Jeremías

¹ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkijah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: ² to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign; ³ it came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month.

⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I hallowed thee, I appointed thee a prophet unto the nations. ⁶ And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child. ⁷ But Jehovah said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for thou shalt go to whomsoever I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. ⁸ Be not afraid of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith Jehovah. ⁹ And Jehovah put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. ¹⁰ See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

¹¹ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. ¹² And Jehovah said unto me, Thou hast well seen; for I am watchful over my word to perform it. ¹³ And the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething-pot, and its face is from the north. ¹⁴ And Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north shall evil break forth upon 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 they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah: ¹⁶ and I will pronounce my judgments against them for all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷ Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I shall command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I cause thee to be dismayed before them. ¹⁸ And I, behold, I appoint thee this day as a strong city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land; against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. ¹⁹ And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, 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 for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. ³ Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him are guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah. ⁴ Hear the word of Jehovah, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: What injustice have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and become vain? ⁶ And they said not, Where is Jehovah, that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and of pits, in a land of drought and of the shadow of death, in a land that no one passeth through, and where no man dwelleth? ⁷ And I brought you into a fruitful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof; and ye entered and defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. ⁸ The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handled the law knew me not; and the shepherds transgressed against me; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ Therefore will I yet plead with you, saith Jehovah, and with your children's children will I plead. ¹⁰ For pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there have been such a thing. ¹¹ Hath a nation changed its gods? and they are no gods; --but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. ¹² Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, and shudder; be amazed very much, saith Jehovah. ¹³ For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.

¹⁴ Is Israel a bondman? Is he a home-born slave ? Why is he become a spoil? ¹⁵ The young lions roared against him, they gave forth their voice, and they made his land desolate: his cities are burned, without inhabitant. ¹⁶ Even the children of Noph and Tahapanes have fed on the crown of thy head. ¹⁷ Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, at the time he was leading thee in the way? ¹⁸ And now, what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? ¹⁹ Thine own wickedness chastiseth thee, and thy backslidings reprove thee: know then and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

²⁰ For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve. For upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou bowest down, playing the harlot. ²¹ And I, --I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine unto me? ²² For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much potash, thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah. ²³ How sayest thou, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals? See thy way in the valley, acknowledge what thou hast done--a swift dromedary traversing her ways! ²⁴ --a wild ass, used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire! In her ardour, who shall turn her away? All they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. ²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, There is no hope; no, for I love strangers, and after them will I go. ²⁶ As a thief is ashamed when he is found, so shall the house of Israel be ashamed--they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets-- ²⁷ saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth; for they have turned the back unto me, and not the face; and in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us! ²⁸ Where then are thy gods that thou hast made for thyself? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for as the number of thy cities, are thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹ Wherefore would ye contend with me? Ye all have transgressed against me, saith Jehovah. ³⁰ In vain have I smitten your children: they received no correction. Your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. ³¹ O generation, mark ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore say my people, We have dominion; we will come no more unto thee? ³² Doth a virgin forget her ornaments, a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number. ³³ How dost thou trim thy way to seek love! Therefore hast thou also accustomed thy ways to wickedness. ³⁴ Yea, in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor, whom thou didst not encounter breaking in, but it is found upon all these. ³⁵ And thou sayest, Indeed I am innocent; his anger will turn from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee because thou sayest, I have not sinned. ³⁶ Why dost thou gad about so much, and change thy way? Thou shalt also be brought to shame by Egypt, as thou wast brought to shame by Assyria. ³⁷ Thou shalt indeed go forth from her with thy hands upon thy head; for Jehovah hath rejected those thou confidest in, and thou shalt not prosper by them.

¹ They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Would not that land be utterly polluted? But thou hast committed fornication with many lovers; yet return to me, saith Jehovah. ² Lift up thine eyes unto the heights and see, where hast thou not been lain with? In the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arab in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications and with thy wickedness. ³ And the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; but thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusest to be ashamed. ⁴ Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? ⁵ Will he keep his anger for ever? Will he preserve it perpetually? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and thou art so determined.

⁶ And Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath committed fornication. ⁷ And I said, After she hath done all these things , she will return unto me; but she returned not. And her sister Judah, the treacherous, saw it . ⁸ And I saw that when for all the causes wherein backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet the treacherous Judah, her sister, feared not, but went and committed fornication also. ⁹ And it came to pass through the lightness of her fornication that she polluted the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. ¹⁰ And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jehovah. ¹¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more just than treacherous Judah.

¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah: I will not make my face dark upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah; I will not keep anger for ever. ¹³ Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast turned thy ways hither and thither to the strangers under every green tree; and ye have not hearkened to my voice, saith Jehovah. ¹⁴ Return, backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you, and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied in the land and become fruitful, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, Ark of the covenant of Jehovah! neither shall it come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it ; neither shall it be done any more. ¹⁷ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem; and they shall no more walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. ¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel; and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land which I caused your fathers to inherit. ¹⁹ And as for me, I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee the pleasant land, the goodly inheritance of the hosts of the nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from following me.

²⁰ Surely as a woman treacherously departeth from her companion, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah. ²¹ A voice is heard upon the heights, the weeping supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God. ²² --Return, backsliding children; I will heal your backslidings. ...Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God. ²³ Truly in vain is salvation looked for from the hills, and the multitude of mountains; truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel. ²⁴ But shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵ We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God.

¹ If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be a wanderer; ² --and thou shalt in truth, in justice, and in righteousness swear, As Jehovah liveth! and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

³ For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up for you a fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. ⁴ Circumcise yourselves for Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

⁵ Declare ye in Judah, and cause it to be heard in Jerusalem, and say, ...and blow the trumpet in the land, cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced cities. ⁶ Set up a banner toward Zion; take to flight, stay not! For I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction. ⁷ The lion is come up from his thicket, the destroyer of the nations is on his way; he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land desolate; thy cities shall be laid waste, without inhabitant. ⁸ For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl! for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned away from us. ⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed. ¹⁰ And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. ¹¹ At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind cometh from the heights in the wilderness, on the way of the daughter of my people, not for fanning, nor for cleansing. ¹² A wind more vehement than that shall come from me: now will I also pronounce judgments against them. ¹³ Behold, he cometh up as clouds, and his chariots are as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are destroyed. ¹⁴ Wash thy heart, Jerusalem, from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? ¹⁵ For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. ¹⁶ Inform the nations; behold, make Jerusalem to hear: Besiegers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. ¹⁷ As keepers of a field are they against her round about; for she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah. ¹⁸ Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, yea, it is bitter, yea, it reacheth unto thy heart.

¹⁹ My bowels! my bowels! I am in travail! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace: for thou hearest, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the clamour of war. ²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment. ²¹ How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? ²² For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no intelligence; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. ²³ I beheld the earth, and lo, it was waste and empty; and the heavens, and they had no light. ²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills shook violently. ²⁵ I beheld, and lo, man was not, and all the fowl of the heavens were fled. ²⁶ I beheld, and lo, the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down, before Jehovah, before his fierce anger. ²⁷ For thus saith Jehovah: The whole land shall be a desolation; but I will not make a full end. ²⁸ For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back therefrom. ²⁹ At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen, every city fleeth; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken and no man dwelleth therein. ³⁰ --And thou, wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rendest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair: thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life. ³¹ For I hear a voice, as of a woman in travail, anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion: she moaneth, she spreadeth forth her hands, saying , Woe unto me! for my soul faileth because of murderers.

¹ Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broadways thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justice, that seeketh fidelity; and I will pardon it. ² And if they say, As Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely. ³ Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. ⁴ And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. ⁵ I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds. ⁶ Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall waste them; the leopard lurketh against their cities, every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces: for their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased. ⁷ Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house. ⁸  As well fed horses, they roam about, every one neigheth after his neighbour's wife. ⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰ Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements, for they are not Jehovah's. ¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah. ¹² They have denied Jehovah, and say, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine; ¹³ and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. ¹⁴ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. ¹⁵ Behold, I bring a nation upon you from afar, house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest thou what they say. ¹⁶ Their quiver is as an open sepulchre; they are all mighty men. ¹⁷ And they shall eat up thy harvest and thy bread, they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters, they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds, they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall destroy with the sword thy strong cities, wherein thou trustedst. ¹⁸ Nevertheless in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say to them, As ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, ²¹ Hear now this, O foolish and heartless people, who have eyes and see not; who have ears, and hear not. ²² Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have set the sand a bound for the sea by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it? and its waves toss themselves, but they do not prevail; and they roar, yet can they not pass over it? ²³ But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone. ²⁴ And they say not in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the early and the latter, in its season; who preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of harvest.

²⁵ Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden from you what is good. ²⁶ For among my people are found wicked men : they lay wait, as fowlers stoop down; they set a trap, they catch men. ²⁷ As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and have enriched themselves. ²⁸ They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge. ²⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ³⁰ An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land: ³¹ the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end thereof?

¹ Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal in Beth-haccerem; for evil appeareth out of the north, and a great destruction. ² The comely and delicate one do I cut off, the daughter of Zion. ³ Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. ⁴ Prepare war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day hath declined, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening. ⁵ Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. ⁶ For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said: Hew ye down trees, and cast a mound against Jerusalem. She is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. ⁷ As a well poureth forth her waters, so she poureth forth her wickedness: violence and destruction are heard in her; before me continually are grief and wounds. ⁸ Be thou instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.

