LAUS DEO

A TRANSLATION OF

CALVIN’S VERSION OF

JEREMIAH

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

² Even the word of Jehovah came to him in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, The king of Judah, in the tenth year of his reign;

³ And it came in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, to the transmigration of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, — ⁵ Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; Before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee; A prophet to the nations have I made thee.

⁶ And I said, — Ah! Lord Jehovah, Behold, I know not how to speak, for I am a child.

⁷ And Jehovah said to me, — Say not, I am a child; For wheresoever I send thee, thou shalt go; And whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt say:

⁸ Fear not their face, for I am with thee, To deliver thee, saith Jehovah.

⁹ And Jehovah extended his hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said to me, — Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth;

¹⁰ See, I have set thee today Over nations and over kingdoms, To pull down and to destroy, To root up and to demolish, To build and to plant. (1:47)

¹¹ Then the word of Jehovah came to me saying, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, The rod of a watcher is what I see.

¹² Then Jehovah said to me, Thou hast rightly seen, for I watch over my word to do it.

¹³ And the word of Jehovah came to me again, saying, What seest thou? And I said, A pot boiling is what I see; its face is towards the north.

¹⁴ And Jehovah said to me, — From the north shall break forth an evil On all the inhabitants of the land:

¹⁵ For behold, I am calling all the families Of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah; And they shall come, and set shall each his throne, At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, And on all its walls around, And on all the cities of Judah:

¹⁶ And I will execute my judgments on them For all their wickedness; Because they have forsaken me, And have burnt incense to strange gods, And bowed down to the works of their own hands. (1:58)

¹⁷ Thou then, gird thy loins and arise, And speak to them whatsoever I command thee; Fear not their face, Lest I dismay thee before them.

¹⁸ And I, behold I have made thee this day A fortified city, an iron pillar, And a brazen wall, as to the whole land, Against the kings of Judah, Against his princes, against his priests, Against the people of the land:

¹⁹ And they shall fight with thee, But shall not prevail over thee, For with thee am I, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee.

¹ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, — ² Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, Saying, Thus saith Jehovah, — I remember thee for my kindness to thine youth And my love at thy espousal, When thou didst follow me in the desert, In a land not sown. (1:70)

³ Holiness was Israel to Jehovah, The first-fruits of his increase: Whosoever devour him shall be punished, Evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah.

⁴ Hear the word of Jehovah, ye house of Jacob, And all the families of the house of Israel:

⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, — What iniquity did your fathers find in me? For they alienated themselves from me, And walked after vanity, and became vain; (1:75)

⁶ And they said not, “Where is Jehovah, Who brought us out of the land of Egypt, And led us through the wilderness, In a land waste and rugged, In a land horrible and deadly, In a land through which none passed, And in which no man dwelt?” (1:79)

⁷ And I brought you into a fertile land, To eat its fruit and its abundance; But ye entered and polluted my land, And my heritage have ye made an abomination:

⁸ The priests said not, “Where is Jehovah?” And they who handled the law, knew not me; And the pastors dealt treacherously with me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal, And after things which did not profit, they walked.

⁹ Therefore still will I contend with you, saith Jehovah; And with your children’s children will I contend.

¹⁰ For pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see; And to Kedar send, and consider diligently; And see whether such a thing as this has been done — ¹¹ Has a nation changed its gods, Though they are no gods? Yet my people have changed their glory Unto that which does not profit.

¹² Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, and terrified, Be ye wholly desolated, saith Jehovah: (1:92)

¹³ Surely, two evils have my people done, — Me have they forsaken, the fountain of living waters, And dug have they for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns, which hold no waters!

¹⁴ Is Israel a servant? Is he one born in the house? Why is he become a prey?

¹⁵ Over him roar the lions, They have raised their voice; They have made his land waste; His cities are burnt up, Without an inhabitant.

¹⁶ Even the children of Noph and Thaphanes Do break thy crown.

¹⁷ Hast thou not done this for thyself, By forsaking Jehovah thy God, While he was leading thee in the way?

¹⁸ And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, That thou mightest drink the waters of the Nile? And what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, That thou mightest drink of the water of the river?

¹⁹ Chastise thee shall thine own wickedness, And thy apostasies, they shall punish thee; And thou shalt understand and know, That it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee To have forsaken Jehovah thy God, And that my fear has not been in thee, Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

²⁰ For of old have I broken thy yoke, Have I burst thy bands; But thou hast said, “I will not serve;” For on every high hill and under every shady tree Hast thou rambled like a harlot. (1:107)

²¹ I indeed planted thee a choice vine, Altogether a good seed; How then art thou turned to me A degenerated foreign vine!

²² Even though thou washest thyself with nitre, And multipliest to thee the herb of the fuller; Yet imprinted is thine iniquity Before my face, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²³ How canst thou say, “I am not polluted, After Baalim have I not gone?” See thy ways in the valley, Know what thou hast done, — Thou swift dromedary, traversing her ways, — ²⁴ A wild she-ass, used to the desert, In her own lust snuffing up the wind she meets with: Who can thence bring her back? Whosoever seeks her, needs not weary himself; In her month will he find her. (1:118)

²⁵ Keep thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst: Yet thou hast said, “It is all over, No, for I have loved strangers, And after them will I go.”

²⁶ As there is shame to a thief when caught, So ashamed shall be the house of Israel, Their kings and their princes, Their priests and their prophets, — ²⁷ Who say to the wood, “My father art thou;” And to the stone, “Thou hast begotten me:” For they have turned to me the back, not the face; But in the time of their calamity they say, “Arise and save us.”

²⁸ But where are thy gods, Which thou hast made for thyself? Let them arise, if they can save thee In the time of thy calamity; For according to the number of thy cities Have been thy gods, O Judah!

²⁹ Why do ye contend with me? Ye have all dealt perfidiously with me, saith Jehovah.

³⁰ In vain have I chastised your children; Correction they received not; Devoured has the sword your prophets, As a destroying lion.

³¹ O generation! see ye the word of Jehovah; Have I been a desert to Israel, or a land of darkness? Wherefore have my people said, — “We have ruled, we will come no more to thee.” (1:135)

³² Can a maid forget her ornaments, A spouse her attire? But my people have forgotten me, Days without number.

³³ Why trimmest thou thy ways to seek love? Thou hast even thus taught wickedness by thy ways.

³⁴ Even in thy skirts is found The blood of the souls of the poor innocents; Not in digging under have they been found, But on account of all these things: (1:143)

³⁵ Yet thou hast said, “Surely I am clean; Only let his fury depart from me.” Behold I will contend with thee in judgment, Because thou hast said, “I have not sinned.”

³⁶ Why ramblest thou so much to change thy ways? Even of Egypt shalt thou be ashamed, As thou hast been ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷ Even now for this thou shalt go forth, And thine hands on thine head; For abhorred hath Jehovah thy confidences, And in them thou shalt not prosper. (1:151)

¹ It is said, when a man puts away his wife, And she goes from him to another man, Shall he return to her again? Would not the land be thus greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many friends; Yet return to me, saith Jehovah.

² Raise thine eyes to the high places, And see where thou hast played the harlot: By the ways thou didst sit for them, As the Arabian in the desert; And polluted hast thou the land With thy whoredoms and thy wickedness.

³ Restrained therefore have been the showers, And the late rain has not been; Yet the front of a strumpet has been thine, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.

⁴ Wilt thou not hereafter cry to me, — “My Father, the guide of my youth art thou?

⁵ Will he keep wrath for ever? Will he reserve it perpetually?” Behold, thou hast spoken, And hast done evils with all thy might. (1:162)

⁶ And Jehovah said to me in the days of Josiah the king, — Hast thou seen what the apostate Israel has done? She went on every high mountain And under every shady tree, And played there the harlot:

⁷ And I said, after she had done all these things, “Return to me; “ but she returned not; And see this did her perfidious sister Judah.

⁸ And I saw, that when for all these things, Because rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had dismissed her and given her a bill of divorce, Yet fear did not her perfidious sister Judah, But went and played also the harlot. (1:166)

⁹ And it happened through the levity of her whoredom, That she polluted the land, And played the harlot with stone and with wood.

¹⁰ And yet after all this, returned to me Has not her perfidious sister Judah, With her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.

¹¹ And Jehovah said to me, — Justified herself has apostate Israel Rather than perfidious Judah:

¹² Go and publish these words towards the north, And say, Return, rebellious Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not let fall my wrath upon you, For I am merciful, saith Jehovah; I will not keep it for ever:

¹³ But know thine iniquity, That against Jehovah thy God thou hast acted wickedly, And prostituted thy ways to strangers Under every shady tree; (1:176) And to my voice thou didst not hearken, saith Jehovah.

¹⁴ Return, ye rebellious children, saith Jehovah; For I am your husband; And I will take you, one from a city, And two from a family, and bring you to Sion;

¹⁵ And will give you pastors according to my heart, And they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶ And it shall be, when ye shall multiply and increase In the land, in those days, saith Jehovah, That they will no more say, — “The ark of the covenant of Jehovah;” And it shall not come to mind, And they shall not remember nor visit it; Even this shall not be done any more. (1:185)

¹⁷ At that time they shall call Jerusalem, The throne of Jehovah; And assemble to it shall all nations, For the name of Jehovah, even to Jerusalem; And walk shall they no more After the evil hardness of their own hearts. (1:186)

¹⁸ In those days shall come The house of Judah with the house of Israel; Together shall they come from the land of the north, To the land which I have given For an inheritance to your fathers.

¹⁹ But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, And give thee the desirable land, The heritage coveted by hosts of nations? And I said, “My Father,” shalt thou call me, And from me thou wilt not depart. (1:189)

²⁰ Surely as a woman deals perfidiously with her partner, So hast thou dealt perfidiously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.

²¹ A voice on high places was heard, The weeping of the prayers of the children of Israel; Because they had perverted their way, And forgotten Jehovah their God. (1:192)

²² “Return, ye rebellious children, I will heal your transgressions.” “Behold we come to thee, For thou art Jehovah our God:

²³ Surely deceit is from the hills, From the multitude of mountains; Surely, in Jehovah our God Is the salvation of Israel. (1:194)

²⁴ Even shame hath devoured the labor Of our fathers, from our youth, Even their sheep and their cattle, Their sons and their daughters.

²⁵ We have lain down in our shame, And our reproach hath covered us, Because with Jehovah our God We have dealt wickedly, we and our fathers, From our childhood even to this day, (1:196) And have not attended to the voice of Jehovah our God.”

¹ If thou wilt return, Israel, saith Jehovah, Return to me; Even if thou wilt take away Thine abominations from my sight, And wilt not wander: (1:199)

² And thou shalt swear, “Live does Jehovah, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;” Then bless themselves in him shall nations, And in him shall they glory. (1:202)

³ For thus saith Jehovah To the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, — Plough again the first ploughing, And sow not among thorns:

⁴ Be ye circumcised to Jehovah, And take away the foreskin of your heart, Ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Lest my fury go forth like fire, And burn that none may quench it; On account of the evil of your doings.

⁵ Proclaim ye in Judah, And publish in Jerusalem, and say, “Sound the trumpet in the land;” Call, assemble, yea, say, — “Be assembled, and let us enter into fortified cities;”

⁶ Raise the standard in Sion; Flee, stay not, for an evil do I bring From the north, even a great ruin. (1:208)

⁷ Ascended has the lion from his thicket, And the waster of nations is gone forth; He is come forth from his place, To make thy land a waste; Thy cities shall be destroyed, So as to be without an inhabitant.

⁸ For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, Lament and howl; for turned away from us Is not the fury of Jehovah’s wrath.

⁹ And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, That perish shall the heart of the king, And the heart of the princes; And amazed shall be the priests, And the prophets shall be astonished. (1:212)

¹⁰ Then I said, Ah! Lord Jehovah! Surely, deceiving thou hast deceived This people and Jerusalem, by saying, “Peace shall be to you;” Yet reached has the sword to the soul. (1:214)

¹¹ At that time it shall be said To this people and to Jerusalem, — A dry wind from the heights of the desert Shall be towards the way of the daughter of my people, Not to fan nor to cleanse;

¹² A wind stronger than this shall come for me; Now also will I pronounce judgments on them. (1:217)

¹³ Behold as clouds shall he ascend, And as a whirlwind his chariots; Swifter than eagles his horses: Woe to us! for we are lost.

¹⁴ Cleanse from evil the heart, Jerusalem; That thou mayest be saved: How long will remain within thee The thoughts of vanity! (1:221)

¹⁵ For a voice proclaims from Dan And publishes ruin from Mount Ephraim.

¹⁶ Rehearse it to the nations; Behold, publish against Jerusalem, — Besiegers come from a remote land, And raise over the cities of Judah their voice;

¹⁷ As keepers of the field they shall be over her around; Because she hath provoked me, saith Jehovah.

¹⁸ Thy way and thy doings have done this for thee; This is thy wickedness, though it be bitter, Though it reaches to thy heart. (1:227)

¹⁹ My bowels! my bowels! I am in pain; The walls of my heart! My heart is in a tumult within me; I will not be silent, for the sound of the trumpet Has my soul heard, And the clamor of war has it heard. (1:229)

²⁰ Calamity on calamity is cried; For destroyed is the whole land; Suddenly destroyed are my tents, In an instant my curtains.

²¹ How long shall I see the standard — Shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?

²² Because foolish are my people, Me have they not known; Sottish children are they, And they are not intelligent; Acute are they for evil, But how to do good they know not.

²³ I beheld the land, and lo, it was waste and without form; And the heavens, and they had no light:

²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled; And all the hills were shaking:

²⁵ I beheld, and lo, there was no man, And every bird of the heavens was fled:

²⁶ I beheld, and lo, Carmel was a desert; And all its cities were destroyed, At the presence of Jehovah, At the presence of the burning of his wrath.

²⁷ For thus saith Jehovah, Laid waste shall be the whole land; But an end will I not make.

²⁸ For this mourn shall the land, And black shall become the heavens above; For I have spoken, I have purposed, And will not repent nor be turned from this.

²⁹ At the voice of the horseman and of the bowmen, Flee shall the whole city; They shall penetrate into thick clouds, They shall ascend into rocks; Every city shall be forsaken, And no man shall dwell in them. (1:245)

³⁰ And thou, wretched one, what wilt thou do? Though thou puttest on crimson, Though thou deckest thyself with ornaments of gold, Though thou adornest with paint thine eyes, In vain wilt thou decorate thyself; Hate thee will thy lovers, Thy life will they seek.

³¹ Surely, the voice of one in travail have I heard, The distress as of one giving birth to a first-begotten, The voice of the daughter of Sion; Who mourns, who spreads her hands, — “Wo to me now! for fainted has my soul On account of murderers.” (1:251)

¹ Go round through the streets of Jerusalem, And see, I pray, and know, Inquire also in its cross-ways, Whether ye shall find a man, Whether there be any, who doeth judgment, Who seeketh the truth, And I will spare it. (1:252)

² Though they say, “Live does Jehovah;” Yet in this they swear falsely.

³ Jehovah! are not thine eyes on the truth? Thou hast smitten them, But they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, But they have not received correction: They have made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to return.

⁴ But I said, Surely the poor are these; They have acted foolishly, Because they knew not the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God:

⁵ I will go to the great and speak to them, For they know the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God: But these have altogether broken the yoke, They have burst the bonds.

⁶ Therefore smite them shall the lion from the forest, The wolf of the desert shall spoil them, The leopard shall watch over their cities; Whosoever goeth out shall be torn: For manifold are their transgressions, Increased are their defections.

⁷ How for this shall I spare thee? Thy children have forsaken me, And have sworn by one that is not a god; When I fully satisfied them, they committed adultery, And at the house of the harlot they assembled:

⁸ Fed horses! rising early in the morning, Every one at his neighbor’s wife neigheth.

⁹ Should I not for these things visit? saith Jehovah, And on such a nation as this Shall not my soul be avenged?

¹⁰ Ascend her walls and demolish, But an end make not; Take away her foundations, For they are not Jehovah’s:

¹¹ For by transgressing they have transgressed against me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah saith Jehovah.

¹² They have denied Jehovah and said, “He is not, and come on us shall no evil; Yea, the sword and the famine we shall not see:

¹³ And the prophets shall be wind, For the word is not in them: Thus shall it be done to them.”

¹⁴ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, — Because you have uttered this word, Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them:

¹⁵ Behold I will bring on you a nation from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, A strong nation, an ancient nation, A nation whose language thou knowest not, And understandest not what it says: (1:286)

¹⁶ Their quiver is like an open sepulcher, All of them are valiant;

¹⁷ And they will devour thy harvest and thy bread; They will devour thy sons and thy daughters, They will devour thy flocks and thy herds, They will devour thy vine and thy fig-tree; To want shall they reduce thy fortified cities, To which thou trustest, by the sword:

¹⁸ But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make with you an end.

¹⁹ And it shall be, when ye say, “Why hath Jehovah our God done to us All these things?” that thou wilt say to them, — As ye have forsaken me, And served foreign gods in your land, So shall ye serve foreigners in a land not your own.

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob, And publish it in Judah, saying, — ²¹ Hear this, I pray, Ye foolish people and void of heart, Who have eyes and see not, Who have ears and hear not:

²² Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah; Will ye not at my presence tremble? Who have set the sand a bound to the sea, By a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it; Though its waves rage, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

²³ But this people hath a perverse and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed:

²⁴ And they have not said in their heart, — Let us now fear Jehovah our God, Who giveth rain, both the early And the latter shower in its season, Who keeps to us the appointed weeks of harvest.

²⁵ Your iniquities have prevented these things, And your sins have restrained good from you.

²⁶ For found among my people are the wicked; They look, as though they would set snares; A trap they set, in which they catch men. (1:303)

²⁷ As a cage is full of birds So their houses are full of fraud: Therefore they are increased and become rich;

²⁸ They are become fat, they shine; They even surpass the deeds of the wicked: The cause they judge not, The cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; And the judgment of the poor they judge not. (1:306)

²⁹ Shall I not for this visit, saith Jehovah? On such a nation as this Shall not my soul be avenged?

³⁰ A monstrosity and baseness is in the land!

³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their means; (1:309) And my people wish it to be so: But what will ye do at the end of it?

¹ Be assembled, ye children of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem, And in Tekoa sound the trumpet; In Beth-haccerem also set up a sign; For evil is seen from the north, And great distress.

² To a quiet and delicate woman Have I likened the daughter of Sion:

³ To her shall come shepherds and their flocks; They shall pitch their tents near her around, Feed shall each in his own place.

⁴ Prepare ye war against her: “Arise ye, and let us ascend at midday; Alas for us! for declined has the day, For extended are the evening shadows:

⁵ Arise, and let us ascend in the night, And let us demolish her palaces.” (1:319)

⁶ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Cut ye down wood, And form against. Jerusalem a mound; It is a city of visitation, Entire oppression is in the midst of her:

⁷ As a fountain casts out its waters, So she casts out her wickedness; Violence and plunder is heard of in her; Before me continually is grief and smiting.

⁸ Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be torn from thee, Lest I make thee a desert, A land not inhabited.

⁹ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — By gleaning they shall glean, as a vine, The remnant of Israel: Turn back thine hand, As a grapegatherer into the baskets. (1:326)

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and protest, That they may hear? Behold, uncircumcised is their ear, And they cannot hear; Behold, the word of Jehovah is to them a reproach; They delight not in it.

¹¹ Of Jehovah’s indignation therefore am I full, I am wearied with refraining To pour it on the children in the streets, And on the assembly of young men also; For the husband with his wife shall be taken, The aged with the full of days:

¹² And turned shall be their houses to aliens, Their fields and their wives in like manner; For I will stretch out my hand On the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah:

¹³ For from the least to the greatest of them, Every one is given to covetousness; And from the prophet to the priest, Every one acts deceitfully;

¹⁴ And healed have they the wound Of the daughter of my people slightly By saying, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace. (1:336)

¹⁵ Were they ashamed, that they had done abomination? Even of shame they were not ashamed, And how to blush they knew not: Fall therefore shall they among the fallen; At the time of their visitation They shall perish, saith Jehovah. (1:339)

¹⁶ Thus said Jehovah, — Stand in the ways and see, Inquire also concerning the old paths, Which is the right way, and walk ye in it, That ye may find rest to your soul: And they said, “We will not walk in it.”

