1. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of
the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2. To whom the word of the LORD 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. Then the word of the LORD 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 sanctified thee,
and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot
speak: for I am a child.
7. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child:
for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever
I command thee thou shalt speak.
8. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with
thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched
my mouth. And the LORD 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 root out, and to pull down, and to destroy,
and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
11. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of
an almond tree.
12. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well
seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
13. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second
time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot;
and the face thereof is toward the north.
14. Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north
an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15. For, lo, I will call all the families of the
kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; 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 utter my judgments against them
touching all their wickedness, who 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 command thee: be not dismayed at
their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
18. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced
city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land,
against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against
the priests thereof, 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 the
LORD, to deliver thee.
Jeremiah - Chapter 2
1. Moreover the word of the LORD came to me,
saying,
2. Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,
Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth,
the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the
wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits
of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall
come upon them, saith the LORD.
4. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob,
and all the families of the house of Israel:
5. Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your
fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have
walked after vanity, and are become vain?
6. Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought
us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought,
and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed
through, and where no man dwelt?
7. And I brought you into a plentiful country,
to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye
entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
8. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and
they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed
against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after
things that do not profit.
9. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the
LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.
10. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see;
and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there
be such a thing.
11. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are
yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that
which doth not profit.
12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be
horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
13. For my people have committed two evils; they
have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them
out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14. Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave?
why is he spoiled?
15. The young lions roared upon him, and yelled,
and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
16. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have
broken the crown of thy head.
17. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in
that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by
the way?
18. And now what hast thou to do in the way of
Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do
in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and
thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that
it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD
thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of
hosts.
20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and
burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when
upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest,
playing the harlot.
21. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly
a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant
of a strange vine unto me?
22. For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take
thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith
the Lord GOD.
23. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have
not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou
hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
24. A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth
up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can 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 have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
26. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so
is the house of Israel 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 their
back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble
they will say, Arise, and save us.
28. But where are thy gods that thou hast made
thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy
trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods,
O Judah.
29. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have
transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
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, see ye the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore
say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride
her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore
hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the
souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search,
but upon all these.
35. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely
his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee,
because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
36. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy
way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed
of Assyria.
37. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine
hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences,
and thou shalt not prosper in them.
Jeremiah - Chapter 3
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? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith
the LORD.
2. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and
see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou
sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast
polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3. Therefore the showers have been withholden,
and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead,
thou refusedst 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 reserve his anger for ever? will he
keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things
as thou couldest.
6. The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah
the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green
tree, and there hath played the harlot.
7. And I said after she had done all these things,
Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous
sister Judah saw it.
8. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding
Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a
bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not,
but went and played the harlot also.
9. And it came to pass through the lightness of
her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with stones and with stocks.
10. And yet for all this her treacherous sister
Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly,
saith the LORD.
11. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding
Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
12. Go and proclaim these words toward the north,
and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and
I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful,
saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou
hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered
thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have
not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD;
for I am married 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 pastors according to mine
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied
and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they
shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither
shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither
shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto
it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they
walk any more after the imagination 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 that I have given for an inheritance
unto your fathers.
19. But I said, How shall I put thee among the
children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of
the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father;
and shalt not turn away from me.
20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from
her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD.
21. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping
and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted
their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will
heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art
the LORD our God.
23. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the
hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD
our God is the salvation of Israel.
24. For 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 the LORD our God, we and
our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD our God.
Jeremiah - Chapter 4
1. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD,
return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out
of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth,
in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless
themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah
and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among
thorns.
4. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, 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 that
none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem;
and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together,
and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced
cities.
6. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay
not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the
destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from
his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid
waste, without an inhabitant.
8. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and
howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from
us.
9. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith
the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart
of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets
shall wonder.
10. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! 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 dry wind of the high places in the wilderness
toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12. Even a full wind from those places shall come
unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13. Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his
chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than
eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart 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. Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish
against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and
give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17. As keepers of a field, are they against her
round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith
the LORD.
18. Thy way and thy doings have procured these
things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter,
because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19. My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very
heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,
because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for
the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and
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 none understanding:
they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without
form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
and all the hills moved lightly.
25. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all
the birds of the heavens were fled.
26. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a
wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the
presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
27. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land
shall be desolate; yet will I 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 from it.
29. The whole city shall flee for the noise of
the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb
up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man
dwell therein.
30. And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?
Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest
thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with
painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will
despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail,
and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that
spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied
because of murderers.
Jeremiah - Chapter 5
1. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if
ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that
seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
2. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely
they swear falsely.
3. O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth?
thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast
consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they
have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to
return.
4. Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they
are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment
of their God.
5. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak
unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment
of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst
the bonds.
6. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay
them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall
watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall
be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and
their backslidings are increased.
7. How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children
have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had
fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled
themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
8. They were as fed horses in the morning: every
one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
9. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the
LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10. Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make
not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the
LORD's.
11. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
12. They have belied the LORD, and said, It is
not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither 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. Wherefore thus saith the LORD 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. Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far,
O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is
an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither
understandest what they say.
16. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they
are all mighty men.
17. And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy
bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall
eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines
and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein
thou trustedst, with the sword.
18. Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD,
I will not make a full end with you.
19. And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say,
Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then
shalt thou answer them, Like 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 people, and without
understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears,
and hear not:
22. Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not
tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound
of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and
though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail;
though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
23. But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious
heart; they are revolted and gone.
24. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now
fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the
latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks
of the harvest.