⁹ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean like a vine the remnant of Israel: turn back thy hand, as a grape-gatherer unto the baskets. ¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. ¹¹ And I am full of the fury of Jehovah, I am weary with holding in. Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken; the aged with him that is full of days. ¹² And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah. ¹³ For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. ¹⁴ And they have healed the breach of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace! when there is no peace. ¹⁵ Are they ashamed that they have committed abomination? Nay, they are not at all ashamed, neither know they what it is to blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit them they shall stumble, saith Jehovah. ¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein . ¹⁷ Also I have set watchmen over you: --Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

¹⁸ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O assembly, what is among them. ¹⁹ Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts; for they have not hearkened unto my words, and as to my law, they have rejected it. ²⁰ To what purpose should there come to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing unto me. ²¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall over them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. ²² Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation is stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. ²³ They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as a man for the battle, against thee, daughter of Zion. ²⁴ We have heard the report thereof: our hands are grown feeble; anguish hath taken hold of us, pain as of a woman that travaileth. ²⁵ Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, terror is on every side. ²⁶ Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, as for an only son--bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us. ²⁷ I have set thee among my people as an assayer, a fortress, that thou mayest know and try their way. ²⁸ They are all the most rebellious of rebels, going about with slander: they are bronze and iron; they are all corrupters. ²⁹ The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed by the fire; they have melted, and melted in vain; and the bad are not plucked away. ³⁰ Reprobate silver shall they call them, for Jehovah hath rejected them.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah. ³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ⁴ Confide ye not in words of falsehood, saying, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple is this. ⁵ But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbour, ⁶  if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; ⁷ then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from of old even for ever. ⁸ Behold, ye confide in words of falsehood that cannot profit. ⁹ What? steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not... ¹⁰ then ye come and stand before me, in this house which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, --in order to do all these abominations! ¹¹ Is this house, which is called by my name, a den of robbers in your eyes? Even I, behold, I have seen it, saith Jehovah. ¹² For go now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it, for the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³ And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, and ye heard not, and I called you, and ye answered not; ¹⁴ I will even do unto the house which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh; ¹⁵ and I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, all the seed of Ephraim.

¹⁶ And thou, pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, and make not intercession to me; for I will not hear thee. ¹⁷ Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. ¹⁹ Is it I whom they provoke to anger? saith Jehovah; is it not themselves, to the shame of their own face? ²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place; upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

²¹ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt; ²³ but I commanded them this thing, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. ²⁴ But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward. ²⁵ Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, have I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them; ²⁶ but they have not hearkened unto me, nor inclined their ear; and they have hardened their neck: they have done worse than their fathers. ²⁷ And thou shalt speak all these words unto them, but they will not hearken unto thee; and thou shalt call unto them, but they will not answer thee. ²⁸ And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation which hath not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received correction; fidelity is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

²⁹ Cut off thy hair, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. ³⁰ For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith Jehovah; they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. ³¹ And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither did it come up into my mind. ³² Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, when it shall no more be said, Topheth, and Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place. ³³ And the carcases of this people shall be food for the fowl of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall scare them away. ³⁴ And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.

¹ At that time, 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 inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves; ² and they shall spread them out to the sun and to the moon and to all the host of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the ground. ³ And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, in all the places whither I have driven those that remain, saith Jehovah of hosts.

⁴ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Do men fall, and not rise up? Doth one turn away, and not return? ⁵ Why hath this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. ⁶ I hearkened and heard: they speak not what is right; there is no man who repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turneth to his course, like a horse rushing into the battle. ⁷ Even a stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of Jehovah. ⁸ How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? Behold, certainly the lying pen of the scribes hath made it falsehood. ⁹ The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected Jehovah's word; and what wisdom is in them? ¹⁰ Therefore will I give their wives unto others, their fields to those that shall possess them ; for every one, from the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. ¹¹ And they have healed the breach of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace! when there is no peace. ¹² Are they ashamed that they have committed abomination? Nay, they are not at all ashamed, and they know not how to blush. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, saith Jehovah.

¹³ I will utterly take them away, saith Jehovah: there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree; and the leaf is faded: and I will give them up to those that shall pass over them. ¹⁴ Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced cities, and let us be silent there: for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah. ¹⁵ Peace is looked for, and there is no good; a time of healing, and behold, terror. ¹⁶ The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: the whole land trembleth at the sound of the neighing of his steeds, and they come, and devour the land, and all it contains, the city and those that dwell therein. ¹⁷ For behold, I send among you serpents, vipers against which there is no charm, and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah. ¹⁸ My comfort in my sadness! my heart is faint in me! ¹⁹ Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, from a very far country: Is not Jehovah in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, with foreign vanities? ²⁰ The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. ²¹ --For the breach of the daughter of my people am I crushed; I go mourning; astonishment hath taken hold of me. ²² Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then is there no dressing applied for the healing of the daughter of my people?

¹ Oh that my head were waters, and mine eye a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! ² Oh that I had in the wilderness a traveller's lodging-place, that I might leave my people, and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. ³ And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood, and not for fidelity are they valiant in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah. ⁴ Take ye heed every one of his friend, and confide not in any brother; for every brother only supplanteth, and every friend goeth about with slander. ⁵ And they act deceitfully every one with his neighbour, and speak not the truth: they teach their tongue to speak falsehood, they weary themselves with perverse dealing. ⁶ Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah. ⁷ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else could I do for the daughter of my people? ⁸ Their tongue is a murderous arrow; it speaketh deceit. A man speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth his ambush. ⁹ Shall I not visit them for these things ? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ¹⁰ For the mountains will I take up weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness, a lamentation; for they are burnt up, so that none passeth through them; and the voice of the cattle is not heard. Both the fowl of the heavens and the beasts are fled; they are gone. ¹¹ And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

¹² Who is a wise man, that he may understand this? and he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land perished, burnt up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through? ¹³ And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, nor walked in it, ¹⁴ but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them; ¹⁵ therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, ¹⁶ and will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. ¹⁷ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come, and send for the skilful women, that they may come; ¹⁸ and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids pour forth waters. ¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled, sorely put to shame! For we have forsaken the land, for they have cast down our dwellings. ²⁰ Hear then the word of Jehovah, ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and each one her companion lamentation. ²¹ For death is come up through our windows, is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from the street, the young men from the broadways. ²² Speak, Thus saith Jehovah: Yea, the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the reaper, and there shall be none to gather.

²³ Thus saith Jehovah: Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty glory in his might; let not the rich glory in his riches: ²⁴ but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah, who exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah. ²⁵ Behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, when I will visit all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised; ²⁶ Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their beard cut off, that dwell in the wilderness: for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

¹ Hear the word that Jehovah speaketh unto you, house of Israel. ² Thus saith Jehovah: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them. ³ For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for it is a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan; ⁴ they deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. ⁵ They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. ⁶ There is none like unto thee, Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. ⁷ Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain; for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. ⁸ But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock. ⁹ Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artizan and of the hands of the founder; blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of skilful men . ¹⁰ But Jehovah Elohim is truth; he is the living God, and the King of eternity. At his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations cannot abide his indignation. ¹¹ Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. ¹² He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding. ¹³ When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the end of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. ¹⁴ Every man is become brutish, bereft of knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁵ They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. ¹⁶ The portion of Jacob is not like them; for it is he that hath formed all things , and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

¹⁷ Gather up thy baggage out of the land, O inhabitress of the fortress. ¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will this time sling out the inhabitants of the land, and will distress them, that they may be found. ¹⁹ Woe is me, for my wound! My stroke is hard to heal, and I had said, Yea, this is my grief, and I will bear it. ²⁰ My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth from me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. ²¹ For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered. ²² The voice of a rumour! Behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals. ²³ I know, Jehovah, that the way of man is not his own; it is not in a man that walketh to direct his steps. ²⁴ Jehovah, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. ²⁵ Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, yea, they have eaten him up and consumed him, and have laid waste his dwelling-place.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Hear ye the words of this covenant; and speak ye unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant ⁴ which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Hearken unto my voice and do them, according to all that I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: ⁵ that I may perform the oath that I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said, Amen, Jehovah! ⁶ And Jehovah said unto me, Proclaim all 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 I earnestly protested unto your fathers, in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Hearken unto my voice. ⁸ But they have not hearkened, nor inclined their ear, but have walked every one in the stubbornness of their evil heart; and I have brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, and they have not done. ⁹ And Jehovah said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

¹¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon them, from which they shall not be able to escape; and they will cry unto me, and I will not hearken unto them. ¹² Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods unto whom they have burned incense; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. ¹³ For as the number of thy cities, are thy gods, O Judah; and as the number of the streets of Jerusalem, have ye set up altars to the Shame, altars to burn incense unto Baal. ¹⁴ And thou, pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. ¹⁵ What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing that the more part practise their evil devices, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. ¹⁶ Jehovah had called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair, of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and its branches are broken. ¹⁷ For Jehovah of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done for themselves, to provoke me to anger in burning incense unto Baal.

¹⁸ And Jehovah hath given me knowledge, and I know it ; then thou shewedst me their doings. ¹⁹ And I was like a tame lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered. ²⁰ But thou, Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause. ²¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand, ²² --therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I punish them: the 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 upon the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.

¹ Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously? ² Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root: they advance, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins. ³ But thou, Jehovah, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and proved my heart toward thee. Drag them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. ⁴ How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of all the fields wither? Because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts and the birds perish; for they say, He will not see our end. ⁵ If thou hast run with footmen, and they have wearied thee, how wilt thou then contend with horses? And if in a land of peace thou thinkest thyself in security, how wilt thou then do in the swelling of the Jordan? ⁶ For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee, even they have cried aloud after thee. Believe them not, though they speak good words unto thee.

⁷ I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage, I have given the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. ⁸ My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest; it hath raised its voice against me: therefore have I hated it. ⁹ My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird of prey; the birds of prey round about are against her. Go, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. ¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness: ¹¹ they have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourneth unto me: the whole land is made desolate, for no man layeth it to heart. ¹² Spoilers are come upon all heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace. ¹³ They have sown wheat, and they reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and do not profit. Be ye therefore ashamed of your revenues, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.