¹⁷ I also set over them watchmen, That they might, attend to the sound of the trumpet; But they said, “We will not attend.”

¹⁸ Hear therefore, ye nations, And know, thou assembly, what shall be to them:

¹⁹ Hear, thou land; behold I bring an evil On this people, the fruit of their thoughts; Because to my words they have not hearkened, And my law have they despised.

²⁰ To what purpose is this to me? Incense cometh from Sheba, And the sweet came from a far country; Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, And your sacrifices are not pleasant to me.

²¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I lay before this people stumblingblocks; And stumble shall fathers and sons alike; Neighbor and friend, they shall perish.

²² Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, a people shall corns from the north country, And a great nation shall be roused From the sides of the earth:

²³ On the bow and spear shall they lay hold; They are cruel and will not spare; Their voice, like the sea, will roar, And on horses shall they mount; Arrayed shall they be as men for war, Against thee, O daughter of Sion.

²⁴ We have heard its fame; Relaxed are our hands, Anguish has laid hold on us, The pain as of one in travail.

²⁵ Go not forth into the field, Nor walk by the way; For the sword of the enemy Is a terror on every side.

²⁶ Daughter of my people! gird on sackcloth, And roll thyself in the dust; Make thee mourning, as for an only son, Most bitter lamentation; For suddenly shall come on thee the spoiler.

²⁷ A tower have I made thee to my people, — A fortress; that thou mightest know And try their ways:

²⁸ All are entire apostates, Walking in detraction; Brass and iron are they; All of them are corrupters. (1:358)

²⁹ Burnt are the bellows by the fire, Entire is the lead, In vain has melted the melter; For the wicked have not been refined:

³⁰ Reprobate silver shall they call them, Because rejected them has Jehovah (1:360)

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ² Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, And proclaim there this word, and say, — Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye Judah, Who enter through these gates to worship Jehovah:

³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Make good your ways and your doings, And I will dwell with you in this place:

⁴ Trust not in words of falsehood, by saying, “The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah, are these buildings.” (1:364)

⁵ Surely, if by making good ye make good Your ways and your doings, If by doing ye do judgment Between man and his neighbor, ⁶ If the stranger, the orphan and the widow, Ye oppress not, and innocent blood Ye shed not in this place, And after strange gods Ye walk not to your hurt, — ⁷ Then will I cause you to dwell in this places In the land which I gave to your fathers, For ever and ever.

⁸ Behold, ye trust in words of falsehood, Which are without profit.

⁹ Will ye steal, kill, and commit adultery, Swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, And walk after alien gods, Whom ye do not know;

¹⁰ And come and stand before me in this house, Which is called by my name, and say, “We have been made free To do all these abominations?” (1:373)

¹¹ Is this house, called by my name, Become a den of robbers in your eyes? Even I, behold I see, saith Jehovah.

¹² But go now to my place in Shilo, Where I made to dwell my name at first, And see what I did there, For the wickedness of my people Israel:

¹³ And now, because ye have done All these works, saith Jehovah, And I spoke to you, rising early, And when I spoke, ye heard not, When I called you, ye answered not;

¹⁴ I will therefore do to this place, Which is called by my name, In which ye trust — Even to the place which I gave to you And to your fathers, as I did to Shilo;

¹⁵ And I will cast you out from my presence, As I have cast out all your brethren, The whole seed of Ephraim.

¹⁶ And thou, pray not for this people, And raise not for them a cry and a prayer, And intercede not with me; For I will not hear thee. (1:384)

¹⁷ Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah And in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸ Children gather wood, And fathers kindle a fire, And women knead a dough, To make cakes for the queen of heaven; And they pour libations to alien gods, That they may provoke me to wrath! (1:387)

¹⁹ Do they provoke me to wrath, saith Jehovah? Is it not to the shame of their own faces?

²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, — Behold my wrath, even my fury, It shall be poured on this place, Upon men and upon beast, Upon the tree of the field and the fruit of the land; And it shall burn, and none shall quench it. ²¹ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Your burntofferings add to your sacrifices, And eat ye the flesh:

²² For I spoke not to your fathers, Nor commanded them in the day, In which I brought them out of the land of Egypt, Concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices;

²³ But this is what I commanded them, saying, — “Hear my voice, And I will be to you a God, And you shall be to me a people; And walk ye in all the ways Which I have commanded you. That it may be well with you:

²⁴ Yet they heard not, nor inclined their car; But walked in perverse counsels, In the wickedness of their own evil heart, And went backward and not forward.

²⁵ From the day in which your fathers came out From the land of Egypt, to this day, Have I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, Every day rising early and sending them: ²⁶ Yet they heard not nor inclined their ear, But hardened their neck; They have acted more perversely than their fathers.

²⁷ Thou also shalt say to them all these words, But they will not hear thee; And thou shalt call to them, But they will not answer thee:

²⁸ Therefore say to them, — This is a nation, Which have not hearkened to the voice Of Jehovah, their God, And have not received correction: Perished has the truth, And cut off has it been from their mouth.

²⁹ Shave off thy hair and cast it away, Raise on the heights a lamentation; Nor rejected thee has Jehovah; And forsaken hath he the generation of his wrath:

³⁰ For the children of Judah have done evil Before mine eyes, saith Jehovah; They have set their abominations in the house, On which my name is called, to pollute it;

³¹ And they have built the high places of Tophet, Which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; Which I have not commanded, Nor has it ever come into my heart.

³² Therefore, behold the days come, saith Jehovah, That it shall no more be called Tophet, And The valley of the son of Hinnom, But, The valley of slaughter; And they shall bury in Tophet, For elsewhere there will be no place:

³³ And the carcasses of this people shall be for meat To the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth; And there will be none to frighten them:

³⁴ And to cease will I make, from the cities of Judah And from the streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; For to a waste shall the land be reduced.

¹ In that day, saith Jehovah, they shall bring forth The bones of the kings of Judah, And the bones of his princes, And the bones of the priests, And the bones of the prophets, And the bones of the citizens of Jerusalem, Out of their graves;

² And they shall spread them before the sun, And the moon, and all the host of heaven, Which they have loved and served, And after which they have walked, And which they have sought, And before which they have bowed themselves; They shall not be gathered nor buried; For dung on the face of the land shall they be:

³ And chosen shall be death, Rather than life, by all the residue, Who shall remain of this wicked nation, Who shall remain in all the places Where I shall drive them, saith Jehovah of hosts.

⁴ Thou shalt also say to them, Thus saith Jehovah, — Shall not they who have fallen rise again? If any one turns aside shall he not return?

⁵ Why rebel does this people at Jerusalem With a perpetual rebellion? They have held fast deceit, They have refused to return.

⁶ I hearkened and heard; they will not speak aright; There is no one who repents of his wickedness, And says, “What have I done?” Every one turns to his own course, Like a horse who rushes into battle. (1:425)

⁷ Even the stork in the heavens knows its times; The turtle also, and the swallow and the crane, Observe the time of their journey; But my people know not the judgment of Jehovah.

⁸ How say ye, “We are wise And the law of Jehovah is with us:” Surely, behold in vain Hath the writer prepared his pen, In vain are the scribes!

⁹ Ashamed are the wise, terrified and taken; Behold the word of Jehovah have they rejected; And wisdom, what is it to them! (1:432)

¹⁰ I will therefore give their wives to aliens, And their fields to inheritors; For from the least even to the greatest, Every one is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest, All have acted deceitfully;

¹¹ And healed have they the wound Of the daughter of my people slightly, By saying, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace.

¹² Had they shame, that they had done abomination? Even of shame they were not ashamed, And how to blush they knew not: Fall therefore shall they with the fallen; At the time of their visitation They shall perish, saith Jehovah.

¹³ Destroying, I will destroy them, saith Jehovah; No grapes shall be on the vine, And no figs on the fig-tree; The leaf also shall fall, And what I gave them shall pass from them.

¹⁴ Why do we sit still? Assemble ye, And let us enter into fortified cities, And let us rest there: Surely, Jehovah our God hath made us silent, And given us waters of gall to drink: Because we have sinned against Jehovah. (1:442)

¹⁵ We looked for peace, but there was no good; For time of healing, but behold terror.

¹⁶ From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones, Tremble does the whole land; For they will come and devour The land and its abundance, The city and its inhabitants.

¹⁷ For behold, I will send among you Serpents and basilisks, Which will not be charmed; And they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.

¹⁸ I would strengthen myself against grief: But within me my heart is weak.

¹⁹ Behold the voice of the crying Of the daughter of my people from a far country! “Is not Jehovah in Sion? Is not her king within her?” — Why have they provoked me to wrath With their images, with foreign vanities?

²⁰ Past has the harvest, ended is the summer, And we have not been saved! (1:452)

²¹ For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt, I am become black; Astonishment has laid hold on me.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For why is not restored The healing of the daughter of my people! (1:456)

¹ Who will make my head waters And mine eye a fountain of tears! Then would I bewail, day and night, The slain of the daughter of my people.

² Who will set me in the desert, In the lodging of travelers! Then would I leave my people And depart from them: For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of perfidious men.

³ And they shoot lies with their tongue as with a bow; But not for truth are they strong in the land; For from evil to evil they proceed; (1:462) And me they know not, saith Jehovah.

⁴ And every one of his friend take ye heed, And in a brother trust ye not; For every brother by supplanting will supplant, And every friend walks fraudulently:

⁵ And a man deceives his neighbor, And the truth he speaks not; They have taught their tongues to speak falsehood; With doing evil they weary themselves.

⁶ Thou dwellest in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse To know me, saith Jehovah. (1:469)

⁷ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold, I will try them, and will prove them; For how should I deal With the daughter of my people?

⁸ A sharpened arrow is their tongue, Falsehood it speaks; His mouth speaks peace to his neighbor, But within he sets up intrigues.

⁹ For this shall I not visit, saith Jehovah, On such a nation as this Shall not my soul be avenged?

¹⁰ For the mountains will I raise up weeping and wailing, For the pastures of the wilderness, lamentation; Because they are laid waste, So that there is not a man passing through, And they hear not the voice of cattle; From the bird of heaven to the beast. Have they fled, have they departed. (1:475)

¹¹ I will also make Jerusalem heaps, A place for dragons; And the cities of Judah will I make a waste, So that there shall be no inhabitant.

¹² Who is a wise man to understand this? And to whom has Jehovah’s mouth spoken, That he may declare why the land is to perish — Is to be laid waste like the desert, So that no man should pass through? (1:480)

¹³ Then Jehovah said, — Because they have forsaken my law, Which I have set before them, And hearkened not to my voice, Nor walked according to it;

¹⁴ But walked after the imaginations Of their own hearts, and after Baalim, As their fathers taught them;

¹⁵ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, The God of Israel, — Behold, I will feed this people with bitterness, And will give them the water of gall to drink;

¹⁶ I will also scatter them among the nations, Whom they have not known nor their fathers, And I will send after them the sword, Until I shall have consumed them.

¹⁷ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Attend ye and call for the mourning women, That they may come, And send for those who are skillful, That they may come.

¹⁸ And let them hasten and make a wailing for us, That our eyes may let fall tears, And our eyelids drop down waters. (1:489)

¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard from Sion, “How we are wasted! How greatly shamed! Because we have left the land, They have cast down our dwellings.”

²⁰ Therefore hear, ye women, the word of Jehovah, And let your ears receive the word of his mouth, And teach your daughters wailing, And each one her friend lamentation:

²¹ For come up is death to our windows, It has entered into our palaces, To cut off the infirm from the street, The young men in the broad places. (1:493)

²² Speak, thus saith Jehovah, fall shall the carcasses of men As dung on the face of the field, And as the handful after the reaper, And none gathering it. ²³ Thus saith Jehovah, — Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, And let not the brave glory in his courage, Let not the rich glory in his riches;

²⁴ But in this let him glory who glorieth, In understanding, and in knowing me, That I am Jehovah, who doeth mercy, Judgment and righteousness in the land; For in these things I delight, saith Jehovah. (1:502)

²⁵ Behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will visit every one circumcised, Who is in uncircumcision, — ²⁶ Egypt and Judah and Edom, The sons of Ammon and Moab, And all those who are in extreme recesses, Who dwell in the wilderness; For all these nations are uncircumcised, And the whole house of Israel, They are uncircumcised in heart.

¹ Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaks to you, O house of Israel:

² Thus saith Jehovah, — The way of the Gentiles learn not, And of the signs of heaven be not afraid, For fear them do the Gentiles:

³ Because the rites of the heathens are vanity, For a tree from the forest does one cut — The work of the craftsman’s hands by the ax;

⁴ With silver and gold they beautify it, With nails and hammer they make it fast, That it should not move;

⁵ As a palm, erect, but they speak not; And being raised, they are raised, for they cannot walk: Fear them not, for they cannot do evil, And to do good is not in their power. (2:14)

⁶ From no time has been found any Like thee, Jehovah; great art thou, And great is thy name in power.

⁷ Who should not fear thee, king of nations? For to thee this belongs; For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, From no time has there been one like thee. (2:28)

⁸ Even in this one thing they are foolish and fatuitous — The teaching of vanities the wood is:

⁹ Silver, extended, is from Tarshish brought, And gold from Ophas, — The work of the artificer and of the melter’s hands; Hyacinth and purple are their garments, The work of the wise, all of them.

¹⁰ But Jehovah is God, the truth, God, the life and the king of ages: Through his fury tremble will the earth, And the nations will not bear his wrath.

¹¹ Thus shall ye say to them, — The gods who made not the heaven and the earth, Let them perish from the earth and from under heaven:

¹² He who made the earth by his power, Who set in order the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding extended the heavens, — ¹³ At his voice there is abundance of waters in the heavens, And he makes vapors to ascend from the extremity of the earth; Lightnings he makes for rain, And brings the wind from his treasures. (2:31)

¹⁴ Foolish is every man through his knowledge, Ashamed is every maker of the graven image, For a falsehood is the molten image, And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵ Vanity they are, the work of illusions; At the time of their visitation they shall perish.

¹⁶ But not like them is the portion of Jacob, For the Creator of all things is he, And Israel is the rod of his inheritance; Jehovah of hosts is his name.

¹⁷ Gather from the land thy treasures Thou who dwellest in a fortress:

¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah, — Behold! will cast out as with a sling The inhabitants of the land at this time, And I will straiten them, That they may find what they deserve. ¹⁹ Woe is me on account of my bruising! Full of pain is the smiting given to me! and I said, — Surely it is my stroke, and I will bear it:

²⁰ My tent is pulled down, And all my cords are broken; My sons are gone from me, and there are none — No one to extend any more my tent, And to set up my curtains!

²¹ For infatuated are the pastors, And Jehovah have they not sought; Therefore have they not prospered, And all that was in their pastures has been destroyed.

²² A sound of rumor! lo, it comes, And a great tumult, from the land of the north, To make the cities of Judah a waste, The habitation of dragons!

²³ I know Jehovah, That his way is not in the power of man, That it is not in man who walketh to guide his steps.

²⁴ Chastise me, Jehovah, but only in moderation; Not in thy wrath, lest thou shouldest consume me:

²⁵ Pour thy wrath on the nations, who know thee not, And on the families who have not called on thy name; For they have devoured Jacob, Yea, they have devoured and consumed him, And his tents have they laid waste.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ² Hear ye the words of this covenant; and say ye to the men ³ of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, — Cursed ⁴ Is the man who hears not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day in which I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, — Hear ye my voice, and do according to all those things which I have commanded you; and ye shall be to me a people and I will ⁵ Be to you a God; that I may confirm the oath which I swear to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, according to what it is at this day. And I answered and said, Amen, Jehovah.

⁶ And Jehovah said to me, Proclaim these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, — Hear the words of this covenant and do them;

⁷ For protesting I protested to your fathers, In the day in which I brought them Out of the land of Egypt, to this day, Rising up early and protesting, and saying, — ⁸ “Hear ye my voice:” Yet they heard not, nor inclined their ear, But walked, every one of them, After the wickedness of his own evil heart: I have therefore brought on them All the words of this covenant, Which I commanded them to do, But they did them not. (2:84)

⁹ And Jehovah said to me, — Found out is a conspiracy, Among the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem:

¹⁰ Returned are they to the iniquities of their forefathers, Who refused to hear my words, But walked after foreign gods to serve them: Broken have the house of Israel and the house of Judah My covenant, which I made with their fathers.

¹¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will bring upon you an evil, From which ye shall not be able to escape; And they shall cry to me, but I will not hear them:

¹² And go shall the cities of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, And cry to the gods to whom they have offered incense; But by saving they will not save them In the time of their affliction:

¹³ For according to the number of thy cities Have been thy gods, O Judah; And according to the number of streets of Jerusalem, Have ye set up altars for reproach — Altars to offer incense to Baal. (2:94)

¹⁴ And thou, pray not for this people, And raise not for them a cry and a prayer; For I will not hear them at the time When they shall cry to me for their distress.

¹⁵ What has my beloved to do in mine house, While she commits abomination with many? And the flesh of the sanctuary is taken from thee; For when thou didst evil, thou didst then glory. (2:102)

¹⁶ A green olive, fair in fruit and form, Hath Jehovah called thy name; At the noise of great tumult hath he kindled a fire on it, And broken down are its branches: (2:105)

¹⁷ For Jehovah of hosts who planted thee Hath spoken against thee an evil, For the wickedness of the house of Israel And of the house of Judah, Which they have done for themselves, To provoke me by offering incense to Baal.

¹⁸ Jehovah hath made me to know, and I knew it; Thou didst then discover to me their works.

¹⁹ But I was like a lamb or an ox Led to be slain; and I knew not That they meditated thoughts against me: “Let us spoil with wood his bread, And cut him off from the land of the living; And let his name be remembered no more.” (2:113)

²⁰ Now, Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, Who searchest the reins and the heart, Let me see thy vengeance on them, For to thee have I revealed my cause.

²¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah To the men of Anathoth, who seek thy life and say, “Prophesy thou not in the name of Jehovah, That thou mayest not die by our hand;”

²² Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold, I will visit them; Their young men shall die by the sword, Their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, ²³ And there shall be no remnant of them; For I will bring evil on the men of Anathoth, In the year of their visitation.

¹ Just art thou, Jehovah, though I contend with thee; Yet of judgments will I speak to thee: How long shall the way of the ungodly prosper? Secure are all they who by transgressing transgress. (2:121)

² Thou hast planted them, they have even taken root; They have grown, they have even produced fruit: Nigh art thou in their mouth, But far from their reins.

³ But thou, Jehovah, knowest me, Thou seest me and hast tried my heart towards thee; Draw them forth as sheep for the slaughter, And prepare them for the day of destruction.

⁴ How long shall mourn the land, And the grass of every field wither For the wickedness of those who dwell in it? Consumed are the beasts and the birds, Because they have said, ”He shall not see our end.” (2:129)

⁵ If with footmen thou hast run, And they have wearied thee, How canst thou contend with horsemen? In the land of peace thou hast trusted, How then canst thou do in the rising of Jordan?

⁶ Truly, even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even these act perfidiously towards thee; Yea, they cry after thee with a loud voice: Trust them not, even when they speak good things to thee.

⁷ I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage; I have given up the darling of my soul Into the hand of her enemies!

⁸ My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; It has sent forth its voice against me; Therefore have I hated it.

⁹ Is my heritage to me a speckled bird? Is there not a bird around over it? Come, gather yourselves all ye beasts of the field; Come to devour it. (2:140)

¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, They have trodden under foot my portion, They have made nay choice portion a desolate wilderness;

¹¹ They have made it a desolation, It mourns to me, being desolate; Desolate is become the whole land; Though no one hath laid it to heart.

¹² On all high places in the wilderness have come destroyers; For the sword of Jehovah hath devoured, From one end to the other end of the land; There is no peace to any flesh.

¹³ They have sown wheat And thorns have they reaped; An heritage have they got, but have not succeeded: Ashamed have they been of your produce, Through the burning of the wrath of Jehovah. (2:149)

¹⁴ Thus saith Jehovah, — As to all my evil neighbors, Who touch my heritage, Which I have inherited, even my people Israel, Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, And the house of Judah Will I pluck up from the midst of them.

¹⁵ And it shall be, after I draw them out, That I shall return and shew mercy to them, And will restore them, every one to his heritage, And every one to his own land.

