and so during unto the time of Jehoakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, and unto the eleven years of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah were ended: when Jerusalem was taken, even in the fifth Month.
Before I fashioned thee in thy mother's womb, I did know thee: And or ever thou wast born, I sanctified thee, and ordained thee, to be a Prophet unto the people.
And the LORD answered me thus: Say not so, I am too young: For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee unto, and whatsoever I command thee, that shalt thou speak.
and this day do I set thee over the people and kingdoms: that thou mayest root out, break off, destroy, and make waste: and that thou mayest build up and plant.
It happened afterward, that the LORD spake to me again, and said: What seest thou? And I said: I do see a seething pot, looking out of the north hitherward.
For lo, I will call all the officers of the kingdoms of the north (sayeth the LORD) And they shall come, and every one shall set his seat in the gates of Jerusalem, and in all their walls round about and thorow all the cities of Judah.
And thorow them shall I declare my judgment, upon all the wickedness of those men that have forsaken me: that have offered unto strange gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
For behold, this day do I make thee a strong fenced town, an iron pillar, and a wall of steel against the whole land, against the kings and mighty men of Judah, against the priests and people of the land.
Go thy way, cry in the ears of Jerusalem, and say: Thus sayeth the LORD: I remember thee for the kindness of thy youth, and because of thy steadfast love: in that thou followedst me thorow the wilderness, in an untilled land.
Thou Israel wast hallowed unto the LORD, and so was his firstfruits. All they that devoured Israel, offended: misfortune fell upon them, sayeth the LORD.
Thus sayeth the LORD unto you. What unfaithfulness found your fathers in me, that they went so far away from me, falling to lightness, and being so vain?
They thought not in their hearts: Where have we left the LORD, that brought us out of the land of Egypt, that led us thorow the wilderness, thorow a desert and rough land, thorow a dry and deadly land, yea a land that no man had gone thorow, and wherein no man had dwelt.
And when I had brought you into a pleasant well builded land, that ye might enjoy the fruits and all the commodities of the same: ye went forth and defiled my land, and brought mine heritage to abomination.
The priests themselves said not once: Where is the LORD? They that have the law in their hands, know me not: The shepherds offend against me. The Prophets do service unto Baal, and follow such things as shall bring them no profit.
whether the Gentiles themselves deal so falsely and untruly with their gods, (which yet are no gods in deed) But my people hath given over their high honour, for a thing that may not help them.
For my people hath done two evils. They have forsaken me the well of the water of life, and digged them pits, yea vile and broken pits, that hold no water.
Thine own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall condemn thee: that thou mayest know and understand, how evil and hurtful a thing it is, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and not feared him, sayeth the Lord GOD|LORDE God| of Hosts.
I have ever broken thy yoke of old, and bursten thy bonds: yet sayest thou, I will no more serve, but (like an harlot) thou runnest about upon all high hills,
and among all green trees where as I planted thee out of noble grapes and good roots. How art thou turned then into a bitter, unfruitful, and strange grape?
Yea and that so sore: that though thou washest thee with Nitrus and makest thyself to savour with that sweet smelling herb of Borith: yet in my sight thou art stained with thy wickedness, sayeth the Lord|LORDE| thy GOD.
Say not now: I am not unclean, and I have not followed the gods. Look upon thy own ways in the woods, valleys and dens: so shalt thou know, what thou hast done. Thou art like a swift Dromedary, that goeth easily his way:
and thy wantonness is like a wild Ass, that useth the wilderness, and that snuffeth and bloweth at his will. Who can tame thee? All they that seek thee, shall not fail, but find thee in thy own uncleanness.
Thou keepest thy foot from nakedness, and thy throat from thirst, and thinkest thus in thyself: tush: I will take no sorrow, I will love the strange gods, and hang upon them.
Like as a thief that is taken with the deed cometh to shame, even so is the house of Israel come to confusion: the common people, their kings and rulers, their priests and prophets.
For they say to a stock, thou art my father, and to a stone: thou hast begotten me, yea they have turned their back upon me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, when they say: stand up, and help us,
I shall answer them: Where are now thy gods, that thou hast made thee? bid them stand up, and help thee in the time of need? For look how many cities thou hast (O Judah) so many gods hast thou also.
If ye be the people of the LORD, then hearken unto his word: Am I then become a wilderness unto the people of Israel? or a land that hath no light? Wherefore sayeth my people then: we are fallen off, and we will come no more unto thee?
Yet darest thou say: I am guiltless: Tush, his wrath can not come upon me. Behold, I will reason with thee because thou darest say: I have not offended.
O how evil will it be for thee, to abide it: when it shall be known, how oft thou hast gone backward? For thou shalt be confounded, as well of Egypt, as of the Assirians:
Yea thou shalt go thy way from them, and smite thine hands together upon thy head. Because the LORD shall bring that confidence and hope of thine to naught, and thou shalt not prosper with all.
Commonly, when a man putteth away his wife, and she goeth from him, and marrieth with another, then the question is: should he resort unto her any more after that? Is not this field then defiled and unclean? But as for thee, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me, sayeth the LORD.
Lift up thine eyes on every side, and look, if thou be not defiled. Thou hast waited for them in the streets, and as a murderer in the wilderness; thorow thy whoredoms and shameful blasphemies, is the land defiled.
Wilt thou then put me away and cast me off for ever? Or wilt thou withdraw thyself clean from me? Nevertheless, thou speakest such words, but thou art ever doing worse and worse.
The LORD said also unto me: in the time of Josiah the king: Hast thou seen what that shrinking Israel hath done? how she hath run up upon all high hills, and among all thick trees, and there played the harlot:
hast thou seen also (when she had done all this) how I said unto her: that she should turn again unto me, and yet she is not returned? Judah that unfaithful sister of hers also saw this:
Namely, that after I had well seen the advoutry of the shrinking harlot Israel, I put her away, and gave her a bill of divorcement. For all this, her unfaithful sister Judah was not ashamed, but went back and played the whore also.
and therefore go preach these words toward the north, and say: Thou shrinking Israel, turn again (sayeth the LORD) and I will not turn my face from you, for I am merciful, sayeth the LORD, and I will not alway bear displeasure against thee:
but on this condition, that thou know thy great blasphemy: Namely, that thou hast unfaithfully forsaken the LORD thy God, and hast made thyself partaker of strange gods under all green trees, but hast had no will to hear my voice, sayeth the LORD.