¹⁴ Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵ And it shall come to pass, after I have plucked them up, I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, and each one to his land. ¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah liveth--even as they taught my people to swear by Baal--they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷ And if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith Jehovah.

¹ Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins; but dip it not in water. ² And I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins. ³ And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, ⁴ Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah had commanded me. ⁶ And it came to pass at the end of many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence which I commanded thee to hide there. ⁷ And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle was spoiled, it was good for nothing. ⁸ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁹ Thus saith Jehovah: After this manner will I spoil the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and go after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing. ¹¹ For as a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

¹² And thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every skin shall be filled with wine. And they will say unto thee, Do we not very well know that every skin shall be filled with wine? ¹³ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings that sit for David upon his throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. ¹⁴ And I will dash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah; I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy so as not to destroy them. ¹⁵ Hear ye, and give ear, be not lifted up; for Jehovah hath spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight; and ye shall look for light, but he will turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. ¹⁷ And if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is gone into captivity. ¹⁸ Say unto the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down low; for from your heads shall come down the crown of your magnificence. ¹⁹ The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them ; all Judah is carried away captive: it is wholly carried away captive. ²⁰ Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north. Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? ²¹ What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee, since thou thyself hast trained them to be princes in chief over thee? Shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

²² And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels have suffered violence. ²³ Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil. ²⁴ And I will scatter them as stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. ²⁵ This shall be thy lot, thy measured portion from me, saith Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and confided in falsehood. ²⁶ Therefore will I also turn thy skirts over thy face, and thy shame shall be seen. ²⁷ Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy fornication, on the hills, in the fields, --thine abominations, have I seen. Woe unto thee, Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean? after how long a time yet?

¹ The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. ² Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem goeth up. ³ And their nobles send their little ones for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed, they are confounded, and have covered their heads. ⁴ Because the ground is chapt, for there hath been no rain on the earth, the ploughmen are ashamed, they cover their heads. ⁵ For the hind also calveth in the field, and forsaketh its young , because there is no grass. ⁶ And the wild asses stand on the heights, they snuff up the wind like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage. ⁷ Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou act for thy name's sake; for our backslidings are many--we have sinned against thee. ⁸ Thou hope of Israel, its Saviour in the time of trouble, why wilt thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a traveller that turneth aside to stay a night? ⁹ Why wilt thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name: leave us not.

¹⁰ Thus saith Jehovah to this people: Even so have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet; and Jehovah hath no delight in them: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. ¹¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. ¹² When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer up burnt-offering and oblation, I will not accept them: for I will consume them by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. ¹³ And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; for I will give you assured peace in this place. ¹⁴ And Jehovah said unto me, The prophets prophesy falsehood in my name; I have not sent them, neither have I commanded them, nor spoken unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. ¹⁵ Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, and who say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and by famine shall those prophets be consumed; ¹⁶ and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword; and there shall be none to bury them, them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters; and I will pour their wickedness upon them.

¹⁷ And thou shalt say this word unto them: Let mine eyes run down with tears, night and day, and not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. ¹⁸ If I go forth into the field, behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, behold them that pine away with famine! For both prophet and priest shall go about into a land that they know not. ¹⁹ --Hast thou then utterly rejected Judah? Doth thy soul loathe Zion? Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? Peace is looked for, and there is no good, --and a time of healing, and behold terror! ²⁰ Jehovah, we acknowledge our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against thee. ²¹ For thy name's sake, do not spurn us , do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. ²² Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou HE, Jehovah, our God? And we wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these things.

¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go forth. ² And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. ³ For I will visit them with four kinds of punishments , saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and dogs to tear, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. ⁴ And I will give them over to be driven hither and thither amongst all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. ⁵ For who shall have pity upon thee, Jerusalem? and who shall bemoan thee? and who shall turn aside to ask after thy welfare? ⁶ Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting. ⁷ And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave of children and destroy my people: they have not returned from their ways. ⁸ Their widows are increased to me more than the sand of the seas; I have brought upon them, against the mother of the young men, a spoiler at noonday; I have caused anguish and terror to fall upon her suddenly. ⁹ She that hath borne seven languisheth, she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it is yet day; she is put to shame and confounded. And the residue of them will I give up to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah.

¹⁰ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent on usury, nor have they lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. ¹¹ Jehovah said, Verily I will set thee free for thy good; verily I will cause the enemy to meet thee kindly in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. ¹² Will iron break? iron from the north? and bronze? ¹³ Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, and in all thy borders; ¹⁴ and I will make them to pass with thine enemies into a land that thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger; it shall burn upon you.

¹⁵ Jehovah, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; in thy long-suffering take me not away: know that for thy sake I bear reproach. ¹⁶ Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. ¹⁷ I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor exulted: I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation. ¹⁸ Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? It refuseth to be healed. Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a treacherous spring , as waters that fail? ¹⁹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: If thou return, then will I bring thee again, thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. ²⁰ And I will make thee unto this people a strong brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, to save thee and to deliver thee, saith Jehovah; ²¹ yea, I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

¹ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ² Thou shalt not take thee a wife, and thou shalt not have sons nor daughters in this place. ³ For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bear them, and concerning their fathers that beget them in this land: ⁴ They shall die of painful deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground, and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth. ⁵ For thus saith Jehovah: Enter not into the house of wailing, neither go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, the loving-kindness and the tender mercies. ⁶ Both great and small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried; and none shall lament for them, or cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. ⁷ Nor shall they break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall they give them the cup of consolations to drink for their father or for their mother. ⁸ And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, to eat and to drink. ⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt declare unto this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? and what is our iniquity? and what is our sin which we have committed against Jehovah our God? ¹¹ then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; ¹² and you, ye have done still worse than your fathers; and there ye are walking every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not to hearken unto me: ¹³ and I will cast you forth out of this land, into a land that ye know not, ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night: because I will shew you no favour.

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ¹⁵ but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. For I will bring them again into their land, which I gave unto their fathers. ¹⁶ Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them; and afterwards will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them, from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. ¹⁷ For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not concealed from my face, neither is their iniquity hidden from before mine eyes. ¹⁸ But first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have profaned my land with the carcases of their detestable things, and with their abominations have they filled mine inheritance. ¹⁹ Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of distress, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited falsehood and vanity; and in these things there is no profit. ²⁰ Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no-gods? ²¹ Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah.

¹ The sin of Judah is written with a style of iron, with the point of a diamond, engraven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; ² whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherahs, by the green trees, upon the high hills. ³ My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures will I give for a spoil, --thy high places, because of sin throughout thy borders. ⁴ And of thyself thou shalt let go thine inheritance which I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land that thou knowest not; for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, --it shall burn for ever.

⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that confideth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah. ⁶ And he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. ⁷ Blessed is the man that confideth in Jehovah, and whose confidence Jehovah is. ⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the stream, and he shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; and in the year of drought he shall not be careful, neither shall he cease to yield fruit. ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable; who can know it? ¹⁰ I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give each one according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. ¹¹  As the partridge sitteth on eggs it hath not laid, so is he that getteth riches and not by right: in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be a fool.

¹² A throne of glory, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. ¹³ Thou hope of Israel, Jehovah! all that forsake thee shall be ashamed. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth; because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. ¹⁴ Heal me, Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. ¹⁵ Behold, these say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it then come! ¹⁶ But as for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd in following thee, neither have I desired the fatal day, thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face. ¹⁷ Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil. ¹⁸ Let them be ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be ashamed; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and break them with a double breaking.

¹⁹ Thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; ²⁰ and say unto them, Hear the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates; ²¹ thus saith Jehovah: Take heed to your souls, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, and bring nothing in through the gates of Jerusalem; ²² and carry forth no burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do any work; but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers, ²³ but they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but hardened their neck, that they might not hear nor receive instruction. ²⁴ And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, and to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; ²⁵ then shall there enter in, through the gates of this city, kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever. ²⁶ And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the south, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and oblations, and incense, and bringing thanksgiving unto the house of Jehovah. ²⁷ But if ye will not hearken unto me, to hallow the sabbath day and not to bear a burden and enter in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. ³ And I went down to the potter's house; and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. ⁴ And the vessel that he made was marred, as clay, in the hand of the potter; and he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make. ⁵ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ⁶ House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, house of Israel. ⁷ At the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, ⁸ if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, then I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ⁹ And at the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant, ¹⁰ if it do evil in my sight, that it hearken not unto my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.

¹¹ And now, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I prepare evil against you, and devise a device against you: turn ye then every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. ¹² But they say, There is no hope; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart. ¹³ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, Who hath heard such things? The virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. ¹⁴ Shall the snow of Lebanon cease from the rock of the field? Shall the cool flowing waters coming from afar be dried up? ¹⁵ For my people hath forgotten me: they burn incense to vanity; and they have caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient paths, to walk in by-paths of a way not cast up; ¹⁶ to make their land an astonishment, a perpetual hissing: every one that passeth by shall be astonished, and shake his head. ¹⁷ As with an east wind will I scatter them before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

¹⁸ And they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. ¹⁹ Jehovah, give heed to me, and listen to the voice of those that contend with me. ²⁰ Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore give up their children to the famine, and deliver them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of children and be widows; and let their men be swept off by death, their young men be smitten by the sword in battle. ²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and have hidden snares for my feet. ²³ And thou, Jehovah, knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee: deal with them in the time of thine anger.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah: Go and buy a potter's earthen flagon, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests; ² and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the pottery-gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, ³ and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle; ⁴ because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place from me , and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; ⁵ and they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire as burnt-offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it up into my mind: ⁶ therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. ⁷ And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life, and their carcases will I give as food to the fowl of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing; every one that passeth by shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. ⁹ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

¹⁰ And thou shalt break the flagon in the sight of the men that go with thee, ¹¹ and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury. ¹² Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, and make this city as Topheth. ¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be as the place of Topheth, defiled, all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods. ¹⁴ And Jeremiah came from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people, ¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her cities all the evil that I have spoken against it; for they have hardened their necks, not to hear my words.