¹⁶ And it shall be, that if by learning they will learn The ways of my people, To swear by my name, “Live does Jehovah,” As they taught my people to swear by Baal, They shall then be built up In the midst of my people:

¹⁷ But if they will not hear, I will then pluck up that nation, Plucking it up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah to me, — Go and get thee a linen belt, and put it on thy loins, and ² In water set it not. So I got for me a belt, as Jehovah had ³ commanded, and put it on my loins. Then came the word of ⁴ Jehovah to me again, saying, — Take the belt which thou hast got, which is on thy loins, and rise, go to Euphrates and hide ⁵ It there in the hole of a rock. Then I went and hid it by ⁶ Euphrates, as Jehovah had ordered me. And it was, that at the end of many days, Jehovah said to me, Rise and go to Euphrates, and take thence the belt which I commanded thee ⁷ To hide there. So I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the belt from the place where I had hid it; and behold the belt ⁸ Was marred, and it was good for nothing. Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying, — ⁹ Thus saith Jehovah, — In this way will I mar the excellency of Judah And the great excellency of Jerusalem:

¹⁰ This wicked people, who refuse to hear my words, Who walk in the wickedness of their own heart, And walk after foreign gods, That they may serve them and worship them, — Shall be even as this belt, Which is good for nothing.

¹¹ For as the belt cleaves to the loins of man, So had I joined to me the whole house of Israel And the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah, That they might be to me a people and a name, Yea, a praise and a glory; But they hearkened not.

¹² Thou shalt also say this word to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, — Every bottle shall be filled with wine. When they shall say to thee, Knowing do we not know, that every ¹³ Bottle shall be filled with wine? then shalt thou say to them, — Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will fill with drunkenness All the inhabitants of this land, And all the kings who sit for David on his throne, The priests also and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

¹⁴ And I will dash them, every one against his brother, The fathers also and the sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not spare, nor will I be propitious, Nor shew pity until I destroy them.

¹⁵ Hear ye and attend, be not lifted up, For Jehovah hath spoken:

¹⁶ Give to Jehovah your God the glory, Before he makes it to grow dark, And before your feet stumble at the dark mountains, And before he turns the light ye hope for Into the shadow of death, And makes it thick darkness. (2:179)

¹⁷ But if ye will not hear this, In secret will my soul mourn for pride, And weeping my eye will weep And run down with tears; For led captive is the flock of Jehovah.

¹⁸ Say to the king and to the queen, Be ye humbled, lie ye down, For come down from your heads Shall the crown of your glory.

¹⁹ The cities of the south are closed up, And there is no one to open them; For carried away has been all Judah, He has been carried away completely. (2:185)

²⁰ Raise ye your eyes, And behold them who come from the north: Where is the flock, which has been given to thee, The sheep of thy glory?

²¹ What wilt thou say when he visits thee? But thou hast taught them to be leaders over thy head; Shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, As on a woman in travail?

²² But if thou wilt say in thine heart, “Why have these evils happened to me?” For the multitude of thine iniquity Are thy skirts discovered, And naked are made thy heels.

²³ Can the Ethiop change his skin, And the panther his spots? Even so can ye do good, Who have been taught evil. (2:192)

²⁴ I will therefore scatter them like the stubble, That passeth away by the wind of the desert.

²⁵ This thy lot is the portion of thy measures From me, saith Jehovah, For thou hast forgotten me, And thou hast trusted in falsehood;

²⁶ And I also will uncover thy skirts on thy face, That seen may be thy shame.

²⁷ Thy adulteries and thy neighings, The thought of thy whoredom, On the mountains, in the field, have I seen, Even thine abominations; Woe to thee, Jerusalem! Wilt thou not at length be made clean? How long yet!

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah respecting the drought:

² Mourned has Judah, And his gates have been weakened; They are become black on the ground, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up: (2:205)

³ And their chiefs sent the common people to the waters; They came to the cisterns, they found no water; They returned with empty vessels; They were confounded and ashamed, And they covered their head:

⁴ For the chapt ground, as there was no rain in the land, Ashamed were the husbandmen, And they covered their head:

⁵ Moreover the hind brought forth young in the field, And forsook it, for there was no grass:

⁶ And the wild asses stood on the cliffs, They drew in wind like serpents; Fail did their eyes, for there was no grass. (2:209)

⁷ Though our iniquities testify against us, O Jehovah, Deal with us for thine own name’s sake; For multiplied have our defections, Against thee have we done wickedly, ⁸ Hope of Israel! Savior art thou In the time of trouble; Why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land? As a traveler, turning aside to pass the night?

⁹ Why shouldest thou be as a man terrified? As a strong man, who yet cannot save? Thou art in the midst of us, O Jehovah, And on us is thy name called, Forsake us not. (2:214)

¹⁰ Thus saith Jehovah of this people: As they have loved to wander, And have not restrained their feet, Therefore Jehovah has not been pleased with them; He will now remember their iniquities, And visit their sins.

¹¹ Jehovah said also to me: Pray not for this people for their good:

¹² When they fast I will not hear their cry; And when they offer a sacrifice and an oblation, I will not be pleased with them; For with the sword and with famine, And with pestilence, will I consume them.

¹³ And I said, Ah! Lord Jehovah, Behold, the prophets say to them, — “Ye shall not see the sword, And famine shall not be to you, Nay, sure peace will I give you in this place.”

¹⁴ Then said Jehovah to me, — Falsehood do the prophets prophesy in my name; I have not sent them nor commanded them, Nor have I spoken to them; A false vision and divination, Yea, vanity and the deceit of their own heart, Do they of themselves prophesy to you. (2:226)

¹⁵ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, of the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I have not sent them, and who say, The sword and the famine shall not be in this land, — By the sword and ¹⁶ Famine shall these prophets be consumed; and the people, to whom they have prophesied, shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem through the famine and the sword, and there will be none to bury them, — they, their wives: and their sons, and their daughters; and I will pour upon them their own wickedness.

¹⁷ Therefore shalt thou say to them this word, — Run down shall mine eyes with tears Day and night, and they shall not rest, For with a great breach is broken down The virgin, the daughter of my people; The stroke is very grievous:

¹⁸ If I go out to the field, behold the slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, behold the sorrowful with famine! For both the prophet, and the priest, Go round through the land, and know not what to do. ¹⁹ Repudiating hast thou repudiated Judah? Has thy soul abominated Sion? Why hast thou so smitten us, that we have no healing? We have looked for peace, and there is no good, And for time of healing, and behold terror!

²⁰ We know, O Jehovah, our wickedness, And the iniquity of our fathers; For we have done wickedly against thee.

²¹ Reject not, for thy name’s sake, Overthrow not the throne of thy glory; Remember. render not void, Thy covenant with us. (2:240)

²² Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles, Who can cause it to rain? And can they give rain from heaven? Art not thou thyself, Jehovah, our God? And we have looked to thee, For thou hast done all these things.

CHAPTER 15 [^f1]

¹ Then Jehovah said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, My soul would not be towards this people; Send them from my presence, and let them depart.

² And it shall be, if they say to thee, “Whither shall we go forth?” Then shalt thou say to them, — Thus saith Jehovah, — They who are for death, to death, And they who are for the sword, to the sword, And they who are for the famine, to the famine, And they who are for captivity, to captivity:

³ And I will set over them four kinds, saith Jehovah, — The sword to kill, and the dogs to drag, And the bird of heaven, and the beast of the earth, To devour and to destroy:

⁴ And I will set them a vexation, To all the kingdoms of the earth, For Manasse, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, On account of what he did in Jerusalem.

⁵ For who will pity thee, O Jerusalem? And who will condole with thee? And who will turn aside To inquire of thy welfare?

⁶ Thou hast forsaken me, saith Jehovah; Backward hast thou gone; I will therefore stretch my hand against thee, And I will destroy thee; I am wearied with repenting:

⁷ And I will fan them with a fan Through all the gates of the earth; I have bereaved, I destroyed my people; From their own ways they have not returned.

⁸ Multiplied have their widows to me Above the sand of the sea; I brought to them, on the troop of youths, A waster at mid-day; And I cast on them suddenly A tumult and terrors.

⁹ Weakened did she become who had born seven, Expire did her soul, Go down did her sun while it was yet day, Confounded has she been and ashamed: And the remainder of them to the sword will I give, Before their enemies, saith Jehovah. (2:266)

¹⁰ Wo to me, my mother! That thou hast born me a man of strife, And a man of contention to the whole land: I have not lent on usury, And they have not on usury lent to me; Yet every one curses me.

¹¹ And Jehovah said, — Surely thy latter end shall be well; Surely I will cause to meet thee the enemy, In the time of evil and in the time of distress. (2:273)

¹² Shall iron break The iron from the north and the steel!

¹³ Thy wealth and thy treasures To plunder will I give, Not in exchange, but for all thy wickedness, And for all thy counsels:

¹⁴ And I will make thee to pass to the enemy Into a land which thou knowest not; For a fire is kindled in my wrath, On you it shall burn.

¹⁵ Thou knowest, O Jehovah, Remember me and visit me, And avenge me on my persecutors, Lest thou shouldest take me away By protracting thy wrath: Know that for thee have I borne reproach. (2:280)

¹⁶ Found were thy words, and I did eat them; And thy word was my joy and the gladness of my heart; For called on me was thy name, O Jehovah, the God of hosts.

¹⁷ I sat not in the assembly of mockers, Nor exulted on account of thy hand; I sat apart, for with indignation Hast thou filled me.

¹⁸ Why is my pain strong, and my stroke incurable, And refuses to be healed? Wilt thou be to me As the deception of unfaithful waters?

¹⁹ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, — If thou wilt be turned, then I will turn thee, That thou mayest stand before me; And if thou separatest the precious from the worthless, As my mouth shalt thou be: Let them turn to thee, but turn not thou to them.

²⁰ I have even made thee to this people A wall of brass, fortified; They shall therefore fight against thee, But over thee they shall not prevail; For with thee am I to save thee, And to deliver thee, saith Jehovah:

²¹ Yea, I will save thee from the hand of the wicked, And deliver thee from the hand of the strong. (2:300)

¹ Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying, — ² Take not to thee a wife, And have no sons and daughters in this place:

³ For thus saith Jehovah, — As to the sons and daughters, born in this place, And as to the mothers who shall bear them, And as to the fathers, who shall beget them in this land — ⁴ With deaths of sicknesses shall they die, They shall not be lamented nor buried; As dung on the face of the earth shall they be; With the sword also and the famine shall they be consumed, And their carcasses shall be for meat To the birds of heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. (2:305)

⁵ For thus saith Jehovah, — Enter not the house of mourning Nor go to lament, nor be moved for them; For I have taken away my peace From this people, saith Jehovah, My kindness also and mercies:

⁶ And die shall they, great and small, in this land; They shall not be buried, Nor shall any lament for them nor cut themselves, Nor shall baldness be made for them;

⁷ And they shall not for them smite the hand, To console them for the dead; Nor shall they drink to them the cup of consolations, For their father or for their mother. (2:310)

⁸ The house of feasting also enter not, To sit with them to eat and to drink;

⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Behold, I will take away from this place Before your eyes and in your days, The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

¹⁰ And it shall be, when thou declarest to this people All these words, that they will say to thee, — “Why has Jehovah spoken against us All this great evil? And what is our iniquity? and what is our sin? Which we have wickedly done against Jehovah, our God.”

¹¹ Then thou shalt say to them, — Because your fathers forsook me, saith Jehovah: For they went after foreign gods, And served them and bowed down to them, And me they forsook, and my law they did not keep;

¹² And worse are ye become than your fathers; For, behold, ye have walked, every one of you, After the wickedness of his own evil heart, So as not to hearken to me.

¹³ I will therefore cast you out of this land, Into a land which ye have not known, nor your fathers, And there shall ye serve foreign gods, day and night; For I will shew you no favor.

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, the days will come, saith Jehovah, When it shall be no more said, Live does Jehovah, Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt:

¹⁵ But, Live does Jehovah, who has brought up The children of Israel, from the land of the north, And from all the lands to which he had driven them; For I will restore them to the land Which I gave to their fathers.

¹⁶ Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah; And they shall fish them; And afterwards I will send for many hunters, And they shall hunt them from every mountain, And from every hill and holes of rocks:

¹⁷ For mine eyes are on all their ways; They are not hid from my face, Nor are their iniquities hid from mine eyes:

¹⁸ And I will render double, from the beginning, For their iniquities and their sins; For they have polluted my land With the carcasses of their abominations; And with their defilements Have they filled mine inheritance. (2:325)

¹⁹ O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, And my refuge in the day of distress, To thee shall come the Gentiles From the extremities of the earth, and shall say, — “Surely falsehood did our fathers inherit; Vanity and nothing profitable had they.”

²⁰ Can men make gods for themselves, When they themselves are no gods? (2:333)

²¹ Therefore, behold, I will make them to know at this time, I will make them to know My hand and my power; And they shall know that my name is Jehovah.

¹ The sin of Judah is written With a pen of iron, with the point of adamant, It is graven on the tablet of their hearts, And on the horns of your altars:

² For their children remember Their altars and their groves, Under the shady tree, on high hills.

³ Dweller on mountains! in the field will I give for spoil Thy wealth and all thy treasures, Because of thy high places, Because of thy sin in all thy borders:

⁴ And dismissed shalt thou be, even thyself, From thine inheritance which I gave thee; And I will make thee to serve thine enemies In a land which thou knowest not; For ye have kindled a fire in my wrath, Perpetually shall it burn. (2:342)

⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, — Cursed is the man who trusts in man, And makes flesh his arm, And whose heart turns away from Jehovah:

⁶ And he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, And shall dwell in dryness in the desert, In the land of salt and not inhabited.

⁷ Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, And whose hope Jehovah is:

⁸ And he shall be like a tree, That is planted near waters, And nigh the stream sends its roots, And shall not see when heat comes; And green shall be its leaf, And in the year of drought it shall not fear, Nor cease from bringing forth fruit. (2:347)

⁹ Insidious is the heart above all things, And vicious, — who can know it?

¹⁰ I Jehovah, who search the heart And try the reins, to give to every one, According to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (2:354)

¹¹ A partridge, which gathers and produces not, Is he who gains riches, and not by right; In the midst of his days he leaves them, And at his end he is nothing.

¹² A high throne of glory, from the beginning, Is the place of our sanctuary.

¹³ The hope of Israel art thou, Jehovah; All who thee forsake shall be ashamed: They who turn aside shall on the earth be written; For they have forsaken The fountain of living waters, even Jehovah.

¹⁴ Heal me, O Jehovah, And I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For my praise art thou.

¹⁵ Behold they say to me, — “Where is the word of Jehovah? let it now come.”

¹⁶ But I hastened not to be a pastor following thee, And the day of grief I desired not, thou knowest: What went forth from my lips, Before thy face has it been.

¹⁷ Be not to me a terror; My protector art thou in the day of evil.

¹⁸ Ashamed let them be who persecute me, And let not me be ashamed; Terrified let them be, And let not me be terrified: Bring upon them the day of evil, And with a double breach break them.

¹⁹ Thus said Jehovah to me, — Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go ²⁰ out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say to them, — Hear the words of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter in through these ²¹ gates, Thus saith Jehovah, — Take heed to yourselves, And bring not a burden on the Sabbath-day, Yea, bring it not through the gates of Jerusalem;

²² Nor bring a burden from your houses On the Sabbath-day, nor do any work, But sanctify the Sabbath-day, As I commanded your fathers;

²³ Though they heard not nor inclined their ear, But hardened their neck, So as not to hear nor receive correction:

²⁴ And it shall be, if by hearing Ye will hear me, saith Jehovah, So as not to bring a burden Through the gates of the city on the Sabbath-day, And if ye sanctify the Sabbath-day By doing on it no work;

²⁵ Then shall enter through the gates of this city Kings and princes, sitting on David’s throne, Riding in chariots and on horses, They and their princes, the men of Judah And the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And inhabited shall be this city perpetually:

²⁶ And come shall they from the cities of Judah, And from the circuits of Jerusalem, And from the land of Benjamin, And from the plain, and the mountain, and the south, Bringing burntoffering and sacrifice, And oblation and incense, And bringing praise, to the house of Jehovah. (2:388)

²⁷ But if ye will not hearken to me, So as to sanctify the Sabbathday, And not to bring a burden, nor enter Through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day; Then will I kindle a fire in its gates, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, And it shall not be extinguished.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, —

² Rise and go down to the potter’s house, and I will cause thee to hear my words.

³ And I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the stone:

⁴ And the vessel was marred, which he made of the clay in the hand of the potter; and he again made another vessel, as it seemed good in the eyes of the potter to make.

⁵ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, — ⁶ Cannot I as this potter do to you, O house of Israel? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, So are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.

⁷ Suddenly will I speak of a nation and a kingdom, To pull down and to eradicate and to destroy:

⁸ If that nation turn from its evil, For which I spoke against it; Then will I repent of the evil Which I had thought of doing to it.

⁹ Suddenly also will I speak of a nation and a kingdom, To build up and to plant:

¹⁰ But if it do evil before mine eyes, So as not to hearken to my voice; Then will I repent of the good Which I had said that I would do to it. (2:398)

¹¹ And now, I pray, say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I frame for you an evil, And I think for you a thought; Return ye then, every one from his evil way, And make right your ways and your doings.

¹² And they said, — It is all over; For after our own thoughts will we walk, And we will do, every one, The wickedness of his own evil heart.

¹³ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, — Ask, I pray, among the heathens, Who hath heard such a thing? A monstrous thing hath the virgin of Israel done.

¹⁴ Will any one leave the snow of Libanus from the rock of the field? Will waters brought from another place, And cold streams, be relinquished? (2:408)

¹⁵ For forgotten me have my people; In vain do they offer incense, Since they have made them to stumble In their ways — the paths of ages, That they might walk in paths, In a way not trodden;

¹⁶ To make their land a desolation, A perpetual hissing: Whosoever shall pass through it Shall be astonished and shake his head.

¹⁷ By the east wind will I scatter them Before the face of the enemy; The back and not the face will I shew them In the day of their calamity.

¹⁸ And they said, — Come, and let us think thoughts against Jeremiah; For perish shall not the law from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, Nor the word from the prophet: And let us smite him with the tongue, And not attend to any of his words.

¹⁹ Hearken, O Jehovah, to me, And hear the voice of those who contend with me.

²⁰ Shall evil be rendered for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul: Remember that I stood before thee To speak good for them — To turn away from them thy wrath.

²¹ Therefore give their children up to famine, And deliver them into the hands of the sword, And let their wives be bereaved and be widows, And their men be smitten to death, And their youths be smitten with the sword in battle:

²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, When thou bringest on them an army suddenly; For they have dug a pit to take me, And snares have they hid for my feet.

²³ And thou, Jehovah, who knowest their counsels To be against me for death, Be not propitious to their iniquity, And their sin from thy sight blot not out, But let them stumble before thee; In the time of thy wrath deal thus with them.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah, — Go and get a potter’s vessel, even with the elders of the people and with the elders of the priests;

² And enter into the valley of Hinnom, which is at the entrance of the oriental gate, and proclaim there the words which I shall speak to thee:

³ And thou shalt say, Hear the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, — Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Behold I bring an evil on this place, The which whosoever hears, tingle shall his ears:

⁴ Because they have forsaken me, And have alienated this place, And have made incense in it to foreign gods, Whom they have not themselves known, Nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah, And have filled this place With the blood of innocents:

⁵ And they have built high places to Baal, To burn their sons with fire, For a burnt-offering to Baal; Which I have not commanded nor spoken of, And which came not into my mind.

⁶ Therefore behold the days shall come, saith Jehovah, When this place shall no more be called Tophet, Nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, But, The valley of slaughter:

⁷ And void will I make the counsel of Judah And of Jerusalem in this place, And lay them prostrate by the sword before their enemies, And by the hand of those who seek their life; And I will give their carcasses for meat To the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth;

⁸ And will set this city For an astonishment and for hissing; Whosoever shall pass through it shall be astonished, And shall hiss on account of all her stroke:

⁹ And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, And with the flesh of their daughters; And they shall eat, every one the flesh of his friend, In the tribulation and straitness, By which their enemies shall straiten them, And those who seek their life.