O ye shrinking children, turn again, sayeth the LORD: and I will be married with you. For I will take one out of the city, and two out of one generation from among you, and bring you out of Sion:
Moreover, when ye be increased and multiplied in the land, then (sayeth the LORD) there shall no more boost be made of the ark of the LORD's Testament: No man shall think upon it, neither shall any man make mention of it: for from thence forth it shall neither be visited, nor honoured with gifts.
Then shall Jerusalem be called the LORD's seat, and all Heathen shall be gathered unto it, for the name of the LORD's sake, which shall be set up at Jerusalem. And from that time forth, they shall follow no more the imagination of their own froward heart.
Then those that be of the house of Judah shall go into the house of Israel: and they shall come together out of the North, into the same land that I have given your fathers.
I have shewed also, how I took thee up being but a child, and gave thee a pleasant land for thine heritage, yea and a goodly Hosts of the Heathen: and how I commanded thee, that thou shouldest call me father only, and not to shrink from me.
And therefore the voice of the children of Israel was heard on every side, weeping and wailing: for they have defiled their way, and forgotten God their LORD.
So do we also sleep in our confusion, and shame covereth us: for we and our fathers from our youth up unto this day have sinned against the LORD our God, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
O Israel, if thou wilt turn thee, then turn unto me, sayeth the LORD. And if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved:
Be circumcised in the LORD, and cut away the foreskins of your heart, all ye of Judah, and all the indwellers of Jerusalem: that my indignation break not out like fire and kindle, so that no man may quench it, because of the wickedness of your imaginations.
Preach in Judah and Jerusalem, cry out and speak: Blow the trumpets in the land, cry that every man may hear, and say: Gather you together, and we will go into strong cities.
For the spoiler of the Gentiles is broken up from his place, as a lion out of his den, that he may make the land waste, and destroy the cities, so that no man may dwell therein.
At the same time (sayeth the LORD) the heart of the kings and of the princes shall be gone, the priests shall be astonied, and the prophets shall be sore afraid.
Then said I, O Lord GOD,|LORDE God| hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: Ye shall have peace, and now the sword goeth thorow their lives?
Then shall it be said to the people and to Jerusalem: there cometh a warm wind from the north thorow the way of my people, but neither to fan, nor to cleanse.
For lo, he cometh down like as a cloud, and his chariots are like a stormy wind: his horsemen are swifter than the Aegle. Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
Behold the Heathen give Jerusalem warning, and preach unto her, that her destroyers are coming from far countries. They tell the cities of Juda the same also,
Ah my belly; Ah my belly (shalt thou cry) how is my heart so sore? my heart panteth within me, I can not be still, for I have heard the crying of the trumpets, and peals of war.
Nevertheless this shall come upon them because my people is become foolish, and hath utterly no understanding. They are the children of foolishness, and without any discretion. To do evil, they have wit enough: but to do well, they have no wisdom.
And therefore let the earth mourn, and let the heaven be sorry above: for the things that I have purposed and taken upon me to do, shall not repent me, and I will not go from it.
The whole land shall flee, for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen: they shall run into dens in to woods, and climb up the stony rocks. All the cities shall be void, and no man dwelling therein.
What wilt thou now do, thou being destroyed? For though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, and deckest thee with gold: though thou paintest thy face with colors, yet shalt thou trim thyself in vain. For those that hitherto have been thy great favourers, shall abhor thee, and go about to slay thee.
For (me think) I hear a noise, like as it were of a woman travailing, or one labouring of her first child: Even the voice of the daughter Sion, that casteth out her arms, and sorroweth,|swooneth, souneth| saying: Ah woe is me, how sore vexed and faint is my heart, for them that are slain?
Look thorow Jerusalem, behold and see: Seek thorow her streets also within, if ye can find one man, that doth equal and right, or that laboureth to be faithful: and I shall spare him (sayeth the LORD)
Where as thou (O LORD) lookest only upon faith and truth. Thou hast scourged them, but they took no repentance: thou hast corrected them for amendment, but they refused thy correction. They made their faces harder than stone, and would not amend.
Therefore will I go unto their heads and rulers, and talk with them: if they know the way of the LORD, and the judgments of our God. But these (in like manner) have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds in sunder.
Wherefore a lion out of the wood shall hurt them, and a wolf in the evening shall destroy them. The cat of the mountain shall lie lurking by their cities, to tare in pieces all them, that come thereout. For their offenses are many, and their departing away is great.
Should I then for all this have mercy upon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. And albeit they were bound to me in marriage, yet they fell to advoutry, and hunted harlots' houses.
As for the warning of the Prophets, they take it but for wind, yea there is none of these, which will tell them, that such things shall happen unto them.
Wherefore thus sayeth the LORD God of Hosts: Because ye speak such words, behold: The words that are in thy mouth will I turn to fire, and make the people to be wood, that it may consume them.
Lo, I will bring a people upon you from far, O house of Israel, (sayeth the LORD) a mighty people, an old people, a people whose speech thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
This people shall eat up thy fruit and thy meat, yea they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters, thy sheep and thy bullocks. They shall eat up thy grapes and figs. As for thy strong and well fenced cities, wherein thou didst trust, they shall destroy them with the sword.
But if they say: wherefore doth the LORD our God all this unto us? Then answer them: because, that like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your own land, even so shall ye serve other gods also in a strange land.
Fear ye not me? sayeth the LORD: Are ye not ashamed, to look me in the face? which bind the sea with the sand, so that it can not pass his bounds: for thou it rage, yet can it do nothing, and though the waves thereof do swell, yet may they not go over.
They think not in their hearts: O let us fear the LORD our God, that giveth us rain, early and late, when need is: which keepeth ever still the harvest for us yearly.
And like as a net is full of birds, so are their houses full of that which they have gotten with falsity and deceit. Hereof cometh their great substance and riches,
hereof are they fat and wealthy, and are run away from me with shameful blasphemies. They minister not the law, they make no end of the fatherless cause, they judge not the poor according to equity.
Come out of Jerusalem, ye strong children of Ben Jamin: blow up the trumpets ye Tecuites, set up a token unto Bethcarem, for a plague and a great misery peepeth out from the North.
for thus hath the LORD of Hosts commanded. Hew down her trees, and set up bulwarks against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished, for in her is all maliciousness.
Like as a conduit aboundeth in water, even so this city aboundeth in wickedness. Robbery and unrighteousness is heard in her, sorrow and wounds are ever there in my sight.
For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: The residue of Israel shall be gathered, as the remanent of grapes. And therefore turn thine hand again into the basket, like the grape gatherer.
But unto whom shall I speak, whom shall I warn, that he may take heed? Their ears are so uncircumcised, that they may not hear. Behold, they take the word of GOD but for a scorn, and have no lust thereto.