¹ And Pashur the son of Immer, the priest--and he was chief officer in the house of Jehovah--heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. ² And Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah. ³ And it came to pass the next day, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks; and Jeremiah said unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. ⁴ For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall see it ; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall smite them with the sword. ⁵ And, I will give all the wealth of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah, will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there thou shalt be buried, thou and all thy friends to whom thou hast prophesied falsehood.

⁷ Jehovah, thou hast enticed me, and I was enticed; thou hast laid hold of me, and hast prevailed; I am become a derision the whole day: every one mocketh me. ⁸ For as oft as I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and spoil; for the word of Jehovah is become unto me a reproach and a derision all the day. ⁹ And I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: but it was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I became wearied with holding in, and I could not. ¹⁰ For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side: Report, and we will report it. All my familiars are watching for my stumbling: Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him; and we shall take our revenge on him. ¹¹ But Jehovah is with me as a mighty terrible one; therefore my persecutors shall stumble and shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed, for they have not prospered: it shall be an everlasting confusion that shall not be forgotten. ¹² And thou, Jehovah of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. ¹³ Sing ye unto Jehovah, praise Jehovah, for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴ Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed! ¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad! ¹⁶ And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday, ¹⁷ because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great with me ! ¹⁸ Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

¹ The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, ² Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that Jehovah will deal with us according to all his marvellous works, that he may go up from us. ³ And Jeremiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: ⁴ Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, outside the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. ⁵ And I myself will fight against you with a stretched-out hand, and with a strong arm, and in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. ⁶ And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷ And afterwards, saith Jehovah, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life, and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword: he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

⁸ And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. ⁹ He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and deserteth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. ¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith Jehovah: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ¹¹ And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear ye the word of Jehovah. ¹² House of David, thus saith Jehovah: Judge with justice in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings. ¹³ Behold, I am against thee, inhabitress of the valley, the rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; ye that say, Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter into our dwellings? ¹⁴ And I will visit you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.

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, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people who enter in through these gates. ³ Thus saith Jehovah: Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in through the gates of this house kings sitting in the place of David upon his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, --he, and his servants, and his people. ⁵ But if ye will not hear these words, I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a waste. ⁶ For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art a Gilead unto me, the summit of Lebanon: verily I will make thee a wilderness, cities not inhabited. ⁷ And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down the choice of thy cedars, and cast them into the fire. ⁸ And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city? ⁹ And they shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

¹⁰ Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. ¹¹ For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither any more; ¹² for he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. ¹³ Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his upper chambers by injustice; that taketh his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not his earning; ¹⁴ that saith, I will build me a wide house, and spacious upper chambers; and he cutteth out for himself windows; and it is wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion. ¹⁵ Shalt thou reign, because thou viest with the cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? Then it was well with him. ¹⁶ He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah. ¹⁷ But thine eyes and thy heart are only on thine extortion, and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and on violence, to do it. ¹⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: They shall not lament for him, Ah, my brother! or, Ah, sister! They shall not lament for him, Ah, lord! or Ah, his glory! ¹⁹ He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged along and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and give forth thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the heights of Abarim: for all thy lovers are destroyed. ²¹ I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy way from thy youth, that thou hearkenedst not unto my voice. ²² The wind shall feed on all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; surely, then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. ²³ Thou inhabitress of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how pitiful shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, pain as of a woman in travail! ²⁴  As I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet upon my right hand, yet will I pluck thee thence; ²⁵ and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them before whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. ²⁷ And into the land whereunto they lift up their souls to return, thither shall they not return. ²⁸ Is this man Coniah a despised broken vase? a vessel wherein is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? ²⁹ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah! ³⁰ Thus saith Jehovah: Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

¹ Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah. ² Therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel concerning the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. ³ And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their pastures; and they shall be fruitful and shall multiply. ⁴ And I will raise up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, saith Jehovah. ⁵ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, who shall reign as king, and act wisely, and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in safety; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness. ⁷ Therefore behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ⁸ but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led back the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.

⁹ Concerning the prophets: My heart within me is broken; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome; because of Jehovah, and because of the words of his holiness. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; for because of execration the land mourneth. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up; for their course is evil, and their force is not right. ¹¹ For both prophet and priest are profane: even in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah. ¹² Therefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them in the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah. ¹³ And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. ¹⁴ And in the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in falsehood, and strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. ¹⁵ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. ¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they lead you to vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah. ¹⁷ They say constantly unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace. And they say unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his heart, No evil shall come upon you. ¹⁸ For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, so that he hath perceived and heard his word? who hath hearkened to his word and listened? ¹⁹ Behold, a tempest of Jehovah, fury is gone forth, yea, a whirling storm: it shall whirl down upon the head of the wicked. ²⁰ The anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and until he have performed the purposes of his heart: at the end of the days ye shall understand it clearly. ²¹ I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in my council, and had caused my people to hear my words, then would they have 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 any hide himself in secret places, that I shall 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 falsehood in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. ²⁶ How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart? ²⁷ who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. ²⁸ The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell the dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Jehovah. ²⁹ Is not my word like a fire, saith Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? ³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their tongues, and say, He hath said. ³² Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith Jehovah, and that tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies and by their boasting; and I have not sent them, nor commanded them; and they profit not this people at all, saith Jehovah.

³³ And when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even cast you off, saith Jehovah. ³⁴ And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house. ³⁵ Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother: What hath Jehovah answered? and, What hath Jehovah spoken? ³⁶ And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more; for every man's own word shall be his burden: for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath Jehovah answered thee? and, What hath Jehovah spoken? ³⁸ But since ye say, The burden of Jehovah, therefore thus saith Jehovah: Because ye say this word, The burden of Jehovah, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of Jehovah; ³⁹ therefore behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, far from my face, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers. ⁴⁰ And I will bring everlasting reproach upon you, and everlasting shame, that shall not be forgotten.

¹ Jehovah shewed me, and behold, two baskets of figs, set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive from Jerusalem, Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the craftsmen and smiths, and had brought them to Babylon. ² One basket had very good figs, like the figs first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness. ³ And Jehovah said unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs very good; and the bad very bad, which cannot be eaten for badness. ⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard for good them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans; ⁶ and I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them 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 my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. ⁸ And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten for badness, surely, thus saith Jehovah: So will I make Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ And I will give them over to be driven hither and thither unto all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them; ¹⁰ and I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah (that is, the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto 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, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. ⁴ And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, ⁵ when they said, Turn again now every one from his evil way, and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers from of old even for ever. ⁶ And go not after other gods, to serve them and to worship them; and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. ⁷ But ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.

⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not listened to my words, ⁹ behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes. ¹⁰ And I will cause to perish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ And this whole land shall become a waste, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ¹² And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will visit on the king of Babylon and on that nation, saith Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it perpetual desolations. ¹³ And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴ For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

¹⁵ For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. ¹⁶ And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. ¹⁷ And I took the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me: ¹⁸ Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a waste, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; ²⁰ and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; ²¹ Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; ²² and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea; ²³ Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their beard cut off; ²⁴ and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert; ²⁵ and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; ²⁶ and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. ²⁷ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you. ²⁸ And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall certainly drink. ²⁹ For behold, I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by my name, and should ye be altogether unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.

³⁰ And thou, prophesy unto them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar upon his dwelling-place, he will give a shout, as they that tread the vintage , against all the inhabitants of the earth. ³¹ The noise shall come to the end of the earth: for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations, he entereth into judgment with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them up to the sword, saith Jehovah. ³² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth. ³³ And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground. ³⁴ Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the dust , noble ones of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are accomplished, and I will disperse you; and ye shall fall like a precious vessel. ³⁵ And refuge shall perish from the shepherds, and escape from the noble ones of the flock. ³⁶ There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the noble ones of the flock: for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture; ³⁷ and the peaceable enclosures shall be desolated, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. ³⁸ He hath forsaken his covert as a young lion; for their land is a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them: diminish not a word. ³ Peradventure they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the wickedness of their doings. ⁴ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not hearken unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, ⁵ to hearken unto the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent unto you, even rising early and sending them , but ye have not hearkened, ⁶ --then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city 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 came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, Thou shalt certainly die. ⁹ Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah. ¹⁰ And the princes of Judah heard these things; and they went up from the king's house unto the house of Jehovah, and sat in the entry of the new gate of Jehovah. ¹¹ And the priests and the prophets spoke unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. ¹² And Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. ¹³ And now, amend your ways and your doings, and hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, I am in your hand; do unto me as seemeth good and right in your eyes: ¹⁵ only know for certain that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for of a truth Jehovah hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

¹⁶ And the princes and all the people said unto the priests and to the prophets, This man is not worthy to die; for he hath spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God. ¹⁷ And there rose up certain of the elders of the land and spoke to all the congregation of the people, saying, ¹⁸ Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. ¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? Did he not fear Jehovah, and supplicate Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil that he had pronounced against them? And we should be doing a great evil against our souls. ²⁰ And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim: and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah; ²¹ and Jehoiakim the king, and all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death; but Urijah heard it, and he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. ²² And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him, into Egypt; ²³ and they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king; and he slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the children of the people. ²⁴ --Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck; ³ and 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 Zidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴ And give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: ⁵ I have made the earth, man and beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give them unto whom it seemeth right in mine eyes. ⁶ And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. ⁷ And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land also come, when many nations and great kings shall reduce him to servitude. ⁸ And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I visit, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. ⁹ And ye, hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak unto you saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. ¹⁰ For they prophesy falsehood unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. ¹¹ But the nation that bringeth its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serveth him, will I let remain still in its own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

¹² And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ¹³ Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, yet they prophesy falsely in my name; in order that I should drive you out, and that ye should perish, ye, and the prophets who prophesy unto you. ¹⁶ And I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you. ¹⁷ Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a waste? ¹⁸ But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. ¹⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; ²¹ yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day of my visiting them, saith Jehovah; then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.