¹⁰ Then shalt thou break the bottle in the presence of the men who shall go with thee;

¹¹ And thou shalt say to them, — Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — So will I break this people and this city, As one breaks an earthen vessel, Which can no more be repaired: And in Tophet shall they be buried, For there will be no other place to bury them: ¹² Thus will I do to this place, Saith Jehovah, and to its inhabitants, I will even make this city like Tophet;

¹³ For the houses of Jerusalem, And the houses of the kings of Judah, Shall be, like the place of Tophet, unclean, Even all the houses, on whose roofs They have made incense to all the host of heaven, And poured a libation to foreign gods.

¹⁴ Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, where Jehovah had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the house of Jehovah, and said to the whole people, — ¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Behold, I will bring upon this city And upon all her towns, all the evil Which I have pronounced against her; Because they have hardened their neck, That they might not hear my words.

¹ And Pashur the son of Immer the priest, (and he was a governor in the Temple of Jehovah,) heard Jeremiah prophesying these words:

² And Pashur smote Jeremiah the Prophet, and put him in the prison which was in the higher gate of Benjamin, opposite the house of Jehovah.

³ And it happened the day after, that Pashur brought out Jeremiah from prison; and Jeremiah said to him, — Not Pashur has Jehovah called thy name, But terror on every side:

⁴ For thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will make thee a terror To thyself and to all thy friends; And fall shall they by the sword of thine enemies, While thine eyes are looking on; And all Judah will I deliver Into the hand of the king of Babylon; And he shall carry them into Babylon, And shall smite them with the sword:

⁵ And I will give up all the strength of this city, And all its labor and its every precious thing; And all the treasures of the kings of Judah Will I give up into the hands of their enemies; And they shall spoil them and take them away, And they shall lead them into Babylon.

⁶ And thou, Pashur, and all the inhabitants of thy house, Go shall ye into captivity; Thou shalt come to Babylon, and there die, And there shalt thou be buried and thy friends, To whom thou hast falsely prophesied.

⁷ Thou hast deceived me, Jehovah, and I was deceived; Thou hast constrained me and didst prevail; I am become a scorn all the day, All make a mock of me;

⁸ For from the time I have spoken, I cried aloud against violence, And devastation have I proclaimed: Because the word of Jehovah became to me A reproach and derision all the day, ⁹ Therefore I said, I will not mention him, Nor speak any more in his name: But it became in my heart as a burning fire, Closed up in my bones; And I was wearied with forbearing, And I did not prevail.

¹⁰ For I heard the slander of many, Terror on every side, “Report ye, and we will report to him:” All my friends watch for my haltings — “He may go astray, then we shall prevail against him, And take our revenge on him.”

¹¹ But Jehovah is with me as a terrible giant; Therefore my persecutors shall fall and not prevail; They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not succeed; It will be a perpetual reproach Which shall not be forgotten.

¹² But thou, Jehovah of hosts, Art he who provest the righteous, Who seest the reins and the heart; I shall see thy vengeance on them, For to thee have I opened my cause.

¹³ Sing ye to Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah, For he has rescued the soul of the distressed From the hand of the wicked.

¹⁴ Cursed be the day on which I was born; The day on which my mother bare me, Let it not be blessed:

¹⁵ Cursed be the man who told my father, Saying, “Born to thee is a male child,” Who with joy made him joyful;

¹⁶ And let that man be as the cities, Which Jehovah destroyed and repented not; And let him hear a cry in the morning, And a tumult at noontide.

¹⁷ Why hast thou not slain me from the womb? That my mother might be my grave, Or her womb a perpetual conception?

¹⁸ Why from the womb did I come forth, That I might see trouble and sorrow; That my days might be consumed in reproach!

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, ² Inquire now for us of Jehovah, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon makes war with us, if Jehovah will deal with us according to his wondrous works, that he may ascend from us.

³ And Jeremiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah, — ⁴ Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, — Behold, I prohibit all the warlike instruments Which are in your hands, with which ye fight Against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, Who besiege you without the walls; And I will gather them into the midst of this city:

⁵ And fight will I myself against you With an extended hand and with a strong arm, Yea, in wrath and fury and great indignation;

⁶ And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast; By a great pestilence shall they die.

⁷ And afterwards Jehovah said, — I will deliver Zedekiah the king of Judah. His servants also and the people, Even those who shall remain in the city, From the pestilence, and the sword, and the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those who seek their life; And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; And he will not spare them, Nor forgive, nor shew mercy.

⁸ To this people also shalt thou say, — Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I set before you The way of life and the way of death:

⁹ He who abides in this city shall die By the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence; But he who goeth out and dwells With the Chaldeans who besiege you, Shall live, and his life shall be for a prey:

¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city, For evil and not for good, saith Jehovah; Into the hand of the king of Babylon shall it be given, And he shall burn it with fire.

¹¹ And as to the house of the king of Judah, Hear ye the word of Jehovah;

¹² O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, — In the morning execute ye judgment, And free the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor, Lest go forth as fire my indignation, And burn, and there be none to extinguish it, — Because of the wickedness of their doings.

¹³ Behold, I am against thee, inhabitant of the valley — The rock in the plain, saith Jehovah, Who say, “Who shall descend to us? And who shall enter our habitations?”

¹⁴ I will even visit upon you The fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; And I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall consume all around it.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, ² And say, — Hear the word of Jehovah, king of Judah, Who sittest on the throne of David, Thou, and thy servants, and thy people, Who enter in through these gates:

³ Thus saith Jehovah, Do judgment and justice, And rescue the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor; The stranger, the orphan, and the widow, Defraud not; exercise no violence, Nor shed innocent blood in this place.

⁴ For if obeying ye obey this word, Then shall enter through the gates of this house Kings, sitting for David on his throne, Riding in chariots and on horses, — He himself, and his servants, and his people:

⁵ But if ye will not obey these words, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, That a waste shall this house become.

⁶ For thus saith Jehovah of the house of the king of Judah, Gilead to me art thou, the head of Lebanon; Surely I will make thee a desert, As cities which are not inhabited:

⁷ And I will prepare against thee destroyers, Every man and his instruments, And they shall cut down thy choice cedars, And cast them into the fire.

⁸ And pass shall many nations through this city, And say shall each to his friend, “Why hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?”

⁹ And they shall say, “Because they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bowed down before alien gods, and served them.”

¹⁰ Weep ye not for the dead, nor bewail him; Weeping, weep for him who migrates, For return shall he no more, That he may see the land of his nativity:

¹¹ For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum The son of Josiah the king of Judah, Who reigns instead of Josiah his father, — When he shall have gone forth from this place He shall not return here any more:

¹² For in the land where they shall lead him away There shall he die, And this land shall he see no more.

¹³ Woe to him who builds not with justice his house, And not with judgment his chambers; Who makes his neighbor to serve him for nothing, And pays him not for his work;

¹⁴ Who says, “I will build for myself A large house and wide chambers;” And he perforates for himself windows, And covered it is with cedar, And painted with vermilion.

¹⁵ Shalt thou reign because thou inclosest thyself in cedar? Thy father, did he not eat and drink? When he did judgment and justice, It was then well with him:

¹⁶ He judged the cause of the poor and needy, It was then well with him; Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah:

¹⁷ For thy eye and thy heart are not Except on thy covetousness, And on shedding innocent blood, And on rapacity and oppression, to do them. ¹⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judea, They shall not bewail him, — “Ah, my brother! Ah, sister!” They shall not bewail him, — “Ah, Lord! Ah, his glory!”

¹⁹ With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, Drawn out and cast forth Beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ Ascend into Lebanon and cry, And on Bashan lift up thy voice, And cry all around, For destroyed are all thy lovers.

²¹ I spake to thee in thy tranquillity, Thou saidst, “I will not hear:” It has been thy manner from thy youth That thou didst not hear my voice.

²² Thy pastors shall the wind consume, And thy lovers, into exile shall they go: Surely ashamed shalt thou then be, And blush for all thy wickedness.

²³ Thou hast set thy seat on Lebanon, Thou hast made thy nest among the cedars: How gracious wilt thou be When come on thee shall sorrows, The pain as of one in travail!

²⁴ Live do I, saith Jehovah; Were Coniah the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah A sealing ring on my right hand, I would thence pluck thee off:

²⁵ And I will deliver thee Into the hand of those who seek thy life, And into the hand of those whose face thou dreadest, Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar The king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans:

²⁶ And I will cast thee and thy mother who bare thee Into a foreign land where ye were not born, And there shall ye die;

²⁷ And into the land they set their mind to return, Thither they shall not return.

²⁸ Is this man Coniah a despised and broken statue? Is he a vessel in which there is no delight? Why are they east forth, he and his seed, And thrown to a land which they have not known?

²⁹ Land! land! land! hear the word of Jehovah, — ³⁰ Thus saith Jehovah, Write ye this man childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; Nay, none of his seed shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling any more in Judah.

¹ Woe to the pastors who destroy and scatter The flock of my pastures! saith Jehovah;

² Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Concerning the pastors who feed my people, — Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away, And ye have not visited them; Behold, I will visit upon you The wickedness of your doings, saith Jehovah:

³ But I will gather the remnant of my sheep From all the lands to which I shall drive them, And cause them to return to their own folds, And they shall become fruitful and multiply;

⁴ And I will raise up over them pastors Who shall feed them; And they shall no more fear nor dread, Nor shall they fail, saith Jehovah.

⁵ Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will raise up to David a righteous branch, And reign shall a king, And prudently shall he act; He will do judgment and justice in the land.

⁶ In his days saved shall be Judah, And Israel shall dwell in confidence: And this is the name by which they shall call him, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

⁷ Therefore, behold, the days will come, saith Jehovah, In which it shall no more be said, “Live does Jehovah,” Who brought the children of Israel from the land of Egypt;

⁸ But rather, “Live does Jehovah,” who has brought up And led the seed of the house of Israel From the land of the north, and all the lands To which I had driven them; And they shall dwell in their own land.

⁹ On account of the prophets, Broken is my heart within me, Disjointed are all my bones; I am become like a drunken man Who has been overcome by wine, On account of Jehovah, And on account of the words of his holiness;

¹⁰ For with adulterers the land is filled: For on account of perjury mourned has the land, Dried up have the pastures of the desert; And their course has been evil, And their strength not right.

¹¹ For both prophet and priest have acted wickedly; Even in my house have I found Their wickedness, saith Jehovah.

¹² Therefore their way shall be to them slippery; In darkness shall they stumble and fall therein; For I shall bring on them evil, The year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.

¹³ In the prophets of Samaria have I seen fatuity, They prophesied by Baal, And made my people Israel to go astray:

¹⁴ But in the prophets of Jerusalem Have I seen depravity; By adultery and walking in falsehood They even strengthen the hands of the wicked, That they may not turn, each from his wickedness: They shall be all to me as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

¹⁵ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts Concerning these prophets, — I will feed them with a deadly poison, And give them waters of gall to drink; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Has gone forth impiety through all the laud.

¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Hear ye not the words of the prophets Who prophesy to you; They make you to be vain; A vision of their own heart do they speak, And not from the mouth of Jehovah;

¹⁷ Who say to those who despise me, Spoken has Jehovah, “Peace shall be to you;” And to all who walk in the wickedness of their own hearts They say, “Come upon you shall not evil;

¹⁸ For who hath been in the counsel of Jehovah, And seen and heard his word? Who hath listened to his word and heard it?”

¹⁹ Behold the whirlwind of Jehovah! With fury it goeth forth; Even the impending whirlwind; On the head of the ungodly shall it fall:

²⁰ Turn back shall not the anger of Jehovah Till he has done and confirmed The thoughts of his own heart: In the extremity of days Ye shall fully understand this.

²¹ I sent not the prophets, yet they have run; I spoke not to them, yet they have prophesied.

²² But if they had stood in my counsel, Surely they would have made my people hear my words, And turned them from their evil way, And from the wickedness of their doings?

²³ Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, And not a God afar off?

²⁴ Can a man hide himself in coverts That I could not see him? saith Jehovah; Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? saith Jehovah.

²⁵ I have heard what the prophets say Who prophesy falsely in my name, Saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed.”

²⁶ How long will it be in the heart of the prophets To prophesy falsehood, Yea, of the prophets of the deceit of their own heart!

²⁷ Who think to make my people forget My name by their own dreams, Which they relate, each to his friend, As forgotten my name have their fathers through Baal.

²⁸ The prophet who hath a dream, He will relate a dream; And he with whom is my word, He will speak my word of truth: What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Jehovah.

²⁹ Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah, And like the hammer that breaks the stone?

³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, Who steal my words, each from his friend:

³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, Who elevate their own tongue, And say, “It is the word:”

³² Behold, I am against those Who prophesy false dreams, saith Jehovah; And who relate them, and deceive my people By their lies and their levity, Though I sent them not, nor commanded them: And they will not profit this people, saith Jehovah.

³³ But if ask thee will this people, Or a prophet, or a priest, saying, “What is the burden of Jehovah?” Then shalt thou say to them, “What burden? — I will forsake you, saith Jehovah.”

³⁴ And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, Who shall say, “The burden of Jehovah,” I will even punish that man and his house.

³⁵ Thus shall ye say, every one to his friend, And every one to his brother, “What has Jehovah answered?” Or “What has Jehovah spoken?”

³⁶ But the burden of Jehovah mention no more; For the burden of each shall be his word: For ye have corrupted the words of the living God, Of Jehovah of hosts, our God.

³⁷ Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, — “What has Jehovah answered thee?” Or “What has Jehovah spoken?”

³⁸ But if ye will say, “The burden of Jehovah;” Therefore Jehovah saith thus, — Because ye say, “The burden of Jehovah,” Though I sent to you, saying, Ye shall not say, “The burden of Jehovah.”

³⁹ Therefore, behold, I will wholly take you away, And will cast you off, and this city Which I gave to you and to your fathers, From my presence; And I will bring upon you a perpetual reproach, And a perpetual disgrace, Which shall not be forgotten.

¹ Jehovah shewed me a vision, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the Temple of Jehovah, after Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the artificer, and the engraver, from Jerusalem, and led them away to Babylon:

² One basket of figs very good, like early figs, and another basket of figs very bad, which could not be eaten, being so bad.

³ And Jehovah said to me, “What seest thou, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, good figs, very good; and bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, being so bad.”

⁴ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, As these good figs, so will I acknowledge the captivity of Judah, which I sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans, for good:

⁶ And I will set my eye upon them for good, and will restore them to this land; and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up;

⁷ And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ But as to the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, being so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, so will I render Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue at Jerusalem, those who remain in this land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt;

⁹ And I will set them for a commotion, for an evil to all kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach, and a terror, and a taunt, and a curse in all places where I shall drive them;

¹⁰ And I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until they be consumed from the face of the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.

¹ The word which came by Jeremiah to all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, (this was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,)

² Which Jeremiah the prophet spake to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, — ³ From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon the king of Judah, to this day, (this is the twenty-third year,) hath Jehovah spoken to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early, but ye have not hearkened:

⁴ And Jehovah sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, (but ye hearkened not, nor inclined your ear to hear,)

⁵ Saying, — Return ye, I pray, each from his evil way, And from the wickedness of your doings, And dwell in the land which Jehovah gave To you and to your fathers from age to age:

⁶ And walk ye not after alien gods, To serve them and to bow down before them; And provoke me not by the work of your hands, And I will not do you evil.

⁷ But ye hearkened not to me, saith Jehovah; For ye provoked me by the work of your hands, To do evil to you.

⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Because ye have not hearkened to my words, ⁹ Behold, I will send for and take All the families of the north, saith Jehovah, And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; And I will bring them to this land And to its inhabitants, And to all these nations around; And I will destroy them, And make them an astonishment, And a hissing, and perpetual desolations;

¹⁰ And I will cause to cease among them The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, The sound of millstones, and the light of the candle.

¹¹ And this whole land shall be a waste and a wonder; And serve shall these nations The king of Babylon seventy years.

¹² And it shall be, when fulfilled shall be seventy years, That I shall visit on the king of Babylon, And on his people, saith Jehovah, Their iniquity, — and upon the land of Chaldea, And I will make it perpetual desolations:

¹³ And I will bring on that land all my words, Which I have spoken concerning it, All that is written in this book, Which Jeremiah has prophesied of the nations:

¹⁴ For they shall rule over strong nations, And over mighty kings; And I will render to these according to their doing, And according to the work of their hands.

¹⁵ For thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me, Take the cup of the wine of this wrath from my hand, and give it to drink to all the nations to whom I shall send thee, ¹⁶ That they may drink and be incensed, and become distracted on account of the sword which I shall send among them.

¹⁷ And I took the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and gave it to drink to all the nations to whom Jehovah had sent me, — ¹⁸ To Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, even to its kings and to its princes, to make them a waste, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as at this day, — ¹⁹ To Pharaoh the king of Egypt, to his servants, and to his princes, and to all his people, ²⁰ And to the promiscuous multitude, and to all the kings of the land of Uz, and to all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and to Askelon, and to Gaza, and to Ekron, and to the remnant of Ashdod, — ²¹ To Edom, and to Moab, and to the children of Ammon, ²² And to all the kings of Tyre, and to all the kings of Sidon, and to all the kings of the island beyond the sea, ²³ And to Dedan, and to Tema, and to Buz, and to all the extreme ones in a corner, ²⁴ And to all the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the mingled race who dwell in the desert, ²⁵ And to all the kings of Zimri, and to all the kings of Elam, and to all the kings of the Medes, ²⁶ And to all the kings of the north, those who are near, as well as those who are afar off, every one shall be against his brother, — and to all kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷ And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Drink ye and be drunken, and vomit and fall, and rise not on account of the sword which I send among you.

²⁸ And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Drinking ye shall drink;

²⁹ For behold, upon the city on which my name is called, I begin to bring evil, and shall ye be treated as innocent? ye shall not be treated as innocent; for I am calling for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah.

³⁰ Thou shalt also prophesy to them all these words, and say to them, — Jehovah from on high shall roar, And from his holy habitation utter his voice; Roaring he shall roar on his dwelling, A shout like that of vintagers shall he respond Against all the inhabitants of the earth:

³¹ Reach shall the sound to the extremity of the earth, For a contention has Jehovah with the nations, A dispute has he with all flesh; The wicked will he give to the sword, saith Jehovah.

³² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, And a great tempest shall be raised From the extremities of the earth;

³³ And the slain of Jehovah in that day shall be From one end to the other end of the earth: They shall not be lamented, nor gathered, nor buried; As dung on the face of the earth shall they be.

³⁴ Howl, ye pastors, and cry, And roll [in the dust,] ye choice of the flock; For fulfilled are your days For the slaughter and your breakings; And ye shall fall like a precious vessel:

³⁵ And perish shall flight from the pastors, And escape from the choice of the flock.

³⁶ The voice of the cry of the pastors! And the howling of the choice of the flock! For destroyed has Jehovah their pastures;

³⁷ Perished also are the peaceful tents, Through the indignation of the wrath of Jehovah.

³⁸ He has left, as a lion, his tabernacle; For reduced is their land to a waste Through the wrath of the Oppressor, And through the indignation of his wrath.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from Jehovah, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah, Stand in the court of the house of Jehovah, and speak to all the cities of Judah, who come to worship in the Temple of Jehovah, all the words which I have commanded thee to speak to them; diminish not a word:

³ If peradventure they will hear, and turn, each from his evil way, then will I repent of the evil which I think of doing to them on account of the wickedness of their doings.

⁴ Thou shalt then say to them, Thus saith Jehovah, If ye will not hear me to walk in my law, which I have set before you, ⁵ To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, rising up ⁶ Early and sending, (but ye have not hearkened,) then will I make this house like Shiloh, and this city will I make a curse to all the nations of the earth.

⁷ And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.

⁸ And it was when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people apprehended him, saying, “Dying thou shalt die;

⁹ Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, ‘Like Shiloh shall this house be, and this city shall be desolate without, an inhabitant?’” (And all the people were assembled against Jeremiah in the Temple of Jehovah.)

¹⁰ And the princes of Judah heard of these things, and went down from the king’s house to the house of Jehovah, and sat at the entrance of the new gate of the Temple of Jehovah.

¹¹ Then said the priests and the prophets to the princes, and to all the people, saying, “This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city as ye have heard with your ears.”

¹² And Jeremiah said to all the princes, and to all the people, saying, — Jehovah hath sent me to prophesy against this house, and against this city all the words which ye have heard:

¹³ And now make good your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of Jehovah your God, and Jehovah will repent of the evil which he hath pronounced against you.