And therefore I am so full of thine indignation (o LORD) that I may suffer no longer. Shed out thy wrath upon the children that are without, and upon all young men. Yea the man must be taken prisoner with the wife, and the aged with the cripple.
Their houses with their lands and wives shall be turned unto strangers, when I stretch out mine hand upon the inhabiters of this land, sayeth the LORD.
Therefore they must be ashamed, for they have committed abomination. But how should they be ashamed, when they know nothing, neither of shame nor good nurture? And therefore they shall fall among the slain, and in the hour when I shall visit them, they shall be brought down, sayeth the LORD.
Thus sayeth the LORD: go into the streets, consider and make inquisition for the old way: and if it be the good and right way: then go therein, that ye may find rest for your souls. But they say: we will not walk therein,
Hear thou earth also: behold, I will cause a plague come upon this people, even the fruit of their own imaginations. For they have not been obedient unto my words and to my law, but abhorred them.
Wherefore bring ye me incense from Saba, and sweet smelling Calamus from far countries? Your burnt offerings displease me, and I rejoice not in your sacrifices.
And therefore thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will make this people fall, and there shall fall from among them the father with the children, one neighbour shall perish with another.
with bows and with darts shall they be weaponed: It is a rough and fierce people, an unmerciful people: their voice roareth like the sea, they ride upon horses well appointed to the battle against thee, O daughter Sion.
Wherefore, gird a sackcloth about thee (O daughter of my people) sprinkle thyself with ashes, mourn and weep bitterly, as upon the only beloved son: for the destroyer shall suddenly fall upon us.
For they are all unfaithful and fallen away, they hang upon filthy|shameful| lucre, they are clean brass and iron, for they hurt and destroyed every man.
Stand under the gates of the LORD's house, and cry out these words there, with a loud voice, and say: Hear the word of the LORD all ye of Judah, that go in at this door, to honour the LORD.
If ye will not oppress the stranger, the fatherless and the widow: if ye will not shed innocent blood in this place: if ye will not cleave to strange gods to your own destruction:
Then come ye, and stand before me in this house, which hath my name given unto it, and say: Tush, we are absolved quite, though we have done all these abominations.
And now, though ye have done all these deeds (sayeth the LORD) and I myself rose up ever by times to warn you and to commune|common| with you, yet would ye not hear me: I called, ye would not answer.
And therefore even as I have done to Siloh, so will I do to this house, that my name is given unto (and that ye put your trust in) yea unto the place that I have given to you and your fathers.
Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people, thou shalt neither give thanks, nor bid prayer for them: thou shalt make no intercession to me for them for in no wise will I hear thee.
The children gather sticks, the fathers kindle the fire, the mothers knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out drink offerings unto strange gods, to provoke me unto wrath:
And therefore thus sayeth the Lord GOD:|LORDE God| Behold, my wrath and my indignation shall be poured out upon this place, upon men and cattle, upon the trees in the field and all fruit of the land, and it shall burn so, that no man may quench it.
but this I commanded them, saying: hearken and obey my voice, and I shall be your God, and ye shall be my people: so that ye walk in all the ways, which I have commanded you, that ye may prosper.
But they were not obedient, they inclined not their ears there unto, but went after their own imaginations and after the motions of their own wicked heart, and so turned themselves away, and converted not unto me.
And this have they done, from the time that your fathers came out of Egypt, unto this day. Nevertheless, I sent unto them my servants all the prophets: I rose up early and sent them word,
Therefore shalt thou say unto them: this is the people, that neither heareth the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth his correction. Faithfulness and truth is clean rooted out of their mouth.
Wherefore cut off thine hair, and cast it away, take up a complaint in the whole land: for the LORD shall cast away, and scatter the people, that he is displeased withal.
For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, sayeth the LORD. They have set up their abominations, in the house that hath my name, and have defiled it.
They have also builded an altar at Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hennom: that they might burn their sons and daughters, which I never commanded them, neither came it ever in my thought.
And therefore behold, the days shall come (sayeth the LORD) that it shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the children of Hennom, but the valley of the slain, for in Topheth, they shall be buried, because they shall else have no room.
And as for the voice of mirth and gladness of the cities of Judah, and Jerusalem the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: I will make them cease, for the land shall be desolate.
At the same time, sayeth the LORD: the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests, and prophets, yea and the bones of the citizens of Jerusalem, shall be brought out of their graves
and laid against the Sun, the Moon and all the heavenly host: whom they loved, whom they served, whom they ran after, whom they sought and worshipped. They shall neither be gathered together nor buried, but shall lie upon the earth, to their shame and despising.
And all they that remain of this wicked generation, shall desire rather to die than to live: wheresoever they remain, and where as I scatter them, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.
This shalt thou say unto them also: Thus sayeth the LORD: Do men fall also, that they arise not up again? And turn they so far away, that they never convert?
Wherefore then is this people and Jerusalem gone so far back, that they turn not again. They are ever the longer the more obstinate, and will not be converted.
For I have looked, and considered: but there is no man that speaketh a good word: there is no man that taketh repentance for his sin, that will so much as say: wherefore have I done this? But every man (as soon as he is turned back) runneth forth still, like a wild horse in a battle.
The Stork knoweth his appointed time, the Turtledove, the Swallow and the Crane consider the time of their travail: but my people will not know the time of the punishment of the LORD.
therefore shall the wise be confounded, they shall be afraid and taken: for lo, they have cast out the word of the LORD: what wisdom can then be among them?
Wherefore, I will give their wives unto aliens, and their fields to destroyers. For from the lowest to the highest,|hyest| they follow all filthy|shameful| lucre: and from the Prophet unto the priest, they deal all with lies.
Fie for shame, how abominable things do they? and yet they be not ashamed, yea they know of no shame. Wherefore in the time of their visitation, they shall fall among the dead bodies, sayeth the LORD.
Moreover I will gather them in (sayeth the LORD) so that there shall not be one grape upon the vine, neither one fig upon the fig tree, and the leaves shall be plucked off. Then will I cause them to depart, and say:
why prolong we the time? Let us gather ourselves together, and go into the strong city, there shall we be in rest: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water mixt with gall, to drink: because we have sinned against him.
Then shall the noise of his horses be heard from Dan, the whole land shall be afraid at the neigh of his strong horses: for they shall go in, and devour the land, with all that is in it: the cities, and those that dwell therein.
for lo, the voice of the crying of my people is heard from a far country: Is not the LORD in Sion? Is not the|he| king in her? Wherefore then have they grieved me (shall the LORD say) with their images and foolish strange fashions?