¹ And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Jehovah, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, ² Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon; ⁴ and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah that went to Babylon, saith Jehovah: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. ⁵ And the prophet Jeremiah spoke unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of Jehovah. ⁶ And the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen, may Jehovah do so! may Jehovah perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again from Babylon, into this place, the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all them of the captivity! ⁷ Nevertheless, hear, I pray thee, this word which I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people: ⁸ The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old, prophesied also concerning many countries and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. ⁹ The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, shall be known as the prophet whom Jehovah hath really sent.

¹⁰ And the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it. ¹¹ And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: So will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. ¹² And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, after that the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast broken the yokes of wood, and thou hast made in their place yokes of iron. ¹⁴ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also. ¹⁵ And the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, Hear now, Hananiah: Jehovah hath not sent thee; and thou makest this people to trust in falsehood. ¹⁶ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, for thou hast spoken revolt against Jehovah. ¹⁷ And the prophet Hananiah died in the same year in the seventh month.

¹ And these are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon ² (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem); ³ by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkijah (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying, ⁴ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon: ⁵ Build houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. ⁶ Take wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and be not diminished. ⁷ And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto Jehovah for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

⁸ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in your midst, nor your diviners deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams, which ye like to dream. ⁹ For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith Jehovah. ¹⁰ For thus saith Jehovah: When seventy years shall be accomplished for Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in bringing you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you in your latter end a hope. ¹² And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you; ¹³ and ye shall seek me and find me, for ye shall search for me with all your heart, ¹⁴ and I will be found of you, saith Jehovah. And I will turn your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Jehovah; and I will bring you again into the place whence I have caused you to be carried away captive.

¹⁵ If ye say, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; ¹⁶ yea, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; ¹⁷ thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like the vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness. ¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over to be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an execration, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I will drive them: ¹⁹ because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, wherewith I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, saith Jehovah. ²⁰ But ye, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the word of Jehovah. 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 falsehood unto you in my name: Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall smite them before your eyes. ²² And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; ²³ because they have committed infamy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken words of falsehood in my name, which I had not commanded them: and I am he that knoweth, and am witness, saith Jehovah.

²⁴ And thou shalt speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, ²⁵ Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ Jehovah hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be officers in the house of Jehovah, over every madman and self-made prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in the shackles. ²⁷ And now, why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you? ²⁸ Forasmuch as he hath sent unto us in Babylon, saying, It will be long; build houses, and dwell in them , and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. ²⁹ --And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of the prophet Jeremiah. ³⁰ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he hath caused you to trust in falsehood; ³² therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he see the good that I will do for my people, saith Jehovah; because he hath spoken revolt against Jehovah.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Thus speaketh Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Write thee in a book all the words that I have spoken unto thee. ³ For behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. ⁴ And these are the words that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Israel and concerning Judah; ⁵ for thus saith Jehovah: We have heard a voice of trembling, there is fear, and no peace. ⁶ Ask ye now, and see, whether a male doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail; and all faces are turned into paleness? ⁷ Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. ⁸ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more reduce him to servitude. ⁹ But they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

¹⁰ And thou, my servant Jacob, fear not, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. ¹¹ For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee; yet of thee will I not make a full end, but I will correct thee with judgment, and will not hold thee altogether guiltless. ¹² For thus saith Jehovah: Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is grievous. ¹³ There is none to plead thy cause, to bind up thy wound ; thou hast no healing medicines. ¹⁴ All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not. For I have smitten thee with the stroke of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity: thy sins are manifold. ¹⁵ Why criest thou because of thy bruise? thy sorrow is incurable; for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins are manifold, I have done these things unto thee. ¹⁶ Therefore all that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be for a spoil; and all they that prey upon thee will I give to be a prey. ¹⁷ For I will apply a bandage unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; for they have called thee an outcast: This is Zion that no man seeketh after.

¹⁸ Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his habitations; and the city shall be built upon her own heap; and the palace shall be inhabited after the manner thereof. ¹⁹ And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished; and I will honour them, and they shall not be small. ²⁰ And their sons shall be as aforetime; and their assembly shall be established before me; and I will punish all that oppress them. ²¹ And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to approach, and he shall draw near unto me. For who is this that engageth his heart to draw near unto me? saith Jehovah. ²² And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²³ Behold, a tempest of Jehovah, fury is gone forth, a sweeping storm: it shall whirl down upon the head of the wicked. ²⁴ The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and until he have performed the purposes of his heart. At the end of the days ye shall consider it.

¹ At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. ² Thus saith Jehovah: The people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I go to give him rest. ³ Jehovah hath appeared from afar unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. ⁴ I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel! Thou shalt again be adorned with thy tambours, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. ⁵ Thou shalt again plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall eat the fruit. ⁶ For there shall be a day, when the watchmen upon mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God. ⁷ For thus saith Jehovah: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout at the head of the nations; publish ye, praise ye, and say, Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. ⁸ Behold, I bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth; and among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great assemblage shall they return hither. ⁹ They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by water-brooks, in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; for I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Jehovah, ye nations, and declare it to the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd his flock. ¹¹ For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he. ¹² And they shall come and sing aloud upon the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, for corn, and for new wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not languish any more at all. ¹³ Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into gladness, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice after their sorrow. ¹⁴ And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah. ¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: A voice hath been heard in Ramah, the wail of very bitter weeping, --Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are not. ¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for there is a reward for thy work, saith Jehovah; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. ¹⁷ And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah, and thy children shall come again to their own border.

¹⁸ I have indeed heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock not trained: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. ¹⁹ Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after I knew myself, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, for I bear the reproach of my youth. ²⁰ Is Ephraim a dear son unto me? is he a child of delights? For whilst I have been speaking against him, I do constantly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will certainly have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah. ²¹ Set up waymarks, make for thyself signposts; set thy heart toward the highway, the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. ²² How long wilt thou wander about, thou backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath created a new thing on the earth, a woman shall encompass a man. ²³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: They shall again use this speech, in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness! ²⁴ And therein shall dwell Judah, and all the cities thereof together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. ²⁵ For I have satiated the weary soul, and every languishing soul have I replenished. ²⁶ --Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

²⁷ Behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸ And it shall come to pass, as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to overthrow, 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 say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge: ³⁰ for every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. ³¹ Behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day of my taking them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will pardon their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

³⁵ Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for light by day, the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who stirreth up the sea so that the waves thereof roar, --Jehovah of hosts is his name: ³⁶ If those ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. ³⁷ Thus saith Jehovah: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the whole seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith Jehovah. ³⁸ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah, from the tower of Hananeel unto the corner-gate. ³⁹ And the measuring line shall yet go forth before it unto the hill Gareb, and shall turn toward Goath. ⁴⁰ And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the torrent Kidron, unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east, shall be holy unto Jehovah: it shall not be plucked up, nor overthrown any more for ever.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah: that year was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. ² And the king of Babylon's army was then besieging Jerusalem; and the prophet Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house. ³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why dost thou prophesy and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans; for he shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; ⁵ and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith Jehovah: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper? ⁶ And Jeremiah said, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁷ Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying, Buy for thyself my field which is in Anathoth; for thine is the right of redemption, to buy it . ⁸ And Hanameel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine: buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. ⁹ And I bought of Hanameel, mine uncle's son, the field which is in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I subscribed the writing, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances. ¹¹ And I took the writing of the purchase, that which was sealed according to the law and the statutes, and that which was open; ¹² and I gave the writing of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Nerijah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son , and in the presence of the witnesses that had subscribed the writing of purchase, before all the Jews that were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³ And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these writings, this writing of the purchase, both that which is sealed and this writing which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days. ¹⁵ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.

¹⁶ And after I had given the writing of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Nerijah, I prayed unto Jehovah saying, ¹⁷ Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm; there is nothing too hard for thee: ¹⁸ who shewest mercy unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, thou, the great, the mighty *God, --Jehovah of hosts is his name; ¹⁹ great in counsel and mighty in work, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: ²⁰ who hast displayed signs and wonders unto this day, in the land of Egypt and in Israel and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day. ²¹ And thou broughtest forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt by signs, and by wonders, and by a powerful hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terror; ²² and didst give them this land, which thou hadst sworn unto their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ And they came in and possessed it: but they hearkened not unto thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do; so that thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. ²⁴ Behold the mounds, they are come unto the city for taking it; and the city is given over into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, by the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and behold, thou seest it . ²⁵ And thou, Lord Jehovah, thou hast said unto me, Buy for thyself the field for money, and take witnesses; --and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷ Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me? ²⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come in and set fire to this city, and shall burn it, and the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. ³⁰ For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have been doing only evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah. ³¹ For this city hath been to me a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, ³² because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face; and though I taught them, rising early and teaching, they hearkened not to receive instruction. ³⁴ And they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it; ³⁵ and they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause to pass through the fire their sons and their daughters unto Molech: which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. ³⁶ And now therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith thus concerning this city, whereof ye say, It hath been given over into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: ³⁷ Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries whither I have driven them, in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. ³⁸ And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹ And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all their days, for the good of them, and of their children after them. ⁴⁰ And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not draw back from them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their heart, that they may not turn aside from me. ⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with my whole heart and with my whole soul. ⁴² For thus saith Jehovah: Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have spoken concerning them. ⁴³ And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. ⁴⁴  Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the writings, and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn their captivity, saith Jehovah.

