Book of Jeremiah bible study chapters 1 through 9

 

            Here is a bible study on the book of Jeremiah written by the prophet of the same name, who was known as the weeping prophet. He was around from the reign of king Josiah up through the time of the Babylonian captivity, and beyond, urging repentance for the people of Judah, and when they refused, especially after Josiah left power, but even before prophesied the captivity from the Babylonian empire to punish Judah for her wrongdoings. There also were many false prophets at that time who prophesied peace when in fact judgment was coming, wanting to tickle people’s ears which also is occurring today, as well.

To give you a bit of perspective of what was going on at the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy I am including a link to the final kings of Judah bible study which covers the time from evil Manasseh to the time of the Babylonian captivity

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/final-kings-of-judah-bible-study/10200740323044017

Jeremiah chapter 1 is the commissioning of Jeremiah as prophet and missionary to the people and the Lord making many promises and blessings for His prophet

(Jeremiah 1:1)  The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

 

(Jeremiah 1:2)  to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

 

(Jeremiah 1:3)  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

 

(Jeremiah 1:4)  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

 

(Jeremiah 1:5)  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

 

(Jeremiah 1:6)  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."

 

(Jeremiah 1:7)  But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

 

(Jeremiah 1:8)  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."

 

(Jeremiah 1:9)  Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

 

(Jeremiah 1:10)  See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

 

(Jeremiah 1:11)  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond branch."

 

(Jeremiah 1:12)  Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."

 

(Jeremiah 1:13)  The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north."

 

(Jeremiah 1:14)  Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.

 

(Jeremiah 1:15)  For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.

 

(Jeremiah 1:16)  And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

 

(Jeremiah 1:17)  But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.

 

(Jeremiah 1:18)  And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

 

(Jeremiah 1:19)  They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

 

In chapter 2 Jeremiah rebukes Judah by reminding them what happened to Israel and why, because they forsook God, and God does not want Judah to do the same thing and have the same consequences as happened to Israel

(Jeremiah 2:1)  The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

 

(Jeremiah 2:2)  "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

 

(Jeremiah 2:3)  Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the LORD."

 

(Jeremiah 2:4)  Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel.

 

(Jeremiah 2:5)  Thus says the LORD: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

 

(Jeremiah 2:6)  They did not say, 'Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?'

 

(Jeremiah 2:7)  And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

 

(Jeremiah 2:8)  The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.

 

(Jeremiah 2:9)  "Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children's children I will contend.

 

(Jeremiah 2:10)  For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing.

 

(Jeremiah 2:11)  Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

 

(Jeremiah 2:12)  Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD,

 

(Jeremiah 2:13)  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

 

(Jeremiah 2:14)  "Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey?

 

(Jer emiah2:15)  The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.

 

(Jeremiah 2:16)  Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.

 

(Jeremiah 2:17)  Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

 

(Jeremiah 2:18)  And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

 

(Jeremiah 2:19)  Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

 

(Jeremiah 2:20)  "For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve.' Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.

 

(Jeremiah 2:21)  Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

 

(Jeremiah 2:22)  Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD.

 

(Jeremiah 2:23)  How can you say, 'I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done-- a restless young camel running here and there,

 

(Jeremiah 2:24)  a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her.

 

(Jeremiah 2:25)  Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'It is hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.'

 

(Jeremiah 2:26)  "As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets,

 

(Jeremiah 2:27)  who say to a tree, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us!'

 

(Jeremiah 2:28)  But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.

 

(Jeremiah 2:29)  "Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 2:30)  In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.

 

(Jeremiah 2:31)  And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, 'We are free, we will come no more to you'?

 

(Jeremiah 2:32)  Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

 

(Jeremiah 2:33)  "How well you direct your course to seek love! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways.

 

(Jeremiah 2:34)  Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the guiltless poor; you did not find them breaking in. Yet in spite of all these things

 

(Jeremiah 2:35)  you say, 'I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.' Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.'