¹⁴ And as for me, behold I am in your hand; do to me as may seem good and right in your eyes:

¹⁵ But know assuredly, that if ye slay me, ye will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for in truth Jehovah hath sent me to you, to speak all these words in your ears.

¹⁶ And the princes, and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man is not worthy of death; for in the name of Jehovah our God hath he spoken to us.”

¹⁷ Then rose up men from the elders of the land, and said to the whole assembly of the people, saying, — ¹⁸ Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah the king of Judah, saying, — “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Sion as a field shall be plowed, And Jerusalem shall become heaps, And the mount of the house like the heights of the forest.”

¹⁹ Killing, did Hezekiah the king of Judah, and all Judah, kill him? did he not fear Jehovah? and did he not supplicate the face of Jehovah? and Jehovah repented of the evil which he had spoken against them: but we are doing a great evil against our own souls.

²⁰ But there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah, from Kirjath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city, and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:

²¹ When the King Jehoiakim and all the chief men and the princes heard his words, then the king sought to slay him; but Uriah heard and feared, and he fled and went into Egypt.

²² And the King Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, even Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt:

²³ And they brought Uriah up from Egypt, and brought him to the King Jehoiakim, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

²⁴ Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not delivered into the hand of the people to be slain.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ² Thus said Jehovah to me, Make for thee bands and yokes, and put them on thy neck;

³ Then send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the ambassadors, who shall come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah the king of Judah:

⁴ And thou shalt give them a message to their masters, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to your masters, — ⁵ I made the earth, man also and beast, Which are on the face of the earth, By my great power and my extended arm; And given it have I to whom it seemed good to me:

⁶ And now given have I all these lands Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar The king of Babylon, my servant; And also the beast of the field Have I given to him to serve him:

⁷ And serve him and his son, And his son’s son, shall all nations, Until the time of his land shall come, And also of himself; yea, serve him Shall many nations and great kings.

⁸ And it shall be as to the nation and kingdom, Who will not serve him, even Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, And who will not put their neck Under the yoke of the king of Babylon, With the sword, and famine, and pestilence, Will I visit that nation, saith Jehovah, Until I consume them by his hand.

⁹ And you, hearken not to your prophets, And to your diviners, and to your dreamers, And to your augurs, and to your sorcerers, Who speak to you, saying, — “Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon;”

¹⁰ For they prophesy falsely to you, That they might move you far from your own land, And that I might cast you away and ye perish:

¹¹ But the nation which shall bring its neck Under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, saith Jehovah; And it shall cultivate it and dwell in it.

¹² To Zedekiah also, the king of Judah, I spoke according to all these words, saying, — Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, And serve him and his people, and ye shall live.

¹³ Why should ye perish, thou and thy people, By the sword, and famine, and pestilence, As Jehovah has spoken of the nation, Which will not serve the king of Babylon:

¹⁴ And hearken not to the words of the prophets, Who speak to you, saying, — “Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon;” For falsely do they prophesy to you;

¹⁵ For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, But they prophesy in my name falsely, That I might drive you out, And that ye might perish, ye, And the prophets who prophesy to you.

¹⁶ To the priests also and to all the people spake I, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah, — Hearken not to the words of your prophets, Who prophesy to you, saying, — “Behold, the vessels of the house of Jehovah Shall now soon be restored from Babylon;” For falsehood do these prophesy to you:

¹⁷ Hearken ye not to them; Serve the king of Babylon and ye shall live; Why should this city become a desolation?

¹⁸ But if they be prophets, And if the word of Jehovah be with them, Let them now intercede with Jehovah of hosts, That the vessels which remain in the house of Jehovah, And in the house of the king of Judah, And in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

¹⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts of the pillars, and of the sea, and of the bases, and of the residue of the vessels which are left in this city, ²⁰ Which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon did not take away, when he led captive Jeconiah the king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

²¹ yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, of the vessels which remain in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king, and in Jerusalem;

²² To Babylon shall they be carried, and there shall they be until the day in which I shall visit them, saith Jehovah, and bring them up and restore them to this place.

¹ And it was in that year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple of Jehovah, in the presence of the priests, and of all the people, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

³ Further, when two years shall pass, I will restore to this place all the vessels of the house of Jehovah which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has taken away from this place and carried to Babylon:

⁴ And Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah, who have gone to Babylon, will I restore to this place, saith Jehovah; for I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people, who were standing in the house of Jehovah;

⁶ Yea, Jeremiah the prophet said, Amen, may Jehovah do so, may Jehovah confirm thy words which thou hast prophesied as to the restoration of the vessels of the temple, and of all the captives from Babylon to this place.

⁷ Nevertheless, hear thou now this word which I declare in thy hearing, and in the hearing of all the people;

⁸ The prophets who have been before me and before thee from the beginning, and prophesied against many nations and great kingdoms, have prophesied of war, and of evil, and of pestilence:

⁹ The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word shall come to pass, that prophet shall be known that Jehovah has sent him in truth.

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the band from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it;

¹¹ And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah, In this manner will I break off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

¹² And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet broke off the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, — ¹³ Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Thou hast broken the bands of wood; but make for thee instead of them bands of iron:

¹⁴ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, A yoke of iron have I laid on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; and I have also given to him the beasts of the field.

¹⁵ Jeremiah the prophet said also to Hananiah the prophet, Hear, I pray, Hananiah; Jehovah hath not sent thee, and thou hast made this people to trust in falsehood:

¹⁶ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will cast thee away from the face of the earth; die shalt thou this year, because thou hast spoken revolt against Jehovah.

¹⁷ And Hananiah the prophet died in that year, in the seventh month.

¹ These are the words of the epistle which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to the whole people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, ² After Jeconiah the king, and the queen had gone forth, and the chief men, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the artificers also, and the engravers, from Jerusalem, — ³ By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and of Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah the king of Judah had sent to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, to Babylon,) saying, — ⁴ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, to the whole captivity whom I have led captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, — ⁵ “Build ye houses, and inhabit them; plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

⁶ Take wives, and beget sons and daughters; Take also wives for your sons, And give your daughters in marriage to husbands, And let them bear sons and daughters; And increase there and be not diminished:

⁷ And seek the peace of the city, To which I have removed you; And pray for it to Jehovah, For in its peace shall be your peace.”

⁸ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Let not your prophets who are in the midst of you, Nor your diviners, deceive you; And attend not to your dreams which ye dream:

⁹ For they falsely prophesy to you in my name; I have not sent them, saith Jehovah.

¹⁰ For thus saith Jehovah, — For when completed in Babylon Shall be seventy years, I will visit you, And will rouse up for you my good word, That I may bring you back to this place:

¹¹ For I know my thoughts, Which I think of you, saith Jehovah, — Thoughts of peace and not of evil, To give you the end and the expectation.

¹² And ye shall call on me and go forward; And pray to me, and I will hear you:

¹³ And ye shall seek me, and shall find me; Because ye will seek me with the whole heart.

¹⁴ And I will be found by your saith Jehovah, And will restore your captivity, And will gather you from all nations, And from all places, where I have driven you, Saith Jehovah, and I will bring you back To the place whence I have expelled you.

¹⁵ As ye have said, “Raise for us will Jehovah prophets in Babylon;”

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith Jehovah to the king who sits on the throne of David, and to the whole people who dwell in this city, to your brethren who have not gone forth with you into exile, — thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — ¹⁷ Behold, I will send upon them the sword, The famine, and the pestilence, And will make them like worthless figs, Which, being so bad, cannot be eaten:

¹⁸ Yea, I will pursue them with the sword, The famine, and the pestilence, And will set them for a commotion To all the kingdoms of the earth, For a curse and for an astonishment, And for a hissing and for a reproach, Among all the nations to whom I shall drive them;

¹⁹ Because they hearkened not to my words, saith Jehovah, Which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, Rising up early and sending; And ye hearkened not, saith Jehovah.

²⁰ Hear ye also the word of Jehovah, the whole captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon;

²¹ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy to you in my name a lie, — Behold, I will deliver them into the hand Of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, And he shall kill them before your eyes:

²² And taken from them shall be a curse By all the captivity of Judah in Babylon, saying, — “Let Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and Ahab, Whom the king of Babylon burnt in the fire:”

²³ Because they have done villainy in Israel, And prostituted the wives of their friends, And spoke a word in my name falsely, Which I had not commanded them; But I know, and am witness, saith Jehovah.

²⁴ And as to Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, thou shalt thus say, — ²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, — Because thou hast sent in my name letters to the whole people, who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, — ²⁶ Jehovah hath made thee a priest in the room of Jehoiada the priest, that ye might be the rulers of the house of Jehovah over every one that is insane and prophesies, that thou mightest put him in prison and in manacles:

²⁷ And thou — wherefore hast thou not reproved Jeremiah, the Anathothite, who prophesies to you?

²⁸ Even because he hath sent to us in Babylon, saying, — “Long is the time, build ye houses and inhabit them;

²⁹ Plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.” (Now Zephaniah had read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet:)

³⁰ Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, — ³¹ Send to the whole captivity, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah of Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, When I had not sent him, And has made you to trust in falsehood;

³² Therefore thus saith Jehovah, — Lo I will visit Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed; There shall not be to him a man To dwell in the midst of this people; And he shall not see the good, Which I shall do to my people, saith Jehovah; Because he has spoken rebellion against Jehovah.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, — Write thee all the words which I have spoken to thee in a book;

³ For, be- hold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, when I shall restore the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will restore them to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

⁴ Even these are the words which Jehovah hath spoken of Israel and Judah, — ⁵ Surely thus saith Jehovah, — A voice of trembling have we heard, Of fear and not of peace.

⁶ Ask and see, can a male bring forth? Why have I seen all men With their hands on their loins as a woman in travail? Turned also are all faces into paleness.

⁷ Alas! for great that day, none like it, Even a time of distress to Jacob; Yet from it shall he be saved:

⁸ And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, That I will break the yoke from thy neck, And thy bands will I burst asunder, And no more force thee to serve shall strangers;

⁹ But serve shall they Jehovah their God, And David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰ And thou Jacob my servant, fear not, saith Jehovah, And be not thou, Israel, afraid; For behold I will save thee from far, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And dwell shall Jacob, and rest, and be secure, And none shall terrify him:

¹¹ For I shall be with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee; For I will make an end of all the nations, Among whom I shall scatter thee; Yet of thee I will not make an end: But I will chastise thee in moderation, And I will not wholly cut thee off.

¹² For thus saith Jehovah, Grievous thy bruise, desperate thy wound!

¹³ No one undertakes thy cause; For a cure, medicines and healing thou hast not.

¹⁴ All thy friends forget thee, they ask not for thee; For with the stroke of an enemy have I struck thee, With the chastisement of the cruel, On account of the multitude of thine iniquity, Because prevailed have thy sins.

¹⁵ Why criest thou because of thy bruise? Heavy is thy sorrow: For the multitude of thine iniquity. Because thy sins have prevailed, Have I done these things to thee.

¹⁶ Therefore, all who devour thee shall be devoured, And all thine enemies shall go into captivity, And they who plunder thee shall become a plunder, And all who spoil thee shall be a spoil:

¹⁷ For I will bring a healing to thee, And from thy wounds will I heal thee, saith Jehovah; Because an outcast have they called thee, Sion, Whom no one careth for.

¹⁸ Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will restore the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And his dwellings will I pity; And built shall be the city on its heaps, And the palace in its own place shall stand:

¹⁹ And go forth from them shall praise and the voice of joy; And I will increase them, and they shall not be lessened; And I will honor them, and they shall not be degraded;

²⁰ And his children shall be as at the beginning, And his assembly before me shall be established, And I will visit all his oppressors:

²¹ And his valiant man shall be from himself, And his ruler from his midst shall come forth; And I will bring him nigh, and he shall come to me; For who is he who forms his heart, That he may come to me, saith Jehovah!

²² And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

²³ Behold as a tempest shall Jehovah’s wrath go forth, As an involving tempest; On the head of the ungodly shall it settle:

²⁴ Not return shall the fury of Jehovah’s wrath, Till he performs it, and till he effects the thoughts of his heart; In the latter days ye shall understand this.

¹ At that time, saith Jehovah, Will I be a God to all the families of Israel; And they shall be my people.

² Thus saith Jehovah, — Found favor in the desert Hath a people who had escaped the sword, By advancing till he gave rest to Israel.

³ Of old Jehovah appeared to me: Nay, with perpetual love have I loved thee; Therefore have I prolonged to thee mercy.

⁴ I will yet build thee, And built shalt thou be, virgin of Israel; Thou shalt yet be adorned with thy tabrets, And go forth with the choir of players;

⁵ Thou shalt yet plant vineyards On the mountains of Samaria; Plant shall planters and eat the fruit.

⁶ For the day shall be, when they shall cry, The watchmen, on Mount Ephraim, — “Arise, and let us ascend into Sion, To Jehovah our God.”

⁷ For thus saith Jehovah, — Exult for Jacob with joy, And shout at the head of the nations, Publish, give thanks, and say, “Save, Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel.”

⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north, And gather them from the ends of the earth; Among them shall be the blind and the lame, The pregnant, and she that travaileth; Together a great company shall they return thither.

⁹ With weeping shall they come, And in mercies will I lead them; I will lead them to streams of water, In a straight way, where they shall not stumble: For I will be to Israel a father, And Ephraim, my first-born is he.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Jehovah, ye nations, And tell it in islands afar off, and say, — “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And will watch him as a shepherd his flock:”

¹¹ For redeem Jacob will Jehovah, And free him from the hand of one stronger than himself;

¹² And come shall they, and shout on the height of Sion; And flow together shall they to the bounty of Jehovah, For corn and wine and oil, And for the young of the flock and the herd; And their soul shall be as a watered garden, And they shall mourn no more.

¹³ Then rejoice shall the virgin in the dance, And the youth and the aged together; And I will turn their mourning to joy, And comfort them and cheer them after their sorrow;

¹⁴ And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, And my people with my goodness shall be satiated, saith Jehovah.

¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, — A voice on high is heard, The lamentation of bitter weeping; Rachel, weeping for her children, Refused comfort for her children, because they are not, ¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah, Hold thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears; For a reward shall be to thy work, saith Jehovah, And return shall they from the land of the enemy:

¹⁷ Yea, there will be a hope in the latter end, saith Jehovah; For return shall thy children to their own border.

¹⁸ Hearing I have heard Ephraim when exiled, — “Thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed, Like a bullock not trained; Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, For thou, Jehovah, art my God.

¹⁹ Verily, after thou hadst turned me, I repented; And after I knew myself, I smote my thigh; I was ashamed and even confounded, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.”

²⁰ Is Ephraim a son dear to me — Is he a son delighted in Even from the time I spoke to him? Remembering I will still remember him; Therefore sounded for him have my bowels; Pitying I pitied him, saith Jehovah.

²¹ Set up titles for thee, raise for thee heaps,: Fix my heart on the pathway, On the way thou hast walked; Return, virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities.

²² How long wilt thou wander, rebellious daughter! For create does Jehovah a new thing on the earth — A woman shall surround a man.

²³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — They shall again say this word in the land of Judah, And in the cities, when I restore their captivity, — “Bless thee let Jehovah, The habitation of righteousness, the mount of holiness.”

²⁴ And dwell in it shall Judah and all his cities, Also husbandmen, and they shall go with the flock:

²⁵ For I will water the thirsty soul, And every hungry soul will I fill.

²⁶ I then awoke and saw, And my sleep had been sweet to me.

²⁷ Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah, With the seed of man and with the seed of beast:

²⁸ And it shall be, that as I have watched over them, To root up and to break down, And to break in pieces and to destroy and to afflict; So will I watch over them, To build and to plant, saith Jehovah.

²⁹ In those days they shall no more say, — Our fathers have eaten a sour grape, And the children’s teeth are blunted;

³⁰ But every man, in his iniquity shall he die; Every man, eating a sour grape, Blunted shall be his teeth.

³¹ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will make with the house of Israel, And with the house of Judah, a new covenant:

³² Not according to the covenant I made With their fathers, in the day I took their hand, To bring them out from the land of Egypt; Because void have they made that covenant, Though I ruled over them, saith Jehovah.

³³ But this is the covenant which I will make With the house of Israel, after those days, saith Jehovah, — I will put my law in their inward parts, And on their heart will I write it; And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:

³⁴ And teach shall no one any more his neighbor, And no one his brother, saying, — “Know ye Jehovah;” for all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them, saith Jehovah; For I will forgive their sins, And their iniquities will I remember no more.

³⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, — He who hath set the sun for light by day, And the courses of the moon and stars for light by night, Who moves the sea and its waves roar, — Jehovah of hosts is his name:

³⁶ If removed shall be these ordinances From my presence, saith Jehovah, Then also the seed of Israel shall cease To be a nation before me continually:

³⁷ Thus saith Jehovah, — If measured can be the heavens above, Or searched the foundations of the earth below, Then also will I reject the whole seed of Israel For all that they have done, saith Jehovah.

³⁸ Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, That built shall be the city of Jehovah From the tower of Hananeel to the corner gate;

³⁹ And go forth shall the measuring line from before it, Even to the hill Gareb, and surround Goatha, ⁴⁰ And all the valley of carcasses and ashes, And all the fields to the brook Kedron, Even to the corner gate of the horses eastward: Being holiness to Jehovah, it shall not be cut off, Nor destroyed any more for ever.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah; this was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar:

² And then the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the palace of the king of Judah;

³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why hast thou prophesied, saying, — “Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he wilt take it:

⁴ And Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans; for delivering I will deliver him into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

⁵ And to Babylon will he bring Zedekiah, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith Jehovah: when ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, — ⁷ Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum thine uncle, will come to thee and say, “Buy thee my field which is in Anathoth, for thine is the right of affinity to buy.”

⁸ And Hanameel, my uncle’s son, came to me, as Jehovah had spoken, into the court of the prison, and said, “Buy, I pray thee, my field which is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for thine is the right of inheritance, and thine the redemption; buy it for thyself.” Then I knew that it was the word of Jehovah;

⁹ And I bought the field from Hanameel, my uncle’s son, who was in Anathoth, and I weighed money to him, seven shekels and ten pieces of silver:

¹⁰ When I had written in a book and sealed it, and had taken witnesses and weighed the money in a balance;

¹¹ Then I took the book of the purchase, the sealed according to the law and statute, and the open;

¹² And gave the book of the purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle’s son, and before the eyes of the witnesses who were written in the book of the purchase, and before the eyes of all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison;

¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these books, the book of purchase, the sealed and the open book, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue for many days;

¹⁵ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, They shall again buy houses and fields and vineyards in this land.

¹⁶ And I prayed to Jehovah, after I gave the book of the purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, saying, — ¹⁷ “Ah! Lord Jehovah! behold thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thine extended arm;

¹⁸ There is nothing difficult for thee: thou shewest mercy to thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them:

¹⁹ God, strong, mighty! Jehovah of hosts is his name; great in counsel, mighty in work, whose eyes are open on all the ways of the children of men, to render to every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings;

²⁰ Who hast wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel and among men; and hast made thyself a name as at this day;

²¹ And hast brought forth thy people Israel from the land of Egypt by signs and wonders, and with a strong hand and an extended arm, and with great terror;

²² And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

²³ And they entered in and possessed it, but they have not hearkened to thy voice nor walked in thy law; all that thou hast commanded them to do they have not done; therefore hast thou made all this evil to befall them.

²⁴ “Behold, the mounts have come to the city to take it, and the city is given to the hand of the Chaldeans, who war against it by means of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; and what thou hast spoken has happened; and behold thou seest it.

²⁵ Yet thou, Lord Jehovah, hast said to me, Buy thee the field for money, and make witnesses to attest, when yet the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

²⁶ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, —

²⁷ Behold, I Jehovah, am the God of all flesh, Will anything be hard for me?

²⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take it;

²⁹ And enter in shall the Chaldeans who war against the city, and shall set this city on fire and burn it, and the houses on the roofs of which they have burned incense to Baal, and poured out libations to alien gods, in order to provoke me.

³⁰ For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have been only doing evil before me from their childhood; for the children of Israel have been only provoking me by the work of their hands, saith Jehovah.