Would God that I had a cottage some where far from folk, that I might leave my people, and go from them: for they be all advoutrers and a shrinking sort.
They bend their tongues like bows, to shoot out lies: As for the truth, they may nothing away with all in the world. For they go from one wickedness to another, and hold nothing of me, sayeth the LORD.
Yea one must keep himself from another, no man may safely trust his own brother: for one brother undermineth another, and one neighbour begileth another.
Upon the mountains will I take up a lamentation and sorrowful cry, and a mourning upon the fair plains of the wilderness: Namely, how they are so brent up, that no man goeth there any more: Yea a man shall not hear one beast cry there. Birds and cattle are all gone from thence.
I will make Jerusalem also an heap of stones, and a den of venomous worms. And I will make the cities of Judah so waste, that no man shall dwell therein.
What man is so wise, as to understand this? Or to whom hath the LORD spoken by mouth, that he may shew this, and say: O thou land, why perishest thou so? Wherefore art thou so brent up, and like a wilderness, that no man goeth thorow?
I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword among them, to persecute them, until I bring them to naught.
For there is a lamentable noise heard of Sion: O how are we so sore destroyed? O how are we so piteously confounded? We must forsake our own natural country, and we are shot out of our own lodgings.
Yet hear the word of the LORD (O ye women) and let your ears regard the words of his mouth: that ye may learn your daughters to mourn, and that every one may teach her neighbouress, to make lamentation.
Namely thus: Death is climbing up in at our windows, he is come into our houses, to destroy the child before the door, and the young man in the street.
But tell thou plainly, thus sayeth the LORD: The dead bodies of men shall lie upon the ground, as the dung upon the field, and as the hay after the mower, and there shall be no man to take them up.
But who so will rejoice, let him rejoice in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth me: for I am the LORD, which do mercy, equity and righteousness upon the earth. Therefore have I pleasure in such things, sayeth the LORD.
The Egyptians, the Jews, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the shaven Madianites, that dwell in the wilderness. For all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Thus sayeth the LORD: Ye shall not learn after the manner of the Heathen, and ye shall not be afraid for the tokens of heaven: for the Heathen are afraid of such:
Yea all the customs and laws of the Gentiles are nothing, but vanity. They hew down a tree in the wood with the hands of the workman, and fashion it with the axe:
It standeth as still as the palm tree, it can neither speak nor go, but must be borne. Be not ye afraid of such, for they can do neither good nor evil.
Who would not fear thee? Or what King of the Gentiles would not obey thee? For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is none that may be likened unto thee.
namely, wood, silver, which is brought out of Tharsis, and beaten to plates: and gold from Ophir, a work that is made with the hand of the craftsman and the caster, clothed with yellow silk and scarlet: even so is the work of their wise men altogether.
As for their gods, it may well be said of them: they are gods, that made neither heaven nor earth: therefore shall they perish from the earth, and from all things under heaven.
But (as for our God) he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdom hath he finished the whole compass of the world, with his discretion hath he spread out the heavens.
At his voice the waters gather together in the air, he draweth up the clouds from the utmost parts of the earth: he turneth lightning to rain, and bringeth forth the winds out of their treasures:
Nevertheless, Jacobs portion is not such: but it is he, that hath made all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of Hosts is his name.
For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will now thrust out the inhabiters of this land a great way off, and trouble them of such a fashion, that they shall no more be found.
My tabernacle is destroyed, and all may coards are broken. My children are gone from me, and can no where be found. Now have I none to spread out my tent, or to set up my hangings.
For the herdmen have done foolishly, that they have not sought the LORD. Therefore have they dealt unwisely with their cattle, and all are scattered abroad.
Pour out thine indignation rather upon the Gentiles, that know thee not, and upon the people that call not on thy name: And that because they have consumed, devoured and destroyed Jacob, and have rooted out his glory.
which I commanded unto your fathers, what time as I brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Be obedient unto my voice, and do according to all that I commanded you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God,
and will keep my promise, that I have sworn unto your fathers: Namely, that I would give them a land which floweth with milk and honey, as ye see, it is come to pass unto this day. Then answered I, and said: Amen. It is even so O LORD, as thou sayest.
Then the LORD said unto me again: preach this in the cities of Juda and round about Jerusalem, and say: Hear the words of this covenant, that ye may keep them.
For I have diligently exhorted your fathers, ever since the time that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt unto this day. I gave them warning by times, saying: hearken unto my voice:
Nevertheless, they would not obey me, nor inclined their ears unto me, but followed the wicked imaginations of their own hearts. And therefore have I accused them as transgressors of all the words of this covenant, that I gave them to keep, which they (not with understanding) have not kept.
They have turned themselves to the blasphemies of their forefathers, which had no lust to hear my word. Even likewise have these also followed strange gods, and worshiped them. The house of Israel and Juda have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers.
Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will send a plague among you, which ye shall not be able to escape: and though ye cry unto me, I will not hear you.
Then shall the towns of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem go, and call upon their gods, unto whom they made their oblations: but they are not able to help them in time of their trouble.
For as many cities as thou hast, O Judah, so many gods hast thou also: And look how many streets there be in thee (O Jerusalem) so many shameful altars have ye set up, to offer upon them unto Baal.
O thou beloved, why doest thou so shameful great blasphemies in my house? even as though that holy flesh might absolve thee, specially when thou hast made thy boast|boost| of thy wickedness.
The LORD called thee a green olive tree, a fair one, a fruitful one, a goodly one: but now that there is a contrary report of thee abroad, he will burn thee up, and destroy thy branches.
For the LORD of Hosts that planted thee hath devised a plague for thee (O thou house of Israel and Judah) for the evil that ye have done to provoke him to wrath, in that ye did service unto Baal.
But I (as a meek lamb) was carried away to be slain: not knowing, that they had devised such a counsel against me saying: We will destroy his meat with wood, and drive him out of the land of the living: that his name shall never be thought upon.
Therefore I will beseech thee now (O LORD of Hosts) thou righteous judge, thou that tryest the reins and the hearts: let me see the avenged of them, for unto thee have I committed my cause.
The LORD therefore spake thus of the citizens of Anathoth, that sought to slay me, saying: Preach not unto us in the name of the LORD, or else thou shalt die of our hands.
Thus (I say) spake the LORD of Hosts: Behold, I will visit you. Your young men shall perish with the sword, your sons and your daughters shall utterly die of hunger,
O LORD,|Lorde| thou art more righteous, than that I should dispute with thee: Nevertheless, let me talk with thee in things reasonable. How happeneth it, that the way of the ungodly is so prosperous? and that it goeth so well with them, which (without any shame) offend and live in wickedness?
