Old Testament · 52 chapters
Read Jeremiah.
Jeremiah records warnings before Jerusalem’s fall and the prophet’s painful calling among an unresponsive people. Alongside judgment and grief, it promises restoration and a new covenant written on the heart.
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Chapter 1.
God calls Jeremiah before his birth and commissions him despite his youth. Visions confirm both the approaching judgment and God’s promise to sustain his messenger.
Read chapter 37 versesChapter 2.
God recalls Israel’s early devotion and confronts its pursuit of other gods. Broken cisterns become an image of abandoning the source of living water.
Read chapter 25 versesChapter 3.
Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness are described through broken marriage imagery. God calls for genuine return and anticipates renewed leadership and gathered worshipers.
Read chapter 31 versesChapter 4.
An urgent call to repentance is followed by visions of invasion and desolation. Jeremiah grieves as approaching disaster overwhelms the land.
Read chapter 31 versesChapter 5.
Jerusalem’s pervasive dishonesty and injustice are exposed across social ranks. Refusal to listen, false prophecy, and exploitation bring warnings of foreign invasion.
Read chapter 30 versesChapter 6.
A siege is announced against Jerusalem, whose people reject repeated warnings. Religious offerings cannot compensate for refusal to walk in God’s ways.
Read chapterChapter 7.
Jeremiah challenges confidence in the temple when daily conduct includes injustice and idolatry. The people are called to amend their ways rather than trust sacred slogans.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 8.
The people’s refusal to turn back is contrasted with the instincts of migrating birds. Jeremiah mourns their wounds and asks whether healing can still be found.
Read chapter 26 versesChapter 9.
Grief over deceit and violence leads to warnings of judgment. True grounds for boasting are found in knowing God’s kindness, justice, and righteousness.
Read chapter 25 versesChapter 10.
Lifeless idols are contrasted with the living Creator. The chapter turns from exposing false worship to lamenting approaching devastation and asking for measured correction.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 11.
Judah is confronted with its broken covenant and the consequences of refusing God’s words. Jeremiah also learns of a plot against his life in Anathoth.
Read chapter 17 versesChapter 12.
Jeremiah questions why the wicked prosper and receives a challenging response about endurance. Judgment on the land is joined to a conditional promise for neighboring nations.
Read chapter 27 versesChapter 13.
A ruined linen belt and images of filled wine jars symbolize Judah’s pride and coming humiliation. The people are warned to respond before darkness overtakes them.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 14.
Drought prompts confession and pleas for help, but false prophets offer misleading reassurance. God announces judgment while Jeremiah continues to grieve for the people.
Read chapter 21 versesChapter 15.
Judgment is described as unavoidable despite intercession, and Jeremiah voices the loneliness of his calling. God renews his commission with a call to faithful speech.
Read chapter 21 versesChapter 16.
Jeremiah’s unmarried life and absence from mourning and feasting become signs of approaching disaster. The chapter also promises a future gathering that will recall the exodus.
Read chapter 27 versesChapter 17.
Judah’s deeply rooted sin is contrasted with the blessing of trusting God. The chapter includes reflections on the heart and a warning about Sabbath observance.
Read chapter 23 versesChapter 18.
At the potter’s house, Jeremiah learns about God’s freedom to reshape a nation’s future. The people resist the call to change, and opponents plot against him.
Read chapter 15 versesChapter 19.
Jeremiah breaks a pottery jar as a sign of Jerusalem’s coming destruction. The acted message condemns idolatry, innocent bloodshed, and child sacrifice.
Read chapter 18 versesChapter 20.
Pashhur punishes Jeremiah, who then announces judgment against him. Jeremiah’s prayers reveal the strain of prophetic service, moving between confidence, complaint, and despair.
Read chapter 14 versesChapter 21.
Zedekiah seeks a favorable word during Babylon’s threat, but Jeremiah announces the city’s fall. Surrender is offered as a path to survival, and rulers are called to justice.
Read chapter 30 versesChapter 22.
Judah’s kings are judged by their treatment of the vulnerable and their use of power. Specific royal figures face warnings of exile, disgrace, and the loss of succession.
Read chapter 40 versesChapter 23.
Failed shepherds are contrasted with the promise of a righteous Davidic ruler. False prophets are condemned for speaking their own visions and encouraging unfaithfulness.
Read chapter 10 versesChapter 24.
Two baskets of figs represent contrasting futures for the exiles and those remaining in the land. God promises the exiles a renewed heart and eventual restoration.
Read chapter 38 versesChapter 25.
Jeremiah recalls years of ignored warnings and announces seventy years of Babylonian domination. A cup of judgment then symbolizes consequences extending to many nations.
Read chapter 24 versesChapter 26.
Jeremiah’s temple message brings threats of execution, but some leaders defend his right to speak. Earlier prophetic examples expose the choice between repentance and silencing the messenger.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 27.