³¹ For to provoke my wrath and my indignation has this city been to me from the day they built it to this day, to cause me to remove it from my presence, ³² For all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to wrath, — they, their kings, their princes, their priests and prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³ For they turned to me the back and not the face; and when I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, they hearkened not so as to receive correction:

³⁴ And they have set their abominations in the house on which my name is called, to pollute it;

³⁵ And have built high places to Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass to Molech, which I commanded them not, nor did it come to my mind, to do this abomination so as to make Judah to sin.

³⁶ And now, therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which ye say, “Given it is into the hand of the king of Babylon, by the sword, and famine, and pestilence;”

³⁷ Behold I will gather them from all the lands to which I shall have driven them in my wrath, and fury, and great indignation, and will restore them to this land, and make them dwell in safety;

³⁸ And they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God.

³⁹ And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me continually, that it may be well with them and with their children after them;

⁴⁰ And I will make with them a perpetual covenant, so as not to depart from them to do them good; and my fear will I put in their hearts, that they may not depart from me;

⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them in doing them good, and will plant them in this land in truth, with all my heart, and with all my soul.

⁴² For thus saith Jehovah, As I have brought on this people all this great evil, so will I bring on them all the good which I have declared concerning them:

⁴³ And bought shall be fields in this land of which ye say, “Forsaken it is by man and beast, and given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

⁴⁴ Fields with money shall they buy, writing in a book and sealing, and attesting by witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and through the circuits of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in cities on the mountains, and in cities on the plains, and in the cities of the south; for I will restore their captivity, saith Jehovah.

¹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah a second time, when he was as yet a captive in the court of the prison, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah that made it, Jehovah who formed it to establish it? Jehovah is his name, — ³ Call to me and I will answer thee, And declare to thee great things And hidden things which thou knowest not, ⁴ For thus, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, — As to the houses of this city, And as to the houses of the kings of Judah, Which have been thrown down By the warlike engines and by the sword;

⁵ They come to fight with the Chaldeans, Even to fill them (houses) with the carcasses of men, Whom I have smitten in my wrath and indignation. And because I hid my face from this city On account of all its wickedness, — ⁶ Behold I will bring to it restoration and healing. And I will heal them and open for them An abundance of peace and truth;

⁷ And I will restore the captivity of Judah And the captivity of Israel, And build them as at the beginning;

⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, By which they have sinned against me, And will forgive all their iniquities, By which they have sinned against me, And by which they have acted wickedly towards me:

⁹ And it shall be for me a name of joy, A praise and glory, among all nations of the earth, Who shall hear of all the good which I shall do to them, And fear shall they and tremble for all the good And all the peace which I shall give them.

¹⁰ Thus saith Jehovah, — Yet heard in this place, of which ye say — “Desolate it is, without man and without beast Even in the cities of Judah And in the streets of Jerusalem, Which are reduced to solitude, without man, And without an inhabitant, and without a beast,” — ¹¹ Shall be the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, The bridegroom’s voice and the voice of the bride, The voice of them who say, “Praise Jehovah of hosts, For good is Jehovah, for his mercy is for ever,” — Of them who shall bring the sacrifice of praise Into the house of Jehovah; For I will restore the captivity of the land As at the first, saith Jehovah.

¹² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — There shall yet be in this place, Desolate, without man and beast, And in all its cities, the habitation Of shepherds making their flock to lie down:

¹³ In the cities of the mountain and the cities of the plain, And in the cities of the south and in the land of Benjamin, And around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, Shall sheep yet pass under the hands Of a numberer, saith Jehovah.

¹⁴ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will confirm my good word, Which I have spoken to the house of Israel, And to the house of Judah:

¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will make to grow to David a branch of righteousness, And he will do judgment and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶ In those days saved shall be Judah, And Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; And this is the name by which she shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.

¹⁷ For thus saith Jehovah, — Not fail to David shall a man To sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸ And to the priests, the Levites, not fail shall a man, To offer before me burnt-offerings, To burn an oblation and to sacrifice continually.

¹⁹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, — ²⁰ Thus saith Jehovah, If void ye can make My covenant as to the day, And my covenant as to the night, That the day and night should not be in their seasons;

²¹ Then void shall be made my covenant With David my servant, That he should have no son to reign on his throne, And with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.

²² As the hosts of the heavens cannot be numbered, Nor the sand of the sea be measured; So will I multiply the seed of David my servant, And of the Levites my ministers.

²³ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, — Hast thou not seen how this people speak, saying, — “There are two families whom Jehovah has chosen, But he has rejected them;”

²⁴ And my people have they despised, So as no more to regard them as a nation.

²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, If I have not settled My covenant with the day and the night, And the laws of the heavens and the earth, Then I will reject the seed of Jacob And of David my servant, So as not to take of his seed to be rulers Over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: For I will restore their captivity And will shew mercy to them.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his whole army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, which were under his dominion, and all the nations, made war against Jerusalem and all the cities, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Go and say to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, yea, say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire;

³ And thou shalt not be saved from his hand, for thou shalt surely be taken, and into his hands shalt thou be delivered, and thine eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to thy mouth, and to Babylon shalt thou go.

⁴ Yet hear the word of Jehovah, thou Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith Jehovah of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword;

⁵ In peace shalt thou die, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings, who were before thee, so shall they burn thee, and, “Ah! Lord!” shall they lament for thee: for the word have I spoken, saith Jehovah.

⁶ And Jeremiah the prophet spake to Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem, ⁷ When the armies of the king of Babylon were fighting against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah, which remained, even Lachish and Azekah; for these remained of the cities of Judah, being fortified cities.

⁸ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people, who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, — ⁹ That every one should let his servant and every one his maid, a Hebrew and a Hebrewess, go free, so that no one among the Jews might make his brother to serve.

¹⁰ And hear did all the princes and all the people, who had come to the covenant to let each his servant and each his maid go free, so as not to make them any more to serve, and they obeyed and dismissed them.

¹¹ But they changed afterwards, and remanded their servants and maids whom they had set free, and forced them to be servants and maids.

¹² Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ¹³ Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, — I made a covenant with your fathers in the day when I brought them from the land of Egypt, from the house of servants, saying, — ¹⁴ At the end of seven years ye shall let free every one his brother, and Hebrew, who had been sold to thee and served thee six years, yea, thou shalt let him depart free from thee; but your fathers hearkened not to me nor inclined their ear.

¹⁵ But ye have turned this day and have done what is right in mine eyes, by proclaiming liberty, every one to his neighbor, and ye have made a covenant before me in the house on which my name is called.

¹⁶ But ye have gone back and have profaned my name, and ye have remanded every one his servant and every one his maid, whom ye had set free to follow their own will, and forced them to be servants and maids.

¹⁷ Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Ye have not hearkened to me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim as to you, saith Jehovah, liberty to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you for a commotion to all the kingdoms of the earth;

¹⁸ Yea, I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not confirmed the words of the covenant which they had made before me by the calf which they cut into two parts, and passed between its parts, ¹⁹ Even the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the chiefs and the priests and all the people, who passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰ Yea, I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth;

²¹ And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, even into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which have gone up from you.

²² Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and will make them to return to this city; and they shall take it and burn it with fire, and make the cities of Judah a waste without an inhabitant.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying, — ² Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

³ Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, even the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴ And brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was nigh the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the treasury;

⁵ And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups; and I said to them, Drink wine.

⁶ But they said, We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall not drink wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever;

⁷ And houses ye shall not build, nor sow seed, nor plant, a vineyard, nor have any such thing; but ye shall dwell in tents all your days; that ye may live many days in the land where ye are strangers.

⁸ And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, as to all the things which he commanded us, that we should not drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters;

⁹ Nor build houses to dwell in, nor have a vineyard, or a field, or seed;

¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all things which Jonadab our father hath commanded us.

¹¹ But it was that, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up into the land, we then said, Come, let us enter into Jerusalem from the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and from the face of the army of the Syrians; and we have dwelt in Jerusalem.

¹² Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying, — ¹³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction, so as to obey my words? saith Jehovah:

¹⁴ Confirmed are the words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, that they should not drink wine, for they have drunk none to this day, but they have obeyed the commandment of their father: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, yet ye have not obeyed me;

¹⁵ And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, Return, I pray you, every one from his evil way, and make right your doings, and walk not after foreign gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye inclined not your ear nor obeyed me.

¹⁶ Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, which he had commanded them, while this people have not obeyed me, — ¹⁷ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on Judah, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil which I have pronounced against them; for I have spoken to them, and they have not hearkened; and I have called them, but they have not answered.

¹⁸ And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and have done according to all the things which he had commanded you;

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail a man from Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before me continually.

¹ And it was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, — ² Take thee a roll of a book and write in it all the words which I have spoken to thee concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day in which I have spoken to thee, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

³ It may be that the house of Judah will attend to all the evil which I purpose to do to them, so that they may return, every one from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

⁴ And Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken to him, in a roll of a book.

⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go to the house of Jehovah;

⁶ But go thou and read in the roll what thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah, in the ears of the people, in the house of Jehovah, on a fast day; and also in the ears of all Judah, who come from their cities shalt thou read them.

⁷ It may be that they will prostrate themselves before Jehovah, and return every one from his evil way; for great is the indignation, and great is the wrath which Jehovah has spoken against this people.

⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all the things which Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.

⁹ And it was that in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people.

¹¹ And Micah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Jehovah from the book;

¹² And he went down to the king’s house, to the scribe’s chamber; and, lo, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.

¹³ And Micah declared to them all the words which he had heard when Baruch read in the book in the ears of the people.

¹⁴ And all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, The roll in which thou didst read in the ears of the people, take in thine hand and come: and Baruch the son of Neriah, took the roll in his hand and came to them.

¹⁵ And they said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears.

¹⁶ And it was that when they heard all the words, they feared every one as to his neighbor, and said to Baruch, Declaring we shall declare to the king all these words.

¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words from his month?

¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, With his mouth he pronounced these words to me, and I wrote them on a book with ink.

¹⁹ Then the princes said to Baruch, Go and hide thyself, thou and Jeremiah, and let no one know where ye be.

²⁰ And they went to the king into the court, but laid up the volume in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they related all the words in the ears of the king;

²¹ And the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe: and Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood before the king.

²² And the king was sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and there was a fire-hearth burning before him:

²³ And it was that when Jehudi had read three or four pages, he cut it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire which was in the firehearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire which was in the fire-hearth.

²⁴ But neither the king nor any of his servants feared, nor rent their garments, when they heard all these words.

²⁵ Nevertheless Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah, interceded with the king, that he should not burn the roll; but he hearkened not to them.

²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet: but Jehovah hid them.

²⁷ Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, — ²⁸ Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words which were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah hath burned:

²⁹ And to Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, shalt thou say, Thus saith Jehovah, Thou hast burned this book, saying, Why hast thou written in it, saying, The king of Babylon shall surely come and shall destroy this place, and cause to cease from it man and beast?

³⁰ Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast forth to the heat by day, and to the frost by night;

³¹ And I will visit on him and on his seed, and on his servants, their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil which I have denounced on them: but they hearkened not.

³² Then Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the scribe, who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burnt in the fire; and added to them were many words of the same kind.

¹ And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah:

² But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of Jehovah, which he spake by the Prophet Jeremiah.

³ And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now to Jehovah our God for us.

⁴ Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, and they had not yet put him in the house of the prison;

⁵ And the army of Pharaoh had come forth from Egypt, and the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem had heard of them and had gone from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the Prophet, saying, — ⁷ Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, Behold, the army of Pharaoh, which has come forth for your aid, shall return to the land of Egypt;

⁸ And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.

⁹ Thus saith Jehovah, Deceive not yourselves, saying, Going the Chaldeans shall go away from us, for they shall not go away.

¹⁰ For were you to smite the whole army of the Chaldeans, who fight against you, and there remained of them wounded men, they would rise up, each from his tent, and burn this city with fire ¹¹ And it was that after the army of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah went forth from Jerusalem, to go to the land of Benjamin, that he might withdraw himself there among the people.

¹³ When he was at the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, who laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans:

¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, It is false, I am not falling away to the Chaldeans; but he did not hearken to him. And Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ And the princes were incensed against Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in the house of prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they made that the house of prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah came into the dungeon and into the cells, and had been there many days, ¹⁷ Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king asked him privately and said, Is there a word from Jehovah? and Jeremiah said, There is: and he hath said, Into the hand of the king of Babylon shall thou be delivered.

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What sin have I done against thee and thy servants and this people, that ye have delivered me into the house of prison?

¹⁹ And where are your prophets who have prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land?

²⁰ And now hear, I pray thee, O lord my king; let my humble prayer be acceptable to thee, cause me not to return into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I should die there.

²¹ And King Zedekiah commanded, and they put Jeremiah in the court of the prison, and gave him a crust of bread daily, from the street of the bakers, until all the bread of the city was consumed: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¹ And Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, the son Malchiah, heard the words which Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence; but he who goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and his life shall be to him a prey, and he shall live.

³ Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, this city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it.

⁴ And the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray thee, die; for he thus weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of the people, by speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not the peace of this people but their ruin.

⁵ And King Zedekiah said to them, Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.

⁶ And they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison; and they let Jeremiah down with cords; and there was no water in the dungeon, but mire, and Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

⁷ Now Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch, heard that they had east Jeremiah into the dungeon; and the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

⁸ And Ebedmelech went forth from the king’s house and spake to the king, saying,

⁹ O lord my king, these men have acted wickedly, in all that they have done to Jeremiah the Prophet, in throwing him into the dungeon, where if left alone he must die with hunger; for there is no more bread in the city.

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with thee hence thirty men, and bring up Jeremiah the Prophet from the dungeon before he die.

¹¹ And Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the king’s house, even to a place under the store-room, and took from thence rags torn and worn out, and let them down by cords to Jeremiah in the dungeon.

¹² And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, said to Jeremiah, Put now these torn and worn-out rags under thine arm-holes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ Then they drew up Jeremiah by the cords, and raised him up from the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¹⁴ And King Zedekiah sent and took Jeremiah the Prophet with him to the third entrance, which is in the house of Jehovah; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I ask thee a word; hide not a word from me.”

¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell thee, slaying, wilt thou not slay me? and if I give thee counsel thou wilt not hearken to me.

¹⁶ And Zedekiah the king swear to Jeremiah in secret, saying, Live doth Jehovah, who made us this soul, I will not slay thee, and I will not deliver thee unto the hand of those who seek thy life.

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If going thou wilt go forth unto the chiefs of the king of Babylon, live shall thy life, and this city shall not be burned with fire, but live shalt thou and thy house:

¹⁸ But if thou wilt not go forth to the chiefs of the king of Babylon, delivered shall be this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and burn it shall they with fire, and thou shalt not escape from their hand.

¹⁹ And King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I fear the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands and reproach me.

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said, They will not deliver thee: hearken, I pray thee, to the voice of Jehovah which I announce to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and live shall thy soul:

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word which Jehovah has shewn to me, — ²² Behold, even all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah, shall go forth to the chiefs of the king of Babylon; and behold, they shall say, “Persuaded thee and prevailed over thee have thy familiar friends; fixed are thy feet in the mire, turned backward.”

²³ And all thy wives and thy children shall they bring out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape from their hand, for by the hand of the king of Babylon shalt thou be taken, and this city wilt thou burn with fire.

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die:

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have spoken with thee, and come to thee and say to thee, Tell us now what thou hast spoken to the king, hide nothing from us, and we will not kill thee, and what the king hath said to thee;

²⁶ Then shalt thou say to them, I humbly prayed the king that he would not make me to return to the house of Jonathan to die there.

²⁷ And all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him; and he told them according to those words which the king had commanded; and they said no more, for the conversation had not been heard.

²⁸ And Jeremiah dwelt in the court of the prison to the day when Jerusalem was taken: and it happened according to what he had said that Jerusalem was taken.

¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and ² All his army to Jerusalem, and besieged it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the city was broken into;

³ And all the chiefs of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezar, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and the rest of the chiefs of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it was that when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men of war, saw them, they fled and went forth from the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and went forth by the way of the desert.

⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and took Zedekiah in the desert of Jericho; and they took him and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he dealt judicially with him.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes; and all the nobles of Judah did the king of Babylon slay:

⁷ And he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains, to bring him to Babylon.

⁸ And the house of the king, and the houses of the people, the Chaldeans burned with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they pulled down:

⁹ But the residue of the people who had remained in the city, and the deserters who had gone over to him, even the residue of the people who had been left, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, removed to Babylon.

¹⁰ But the poor of the people, who had nothing, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and gave them in that day vineyards and fields.

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had given a charge respecting Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, saying, ¹² Take him, and set thine eyes on him, and do him no harm; but as he shall say to thee do thou to him.

¹³ And Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris and Nergal-sharezar, Rab-mag, and all the chiefs of the king of Babylon, ¹⁴ Yea, they sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and delivered him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to lead him home; and so he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ But the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ¹⁶ Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I bring my words on this city for evil and not for good; and they shall be before thy face that day:

¹⁷ But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah, and thou shalt not be delivered into the hand of the men, the face of whom thou fearest;

¹⁸ For I will surely rescue thee, by the sword thou shalt not fall, and thy life shall be for a prey to thee, because thou hast trusted in me, saith Jehovah.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after Nebuzaradan, the prince of the executioners, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him; for he had been bound with chains among all the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon.

² But the prince of the executioners took Jeremiah, and said to him, — ³ Jehovah thy God hath spoken this evil as to this place: and Jehovah hath brought it and done as he had spoken, because ye have sinned against Jehovah and hearkened not to his voice; therefore hath this evil come upon you.

⁴ Now, as to thee, be- hold, I have loosed thee this day from the chains which were on thine hands; if it be good in thine eyes to come to Babylon, come, and I will set mine eyes on thee; but if it be evil in thine eyes to come to Babylon, forbear: behold, the whole land is before thee; according to what is good and right in thine eyes to go, thither go.

⁵ (And he had not yet returned,) return then to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath set over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people, or go to whatever place it seemeth good in thine eyes to go. And the prince of the executioners gave him meat and a reward, and dismissed him:

⁶ And Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who had been left in the land.

⁷ When all the princes of the forces who were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had set Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, over the land, and that he had committed to him men, and women, and children, and the poor of the land, who had not been removed to Babylon;

⁸ Then came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth; and Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

⁹ And Gedaliah, the son of Shaphan, swear to them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans, but submit yourselves and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you:

¹⁰ And I, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who may come to us; and gather ye wine, and summer-fruits, and oil, and put into your vessels, and dwell in the cities which ye have taken.

¹¹ When also all the Jews which were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and those in all countries, heard that the king of Babylon had dismissed a remnant of Judah, and had set over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;

¹² Then all the Jews came from all those places whither they had been driven, yea, they came to the land of Judah, unto Gedaliah, to Mizpah; and they gathered wine and summer-fruits in great abundance.

¹³ And Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces, who had been in the field, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said to him:

¹⁴ “Knowing, dost thou know that Baalis, the king of the children of Ammon, hath sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to smite thy life?” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, believed them not.

¹⁵ And Johanan, the son of Kareah, said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, I will now go and will smite Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and no one shall know: why should he smite thy life, and all Judah, who are gathered unto thee, be dispersed, and the remnant of Judah perish?

¹⁶ But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, By no means do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

¹ And it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the chiefs of the king, even ten men, came with him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and did eat bread there together in Mizpah.

² Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, rose up, and the ten men who were with him, and smote Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword; yea, they slew him whom the king of Babylon had set over the land:

³ And the Jews who were with him, even with Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, men of war, did Ishmael smite.

⁴ And it was the following day, after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, ⁵ That men came from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, fourscore, having their heads shaven, and their garments rent, and having cut themselves, with an oblation and incense, to offer them in the house of Jehovah.

⁶ And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, walking along and weeping; and it was that when he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.

⁷ And it was that when they had come to the midst of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, slew them, nigh the middle of the trench, he and the men who were with him.

⁸ But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, Slay us not; for we have hidden stores in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey; and he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.

⁹ Now the trench into which Ishmael cast all the carcasses of the men whom he had smitten along with Gedaliah, was that which King Asa had made on account of Baasha, the king of Israel; this did Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, fill with the slain.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who had been left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, had committed to the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam; yea, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took them and went, that he might pass over to the children of Ammon.

¹¹ But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces who ere with him, heard of all the evil which Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done;

¹² And they took all the men, and went forth to right with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and found him at the great waters which are in Gibeon.

¹³ And it was that when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces who were with him, they rejoiced:

¹⁴ And all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah, turned, and returned, and went with Johanan, the son of Kareah;

¹⁵ But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped with eight men from Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon.