 

(Jeremiah 2:36)  How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.

 

(Jeremiah 2:37)  From it too you will come away with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.

 

In chapter 3 of Jeremiah the prophet continues to remind Judah of Israel’s fate, and how they saw it, and then encourages Judah to repent of her wickedness and return promising to heal her of her faithlessness

(Jeremiah 3:1)  "If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 3:2)  Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom.

 

(Jeremiah 3:3)  Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.

 

(Jeremiah 3:4)  Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you are the friend of my youth--

 

(Jeremiah 3:5)  will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?' Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could."

 

(Jeremiah 3:6)  The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: "Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?

 

(Jeremiah 3:7)  And I thought, 'After she has done all this she will return to me,' but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

 

(Jeremiah 3:8)  She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.

 

(Jeremiah 3:9)  Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.

 

(Jeremiah 3:10)  Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD."

 

(Jeremiah 3:11)  And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

 

(Jeremiah 3:12)  Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, "'Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever.

 

(Jeremiah 3:13)  Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 3:14)  Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

 

(Jeremiah 3:15)  "'And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

 

(Jeremiah 3:16)  And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.

 

(Jeremiah 3:17)  At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.

 

(Jeremiah 3:18)  In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.

 

(Jeremiah 3:19)  "'I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

 

(Jeremiah 3:20)  Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the LORD.'"

 

(Jeremiah 3:21)  A voice on the bare heights is heard, the weeping and pleading of Israel's sons because they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God.

 

(Jeremiah 3:22)  "Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to you, for you are the LORD our God.

 

(Jeremiah 3:23)  Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

 

(Jeremiah 3:24)  "But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

 

(Jeremiah 3:25)  Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

 

In chapter 4 of Jeremiah the prophet continues to urge repentance of the people with promises but also threatens judgment for not repenting but not to a full end to the people of Judah

(Jeremiah 4:1)  "If you return, O Israel, declares the LORD, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,

 

(Jeremiah 4:2)  and if you swear, 'As the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory."

 

(Jeremiah 4:3)  For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

 

(Jeremiah 4:4)  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds."

 

(Jeremiah 4:5)  Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, 'Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!'

 

(Jeremiah 4:6)  Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction.

 

(Jeremiah 4:7)  A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.

 

(Jeremiah 4:8)  For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us."

 

(Jeremiah 4:9)  "In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded."

 

(Jeremiah 4:10)  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'It shall be well with you,' whereas the sword has reached their very life."

 

(Jeremiah 4:11)  At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,

 

(Jeremiah 4:12)  a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them."

 

(Jeremiah 4:13)  Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles-- woe to us, for we are ruined!

 

(Jeremiah 4:14)  O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

 

(Jeremiah 4:15)  For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.

 

(Jeremiah 4:16)  Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

 

(Jeremiah 4:17)  Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she has rebelled against me, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 4:18)  Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart."

 

(Jeremiah 4:19)  My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

 

(Jeremiah 4:20)  Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.

 

(Jeremiah 4:21)  How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

 

(Jeremiah 4:22)  "For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'--in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."

 

(Jeremiah 4:23)  I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.

 

(Jeremiah 4:24)  I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro.

 

(Jeremiah 4:25)  I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled.

 

(Jeremiah 4:26)  I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

 

(Jeremiah 4:27)  For thus says the LORD, "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

 

(Jeremiah 4:28)  "For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back."

 

(Jeremiah 4:29)  At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them.

 

(Jeremiah 4:30)  And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.

 

(Jeremiah 4:31)  For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."

 

In Jeremiah chapter 5 the prophet is told to watch and look out for any righteous person at all in Jerusalem , and then also to speak and prophecy of a nation from afar to come and punish Judah for her wrongs

(Jeremiah 5:1)  Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.

 

(Jeremiah 5:2)  Though they say, "As the LORD lives," yet they swear falsely.

 

(Jeremiah 5:3)  O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.

