“Before I formed you in the innermost parts I knew you, And before you came out from the womb I set you apart; I have given you as a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I do not know how to speak Because I am a youth.”

But Yahweh said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak.

Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.”

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

Now behold, I have given you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land.

“Go and call out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember concerning you the lovingkindness of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your walking after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.

They did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man inhabited?’

For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and perceive closely And see if there has been such a thing as this!

Has a nation changed gods Though they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.

“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn slave? Why has he become plunder?

The young lions have roared at him; They have given forth their voice. And they have made his land a desolation; His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant.

“For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your bonds; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill And under every green tree You have lain down as a harlot.

Yet I planted you a choice vine, A completely true seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not walked after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,

A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, That sniffs the wind in her passion. In the time of her heat who can turn her away? All who seek her will not become weary; In her month they will find her.

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 when their evil comes they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’

“In vain I have struck your sons; They received no discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.

O generation, behold the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’?

Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number.

God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares Yahweh.

“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been ravished? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the wilderness, And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your evil.

Therefore the showers have been withheld, And the late rain has not come. Yet you had a harlot’s forehead; You refused to feel dishonor.

Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.

And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’

“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from following Me.’