Jeremiah’s yoke symbolizes the nations’ need to submit to Babylon for a time. Kings and priests are warned against prophets promising an immediate reversal.
Read chapter 17 versesChapter 28.
Hananiah contradicts Jeremiah and breaks the symbolic yoke, promising quick restoration. Jeremiah announces a harsher outcome and a judgment that is fulfilled in Hananiah’s death.
Read chapter 32 versesChapter 29.
Jeremiah writes to the exiles, urging them to settle, work, and seek their host city’s welfare. The promise of return is set against false claims of immediate release.
Read chapter 24 versesChapter 30.
A message of restoration promises healing and return after severe distress. God’s discipline will not erase his people or prevent their renewed community life.
Read chapter 40 versesChapter 31.
Restoration is pictured through homecoming, joy, and renewed belonging. God promises a new covenant in which his instruction is written on the heart.
Read chapter 44 versesChapter 32.
Jeremiah buys a field while Jerusalem is under siege, enacting confidence in future restoration. His prayer receives an answer holding judgment and renewed hope together.
Read chapter 26 versesChapter 33.
God promises healing, cleansing, and restored joy for devastated Jerusalem. Covenant assurances concerning David and priestly service underline the reliability of that future.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 34.
Zedekiah receives a personal warning, and the people break an agreement to release enslaved fellow Israelites. Their reversal brings a renewed announcement of judgment.
Read chapter 19 versesChapter 35.
The Rechabites’ obedience to their ancestor’s instructions exposes Judah’s refusal to heed God. Their faithfulness becomes a contrast to the nation’s repeated resistance.
Read chapter 32 versesChapter 36.
Baruch records Jeremiah’s words on a scroll and reads them publicly. Jehoiakim burns the scroll, but a replacement preserves and expands the warning.
Read chapter 21 versesChapter 37.
During a temporary break in Babylon’s siege, Jeremiah is accused of desertion and imprisoned. He continues warning Zedekiah that Jerusalem will fall.
Read chapter 28 versesChapter 38.
Officials place Jeremiah in a muddy cistern, but Ebed-melech secures his rescue. Jeremiah privately urges Zedekiah to surrender and live.
Read chapter 18 versesChapter 39.
Jerusalem falls, and Zedekiah’s attempt to escape ends in brutal loss and captivity. Jeremiah is released, and Ebed-melech receives a promise of protection.
Read chapter 16 versesChapter 40.
Jeremiah remains in Judah with Gedaliah after receiving freedom to choose his destination. Scattered survivors gather, while warnings emerge about a plot against the governor.
Read chapter 18 versesChapter 41.
Ishmael murders Gedaliah and others, throwing the remaining community into crisis. Johanan rescues captives, but fear drives the survivors toward plans to flee to Egypt.
Read chapter 22 versesChapter 42.
The survivors ask Jeremiah for guidance and promise obedience. God tells them to remain in Judah and warns that flight to Egypt will bring the danger they fear.
Read chapter 13 versesChapter 43.
The leaders reject Jeremiah’s message and take the community into Egypt. A symbolic action announces that Babylon’s power will reach them there as well.
Read chapter 30 versesChapter 44.
Jeremiah confronts the exiles’ continued idol worship in Egypt, especially devotion to the queen of heaven. They resist his warning, and judgment is announced.
Read chapter 5 versesChapter 45.
A personal message to Baruch addresses his grief and frustrated ambitions. Amid wider disaster, God promises him the preservation of his life.
Read chapter 28 versesChapter 46.
Oracles announce Egypt’s defeat and the humiliation of its military confidence. The chapter closes by reassuring Israel that judgment will not mean total abandonment.
Read chapter 7 versesChapter 47.
The Philistines face a destructive invasion pictured as an overflowing flood. The oracle asks how the sword of judgment can rest before its task is complete.
Read chapter 47 versesChapter 48.
Moab’s pride, false security, and trust in Chemosh are confronted through an extended oracle of devastation. Mourning and a closing promise of restoration accompany the judgment.
Read chapter 39 versesChapter 49.
Oracles address Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam. Different images expose misplaced confidence and announce the overturning of regional power.
Read chapter 46 versesChapter 50.
Babylon’s fall is announced alongside Israel and Judah’s return to seek God. The empire that scattered others now faces judgment and the release of its captives.
Read chapter 64 versesChapter 51.
The prophecy against Babylon continues, calling God’s people to leave its coming ruin. A scroll cast into the Euphrates symbolizes the empire’s irreversible downfall.
Read chapter 34 versesChapter 52.
A historical account recounts Jerusalem’s fall, the temple’s destruction, and the deportations. Jehoiachin’s later release provides a small closing sign that exile is not the final word.
Read chapterKing James Version (KJV). Bible text supplied by eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society. Summaries are written with AI assistance and are separate from Scripture. Read the chapter itself when considering its meaning.