 

(Jeremiah 5:4)  Then I said, "These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.

 

(Jeremiah 5:5)  I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God." But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.

 

(Jeremiah 5:6)  Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.

 

(Jeremiah 5:7)  "How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.

 

(Jeremiah 5:8)  They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.

 

(Jeremiah 5:9)  Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

 

(Jeremiah 5:10)  "Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD's.

 

(Jeremiah 5:11)  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 5:12)  They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, 'He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.

 

(Jeremiah 5:13)  The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'"

 

(Jeremiah 5:14)  Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.

 

(Jeremiah 5:15)  Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.

 

(Jeremiah 5:16)  Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors.

 

(Jeremiah 5:17)  They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword."

 

(Jeremiah 5:18)  "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.

 

(Jeremiah 5:19)  And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"

 

(Jeremiah 5:20)  Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah:

 

(Jeremiah 5:21)  "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

 

(Jeremiah 5:22)  Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

 

(Jeremiah 5:23)  But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.

 

(Jeremiah 5:24)  They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'

 

(Jeremiah 5:25)  Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.

 

(Jeremiah 5:26)  For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

 

(Jeremiah 5:27)  Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich;

 

(Jeremiah 5:28)  they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

 

(Jeremiah 5:29)  Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?"

 

(Jeremiah 5:30)  An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:

 

(Jeremiah 5:31)  the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

 

In Jeremiah chapter 6 is a strong word of Judgment against Jerusalem and Judah, as Jerusalem was a then very evil city

(Jeremiah 6:1)  Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.

 

(Jeremiah 6:2)  The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.

 

(Jeremiah 6:3)  Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, each in his place.

 

(Jeremiah 6:4)  "Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!

 

(Jeremiah 6:5)  Arise, and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!"

 

(Jeremiah 6:6)  For thus says the LORD of hosts: "Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.

 

(Jeremiah 6:7)  As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.

 

(Jeremiah 6:8)  Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land."

 

(Jeremiah 6:9)  Thus says the LORD of hosts: "They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again over its branches."

 

(Jeremiah 6:10)  To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.

 

(Jeremiah 6:11)  Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged.

 

(Jeremiah 6:12)  Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 6:13)  "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

 

(Jeremiah 6:14)  They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

 

(Jeremiah 6:15)  Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown," says the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 6:16)  Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

 

(Jeremiah 6:17)  I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.'

 

(Jeremiah 6:18)  Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

 

(Jeremiah 6:19)  Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

 

(Jeremiah 6:20)  What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

 

(Jeremiah 6:21)  Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will lay before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; fathers and sons together, neighbor and friend shall perish.'"

 

(Jeremiah 6:22)  Thus says the LORD: "Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

 

(Jeremiah 6:23)  They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!"

 

(Jeremiah 6:24)  We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor.

 

(Jeremiah 6:25)  Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.

 

(Jeremiah 6:26)  O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

 

(Jeremiah 6:27)  "I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways.

 

(Jeremiah 6:28)  They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.

 

(Jeremiah 6:29)  The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.

 

(Jeremiah 6:30)  Rejected silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them."

 

In Jeremiah chapter 7 the prophet is instructed to go to the synagogues to preach the Lord’s message of rebuke and coming judgment and mourning to change things and Jeremiah is even instructed not to even pray for the people of Judah and Jerusalem, because of their evil and reprobate ways

(Jeremiah 7:1)  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

 

(Jeremiah 7:2)  "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 7:3)  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

 

(Jeremiah 7:4)  Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'

 

(Jeremiah 7:5)  "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,

 

(Jeremiah 7:6)  if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,

 

(Jeremiah 7:7)  then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

 

(Jeremiah 7:8)  "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.

 

(Jeremiah 7:9)  Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,

 

(Jeremiah 7:10)  and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'--only to go on doing all these abominations?

 

(Jeremiah 7:11)  Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 7:12)  Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.