But thou LORD (to whom I am well known) thou that hast seen, and proved my heart, take them away, like as a flock is carried to the slaughter house, and appoint them for the day of slaughter.
How long shall the land mourn, and all the herbs of the field perish, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The cattle and the birds are gone, yet say they: tush, God will not destroy us utterly.
Seeing thou art weary in running with the footmen, how wilt thou then run with the horses? In a peaceable sure land thou mayest be safe, but how wilt thou do in the furious pride of Jordan?
For thy brethren and thy kindred have all together despised thee, and cried out upon thee in thine absence. Believe them not, though they speak fair words to thee.
As for me (say I) I have forsaken mine own dwelling place, and left mine heritage. My life also that I love so well, have I given into the hands of mine enemies.
Mine heritage is unto me, as a speckled bird, a bird of divers colors is upon it. Go hence, and gather all the beasts of the field together, that they may eat it up.
The destroyers come over the heeth every way, for the sword of the LORD shall consume from the one end of the land to the other, and no flesh shall have rest.
They shall sow wheat, and reap thorns. They shall take heritage in possession, but it shall do them no good. And ye shall be confounded of your own winnings, because of the great wrath of the LORD.
Thus sayeth the LORD upon all mine evil neighbours, that lay hand on mine heritage, which I have given my people of Israel: Behold, I will pluck them (namely Israel) out of their land, and put out the house of Juda from among them.
And when I have rooted them out, I will be at one with them again, and will have mercy upon them: and bring them again, every man to his own heritage, and in to his land.
And if they (namely that trouble my people) will learn the ways of them, to swear by my name: The LORD liveth (like as they learned my people to swear by Baal) then shall they be reckoned among my people.
And it happened long after this, that the LORD spake unto me: Up, and get thee to Euphrates, and fet the breech from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
Then went I to Euphrates, and digged up, and took the breech from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the breech was corrupt, so that it was profitable for nothing.
This people is a wicked people, they will not hear my word, they follow the wicked imaginations of their own heart, and hang upon strange gods, them have they served and worshiped: and therefore they shall be as this breech, that serveth for nothing.
For as straightly as a breech lieth upon a man's loins, so straightly did I bind the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Juda unto me, sayeth the LORD: that they might be my people: that they might have a glorious name: that they might be in honour: but they would not obey me.
Therefore lay this riddle before them, and say: Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Every pot shall be filled with wine. And they shall say: thinkest thou we know not, that every pot shall be filled with wine?
Then shalt thou say unto them: Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I shall fill all the inhabiters of this land with drunkenness, the kings that sit upon David's stool, the Priests and Prophets, with all that dwell at Jerusalem.
And I will shoot|shute| them one against another, yea the fathers against the sons, sayeth the LORD. I will not pardon them, I will not spare them, nor have pity upon them: but destroy them.
Honour the LORD your God herein, or he take his light from you, and or ever your feet stumble in darkness at the hill: lest when ye look for the light, he turn it into the shadow and darkness of death.
But if ye will not hear me, that give you secret warning, I will mourn from my whole heart for your stubbornness. Piteously will I weep, and the tears shall gush out of mine eyes. For the LORD's flock shall be carried away captive.
To whom will thou make thy moan, when they come upon thee? for thou hast taught them thy self, and made them masters over thee. Shall not sorrow come upon thee, as on a woman travailing with child?
And if thou wouldest say then in thine heart: Wherefore come these things upon me? Even for the multitude of thy blasphemies, shall thy hinder parts and thy feet be discovered.
This shall be your portion, and the portion of your measure, where with ye shall be rewarded of me, sayeth the LORD: because ye have forgotten me, and put your trust in deceitful things.
thy advoutry, thy deadly malice, thy beastliness, and thy shameful whoredom. For upon the fields and hills I have seen thy abominations. Woe be unto thee (O Jerusalem) when wilt thou ever be cleansed any more?
The lords shall send their servants to fetch water, and when they come to the wells, they shall find no water, but shall carry their vessels home empty. They shall be ashamed and confounded, and shall cover their heads.
For thou art the comfort and help of Israel in the time of trouble. Why wilt thou be as a stranger in the Land, and as one that goeth over the field, and cometh in only to remain for a night?
Why wilt thou make thyself a coward, and as it were a giant that yet may not help? For thou art ours (O LORD) and we bear thy name, therefore forsake us not.
Then spake the LORD, concerning this people that have pleasure to go so nimbly with their feet, and leave not off, and therefore displease the LORD: in so much, that he will now bring again to remembrance all their misdeeds, and punish all their sins.
For though they fast, I will not hear their prayers. And though they offer burnt offerings and sacrifices, yet will not I accept them. For I will destroy them with the sword, hunger, and pestilence.
Then answered I: O Lord GOD,|LORDE God| the prophets say unto them: Tush, ye shall see no sword, and no hunger shall come upon you, but the Lord|LORDE| shall give you continual rest in this place.
And the LORD said unto me: The prophets preach lies unto them in my name. I have not spoken with them, neither gave I them any charge, neither did I send them: yet they preach unto you false visions, charming vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart.
Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: As for those prophets that preach in my name, (whom I nevertheless have not sent) and that say: Tush, there shall neither battle, nor hunger be in this land: With sword and with hunger shall those prophets perish,
and the people to whom they have preached shall be cast out of Jerusalem, die of hunger, and be slain with the sword (and there shall be no man to bury them) both they and their wives, their sons and their daughters. For thus will I pour their wickedness upon them.
This shalt thou say also unto them: Mine eyes shall weep without ceasing day and night. For my people shall be destroyed with great harm, and shall perish with a great plague.
For if I go into the field, lo, it lieth all full of slain men: If I come into the city, lo, they be all famished of hunger. Yea their prophets also and priests shall be lead in to an unknown land.
Hast thou then utterly forsaken Juda? (said I) Doest thou so abhor Sion? Or hast thou so plagued us, that we can be healed no more? We looked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the time of health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.
Be not displeased, O LORD, for thy name's sake, forget not thy loving-kindness: Remember the throne of thine honour, break not the covenant, that thou hast made with us.
Are there any among the gods of the Gentiles, that send rain or give the showers of heaven? Dost not thou it O LORD our God, in whom we trust? Yea LORD, thou dost all these things.
Then spake the LORD unto me, and said: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart to this people. Drive them away, that they may go out of my sight.
And if they say unto thee: Whither shall we go? Then tell them: The LORD giveth you this answer: Some unto death, some to the sword, some to hunger, some into captivity.
