Jeremiah 18:7)  If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,

(Jeremiah 18:8)  and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.

(Jeremiah 18:9)  And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,

(Jeremiah 18:10)  and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.

(Jeremiah 18:11)  Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.'

(Jeremiah 18:12)  "But they say, 'That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

(Jeremiah 18:13)  "Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing.

(Jeremiah 18:14)  Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?

(Jeremiah 18:15)  But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,

(Jeremiah 18:16)  making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head.

(Jeremiah 18:17)  Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity."

(Jeremiah 18:18)  Then they said, "Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words."

(Jeremiah 18:19)  Hear me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of my adversaries.

(Jeremiah 18:20)  Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

(Jeremiah 18:21)  Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.

(Jeremiah 18:22)  May a cry be heard from their houses, when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them! For they have dug a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet.

(Jeremiah 18:23)  Yet you, O LORD, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.

For the next group of chapters in the book of Jeremiah, chapters 19 through 27 which include more prophecies and encouragements to repent as well as a few promises please go tho this link

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-jeremiah-bible-study-chapters-19-through-27/10200819991075668

Jeremiah had the difficult job of prophesying in a very difficult and very evil time in Israel’s people when the people were becoming more backslidden and reprobate, and I see much the same things happening today as then, but in different ways. God wants all today to repent of wickedness as He did then, and will judge now all evil as He did then. The one thing we have now that Jeremiah’s people didn’t is the fact that Jesus did come and die for our sins, giving us a way to find forgiveness, eternal life, and most of all relationship with a God who truly loves us and is grieved by all evil, no matter where it comes from or how. His love is so great that He did send His only Son, Jesus to die for our sins so relationship can be restored, and there is nothing like a relationship with God, nothing can compare to it at all. I am now including a prayer which will invite Jesus into your heart and begin this wonderful relationship or even you can return to it through this prayer repenting of what may have separated you from Jesus. Please do pray this prayer with me

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess Jesus as our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.

God bless you and yours