¹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah the doer of it, Jehovah that formeth it to establish it, Jehovah is his name: ³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and I will shew thee great and hidden things, which thou knowest not. ⁴ For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down because of the mounds and because of the sword: ⁵ They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city. ⁶ Behold, I will apply a healing dressing to it and cure, and I will heal them, and will reveal unto them an abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And I will turn the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel, and will build them, as at the beginning. ⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me. ⁹ And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

¹⁰ Thus saith Jehovah: In this place of which ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast! in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, ¹¹ there shall again be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give ye thanks unto Jehovah of hosts; for Jehovah is good, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever, --of them that bring thanksgiving unto the house of Jehovah. For I will turn the captivity of the land as in the beginning, saith Jehovah. ¹² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In this place which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, there shall again be a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³ In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counteth them , saith Jehovah. ¹⁴ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform the good word which I have spoken unto the house of Israel and unto the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety. And this is the name wherewith she shall be called: Jehovah our Righteousness.

¹⁷ For thus saith Jehovah: There shall never fail to David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ neither shall there fail to the priests the Levites a man before me to offer up burnt-offerings, and to burn oblations, and to do sacrifice continually. ¹⁹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant in respect of the day, and my covenant in respect of the night, so that there should not be day and night in their season, ²¹  then shall also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. ²² As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. ²³ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ Hast thou not seen what this people have spoken, saying, The two families that Jehovah had chosen, he hath even cast them off? And they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. ²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and the earth, ²⁶  then will I also cast away 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 turn their captivity, and will have mercy on them.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ³ And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt certainly be taken, and given into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. ⁴ Only, hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus saith Jehovah as to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword; ⁵ thou shalt die in peace, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn for thee; and they will lament for thee, Ah, lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah. ⁶ And the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem. ⁷ And the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these were amongst the cities of Judah, the fenced cities that were left.

⁸ The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them: ⁹ that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, that is, of a Jew his brother. ¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people that had entered into the covenant obeyed, every man letting his bondman and every man his bondmaid go free, that none should exact service of them any more: they obeyed, and let them go. ¹¹ But afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids. ¹² And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ¹³ Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. ¹⁵ And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: ¹⁶ but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids. ¹⁷ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, --the calf which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, ¹⁹ --the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf; ²⁰ them will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens 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 them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. ²² Behold, I command, saith Jehovah, and I will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

¹ The word that 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 with them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. ³ And I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. ⁵ And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink wine. ⁶ And they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, ye nor your sons for ever; ⁷ neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor shall ye have any ; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye sojourn. ⁸ And we have hearkened unto the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed; ¹⁰ but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ And it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go into Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans, and because of the army of Syria; and we dwell at Jerusalem.

¹² And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken unto my words? saith Jehovah. ¹⁴ The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they have drunk none, for they have obeyed their father's commandment. But I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto me. ¹⁵ And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; and ye shall dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear nor hearkened unto me. ¹⁶ Yea, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people hath not hearkened unto me; ¹⁷ therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken unto them, but they have not hearkened, and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his injunctions, and have done according unto all that he hath commanded you; ¹⁹ therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever.

¹ And it came to pass 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 therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. ³ It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. ⁴ And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Nerijah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. ⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of Jehovah; but go thou in, ⁶ and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah upon the fast day; and thou shalt also read them in the ears of all Judah that come from their cities. ⁷ It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and that they will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. ⁸ And Baruch the son of Nerijah did according to all that the prophet Jeremiah commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah's house.

⁹ And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah, for all the people in Jerusalem, and for all the people that 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 upper court, at the entry 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 out of the book all the words of Jehovah; ¹² and he went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber, and behold, 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 unto them all the words that 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, Take in thy hand the roll in which thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. And Baruch the son of Nerijah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. ¹⁵ And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. And Baruch read it in their ears. ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when they heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said unto Baruch, We will certainly report to the king all these words. ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words from his mouth? ¹⁸ And Baruch said unto them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. ¹⁹ And the princes said unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; that none may know where ye are.

²⁰ And they went in unto the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. ²¹ And the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he fetched 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 that stood beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month, and with the fire-pan burning before him. ²³ And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with the scribe's knife, and cast it into the fire that was in the pan until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the pan. ²⁴ And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words. ²⁵ Moreover, Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear 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 And after that the king had burned the roll, and the words that Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁸ Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. ²⁹ And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from it man and beast? ³⁰ Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. ³¹ And I will visit their iniquity upon him, and upon his seed, and upon his servants; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; and they have not hearkened. ³² And Jeremiah took another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Nerijah; and he wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides unto them many like words.

¹ And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon having made him king in the land of Judah. ² And neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. ³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto Jehovah our God for us. ⁴ And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. ⁵ And Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they went up from Jerusalem. ⁶ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ⁷ Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. ⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. ⁹ Thus saith Jehovah: Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans are certainly gone away from us; for they are not gone. ¹⁰ For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ And it came to pass when the army of the Chaldeans was gone up from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, ¹² that Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to have his portion there among the people. ¹³ And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thou art deserting to the Chaldeans. ¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, It is false: I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him; and Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. ¹⁵ And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in the place of confinement in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison. ¹⁶ When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon and into the vaults, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, ¹⁷ king Zedekiah sent and took him out. And the king asked of him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is; and he said, Thou shalt be given into the hand of the king of Babylon. ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in the prison? ¹⁹ And where are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? ²⁰ And now hear, I pray thee, my lord, O king: let my supplication, I pray thee, come before thee; and cause me not to return into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. ²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. And Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard.

¹ And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah: He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. ³ Thus saith Jehovah: This city shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, and he shall take it. ⁴ And the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; for why should he weaken the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking to them according to these words? for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. ⁵ And king Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do a thing against you. ⁶ Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the guard, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. ⁷ And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon--now the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin, ⁸ --and Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying, ⁹ My lord, O king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he will die by reason of the famine in the place where he is; for there is no more bread in the city. ¹⁰ And the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. ¹¹ And Ebed-melech took the men under his order, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old shreds and worn-out clothes, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ¹² And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put, I pray, these old shreds and rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. ¹³ And they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and brought him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹⁴ And king Zedekiah sent and took the prophet Jeremiah unto him, into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah; and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing: hide nothing from me. ¹⁵ And Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not certainly put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me. ¹⁶ And king Zedekiah swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. ¹⁷ And Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt freely go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thy house. ¹⁸ But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. ¹⁹ And king Zedekiah said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand, and they mock me. ²⁰ And Jeremiah said, They shall not give thee over. Hearken, I beseech thee, unto the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee; so shall it be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. ²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word which Jehovah hath shewn me: ²² Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes; and they shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back. ²³ And they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand; for thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. ²⁴ And Zedekiah said unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. ²⁵ And if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; and what hath the king said unto thee? ²⁶ then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. ²⁷ --And all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. And they withdrew quietly from him; for the matter was not reported. ²⁸ And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

¹ And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken, in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. ² 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 princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebu, Sarsechim, chief chamberlain, Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. ⁴ And it came to pass when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls; and he went out the way of the plain. ⁵ And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him, and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment upon him. ⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah; ⁷ and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, to carry him to Babylon. ⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive into Babylon the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to him, with the rest of the people that were left. ¹⁰ But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left certain of the people, the poor who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹ And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given charge concerning Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard, saying, ¹² Take him, and keep an eye upon him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. ¹³ So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard sent, and Nebushazban, chief chamberlain, and Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the king of Babylon's princes, ¹⁴ even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should conduct him away home. And he dwelt among the people. ¹⁵ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, ¹⁶ Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good, and they shall come to pass before thy face in that day. ¹⁷ And I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid; ¹⁸ for I will certainly save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thou shalt have thy life for a prey; for thou hast put thy confidence in me, saith Jehovah.

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains, among all the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive to Babylon. ² And the captain of the body-guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, Jehovah thy God pronounced this evil upon this place, ³ and Jehovah hath brought it about and done according as he said; for ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened unto his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. ⁴ And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains that are upon thy hand. If it seem good in thy sight to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will keep mine eye upon thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me to Babylon, forbear. See, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and right in thy sight to go, thither go. ⁵ And while he had not yet given answer; he said, Yea, go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the cities of Judah, and abide with him in the midst of the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth right in thy sight to go. And the captain of the body-guard gave him provisions and a present, and let him go. ⁶ And Jeremiah came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and abode with him among the people that remained in the land.

⁷ And all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that had not been carried away captive to Babylon. ⁸ And they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah; even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. ⁹ And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. ¹⁰ And as for me, behold, I dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans, who will come unto us; and ye, gather wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities which ye have taken. ¹¹ Likewise all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon and in Edom, and that were in all the lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; ¹² and all the Jews returned out of all the places whither they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance. ¹³ And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah unto Mizpah, ¹⁴ and said unto him, Dost thou indeed know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to smite thee to death? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. ¹⁵ And Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will smite Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and no man shall know it: why should he take thy life, and all they of Judah who are gathered unto thee be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? ¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

¹ And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and one of the king's chief men, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam unto Mizpah, and there they ate bread together, in Mizpah. ² And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ And Ishmael smote all the Jews that were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war. ⁴ And it came to pass the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, ⁵ that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves; with oblations and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah. ⁶ And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass when he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. ⁷ And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, he and the men that were with him, slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit. ⁸ But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbore, and did not kill them among their brethren. ⁹ And the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain by the side of Gedaliah was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ And Ishmael carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

¹¹ And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done; ¹² and they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are at Gibeon. ¹³ And it came to pass when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. ¹⁴ And all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that 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 slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon; ¹⁷ and they departed, and dwelt at Geruth-Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt, ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they feared them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

¹ And all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, ² came near and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication come before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant (for we are left a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us); ³ that Jehovah thy God may shew us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do. ⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you: I will keep nothing back from you. ⁵ And they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not even according to all the word for which Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us. ⁶ Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will hearken unto the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us when we hearken unto the voice of Jehovah our God.