For I will bring four plagues upon them sayeth the LORD. The sword shall strangle them, the dogs shall devour them, the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth shall eat them up, and destroy them.
I will scatter them about also in all kingdoms and lands to be plagued, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Juda, for the things that he did in Jerusalem.
seeing thou goest from me, and turnest backward? sayeth the LORD: Therefore I will stretch out mine hand against thee, to destroy thee, and I will not be intreated.
I will scatter thee abroad with the fan on every side of the land: I will waste my people and destroy them, for they have had no lust to turn from their own ways.
I will make their widows more in number, than the sands of the sea. Upon the mothers of their children, I shall bring a destroyer in the noon day. Suddenly and unawares, shall I send a fear upon their cities.
She that hath born seven children, shall have none, her heart shall be full of sorrow. The Sun shall fail her in the clear day, when she shall be confounded and faint for very heaviness. As for those that remain, I will deliver them unto the sword of their enemies, sayeth the LORD.
O mother, alas that ever thou didst bear me, an enemy and hated of the whole land: Though I never lent nor received upon usury, yet all|every| men speak evil upon me.
And the LORD answered me: Lead not I thee then unto good? Come not I to thee, when thou art in trouble: and help thee, when thine enemy oppresseth thee?
As for your riches and treasure, I will give them out in to a pray, not for any money, but because of all your sins, that ye have done in all your coasts.
O LORD (said I then) thou knowest all things, therefore remember me, and visit me, deliver me from my persecutors: Receive not my cause in thy long wrath, yet thou knowest, that for thy sake I suffer rebuke.
I dwell not among the |council of| scorners, neither is my delight therein: but I dwell only in the fear of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with bitterness.
Shall my heaviness endure forever? Are my plagues then so great, that they may never be healed? Wilt thou be as a water, that falleth, and can not continue?
Upon these words, thus said the LORD unto me: If thou wilt turn again, I shall set thee in my service: and if thou wilt take out the thing that is precious from the vile, thou shalt be even as mine own mouth. They shall convert unto thee, but turn not thou unto them:
and so shall I make thee a strong wall of steel against this people. They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail. For I myself will be with thee, to help thee, and deliver thee, sayeth the LORD.
For of the children that are born in this place, of their mothers that have borne them, and of their fathers that have begotten them in this land; Thus sayeth the LORD:
They shall die an horrible death: and no man shall mourn for them, nor bury them, but they shall lie as dung upon the earth: They shall perish thorow the sword, and hunger, and their bodies shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth.
Again, thus sayeth the LORD: Go not unto them that come together for to mourn and weep: for I have taken my peace from this people (sayeth the LORD) yea my favour and my mercy.
There shall not one visit another, to mourn with them for their dead, or to comfort them. One shall not offer another the cup of consolation, to forget their heaviness for father and mother.
For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I shall take away out of this place, the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: yea and that in your days, that ye may see it.
Now when thou shewest this people all these words, and they say unto thee: Wherefore hath the LORD devised all this great plague for us? Or what is the offense and sin, that we have done against the LORD our God?
Then make thou them this answer: Because your fathers have forsaken me, (sayeth the LORD) and have cleaved unto strange gods, whom they have honoured and worshiped: but me have they forsaken, and have not kept my law.
And ye with your shameful blasphemies, have exceeded the wickedness of your fathers. For every one of you followeth the froward and evil imagination of his own heart, and is not obedient unto me.
Therefore will I cast you out of this land in to a land that ye and your fathers know not: and there shall ye sever strange gods day and night, there will I shew you no favour.
Behold therefore (sayeth the LORD) the days are come, that it shall no more be said: The LORD liveth, which brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:
but it shall be said, the LORD liveth, that brought the children of Israel from the North, and from all lands where I had scattered them. For I will bring them again in to the land, that I gave unto their fathers.
Behold, (sayeth the LORD) I will send out many fishers to take them, and after that will I send out many hunters to hunt them out, from all mountains and hills and out of the caves of stones.
But first will I sufficiently reward their shameful blasphemies and sins, wherewith they have defiled my land: Namely, with their stinking Idols and abominations, wherewith they have filled mine heritage.
O LORD, my strength, my power, and refuge in time of trouble. The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the world, and say: Verily our fathers have cleaved unto lies, their Idols are but vain and unprofitable.
Your sin (O ye of the tribe of Judah) is written in the table of your hearts, and graven so upon the edges of your altars with a pen of iron and with an adamant claw:
Wherefore, I will make all your substance and treasure be spoiled, for the great sin that ye have done upon your high places thorowout all the coasts of your land.
Ye shall be cast out also from the heritage, that I gave you. And I will subdue you under the heavy bondage of your enemies, in a land that ye know not. For ye have ministered fire to my indignation, which shall burn evermore.
He shall be like the heeth that groweth in the wilderness. As for the good thing that is for to come, he shall not see it: but dwell in a dry place of the wilderness, in a salt and unoccupied land.
For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the water side: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat can not harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought, yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.
Even I the LORD search|ripe| out the ground of the heart, and try|search| the reins, and reward every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his counsels.
The deceitful maketh a nest, but bringeth forth no young: He cometh by riches, but not righteously. In the middest of his life must he leave them behind him, and at the last be found a very fool.
Thou art the comfort of Israel. All they that forsake thee, shall be confounded: all they that depart from thee, shall be written in earth, for they have forsaken the LORD the very conduit|condite| of the waters of life.{All that forsake thee, shall be ashamed. And they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth. For they have lost the LORD that is the fountain of the water of life.}
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be whole: save thou me, and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise.{Heal me LORD, and I shall be whole: save me LORD, and I shall be safe, for thou art he that I praise.}
Behold, these men say unto me: Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come.{Behold they say unto me: where is the word of the LORD? Let it come to pass}
Where as I nevertheless leading the flock in thy ways, have compelled none by violence. For I never desired any man's death, this knowest thou well. My words also are right before thee.{and I enforced no to be a shepherd that should not follow thee: and the day of destruction have I not desired, thou knowest. And that proceeded out of my mouth was right in thy sight.}
Be not now terrible unto me, O LORD, for thou art he in whom I hope, when I am in peril.{Be not terrible unto me LORD: for thou art my trust in the evil day.}
Let my persecutors be confounded, but not me: let them be afraid, and not me. Thou shalt bring upon them the time of their plague, and shall destroy them right sore.{Let them that persecute me be confounded, and let not me be confounded. Let their hearts fail them, and not mine heart fail. Bring upon them an evil day, and bruise them again and again.}
Again, thus hath the LORD said unto me: Go stand under the gate, where thorow the people and the kings of Juda go out and in, yea under all the gates of Jerusalem,
and say unto them: Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Juda, and all thou people of Juda, and all ye citizens of Jerusalem, that go thorow this gate:
Nevertheless, if ye will hear me (sayeth the LORD) and bear no burthen in to the city thorow this gate upon the Sabbath: If ye will hallow the Sabbath, so that ye do no work therein:
then shall there go thorow the gates of this city, kings and princes, that shall sit upon the stool of David: They shall be carried upon chariots, and ride upon horses, both they and their princes. Yea whole Juda and all the citizens of Jerusalem shall go here thorow, and this city shall ever be the more and more inhabited.
