The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love {to have it} so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? {bear...: or, take into their hands}

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one {is} given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded {him} to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed {difference} between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. {violated: Heb. offered violence to}

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: {persecuted us: or, chased us out}

Her princes within her {are} roaring lions; her judges {are} evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

{Ye} serpents, {ye} generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, {Is} not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. {and say: Heb. saying}

Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, {and} burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. {transgress: or, serve}

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. {teachers: Heb. interpreters}

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded {him} to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, {and} children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? {of a span...: or, swaddled with their hands?}

The crown is fallen {from} our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! {The...: Heb. The crown of our head is fallen}

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts {are} thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction {are} in their paths. {destruction: Heb. breaking}

{If} ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

Therefore will I give their wives unto others, {and} their fields to them that shall inherit {them}: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. {go about...: or, make merchandise against a land, and men acknowledge it not}

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one {is} given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls. {the LORD, and the: Heb. the face of the LORD, etc}

Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow {is} incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: {because} thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, {and} to serve other gods, whom they knew not, {neither} they, ye, nor your fathers.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah {is} exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. {full of blood: Heb. filled with, etc} {perverseness: or, wresting of judgment}

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; {that prophesy out...: Heb. that are prophets out of their own hearts}

{There is} a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed {difference} between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. {violated: Heb. offered violence to}

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: {but} ye feed not the flock.

By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. {blood: Heb. bloods}

The watchman of Ephraim {was} with my God: {but} the prophet {is} a snare of a fowler in all his ways, {and} hatred in the house of his God. {in the: or, against the}

And now, O ye priests, this commandment {is} for you.

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. {priest: or, prince}

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen {doth gather} her brood under {her} wings, and ye would not!

And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.