⁷ And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah. ⁸ And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, ⁹ and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him: ¹⁰ If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not overthrow you , and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. ¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid: be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah; for I will be with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ¹² And I will grant mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. ¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so as not to hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God, ¹⁴ saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger for bread; and there will we dwell; ¹⁵ --and now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah, ye remnant of Judah: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: If ye really set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then it shall come to pass, that the sword which ye fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. ¹⁷ And it shall be that all the men that have set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. ¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my fury have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and ye shall see this place no more. ¹⁹ Jehovah hath said concerning you, the remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have admonished you this day. ²⁰ For ye deceived yourselves in your own souls, when ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. ²¹ And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God, nor anything for which he hath sent me unto you. ²² And now know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn.

¹ And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had ended speaking unto all the people all the words of Jehovah their God, with which Jehovah their God had sent him to them--all these words, ² --then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there; ³ but Baruch the son of Nerijah is setting thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah to abide in the land of Judah; ⁵ but Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations whither they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah; ⁶ men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Nerijah; ⁷ and they came into the land of Egypt: for they hearkened not unto 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 great stones in thy hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the Jews, ¹⁰ and say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones which I have hidden, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. ¹¹ And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt: such as are for death to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are 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 he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. ¹³ And he shall break the pillars 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 that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, ² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein, ³ because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods which they knew not, they, nor ye, nor your fathers. ⁴ And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate! ⁵ But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. ⁶ And my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a waste, a desolation, as at this day. ⁷ And now thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remnant; ⁸ provoking me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are come to sojourn, that ye should be cut off, and that ye should be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They are not humbled unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes which I set before you and before your fathers. ¹¹ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. ¹² And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed: in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, from the least even unto the greatest; they shall die by the sword and by the famine, and they shall be an execration, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. ¹³ And I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; ¹⁴ and none of the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, so as to return into the land of Judah, whither they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assemblage, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, ¹⁶  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee, ¹⁷ but we will certainly do every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and we had plenty of bread, and were well, and saw no evil. ¹⁸ But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. ¹⁹ And when we burned incense to the queen of the heavens and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to portray her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

²⁰ And Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people that had given him that answer, saying, ²¹ Is it not the incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your princes and the people of the land, that Jehovah remembered, and that came into his mind? ²² And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day. ²³ Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil hath come upon you, as at this day. ²⁴ And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will certainly perform our vows which we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her. Ye will certainly establish your vows, and entirely perform your vows. ²⁶ Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Jehovah liveth. ²⁷ Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. ²⁸ And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, a very small company; and all the remnant of Judah, that have come into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. ²⁹ And this shall be the sign unto you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall certainly stand against you for evil: ³⁰ thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

¹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Nerijah, when he wrote these words in a book at 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, Baruch: ³ Thou didst say, Woe unto me! for Jehovah hath added grief to my sorrow; I am weary with my sighing, and I find no rest. ⁴ Thus shalt thou say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, what I have built do I overthrow, and what I have planted I pluck up, even this whole land. ⁵ And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou shalt go.

¹ The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. ² Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah. ³ Make ready buckler and shield, and draw near to battle! ⁴ Harness the horses, and mount ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail! ⁵ Why do I see them dismayed, turned away back? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and take to flight, and look not back? Terror is on every side, saith Jehovah. ⁶ Let not the swift flee away, neither let the mighty man escape! --Toward the north, hard by the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen. ⁷ Who is this that riseth up as the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? ⁸ It is Egypt that riseth up as the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. ⁹ Go up, ye horses, and drive furiously, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Phut that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle the bow and bend it. ¹⁰ For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may be avenged of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and it shall be sated and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord Jehovah of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country, by the river Euphrates. ¹¹ Go up to Gilead, and fetch balm, O virgin-daughter of Egypt! In vain shalt thou multiply remedies: there is no healing for thee.

¹² The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the earth; for the mighty man stumbleth against the mighty, they are both fallen together. ¹³ The word that Jehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: ¹⁴ Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph, and in Tahpanhes; say, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword devoureth round about thee. ¹⁵ Why are thy valiants swept away? They stood not, for Jehovah did thrust them down. ¹⁶ He made many to stumble, yea, one fell upon another; and they said, Arise, and let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. ¹⁷ There did they cry, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath let the time appointed go by. ¹⁸  As I live, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts, surely as Tabor among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. ¹⁹ Thou, inhabitress, daughter of Egypt, furnish for thyself a captive's baggage, for Noph shall be a desolation and shall be ruined, so that none shall dwell therein. ²⁰ Egypt is a very fair heifer; the gad-fly cometh, it cometh from the north. ²¹ Also her hired men in the midst of her are like fatted bullocks; for they also have turned back, they have fled away together, they did not stand; for the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their visitation. ²² Her voice shall go like a serpent's; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. ²³ They shall cut down her forest, saith Jehovah, though it be impenetrable; for they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. ²⁴ The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is delivered into the hand of the people of the north. ²⁵ Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saith, Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings; yea, Pharaoh and them that confide in him. ²⁶ And I will give them into the hand of those that seek their life, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; but afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith Jehovah. ²⁷ But thou, my servant Jacob, fear not, neither be dismayed, Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. ²⁸ Fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith Jehovah: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee with judgment, and I will not hold thee altogether guiltless.

¹ The word of Jehovah that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gazah. ² Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl, ³ at the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his steeds, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels: fathers shall not look back for their children, from feebleness of hands; ⁴ because of the day that cometh to lay waste all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remaineth; for Jehovah will lay waste the Philistines, the remnant of the island of Caphtor. ⁵ Baldness is come upon Gazah; Ashkelon is cut off, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? ⁶ Alas! sword of Jehovah, how long wilt thou not be quiet? Withdraw into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. ⁷ How shouldest thou be quiet? --For Jehovah hath given it a charge: against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore, there hath he appointed it.

¹ Concerning Moab. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled; Kirjathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and dismayed. ² Moab's praise is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be cut down; the sword shall pursue thee. ³ A voice of crying from Horonaim; wasting and great destruction! ⁴ Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. ⁵ For by the ascent of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the descent of Horonaim is heard the anguish of the cry of destruction. ⁶ Flee, save your lives, and be like a shrub in the wilderness. ⁷ For because thou hast confided in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken, and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ⁸ And the waster shall come upon every city, that not a city shall escape; and the valley shall perish, and the plateau shall be destroyed: as Jehovah hath said. ⁹ Give wings unto Moab, that she may flee and get away; and the cities thereof shall become a desolation, without inhabitant. ¹⁰ Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood! ¹¹ Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and hath settled on his lees; he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste hath remained in him, and his scent is not changed. ¹² Therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him pourers that shall pour him off, and shall empty his vessels, and break in pieces his flagons. ¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴ How do ye say, We are mighty, and men of valour for the war? ¹⁵ Moab is laid waste, and his cities are gone up in smoke , and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. ¹⁶ The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. ¹⁷ All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod! ¹⁸ Come down from thy glory and sit in the drought, O inhabitress, daughter of Dibon; the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee, thy strongholds hath he destroyed. ¹⁹ Stand by the way, and watch, inhabitress of Aroer; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; say, What is done? ²⁰ Moab is put to shame; for he is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ²¹ And judgment is come upon the country of the plateau; upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath; ²² and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim; ²³ and upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon; ²⁴ and upon Kerijoth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. ²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah. ²⁶ Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against Jehovah; and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. ²⁷ For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Was he found among thieves, that as oft as thou didst speak of him, thou didst shake the head? ²⁸ Leave the cities, and dwell in the rocks, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove, that maketh her nest in the sides of the cave's mouth. ²⁹ We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, -- he is very proud; --his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. ³⁰ I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as they say . ³¹ Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall there be moaning. ³² O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with more than the weeping of Jaazer: thy shoots passed over the sea, they reached to the sea of Jaazer. The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. ³³ And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: they shall no more tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. ³⁴ Because of the cry from Heshbon, unto Elaleh, unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim, unto Eglath-shelishijah: for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. ³⁵ And I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high place, and him that burneth incense to his gods. ³⁶ Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the abundance that he hath gotten is perished. ³⁷ For every head is bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. ³⁸ It is wholly lamentation upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the public places thereof; for I have broken Moab, like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah. ³⁹ They howl, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! And Moab shall be a derision and a terror to all that are round about him. ⁴⁰ For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread forth his wings over Moab. ⁴¹ Kerijoth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ⁴² And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah. ⁴³ Fear, and the pit, and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah. ⁴⁴ He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah. ⁴⁵ They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon powerless; for a fire hath come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and hath consumed the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. ⁴⁶ Woe to thee, Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away in captivity, and thy daughters are captives. ⁴⁷ But I will turn the captivity of Moab at the end of the days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgement of Moab.

¹ Concerning the children of Ammon. Thus saith Jehovah: Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? Why is Malcam heir of Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof? ² Therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will cause the clamour of war to be heard in Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall be a desolate heap; and her towns shall be burned with fire; and Israel shall possess them that possessed him, saith Jehovah. ³ Howl, Heshbon! for Ai is laid waste; cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth, lament and run to and fro within the enclosures: for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ⁴ Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys? Thy valley shall flow down, O backsliding daughter, that trusteth in her treasures, saying, Who shall come against me? ⁵ Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, from all that are about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall assemble the fugitives. ⁶ And afterwards I will turn the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith Jehovah.