¹⁶ And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces who were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had smitten Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, strong men, men of war, and women, and children, and eunuchs, whom he had recovered from Gibeon;

¹⁷ And they went and dwelt in Geruth-Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, that they might proceed to enter into Egypt, ¹⁸ On account of the Chaldeans, for they feared them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had smitten Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had set over the land.

¹ Then came near all the leaders of the forces and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, ² And said to Jeremiah the prophet, — Let our petition, we pray thee, be acceptable to thee; pray now for us to Jehovah thy God in behalf of this remnant, for we are left a few out of many, as thine eyes see us;

³ And let Jehovah thy God shew us the way in which we are to walk, and the thing which we are to do.

⁴ And Jeremiah said to them, I have heard; behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall be that whatsoever word Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will hide nothing from you.

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, Let Jehovah be between us a faithful and true witness, except we do according to all the words which Jehovah thy God shall send to us:

⁶ Whether good or evil, the voice of Jehovah our God, for which we send thee to him, will we obey: for well will it be with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

⁷ And it was that at the end of ten days the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah;

⁸ And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces, who were with him, and all the people, from the least to the greatest;

⁹ And said to them, — Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to lay humbly your prayer before him, ¹⁰ If dwelling ye will dwell in this land, then will I build you and not pull you down, and plant you and not pluck you up; for I repent of the evil which I have brought on you.

¹¹ Fear not the face of the king of Babylon, whose face ye do fear; fear him not, saith Jehovah, for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand;

¹² And I will shew mercies to you, and he will have mercy on you, and cause you to dwell in your own land.

¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, nor obey the voice of Jehovah your God, ¹⁴ Saying, No, but to the land of Egypt will we go, where we shall not see war, and the sound of the trumpet we shall not hear, and for bread we shall not hunger, and there will we dwell.

¹⁵ Now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah, ye remnant of Judah, for thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If setting ye set your face to enter into Egypt, and ye go there to sojourn, ¹⁶ Then it shall be that the sword which ye fear, shall overtake you there, even in the land of Egypt, and the famine which ye dread shall lay hold on you there, even in the land of Egypt, and there ye shall die:

¹⁷ And all the men who have set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there, shall die by the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence; and not one of them shall remain or escape from the evil which I shall bring on them.

¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, As my wrath and mine indignation have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so mine indignation shall be poured out on you when ye go into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall no more see this place.

¹⁹ Jehovah hath spoken against you, ye remnant of Judah: go not into Egypt; knowing, know ye that I have made a protest to you this day.

²⁰ For ye deceived your own souls, when ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us to Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare to us and we will do so.

²¹ And I have declared to you this day, but ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, and according to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.

²² And now knowing, know ye, that by the sword and by famine and by pestilence shall ye die in the place to which ye desire to go, that ye may sojourn there.

¹ And it was that when Jeremiah had finished to speak to all the people all the words of Jehovah their God, for which Jehovah their God had sent him to them all, even for these words, ² Then Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, said, speaking to Jeremiah, Falsehood dost thou speak; Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not to Egypt to sojourn there;

³ But Baruch, the son of Neriah, rouses thee against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to slay us and to remove us to Babylon.

⁴ So Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces and the whole people, did not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, to dwell in the land of Judah:

⁵ But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces, took the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations, to which they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah, ⁶ Even the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every soul which Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son Shaphan, and with Jeremiah the prophet, and with Baruch, the son of Neriah;

⁷ And they went into the land of Egypt; for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah; and they came as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, — ⁹ Take in thine hand great stones, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is by the gate of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

¹⁰ And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones, which I have hid, and he shall spread his tent over them;

¹¹ And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt, those for death to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword;

¹² And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive, and roll up the land of Egypt as a shepherd rolls up his garment; and he shall go forth thence in peace:

¹³ And he shall break in pieces the statues of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, even in the land of Pathros, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, ye have seen all the evil which I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and behold they are a waste this day, and no one dwells in them, ³ Because of the wickedness which they had done to provoke me, by going to burn incense and to serve foreign gods, whom they had not known, neither they nor their fathers:

⁴ And I sent to them all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Do not, I pray you, the thing of this abomination, which I hate;

⁵ But they hearkened not, nor inclined their car to turn from their wickedness and not to burn incense to foreign gods.

⁶ Then my indignation and my wrath were poured out and were kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste as at this day.

⁷ And now, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Why do ye this great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, even from the midst of Judah, so as to leave you no remnant remaining, ⁸ To provoke me by the works of your hands, by burning incense to foreign gods in the land of Egypt, to which ye are gone to dwelt there, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

⁹ Have ye forgotten the evils of your fathers and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your own evils, and the evils of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem:

¹⁰ And they have not humbled themselves to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and in my statutes, which I had set before you and before your fathers.

¹ l Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah;

¹² And I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their face to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed in the land of Egypt; they shall fall by the sword, by famine shall they be consumed, from the least to the greatest; by the sword and by famine shall they die, and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach:

¹³ And I will visit them who dwell in Egypt, as I visited Jerusalem, with the sword, and famine, and pestilence.

¹⁴ And there shall be none to escape among the remnant of Judah who have come to sojourn here, even in the land of Egypt, and to return to the land of Judah on returning to which they set their minds to dwell there, for they shall not return except those who have escaped.

¹⁵ Then all the men answered Jeremiah, even they who knew that their wives burned incense to foreign gods, and all the women who stood by, a great company, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, saying, — ¹⁶ As to the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken to thee;

¹⁷ But we shall do whatsoever that goeth forth from our mouth, to burn incense to the frame-work of heaven, and to pour out libations to it, as we did, we and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and we were satisfied with bread, and were happy, and saw no evil:

¹⁸ But from the time we left off to burn incense to the frame-work of heaven, and to pour out libations to it, we have been destitute of every- thing, and have been consumed by the sword and famine.

¹⁹ And when we burned incense to the frame-work of heaven, and poured out libations to it, did we without our men make cakes to it to worship it, and pour out libations to it?

²⁰ Then said Jeremiah to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had returned to him the answer, saying, — ²¹ The incense which ye burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and all the people of the land, hath not Jehovah remembered it?

²² And hath it not come to his mind? Nay, Jehovah could no longer bear you for the wickedness of your doings, for the abominations which ye did; and reduced is your land to a waste, and is become an astonishment and a curse, as it appears at this day:

²³ Because ye burned incense and sinned against Jehovah, and hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, and statutes, and testimonies, therefore hath this evil happened to you, as it appears at this day.

²⁴ Jeremiah said again to all the people and to all the women, — Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye Judah who are in the land of Egypt, — ²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have spoken with your mouth and fulfilled with your hands, saying, Doing we shall do our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the frame-work of heaven and to pour out libations to it: confirming ye will confirm your vows, and doing ye will do your vows.

²⁶ Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all ye Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt, Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be called upon by the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, “The Lord Jehovah liveth in all the land of Egypt.”

²⁷ Behold I will watch over them for evil and not for good, and consumed shall be all the men of Judah, who are in the land of Egypt, by the sword and by famine, until they be consumed:

²⁸ And they who shall escape from the sword and return from the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, shall be few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have entered into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs.

²⁹ And this shall be a sign to you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that standing my words shall stand against you for evil, — ³⁰ Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh-Hophra into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I delivered Zedekiah, the king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.

¹ The word which Jeremiah the prophet spake to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying, — ² Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning thee, O Baruch:

³ Thou hast said, Woe now to me! for Jehovah hath added grief to my sorrow; I am wearied with my sighing, and rest have I not found.

⁴ Thus shalt thou say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, what I builded I pull down, and what I planted I pluck up, even this whole land;

⁵ And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek not; for behold I am bringing evil on all flesh, saith Jehovah; and I will give thee thy life as a prey in all the places whither thou wilt go.

¹ The word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning all the nations:

² Of Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho, the king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates, at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah:

³ Prepare ye the buckler and shield, And move on to battle;

⁴ Tie the horses, and go up, ye horsemen; Stand in your helmets, Brighten the lances, put on the coats of mail.

⁵ Why have I seen them broken, turned backward! Even their valiants have been smitten, And by flight have they fled and looked not back; Terror is on every side, saith Jehovah;

⁶ Let not the swift flee away, Nor the valiant escape: In the north, on the bank of the river Euphrates, Shall they stumble and fall.

⁷ Who is this that like a river riseth up, Like floods swelling, its waters!

⁸ Egypt like a river riseth up, And like floods swelling, its waters; For he saith, I will go up and cover the land, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.

⁹ Go up, ye horses; toss, ye chariots; Go forth, ye the valiant; The Ethiopians and Lybians, who hold the shield, And the Lydians, who hold and stretch the bow.

¹⁰ But this is the day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, The day of vengeance, to avenge on his adversaries; And devour shall the sword and be satiated, And inebriated shall it be with their blood; For a sacrifice hath the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Euphrates.

¹¹ Go up to Gilead, and take rosin, Thou virgin, daughter of Egypt! In vain dost thou multiply medicines; There is no healing for thee.

¹² Heard have the nations of thy disgrace, And by thine outcry filled is the earth; For the valiant against the valiant has stumbled, And both have fallen together.

¹³ The word which Jehovah spake to Jeremiah the prophet respecting the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt:

¹⁴ Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, Publish in Noph, in Tahpanhes say, — Stand and prepare thyself, For devoured hath the sword those around thee.

¹⁵ How scattered are thy valiants! They stood not, for Jehovah hath driven them.

¹⁶ He hath multiplied; they stumbled, Yea, fell, each on his friend: And they said, “Rise, and let us return To our people, and to the land of our nativity, From the face of the wasting sword.

¹⁷ They cried there, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, Is a king of trouble; He hath passed over the set time.

¹⁸ Live do I, saith the king, Jehovah of hosts is his name; For as Tabor is in the mountains, And as Carmel is by the sea, so will he come.

¹⁹ Thy furniture of transmigration prepare, Thou inhabitant of Egypt; For Noph shall be a solitude, Yea, it shall be wasted, without an inhabitant.

²⁰ A beautiful heifer is Egypt; Distress from the north cometh, it cometh.

²¹ Her mercenaries also in the midst of her Are like the bullocks of the stall; For these also shall turn their backs, They shall flee together, they shall not stand; For the day of calamity is come upon them, The time of their visitation.

²² Her voice shall be like that of the serpent; For with power shall they come, And with axes shall they come against her, Like hewers of wood.

²³ Cut down shall they thy forest, saith Jehovah, That it may not be investigated; For they have multiplied more than locusts, And they are without number.

²⁴ Ashamed is the daughter of Egypt, Delivered into the hand of the north people.

²⁵ Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said, Behold, I will visit the multitude of No, Pharaoh also, and Egypt, And her gods and her kings, Even Pharaoh and those who trust in him;

²⁶ And I will give them into the hand Of those who seek their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, The king of Babylon, |And into the hand of his servants: But it shall afterwards be inhabited As in days of old, saith Jehovah.

²⁷ But fear not thou, my servant Jacob, Nor be thou, Israel, broken in mind; For behold, I will save thee from far, And thy seed from the land of their captivity: Yea, return shall Jacob, and rest, And be secure, and none will terrify him.

²⁸ Fear thou not, my servant Jacob, Saith Jehovah, for I am with thee; For I will make an end of all the nations To which I have driven thee; But of thee will I not make an end: Yet I will chastise thee in moderation, And will not wholly cut thee off.

¹ The word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza:

² Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, waters ascend from the north, And they shall be an overflowing flood, And shall overflow the land and all in it, The city and its inhabitants; And cry aloud shall all men, And howl shall every inhabitant of the land.

³ For the noisy sound of the hoofs of his steeds, For the commotion of his chariots, For the rumbling of his wheels, Not look shall fathers to their children, On account of the feebleness of their hands;

⁴ Because of the day which is come, To destroy all the Philistines, To cut off Tyre and Sidon, All the residue of their strength; For Jehovah lays waste the Philistines, The remnant of the island of Caphtor.

⁵ Come is baldness on Gaza, Destroyed is Ashkelon; The remnant of their valley! How long wilt thou rend thyself?

⁶ Ah! sword of Jehovah! How long wilt not thou rest? Hide thyself in thy scabbard, rest and be still.

⁷ How canst thou rest? since Jehovah Hath commanded it against Ashkelon, And against the shore of the sea; There hath he appointed it.

¹ Concerning Moab: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — Woe upon Nebo! for it is laid waste, Ashamed, taken is Kiriathaim; Ashamed is Misgab and dismayed.

² No more shall be the boasting of Moab over Heshbon; They have consulted an evil against her, — “Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.” Also Madmen, thou shalt be cut off, After thee shall go the sword.

³ The sound of a cry from Horonaim! A waste and great destruction!

⁴ Distressed is Moab; A cry have her little ones made to be heard.

⁵ For in the ascent to Luhith, With weeping shall ascend weeping; For in the descent to Horonaim, The enemies a cry of distress shall hear:

⁶ Flee ye, save your lives; And ye shall be as the juniper in the desert, ⁷ Therefore, because thy confidence Was in thy works and in thy treasures, Even thou shalt be taken: And go forth shall Chemosh into captivity, His priests and his princes together.

⁸ And come shall a waster to every city, Nor shall a city escape; Perish also shall the valley, And destroyed shall be the plain, As Jehovah hath spoken.

⁹ Give wings to Moab, For flying she shall fly, And her cities shall be a waste, That there will be none to inhabit them.

¹⁰ Cursed is he who doeth the work of Jehovah deceitfully, And cursed is he who restrains his sword from blood.

¹¹ Quiet has been Moab from his childhood, And hath settled on his dregs, And hath not been changed from vessel to vessel, And to captivity he hath not gone: Therefore remained has his flavor in him, And his odor was not changed.

¹² Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will send to him drivers, Who will drive him out; And his vessels will they empty, And his bottles will they scatter:

¹³ And ashamed will be Moab of Chemosh, As ashamed was the house of Israel of Bethel, The object of their confidence.

¹⁴ How say ye, “We are valiant, and men strong for war:”

¹⁵ Wasted is Moab, and from his cities they have vanished, And his young men have descended to the slaughter, Saith the King, Jehovah of hosts is his name.

¹⁶ Nigh is the destruction of Moab to come, And her calamity greatly hastens. Be ye moved for him all who are around him, And all ye who know his name, say, — “How has the strong staff been broken, the beautiful rod!”

¹⁷ Come down from glory, and dwell in thirst, Thou inhabitant, the daughter of Dibon!

¹⁸ For the waster of Moab comes up against thee, The destroyer of thy fortresses.

¹⁹ On the way stand and look, Thou inhabitant of Aroer. Ask the fugitive, and her who has escaped, “Say, what hath happened?”

²⁰ Ashamed is Moab, for he is broken. Howl ye, and cry out, And proclaim in Arnon that Moab is laid waste.

²¹ Judgment also shall come on the plain country, On Holon, and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath, ²² And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, ²³ And on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, ²⁴ And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near ²⁵ Cut, off is the horn of Moab, And his strength is broken, saith Jehovah.

²⁶ Make him drunk, for against Jehovah hath he magnified himself; And roll himself shall Moab in his own vomit; And he also shall be a derision;

²⁷ For has not Israel been a derision to thee? Has he been found among thieves? For since thou hast spoken of him, thou hast been excited.

²⁸ Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab: And they shall be as a dove, Which makes a nest in the passages, Beyond the mouth of the cleft.

²⁹ Heard have we of the pride of Moab; Very proud is his haughtiness, And his pride, and the loftiness of his heart.

³⁰ I know, saith Jehovah, his insolence, And his lies are not stable they shall not do so ³¹ Therefore for Moab will I howl, And to all Moab will I cry aloud; I will mutter to the men of the city of potsherd.

³² With the weeping of Jazer Will I weep for thee, vine of Sibmah: Thy shoots have passed over the sea, Even to the sea came Jazer: On thy summer-fruits and on thy vintages Has fallen a waster.

³³ And taken away shall be joy and exultation, From the fruitful field, from the land of Moab; And the wine from the presses will I make to cease: He will not tread with shouting, shouting, There will not be shouting.

³⁴ At the cry of Heshbon, to Elealeh, to Jahaz, Will they send forth their voice, From Zoar to Horonaim; An heifer three years old is Moab; Verily even the waters of Nimrim shall be dried up.

³⁵ And I will cause to cease from Moab, saith Jehovah, Him who offers on the high place, And who burns incense to his gods ³⁶ Therefore my heart for Moab Shall make a sound like pipes, And my heart for the men of the city of potsherd Like pipes shall make a sound; For the treasures he had made have perished.

³⁷ For on every head shall be baldness, And to every beard, a shaving, And on all hands, incisions, and on loins, sackcloth.

³⁸ On all the roofs of Moab, And in all her streets, shall be mourning altogether; For I will break Moab like a vessel In which there is no pleasure, saith Jehovah.

³⁹ How Moab is broken! they will howl; How has he turned his back! he is ashamed: Yea, Moab is become a derision, And a terror to all around.

⁴⁰ For thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, as an eagle will he fly, And extend his wings over Moab:

⁴¹ Taken are the cities, the strongholds are seized, And the heart of the men of Moab shall be in that day As the heart of a woman in distress.

⁴² And broken shall Moab be, so as not to be a people, Because against Jehovah hath he exalted himself.

⁴³ Terror, and the pit, and the snare, shall be on thee, Inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah:

⁴⁴ He who flies from terror shall fall into the pit, And he who ascends from the pit shall be taken in the snare; For I will bring upon her, upon Moab, The year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.

⁴⁵ Under the shadow of Heshbon shall they stand, Who from violence shall flee: But fire shall go forth from Heshbon, And a flame from the midst of Sihon; And it shall consume the corner of Moab, And the extremities of the sons of tumult.

⁴⁶ Woe to thee, Moab! Perished have the people of Chemosh! For driven have been thy sons into captivity, And thy daughters into exile.

⁴⁷ But I will restore the captivity of Moab In the latter days, saith Jehovah. Thus far the judgment of Moab.

¹ Concerning the children of Ammon: Thus saith Jehovah, — Hath Israel no children? hath he no heir? Why doth their king inherit Gad, And his people dwell in its cities?

² Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will cause to be heard the trumpet of war At Rabbah, of the children of Ammon; And she shall be a heap of desolation, And her daughters shall be burned with fire, And possess his possessors shall Israel, saith Jehovah.

³ Howl thou, Heshbon, for laid waste is Ai; Cry aloud, ye daughters of Rabbah. Gird on sackcloth, lament, Run here and there by the fences; For their king, into captivity is he gone, And his priests and his princes with him.

⁴ Why gloriest thou in thy deep valleys? Flown down has thy valley, rebellious daughter! Who trusted in her hidden places, Saying, Who can come to me?

⁵ Behold, I will bring on thee terror, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, from all around thee; And ye shall be driven out, each one before him, And there will be none to gather the dispersed.

⁶ But I will afterwards restore The captivity of the children of Ammon, saith Jehovah.

⁷ Concerning Edom: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Is there not wisdom any more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the intelligent? Overflowing has been their wisdom!

⁸ Flee, ye inhabitants of Dedan, Who have turned and made deep your dwelling; For the ruin of Esau will I bring on him, At the time of his visitation.

⁹ If vintagers had come to thee, Would they not have left some grapes? If thieves in the night, would they not have destroyed What would suffice them?

¹⁰ But I will uncover Esau, I will disclose his hidden things, So that he cannot be concealed: Plundered shall be his seed, And his brethren and his neighbors; And he shall be no more.

¹¹ Leave thy orphans, I will nourish them; And thy widows, let them trust in me.

¹² For thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, those to whom it was not their judgment To drink the cup, shall surely drink, And shalt thou be exempted? Thou shalt not be exempted, For drinking thou shalt drink it.

¹³ For I have by myself sworn, saith Jehovah, That a waste, a reproach, a desert, And a curse, shall Bozrah become; And all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.

¹⁴ A hearing have we heard from Jehovah, And a messenger to the nations has been sent, — “Be ye gathered and come against her, And rise ye up to the battle.”

¹⁵ For behold, small made I thee among the nations, Contemptible among men:

¹⁶ Deceived thee has thy terror, the pride of thine heart; Thou who dwellest in the fissures of rocks, Who occupiest the heights of mountains: Though thou raisest high, as an eagle, thy nest, Thence will I draw thee down, saith Jehovah.