There shall come men also from the cities of Judah, from about Jerusalem, and from the land of Ben Jamin, from the plain fields, from the mountains and from the wilderness: which shall bring burntofferings, sacrifices, oblations, and incense, and offer up thanksgiving in the house of the LORD.
But if ye will not be obedient unto me, to hallow the Sabbath: so that ye will bear your burthens thorow the gates of Jerusalem upon the Sabbath: Then shall I set fire upon the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall burn up the houses of Jerusalem, and no man shall be able to quench it.
May not I do with you, as this Potter doth, O ye house of Israel? sayeth the LORD. Behold, ye house of Israel: ye are in my hand, even as the clay in the Potter's hand.
if that people (against whom I have thus devised) convert from their wickedness: Immediately, I repent of the plague, that I devised to bring upon them.
Speak now therefore unto whole Juda, and to them that dwell at Jerusalem: Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I am devising a plague for you, and am taking a thing in hand against you. Therefore let every man turn from his evil way, take upon you the thing that is good, and do right.
Shall not the snow (that melteth upon the stony rocks of Libanus) moisten|moysture| the fields? Or may the springs of waters be so graven away, that they run no more, give moistness, nor make fruitful?
But my people hath so forgotten me, that they have made sacrifice unto vain gods. And while they followed their own ways they are come out of the high street, and gone in to a foot way not used to be trodden.
Where thorow they have brought their land into an everlasting wilderness and scorn: So that whosoever traveleth thereby, shall be abashed, and wag their heads.
Then said they: come, let us imagine something against this Jeremy. Yea this did even the priests, to whom the law was committed: the Senators, that were the wisest: and the prophets, which wanted not the word of God. Come (say they) let us cut out his tongue, and let us not regard his words.
Do they not recompense evil for good, when they dig a pit for my soul? Remember, how that I stood before thee, to speak for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Therefore let their children die of hunger, and let them be oppressed with the sword. Let their wives be robbed of their children, and become widows: let their husbands be slain, let their young men be killed with the sword in the field.
Let the noise be heard out of their houses, when the murderer cometh suddenly upon them: For they have digged a pit to take me, and laid snares for my feet.
Yet LORD, thou knowest all their counsel, that they have devised, to slay me. And therefore forgive them not their wickedness, and let not their sin be put out of thy sight: but let them be judged before thee as the guilty: This shalt thou do unto them in the time of thy indignation.
and say thus unto them: Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and ye citizens of Jerusalem: Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring such a plague upon this place, that the ears of all that hear it, shall glow.
And that because they have forsaken me, and unhallowed this place, and have offered in it unto strange gods: whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known. They have filled this place also with the blood of innocents,
for they have set up an altar unto Baal, to burn their children for a burntoffering unto Baal, which I neither commanded, nor charged them, neither thought once thereupon.
Behold therefore, the time cometh (sayeth the LORD) that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the children of Hennom, but the valley of slaughter.
For in this place will I slay the Senators of Juda and Jerusalem, and kill them down with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and of them that seek their lives. And their dead carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field.
I will feed them also with the flesh of their sons and their daughters. Yea every one shall eat up another in the besieging and straightness, wherewith their enemies (that seek their lives) shall keep them in.
Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: Even so will I destroy this people and city: as a Potter breaketh a vessel, that can not be made whole again. In Topheth shall they be buried, for they shall have none other place.
For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah are defiled, like as Topheth, because of all the houses, in whose parlors they did sacrifice unto all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto strange gods.
And so Jeremy came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the house of the LORD, and spake to all the people:
Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would not obey my warnings.
The next day following, Phashur brought Jeremy out of the stocks again. Then said Jeremy unto him: The LORD shall call thee no more Phashur (that is excellent and increasing) but Magor (that is fearful and afraid) everywhere.
For thus sayeth the LORD: behold, I will make thee afraid, thee thy self and all that favour thee: which shall perish with the sword of their enemies, even before thy face. And I will give whole Judah under the power of the king of Babylon, which shall carry some unto Babylon prisoners, and slay some with the sword.
Moreover, all the substance of this land, all their precious and gorgeous works, all costliness, and all the treasure of the kings of Judah: will I give in to the hands of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and carry them unto Babylon.
But as for thee (O Phashur) thou shalt be carried unto Babylon with all thine household, and to Babylon shalt thou come, where thou shalt die, and be buried: thou and all thy favourers, to whom thou hast preached lies.
because I have now preached long against malicious Tyranny, and shewed them of destruction. For the which cause they cast the word of the LORD in my teeth, and take me ever to the worst.
Wherefore, I thought from hence forth, not to speak of him, nor to preach any more in his name. But the word of the LORD was a very burning fire in my heart and in my bones, which when I would have stopped, I might not.
For why, I heard so many derisions and blasphemies, yea even of my own companions, and such as were conversant with me: which went about, to make me afraid, saying: upon him, let us go upon him, to fear him, and make him hold his tongue: that we may overcome him, and be avenged of him.
But the LORD stood by me, like a mighty giant: therefore my persecutors fell, and could do nothing. They shall be sore confounded, for they have done unwisely, they shall have an everlasting shame.
And now, O LORD of Hosts, thou righteous searcher (which knowest the reins and the very hearts:) let me see them punished, for unto thee I commit my cause.
because he slew me not, as soon as I came out of my mother's womb, and because my mother was not my grave herself, that the birth might not have come out, but remained still in her.
These are the words that the LORD spake unto Jeremy, what time as king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Sophaniah the son of Maasiah priest, saying:
Ask counsel at the LORD (we Pray thee) of our behalf, for Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon beseigeth us, if the LORD (peradventure) will deal with us, according to his marvelous power, and take him from us.
Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: behold, I will turn back the weapons, that ye have in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and the Caldees, which besiege you round about the walls, and I will bring them together into the middest of this city,
And after this (sayeth the LORD) I shall deliver Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his servants, his people, (and such as are escaped in the city, from the pestilence, sword, and hunger) into the power of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon: yea into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those that follow upon their lives, which shall smite them with the sword: they shall not pity them, they shall not spare them, they shall have no mercy upon them.