⁷ Concerning Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is there no more wisdom in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom spent? ⁸ Flee, turn back, dwell deep down, ye inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I visit him. ⁹ If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left a gleaning? If thieves by night, they would destroy only till they had enough. ¹⁰ But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, that he is unable to hide himself: his seed is wasted, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. ¹¹ Leave thine orphans, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. ¹² For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and thou indeed, shouldest thou be altogether unpunished? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink. ¹³ For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. ¹⁴ I have heard a rumour from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: --Gather yourselves together, and come against her and rise up for the battle. ¹⁵ For behold, I have made thee small among the nations, despised among men. ¹⁶ Thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart, hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill. Though thou shouldest make thy nest high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah. ¹⁷ And Edom shall be an astonishment: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss, because of all the plagues thereof. ¹⁸ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighbour cities, saith Jehovah, no one shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein. ¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will make them suddenly run away from it; and who is a chosen man whom I shall appoint over her? For who is like me? and who will assign me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? ²⁰ Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah, which he hath taken against Edom, and his purposes which he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: The little ones of the flock shall certainly draw them away; he shall certainly make their habitation desolate for them. ²¹ The earth quaketh at the sound of their fall; there is a cry, the sound whereof is heard in the Red sea. ²² Behold, he shall come up, and fly as an eagle, and spread forth his wings against Bozrah; and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

²³ Concerning Damascus. Hamath is put to shame, and Arpad; for they have heard evil tidings, they are melted away: there is distress on the sea; it cannot be quiet. ²⁴ Damascus is grown feeble: she turneth herself to flee, and terror hath seized on her; trouble and sorrows have taken hold of her as of a woman in travail. ²⁵ How is not the town of praise forsaken, the city of my joy! ²⁶ Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all the men of war be cut off in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts. ²⁷ And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

²⁸ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith Jehovah: Arise, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. ²⁹ Their tents and their flocks shall they take; their curtains and all their vessels, and their camels, shall they carry away for themselves; and they shall cry unto them, Terror on every side! ³⁰ Flee, wander very far, dwell deep down, ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith Jehovah; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. ³¹ Arise, get you up against the nation at ease, that dwelleth securely, saith Jehovah, which hath neither gates nor bars: they dwell alone. ³² And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter to every wind them that have the corners of their beard cut off, and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith Jehovah. ³³ And Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation for ever. No one shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein.

³⁴ The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, ³⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. ³⁶ And upon Elam will I bring the four winds, from the four ends of the heavens, and I will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. ³⁷ And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, my fierce anger, saith Jehovah; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. ³⁸ And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith Jehovah. ³⁹ But it shall come to pass at the end of the days, I will turn the captivity of Elam, saith Jehovah.

¹ The word that Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet. ² Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and lift up a banner; publish, conceal not! Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed: her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed. ³ For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: both man and beast are fled; they are gone. ⁴ In those days, and at that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping as they go, and shall seek Jehovah their God. ⁵ They shall inquire concerning Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to Jehovah, in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. ⁶ My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they turned them away on the mountains: they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting-place. ⁷ All that found them devoured them, and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers. ⁸ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flock.

⁹ For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon, an assemblage of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her: from thence shall she be taken. Their arrows shall be as those of a mighty expert man: none shall return empty. ¹⁰ And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all the spoilers thereof shall be satiated, saith Jehovah. ¹¹ For ye rejoiced, for ye triumphed, ye plunderers of my heritage; for ye have been wanton as the heifer at grass, and neighed as steeds. ¹² Your mother hath been sorely put to shame; she that bore you hath been covered with reproach: behold, she is become hindmost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the wrath of Jehovah, it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate; every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and shall hiss, because of all her plagues. ¹⁴ Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against Jehovah. ¹⁵ Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand; her ramparts are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for this is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. ¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword let them turn every one to his people, and let them flee every one to his own land. ¹⁷ Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. ¹⁸ Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, like as I have visited the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and in Gilead. ²⁰ In those days, and at that time, saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon those whom I leave remaining.

²¹ Go up against the land of double rebellion, against it, and against the inhabitants of visitation; waste and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. ²² A sound of battle is in the land, and great destruction. ²³ How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! ²⁴ I have laid a snare for thee, and thou, Babylon, art also taken, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, for thou hast contended with Jehovah. ²⁵ Jehovah hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for this is a work for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come ye against her from every quarter, open her storehouses; pile her up like sheaves, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. ²⁷ Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. ²⁸ The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple. ²⁹ Call together the archers against Babylon, all those that bend the bow: encamp against her round about; let there be no escaping: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath acted proudly against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets; and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith Jehovah. ³¹ Behold, I am against thee, proud one, saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I visit thee: ³² and the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; yea, I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.

³³ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah were together oppressed; and all that took them captives held them fast: they refused to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ The sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men; ³⁶ the sword is upon the liars, and they shall become fools; the sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed; ³⁷ the sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women; the sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed: ³⁸ a drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad after frightful idols. ³⁹ Therefore wild beasts of the desert with jackals shall dwell there, and ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighbour cities, saith Jehovah, no one shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein. ⁴¹ Behold, a people cometh from the north, and a great nation. And many kings shall arise from the uttermost parts of the earth. ⁴² They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel, and will not shew mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses--set in array like a man for the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands wax feeble; trouble hath taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in travail. ⁴⁴ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will make him suddenly run away from it; and who is a chosen man whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? and who will assign me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? ⁴⁵ Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah, which he hath taken against Babylon, and his purposes which he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: The little ones of the flock shall certainly draw them away; he shall certainly make their habitation desolate for them. ⁴⁶ At the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth hath quaked, and the cry is heard among the nations.

¹ Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the heart of those that rise against me, a destroying wind; ² and I will send unto Babylon strangers, who shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. ³ Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail; and spare not her young men: destroy utterly all her host. ⁴ And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. ⁵ For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; for their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be ye not cut off in her iniquity: for this is the time of Jehovah's vengeance: he shall render unto her a recompence. ⁷ Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore have the nations become mad. ⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and ruined. Howl over her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. ⁹ We have treated Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto the heavens, and is lifted up to the skies. ¹⁰ Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God. ¹¹ Sharpen the arrows; take the shields. Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; for this is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple. ¹² Lift up a banner towards the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both devised and done that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³ Thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy rapacity. ¹⁴ Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, I will assuredly fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall raise a shout against thee. ¹⁵ He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding. ¹⁶ When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the end of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. ¹⁷ Every man is become brutish, so as to have no knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁸ They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. ¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like them; for it is he that hath formed all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name. ²⁰ Thou art my maul, my weapons of war: and with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and I will with thee destroy kingdoms; ²¹ and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot and its driver; ²² and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; ²³ and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and rulers. ²⁴ And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, in your sight, all their evil which they have done in Zion, saith Jehovah. ²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, mount of destruction, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burning mountain. ²⁶ And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; for thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah. ²⁷ Lift up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare nations against her; call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the bristly caterpillars. ²⁸ Prepare nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their rulers, yea, all the land of their dominion. ²⁹ And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. ³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight, they are sitting in the fortresses; their might hath failed, they are become as women: they have set her dwelling places on fire; her bars are broken. ³¹ Courier runneth to meet courier, and messenger to meet messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city is taken from end to end; ³² and the passages are seized, and the reedy places are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. ³³ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, at the time of its being trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. ³⁴ Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel; he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. ³⁵ The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitress of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. ³⁶ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her spring dry. ³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ³⁸ They shall roar together like young lions, growl as lions' whelps. ³⁹ When they are heated, I will prepare their drink, and I will make them drunken, that they may exult, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah. ⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. ⁴¹ How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth seized! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! ⁴² The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of its waves. ⁴³ Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no one dwelleth, neither doth a son of man pass thereby. ⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth what he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon is fallen. ⁴⁵ Go ye out of the midst of her, my people, and deliver every man his soul from the fierce anger of Jehovah! ⁴⁶ lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; for a rumour shall come one year, and after that a rumour in another year, and violence in the earth, ruler against ruler. ⁴⁷ Therefore behold, days are coming when I will punish the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. ⁴⁸ And the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall shout aloud over Babylon; for out of the north the spoilers shall come against her, saith Jehovah. ⁴⁹ As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. ⁵⁰ Ye that have escaped the sword, go, stand not still: remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. ⁵¹ --We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our face: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house. ⁵² --Therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish her graven images; and throughout her land the wounded shall groan. ⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith Jehovah. ⁵⁴ The sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans; ⁵⁵ for Jehovah spoileth Babylon, and he will destroy out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like great waters, the noise of their voice resoundeth. ⁵⁶ For the spoiler is come against her, against Babylon, and her mighty men are taken; their bows are broken in pieces; for Jehovah, the *God of recompences, will certainly requite. ⁵⁷ And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her governors, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. ⁵⁸ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly laid bare, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; so that the peoples will have laboured in vain, and the nations for the fire: and they shall be weary.

⁵⁹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Nerijah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain. ⁶⁰ And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. ⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, see that thou read all these words; ⁶² and say, Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, that thou wilt cut it off, so that none shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. ⁶³ And it shall be, when thou hast ended reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates; ⁶⁴ and shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, because of the evil that I will bring upon it: and they shall be weary. Thus far the words of Jeremiah.

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ² And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ³ For, because the anger of Jehovah was against Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴ And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they encamped against it, and built turrets against it round about. ⁵ And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ⁶ In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁷ And the city was broken into: and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were near the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain. ⁸ And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹ And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon, unto Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment upon him. ¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; and he slaughtered also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹ And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass; and the king of Babylon carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

¹² And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem; ¹³ and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great man's house he burned with fire. ¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the body-guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. ¹⁵ And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive of the poorest sort of the people, and the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. ¹⁶ But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. ¹⁷ And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke up, and carried all the brass thereof to Babylon. ¹⁸ The pots also, and the shovels, and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, they took away. ¹⁹ And the basons and the censers, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the cups, and the goblets, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away. ²⁰ The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that formed the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight. ²¹ And as to the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. ²² And the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the one capital was five cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass; and similarly for the second pillar, and the pomegranates. ²³ And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the four sides; all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round about.

²⁴ And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵ And out of the city he took a eunuch that was set over the men of war, and seven men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land. And sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the midst of the city. ²⁶ And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah; ²⁷ and the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land. ²⁸ This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand and twenty-three Jews; ²⁹ in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand six hundred.

³¹ And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison; ³² and he spoke kindly unto him, and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon. ³³ And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; ³⁴ and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.