 

(Jeremiah 7:13)  And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,

 

(Jeremiah 7:14)  therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

 

(Jeremiah 7:15)  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

 

(Jeremiah 7:16)  "As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.

 

(Jeremiah 7:17)  Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

 

(Jeremiah7:18)  The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.

 

(Jeremiah 7:19)  Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame?

 

(Jeremiah 7:20)  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched."

 

(Jeremiah 7:21)  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.

 

(Jeremiah 7:22)  For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

 

(Jeremiah 7:23)  But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'

 

(Jeremiah 7:24)  But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

 

(Jeremiah 7:25)  From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day.

 

(Jeremiah 7:26)  Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

 

(Jeremiah 7:27)  "So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.

 

(Jeremiah 7:28)  And you shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

 

(Jeremiah 7:29)  "'Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'

 

(Jeremiah 7:30)  "For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.

 

(Jeremiah 7:31)  And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

 

(Jeremiah 7:32)  Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere.

 

(Jeremiah 7:33)  And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.

 

(Jeremiah 7:34)  And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

 

In Jeremiah chapter 8 the Lord mourns the backslidden state of His people, Judah,, a perpetual one at that of the people and also that  the false prophets are pointed out, with their false message of peace and judgment is again promised because of that and other reasons

(Jeremiah 8:1)  "At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs.

 

(Jeremiah 8:2)  And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground.

 

(Jeremiah 8:3)  Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts.

 

(Jeremiah 8:4)  "You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return?

 

(Jeremiah 8:5)  Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.

 

(Jeremiah 8:6)  I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle.

 

(Jeremiah 8:7)  Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 8:8)  "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.

 

(Jeremiah 8:9)  The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?

 

(Jeremiah 8:10)  Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

 

(Jeremiah 8:11)  They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

 

(Jeremiah 8:12)  Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 8:13)  When I would gather them, declares the LORD, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them."

 

(Jeremiah 8:14)  Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 8:15)  We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

 

(Jeremiah 8:16)  "The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.

 

(Jeremiah 8:17)  For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you," declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 8:18)  My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.

 

(Jeremiah 8:19)  Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?"

 

(Jeremiah 8:20)  "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

 

(Jeremiah 8:21)  For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

 

(Jeremiah 8:22)  Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

 

In Jeremiah chapter 9 again the evils of the people are enumerated and judgment is again promised them, in the hopes that perhaps they would repent of the wickedness and nobody is encouraged to boast in ANY strengths

(Jeremiah 9:1)  Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

 

(Jeremiah 9:2)  Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men.

 

(Jeremiah 9:3)  They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 9:4)  Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

 

(Jeremiah 9:5)  Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.

 

(Jeremiah 9:6)  Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.

 

(Jeremiah 9:7)  Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?

 

(Jeremiah 9:8)  Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.

 

(Jeremiah 9:9)  Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

 

(Jeremiah 9:10)  "I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.

 

(Jeremiah 9:11)  I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

 

(Jeremiah 9:12)  Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

 

(Jeremiah 9:13)  And the LORD says: "Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,

 

(Jeremiah 9:14)  but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.

 

(Jeremiah 9:15)  Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink.

 

(Jeremiah 9:16)  I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."

 

(Jeremiah 9:17)  Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come;

 

(Jeremiah 9:18)  let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.

 

(Jeremiah 9:19)  For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.'"

 

(Jeremiah 9:20)  Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge.

 

(Jeremiah 9:21)  For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.

 

(Jeremiah 9:22)  Speak, "Thus declares the LORD: 'The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them.'"

 

(Jeremiah 9:23)  Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

 

(Jeremiah 9:24)  but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

 

(Jeremiah 9:25)  "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh--

 

(Jeremiah 9:26)  Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

 

For more of the book of Jeremiah, the next 9 chapters, containing more prophecies of judgment on an evil nation, but also encouragements to repent and Jeremiah's prayers for them please go to this link

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-jeremiah-bible-study-chapters-10-through-18/10200818469837638

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