Whoso abideth in this city, shall perish: either with the sword, with hunger, or with pestilence. But whoso goeth out to hold on the Caldees part, that besiege it, he shall save his life, and shall win his soul for a prey.
For I have set my face against this city (sayeth the LORD) to plague it, and to do it no good. It must be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and be brent with fire.
(O house of David) for thus sayeth the LORD: Minister righteousness, and that soon, deliver the oppressed from violent power: or ever my terrible wrath break out like a fire, and burn so, that no man may quench it, because of the wickedness of your imaginations.
Behold, (sayeth the LORD) I will come upon you that dwell in the valleys, rocks and fields, and say: Tush, who will make us afraid? or who will come into our houses?
For I will visit you (sayeth the LORD) because of the wickedness of your inventions, and will kindle such a fire in your wood, as shall consume all, that is about you.
and say: Hear the word of the LORD, thou king of Judah that sittest in the kingly seat of David: thou, and thy servants, and thy|ye| people, that go in and out at this gate.
Thus the LORD commandeth: Keep equity and righteousness, deliver the oppressed from the power of the violent: do not grieve nor oppress the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place.
And if ye keep these things faithfully, then shall there come in at the door of this house kings, to sit upon David's seat: they shall be carried in Chariots and ride upon horses, both they and their servants, and their people.
For thus hath the LORD spoken upon the king's house of Judah: Thou art the head, as Gilead is in Libanus: What wilt thou lay of it, if I make thee not so waste (and thy cities also) that no man shall dwell therein?
Mourn not over the dead, and be not woe for them, but be sorry for him that departeth away: for he cometh not again, and seeth his native country no more.
For thus sayeth the LORD, as touching Selum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned after his father, and is carried out of this place: He shall never come hither again,
Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.
He thinketh in himself: I will build me a wide house, and gorgeous parlors: He causeth windows to be hewn therein, and the ceilings and joists|geastes| maketh he of Cedar, and painteth them with Zenober.
Thinkest thou to reign, now that thou provokest me to wrath with the|thy| Cedar trees? Did not thy father eat and drink, and prosper well, as long as he dealt with equity and righteousness?
Yea when he helped the oppressed and poor to their right, then prospered he well. From whence came this, but only because he had me before his eyes, sayeth the LORD.
And therefore, thus sayeth the LORD against Jehoakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him (as they use to do) alas brother, alas sister: Neither shall they say unto him: Alas sir, alas for that noble prince.
I gave thee warning, while thou wast yet in prosperity. But thou saidst: I will not hear. And this manner hast thou used from thy youth, that thou wouldest never hear my voice.
All thy herdmen shall be driven with the wind, and thy dearlings shall be carried away into captivity: Then shalt thou be brought to shame and confusion, because of all thy wickedness:
thou that dwellest upon Libanus, and makest thy nest in the Cedars trees. O how great shall thy mourning be, when thy sorrows come upon thee, as a woman travailing with child?
And I will give thee into the power of them that seek to slay thee, and into the power of them that thou fearest: into the power of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and into the power of the Caldees.
This man Jechoniah shall be like an image robbed and torn in pieces, which pleaseth no man, for all his apparel. Wherefore both he and his seed shall be sent away, and cast out into a land, that they know not.
Write this man among the outlaws, for no prosperity shall this man have all his life long. Neither shall any of his seed be so happy, as to sit upon the seat of David, and to bear rule in Juda.
Wherefore, this is the commandment of the LORD God of Israel, unto the shepherds that feed my people: Ye scatter and thrust out my flock, and look not upon them. Therefore now will I visit the wickedness of your imaginations, sayeth the LORD:
And will gather together the remnant of my flock, from all lands that I had driven them unto, and will bring them again to their pastures, that they may grow and increase.
Behold, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that I will raise up the righteous Branch of David, which shall bear rule, and discuss matters with wisdom, and shall set up equity and righteousness again in the earth.
In his time shall Judah be saved and Israel shall dwell without fear. And this is the name that they shall call him: even the LORD our righteous maker.
And therefore behold, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that it shall no more be said: the LORD liveth, which brought the children of Israell out of the land of Egypt:
But the LORD liveth, which brought forth, and led the seed of the house of Israel, out of the North land, and from all countries where I had scattered them, and they shall dwell in their own land again.
My heart breaketh in my body because of the false prophets, all my bones shake: I am become like a drunken man (that by the reason of wine can take no rest) for very fear of the LORD, and of his holy words:
Because the land is full of advouters, where thorow it is destroyed and mourneth, and the pleasant pastures of the desert are dried up. Yea the way that men take, is wicked, and their governance is nothing like the holy word of the LORD.
Wherefore, their way shall be slippery in the darkness, wherein they may stagger and fall. For I will bring a plague upon them, even the year of their visitation, sayeth the LORD.
I have seen also among the Prophets of Jerusalem foul advoutry, and presumptuous lies. They take the most shameful men by the hand, flattering them, so that they can not return from their wickedness. All these with their citizens are unto me, as Sodom, and as the inhabiters of Gomorre.
Therefore thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall. For from the prophets of Jerusalem is the sickness of hypocrisy come in to all the land.
And therefore the LORD of Hosts giveth you this warning: Hear not the words of the prophets, that preach unto you, and deceive you: for they speak the meaning of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
They say unto them, that despise me: The LORD hath spoken it: Tush, ye shall prosper right well. And unto all them, that walk after the lusts of their own heart, they say: Tush, there shall no misfortune happen you.
For who hath sitten in the council{councell} of the LORD, that he hath heard and understand, what he is about to do? Who hath marked his device, and heard it?
And the wrath of the LORD shall not turn away again, until he perform and fulfil the thought of his heart. And in the latter days ye shall know his meaning.
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell it: and he that understandeth my word, let him shew it faithfully. For what hath chaff and wheat to do together? sayeth the LORD.
Behold here am I (sayeth the LORD) against those prophets, that dare prophesy lies, and deceive my people with their vanities, and miracles, whom I never sent, nor commanded them. They shall do this people great harm, sayeth the LORD.
If this people, either any prophet or priest ask thee, and say: What is the burthen of the LORD? Thou shalt say unto them: What burthen? Therefore will I cast you from me (sayeth the LORD) because ye yourselves are a burthen.
And as for the burthen of the LORD, ye shall speak no more of it: for every man's own word is his burthen, because ye have altered the words of the living God the LORD of Hosts our God.