¹⁷ And Edom shall become a waste; Every one passing by her shall be astonished, And shall hiss on account of all her strokes.

¹⁸ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah And of their neighboring cities, saith Jehovah, Dwell there shall no man, Nor shall a son of man abide there.

¹⁹ Behold, as a lion from the swelling of Jordan, Will he ascend to the habitation of strength: After having made him to rest, I will make him flee from her; And who is the chosen one whom I shall set over her? For who is as I am? And who will protest against me? And who is the shepherd that before me will stand?

²⁰ Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, Which he hath counseled against Edom, And his thoughts which he hath thought Against the inhabitants of Teman; Surely draw them forth shall the least of the flock, Surely destroyed over them shall be their dwellings.

²¹ At the sound of their fall, tremble shall the earth, The cry of their voice shall at the Red Sea be heard.

²² Behold, as an eagle will he ascend and fly, And will spread his wings over Bozrah; And the heart of the valiant men of Edom in that day Shall be like the heart of a sorrowful woman.

²³ Concerning Damascus: Ashamed is Hamath and Arpad; Because they heard a bad report, they melt away, Like a turbulent sea which cannot rest.

²⁴ Weakened is Damascus, she turns to flight, Terror hath laid hold on her, Anguish and pangs have seized her, As a woman in travail.

²⁵ How is not forsaken the city of praise — The city of my joy?

²⁶ Yet fall shall her young men in her streets, And all the men of war shall be cut off In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts.

²⁷ For I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.

²⁸ Concerning Kedar, and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had smitten: Thus saith Jehovah, — Arise ye, ascend against Kedar, And destroy the children of the east.

²⁹ Their tents and their flocks shall they take away, And their curtains and all their vessels; Their camels also shall they take to themselves, And they shall cry to them, “Terror is on every side.”

³⁰ Flee ye, depart far away, (Though deep have they made to dwell The inhabitants of Hazor, saith Jehovah; ) For consulted against you hath Nebuchadnezzar, The king of Babylon, a counsel, And he hath purposed against you a purpose.

³¹ Arise ye, ascend against a secure nation, That dwelleth in confidence, saith Jehovah; It hath neither gates nor bars, it dwelleth alone.

³² And their camels shall became a prey, And the abundance of their cattle a plunder; And I will scatter them to every wind, Even the utmost corners; And from all the sides thereof Will I bring their destruction, saith Jehovah.

³³ And Hazor shall be the habitation of dragons, A perpetual desolation; Dwell there shall no man, Nor shall a son of man abide in her.

³⁴ The word which came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying:

³⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, The chief part of their strength;

³⁶ And I will bring against Elam four winds From the four quarters of the heavens; And I will scatter them to these four winds, And there shall not be a nation To which some fugitives from Elam shall not come.

³⁷ For I will terrify Elam before their enemies, And before those who seek their life; And I will bring on them the evil Of the indignation of my wrath, saith Jehovah; And I will send after them the sword Until I shall have consumed them;

³⁸ And I will erect my throne in Elam, And destroy thence the king and the princes, saith Jehovah.

⁸⁹ But it shall be in the latter days That I will restore the captivity of Elam, saith Jehovah.

¹ The word which Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:

² Tell ye among the nations, proclaim, Raise up also a banner, proclaim, conceal not; Say ye, “Taken is Babylon, Confounded is Bel, broken is Merodach, Confounded are her images, broken are her idols.”

³ For ascend against her shall a nation from the north, Which will turn her land to a waste, So that there will be no dweller in it, man or beast; They have fled, they have departed.

⁴ In those days and at that time, saith Jehovah, Come shall the children of Israel And the children of Judah together; Going and weeping they shall come, And Jehovah their God will they seek.

⁵ To Sion will they ask the way, hither their faces, — “Come ye and let us join ourselves to Jehovah, By a perpetual covenant, not to be forgotten.”

⁶ A lost sheep have been my people; Their pastors have made them to wander; On the mountains they strayed, From mountain to hill they went, They forgot the place of their lying down.

⁷ All who found them devoured them, And their adversaries said, “We sin not, Because they have sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of justice, And the hope of their fathers, even Jehovah.”

⁸ Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And from Chaldea go forth, And be as he-goats before the flock.

⁹ For, behold, I will rouse and bring against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from the land of the north, And they shall set in order against her; Thence taken will she be; Their arrows, like those of a skillful valiant man, They shall not return in vain.

¹⁰ And Chaldea shall be a prey, And all who plunder her shall be satiated, saith Jehovah, ¹¹ Surely ye rejoiced and exulted When ye plundered mine heritage; Ye became fat as a heifer well fed, And neighed like strong horses.

¹² Ashamed greatly shall be your mother, Blush shall she who bare you; Behold, the last of nations shall she be, A desert, a waste, a solitude!

¹³ Because of the indignation of Jehovah She shall not be inhabited, And shall be an entire waste; All who pass by Babylon shall be astonished, And shall hiss for all her strokes.

¹⁴ Set in order against Babylon around; All ye who bend the bow, Shoot at her, spare not the arrows, For against Jehovah hath she sinned.

¹⁵ Cry ye aloud against her around; She hath given her hand, Fallen have her foundations, Demolished have been her walls, Because it is the vengeance of Jehovah; Vengeance take ye on her; as she has done, do to her.

¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: From the face of the wasting sword Every one shall look to his own people, Every one to his own land shall flee.

¹⁷ A scattered flock hath Israel been, Lions have driven him out; The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria, And this last hath broken his bones, Even Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel — Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, As I visited the king of Assyria:

¹⁹ And I will restore Israel to his folds, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, And on mount Ephraim and Gilead; And satisfied shall be his soul.

²⁰ In those days and at that time, saith Jehovah, Sought will be the iniquity of Israel, and there will be none; And the sin of Judah, and it shall not be found: For I will pardon those whom I shall reserve.

²¹ On the land of the exasperating ascend, And against the inhabitants of visitation, Slay and destroy after them, saith Jehovah; And do all that I have commanded thee.

²² A sound of battle in the land and a great ruin!

²³ Now has the hammer of the whole earth Been cut off and broken in pieces! How has Babylon become a waste among the nations!

²⁴ I set a snare for thee, therefore taken wert thou, Babylon, though thou knewest not: Thou wept found, and hence taken, Because against Jehovah thou didst contend.

²⁵ Opened hath Jehovah his treasure, And brought forth the instruments of his wrath; For this is the work of the Lord, the Jehovah of hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ Come ye against her from the extremity, Open her repositories, tread her as heaps, Destroy her wholly, that there may be to her no remnant.

²⁷ Slay all her bullocks, Let them descend to the slaughter Woe to them, for their day is come, The time of their visitation.

²⁸ The voice of these who flee and escape From the land of Babylon! To announce in Sion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, The vengeance of his temple.

²⁹ Summon against Babylon the mighty, All who bend the bow; Besiege her around, that there may be no escape; Render to her according to her work, According to all she has done, do ye to her; For against Jehovah has she acted proudly, Against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰ Therefore fall shall her young men in her streets, And all her men of war shall be destroyed In that day, saith Jehovah.

³¹ Behold, I am against thee, the proud one, Saith the Lord, the Jehovah of hosts; For come is thy day, the time of thy visitation.

³² And stumble shall the proud and fall, And there will be no one to raise him up; And I will kindle a fire in his cities, And it shall consume all round him.

³³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Oppressed have been the children of Israel And the children of Judah together; And all who led them captives have prevailed against them, They have refused to let them go.

³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of hosts is his name, Their cause pleading he will plead, So as to destroy the land, And to make to tremble the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ A sword on the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah! And on all the inhabitants of Babylon! And on all her princes and on her wise men!

³⁶ A sword on her diviners! and they shall become foolish; A sword on her valiant men! and they shall be terrified;

³⁷ A sword on her horses! and on her chariots! And on her multitude, in the midst of her! They shall be as women; A sword on her treasures! and they shall be plundered;

³⁸ A drought on her waters! and they shall be dried up: For it is the land of carved images, And in idols they glory.

³⁹ Therefore dwell there shall wild birds with wild beasts, And dwell there shall the daughters of ostriches; And it shall not be inhabited any more for ever; It shall not be an habitation to all generations.

⁴⁰ As in God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And of their neighboring cities, saith Jehovah, Dwell there shall no man, For shall a son of man abide there.

⁴¹ Behold, a people cometh from the north, Even a great nation and many kings Shall be roused from the sides of the earth.

⁴² On the bow and the shield shall they lay hold, Cruel shall they be, and will shew no mercy; Their voice like the sea shall roar, And on horses shall they ride, Prepared as a man for battle Against thee, daughter of Babylon.

⁴³ Heard has the king of Babylon a report of them, And feeble became his hands; Anxiety laid hold on him, And anguish, like a woman in travail.

⁴⁴ Behold, as a lion from the swelling of Jordan Will he ascend to the strong habitation: After having made him to rest, I will make him flee from her; And who is the chosen one whom I shall set over her? For who is as I am? And who will protest against me? And who is the shepherd that before me will stand?

⁴⁵ Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, Which he hath counseled against Babylon; And his thoughts which he has thought Against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely draw them forth shall the least of the flock, Surely destroyed over them shall be their dwellings.

⁴⁶ At the sound of Babylon being taken, tremble shall the earth, And a cry among the nations shall be heard.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will raise a destroying wind against Babylon, And against boasters of wisdom, my adversaries;

² And I will send against Babylon winnowers, And they shall winnow her and empty her land; For they shall be against her around in the day of evil.

³ As to him who bends the bow, And him who raises himself up in his coat of mail, — Spare ye not her young men, Destroy all her army

⁴ And fall shall they wounded, in her land, And pierced through in her streets.

⁵ For not widowed is Israel, nor Judah By his God, by Jehovah of hosts: But rather their land is filled with sin On account of the Holy One of Israel.

⁶ Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And save ye, every one his life, Lest ye perish in her iniquity; For it is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance, A reward will he render to her ⁷ A golden cup has Babylon been In Jehovah’s hand, inebriating the whole earth; From her wine have the nations drunk, Therefore have the nations become mad.

⁸ Suddenly has Babylon fallen, and is broken; Howl ye for her, take rosin for her wound, It may be that she can be healed!

⁹ We have tried to heal Babylon, But she was not healed; Leave her, and let us depart, Every one to his own land; For to the heavens has reached her judgment And has risen up to the clouds.

¹⁰ Brought forth has Jehovah our righteousness; Come ye and let us declare in Sion The work of Jehovah our God.

¹¹ Polish the arrows, prepare the shields, Rouse will Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Media; For as to Babylon his thought is to destroy her. For it is Jehovah’s vengeance, the vengeance of his temple.

¹² On the wails of Babylon raise the standard, Increase the watch, set the watchmen, Set in order the ambushes: For as Jehovah has thought, so will he do What he hath spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³ Thou that dwellest among great waters, Who aboundest in treasures, Come is thine end, the measure of thy cupidity.

¹⁴ Sworn hath Jehovah by himself, — Surely I will fill thee with men as with locusts, Who will shout over thee with the vintageshouting, — ¹⁵ (Even) he who made the earth by his power, Who hath constituted the world by his wisdom, And by his knowledge extended the heavens, ¹⁶ At whose voice there is abundance of waters in the heavens, Who raises vapors from the extremity of the earth, Who makes the lightnings and the rain, And brings out the wind from his treasures.

¹⁷ Infatuated is every man become by his knowledge, Put to shame shall be every founder by the graven image, For a lie is the molten image, And there is no breath in them:

¹⁸ Vanity are they, the work of illusions; At the time of their visitation they shall perish.

¹⁹ Not like these is the portion of Jacob; For the former of all things is He, And the rod of his inheritance is Israel; Jehovah of hosts is his name.

²⁰ A hammer hast thou been to me, weapons of war; And by thee have I broken nations in pieces, And by thee destroyed kingdoms:

²¹ Yea, by thee have I broken in pieces The horses and their riders, And by thee have I broken in pieces The chariots and their riders^{2 22} And by thee have I broken in pieces Men and women, And by thee have I broken in pieces Old men and children, And by thee have I broken in pieces Young men and maidens, ²³ And by thee have I broken in pieces The shepherds and their flocks, And by thee have I broken in pieces The husbandmen and their yokes of oxen, And by thee have I broken in pieces The captains and the rulers.

²⁴ But I will render to Babylon And to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evils which they have done in Sion, Before your eyes, saith Jehovah.

²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, Which destroyest all the earth; And I will extend my hand over thee, And will roll thee down from the rocks, And will make thee a burnt mountain:

²⁶ And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, Nor a stone for foundations; For perpetual wastes shalt thou be, saith Jehovah.

²⁷ Raise a banner in the land, Sound a trumpet among the nations, Prepare the nations against her, Assemble against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Of Minni and of Ashkenaz; Set up against her a leader, Bring forth the horse as the horrible locust;

²⁸ Prepare against her the nations, The kings of Media, her captains and her princes, And all the land of its dominion.

²⁹ And tremble shall the land and be in pain, For confirmed as to Babylon shall be the thoughts of Jehovah: To set the land of Babylon a waste, So as to have no inhabitant.

³⁰ Ceased have the valiant men of Babylon to fight, They sat down in their fortresses; Fail did their valor, they became women, Burnt were her dwellings, broken her bars.

³¹ A runner to meet a runner ran, And a messenger to meet a messenger, To announce to the king of Babylon That taken was the city at its extremity;

³² And the fords were taken, And the pools were burnt with fire, And the men of war were broken in pieces.

³³ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, — The daughter of Babylon shall be like a threshing-floor, (Come will) the time of treading her; Yet a little while and come will her harvest.

³⁴ Devoured me, broken me in pieces, Hath Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon; He hath set me an empty vessel, He hath swallowed me like a dragon, He hath filled his belly with my delicacies, He hath cast me off.

³⁵ My plunder and my flesh be on Babylon, Shall the inhabitant of Sion say; My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Shall Jerusalem say.

³⁶ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will plead thy cause, And avenge thy vengeance, For I will make dry her sea, And will dry up her fountain:

³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps An habitation of dragons, A wonder and a hissing, without an inhabitant.

³⁸ They will roar as lions, They will roar as whelps of lions.

³⁹ In their heat will I make their feasts, And make them drunk, that they may exult And sleep a perpetual sleep, And not awake, saith Jehovah.

⁴⁰ I will bring them as lambs to the slaughter, As rams and hegoats.

⁴¹ How has Sheshach been taken! And captured, the praise of the whole land! How has Babylon become a waste among nations!

⁴² Come up over Babylon has the sea, With the multitude of its waves is she covered.

⁴³ Her cities shall be a waste, And a land of desert, and a land of drought, Pass through it shall no man, And dwell in it shall no son of man.

⁴⁴ And I will visit Bel in Babylon; And I will draw what he hath swallowed out of his month: And flow to him together shall nations no more: Even the wall of Babylon hath fallen.

⁴⁵ Go out from the midst of her, my people, And save ye, every one his life, From the indignation of Jehovah’s wrath.

⁴⁶ And let not faint be your heart, And fear ye not the rumor heard in the land; Come in one year shall a rumor, And afterwards in another year, a rumor; — And violence shall be in the land, And a ruler after a ruler.

⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, the days are coming, That I will visit the images of Babylon; And her whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain, they shall fall in the midst of her.

⁴⁸ And rejoice over Babylon shall heaven and earth, And all the things that are in them; When from the north shall come to her Destroyers, saith Jehovah.

⁴⁹ As Babylon made to fall the slain of Israel, So for Babylon they shall fall, the slain of all the land.

⁵⁰ Ye who have escaped from the sword, Depart, stand not still; From afar remember Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come to your minds.

⁵¹ We are ashamed, because we have heard reproach; Shame hath covered our faces, because strangers came Into the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.

⁵² Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will visit her graven images, And in the whole land groan shall the wounded.

⁵³ Though Babylon ascended into heaven, And though in the height she fortified her strength, From me would come to her wasters, saith Jehovah.

⁵⁴ The voice of a cry from Babylon! And a great crashing from the land of the Chaldeans!

⁵⁵ For Jehovah will lay waste Babylon, And will destroy from her the voice of boasting: And sound shall their waves like great waters, Sent forth shall be the sound of their voice.

⁵⁶ For come to her, to Babylon, is a waster, And taken are her valiant men, Broken is their bow; For the God of retributions is Jehovah, Recompensing he will recompense.

⁵⁷ And I will inebriate her princes and her wise men, And her captains, and her rulers, and her valiant men: And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, And shall not awake, saith the King, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts.

⁵⁸ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — The wall of Babylon, though wide, Shall yet surely be demolished; And her gates, though high, Shall yet be consumed with fire: Thus labored have the people for nothing, And the nations for the fire, and wearied themselves.

⁵⁹ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neraiah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went for Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon, in the fourth year of ⁶⁰ his reign; and Seraiah was a quiet prince: and Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all ⁶¹ These words which had been written against Babylon; and Jeremiah said to Seraiah, — “When thou comest to Babylon and hast seen it, then read ⁶² All these words, and say, — ‘O Jehovah, thou hast spoken against this place, to destroy it, so that there should be no inhabitant in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall become perpetual desolations.’ ⁶³ And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt tie a stone ⁶⁴ To it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and shalt say, — ‘Thus sink shall Babylon, and shall not rise from the evil which I shall bring on her, though they may weary themselves.’ Thus far the words of Jeremiah.

¹ Twenty-one years old was Zedekiah when he began to reign, and eleven years reigned he in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

² And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all the things which Jehoiakim had done:

³ And on account of the indignation of Jehovah against Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them away from his presence, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it was in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and built against it a fortress on every side.

⁵ And the city was besieged till the eleventh year of Zedekiah.

⁶ In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine prevailed in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land:

⁷ And the city was broken in upon, and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the gate, between two walls, which were near the king’s garden; (and the Chaldeans were near the city around:) and they went out by the way of the desert.

⁸ And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they took Zedekiah in the deserts of Jericho; for all his army were scattered from him.

⁹ They then took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, to the land of Hamath; who pronounced judgment upon him.

¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; and all the princes of Judah he also slew in Riblah:

¹¹ But he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains; And the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day in which he died.

¹² Now, in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, (that year was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,) Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the soldiers, who stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem, ¹³ And burnt the house of Jehovah and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burnt with fire:

¹⁴ And all the walls of Jerusalem around they destroyed, even the whole army of the Chaldeans, which was with the prince of the soldiers.

¹⁵ And some of the poor of the people and the rest of the people who had remained in the city, and the fugitives who had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the remainder of the multitude, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the soldiers, led away captive.

¹⁶ But some of the poor of the land, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the soldiers, left to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

¹⁷ And the brass pillars which were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea which was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried away all their brass to Babylon.

¹⁸ The pots also, and the shovels and the snuffers and the basons and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, with which they ministered, they took away.

¹⁹ And the dishes and the pans and the basons and the pots and the candlesticks and the spoons and the bowls, some of which were all of gold and some were all of silver, the prince of the soldiers took away.

²⁰ The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve oxen of brass, which were under the bases which Solomon had made in the house of Jehovah, there was no weight as to the brass of all these vessels.

²¹ As to the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and a thread of twelve cubits surrounded it, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow.

²² And the chapiter which was over it was brass, and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and net-work and pomegranates were on the chapiter around; all these were of brass; and like these were the second pillar and the pomegranates.

²³ And there were pomegranates, ninety-six on one side; all the pomegranates on the net-work around were one hundred.

²⁴ The prince of the soldiers took away also Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

²⁵ And from the city he took away one eunuch, who had been set over the men of war: and seven men of those who attended the king, who were found in the city, and a scribe, the chief of the army, who gathered to the army the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.

²⁶ And Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the soldiers, took them away and brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah:

²⁷ And the king of Babylon smote them and slew them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he removed Judah from his own land.

²⁸ These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews;

²⁹ In the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two souls;

³⁰ In the three-and-twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the prince of the soldiers, carried away Jews, seven hundred and forty-five souls; — all the souls were four thousand and six hundred.

³¹ And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and brought him forth from prison;

³² And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings, who were with him in Babylon;

³³ And he changed his prison garments, and ate bread before him always, all the days of his life.

³⁴ And his portion, a perpetual portion was given him by the king of Babylon every day, until the day he died, all the days of his life.

PRAISE TO GOD.

FOOTNOTES