25. Your iniquities have turned away these things,
and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26. For among my people are found wicked men: they
lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch
men.
27. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses
full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
28. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass
the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of
the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do
they not judge.
29. Shall I not visit for these things? saith
the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed
in the land;
31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests
bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and
what will ye do in the end thereof?
Jeremiah - Chapter 6
1. O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves
to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in
Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth
out of the north, and great destruction.
2. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely
and delicate woman.
3. The 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 ye war against her; arise, and let us
go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the
shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5. Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy
her palaces.
6. For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye
down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city
to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
7. As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she
casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her;
before me continually is grief and wounds.
8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul
depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly
glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as
a grapegatherer into the baskets.
10. To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that
they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot
hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach;
they have no delight in it.
11. Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD;
I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children
abroad, 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,
with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my
hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
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. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter
of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
15. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that
I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
16. Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways,
and see, and ask for the old paths, where 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 set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken
to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation,
what is among them.
19. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon
this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have
not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
20. To what purpose cometh there to me incense
from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt
offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21. Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will
lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the
sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend
shall perish.
22. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh
from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from
the sides of the earth.
23. They shall 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 men for war against
thee, O daughter of Zion.
24. We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax
feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman
in travail.
25. Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the
way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth,
and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only
son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come
upon us.
27. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress
among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
28. They are all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed
of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not
plucked away.
30. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because
the LORD hath rejected them.
Jeremiah - Chapter 7
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
2. Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim
there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of
Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
3. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell
in this place.
4. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple
of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are
these.
5. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your
doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his
neighbour;
6. If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither
walk after other gods to your hurt:
7. Then will I cause you to dwell in this place,
in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot
profit.
9. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery,
and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after
other gods whom ye know not;
10. And come and stand before me in this house,
which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all
these abominations?
11. Is this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen
it, saith the LORD.
12. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh,
where I set my name 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 the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking,
but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
14. Therefore will I do unto this 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, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither
lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make 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 their 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. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD:
do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 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 the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded
them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
23. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey
my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and
walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may
be well unto you.
24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination 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 I have even sent unto you
all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending
them:
26. Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined
their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their
fathers.
27. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words
unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also
call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
28. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation
that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth
correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29. Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it
away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath
rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
30. For the children of Judah have done evil in
my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in
the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
31. And they have built the high places of Tophet,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons
and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither
came it into my heart.
32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of
the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall
bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33. And the carcases of this people shall be meat
for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth;
and none shall fray them away.
34. Then will I cause to cease from the cities
of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth,
and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
Jeremiah - Chapter 8
1. At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring
out 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 before the sun, and
the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and
whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom
they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not
be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face
of the earth.
3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by
all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which
remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the
LORD of hosts.
4. Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away,
and not return?
5. Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden
back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they
refuse to return.
6. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright:
no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?
every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the
battle.
7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed
times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the
time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the
LORD.
8. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the
LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of
the scribes is in vain.
9. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed
and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what
wisdom is in them?
10. Therefore will I give their wives unto others,
and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one
from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness,
from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
11. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter
of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
12. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of
their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
13. I will surely consume them, saith the LORD:
there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree,
and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them
shall pass away from them.
14. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves,
and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent
there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given
us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the
LORD.
15. We looked for peace, but no good came; and
for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan:
the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong
ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that
is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17. For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices,
among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you,
saith the LORD.
18. When I would comfort myself against sorrow,
my heart is faint in me.
19. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter
of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not
the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked
me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and
we are not saved.
21. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am
I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician
there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?
Jeremiah - Chapter 9
1. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes 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 lodging place
of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them!
for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3. And they bend their tongues like their bow for
lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for
they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the
LORD.
4. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and
trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant,
and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
5. And they will deceive every one his neighbour,
and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to
speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit;
through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
7. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold,
I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter
of my people?
8. Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh
deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth,
but in heart he layeth his wait.
9. Shall I not visit them for these things? saith
the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10. For the mountains will I take up a weeping
and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation,
because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them;
neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of
the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
11. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den
of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without
an inhabitant.
12. Who is the wise man, that may understand this?
and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that
he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up
like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
13. And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken
my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice,
neither walked therein;
14. But have walked after the imagination of their
own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with
wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
16. I will scatter them also among the heathen,
whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send
a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
17. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye,
and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send
for cunning 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
gush out with waters.
19. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,
How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have
forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
20. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your
daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
21. For death is come up into our windows, and
is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without,
and the young men from the streets.
22. Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases
of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful
after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
23. Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for
in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
25. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
26. Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children
of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that
dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised,
and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Jeremiah - Chapter 10
1. Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto
you, O house of Israel:
2. Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the
heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen
are dismayed at them.
3. For the customs of the people are vain: for
one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of
the workman, with the axe.
4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak
not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not
afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in
them to do good.
6. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee,
O LORD; 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: forasmuch as among all the wise
men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like
unto thee.
8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish:
the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands
of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all
the work of cunning men.
10. But the LORD is the true God, he is the living
God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble,
and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that
have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish
from the earth, and from under these 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 discretion.
13. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude
of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend
from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
14. Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every
founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image
is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in
the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16. The portion of Jacob is not like them: for
he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance:
The LORD of hosts is his name.
17. Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant
of the fortress.
18. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling
out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress
them, that they may find it so.
19. Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous:
but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20. My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords
are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not:
there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up
my curtains.
21. For the pastors are become brutish, and have
not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all
their flocks shall be scattered.
22. Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and
a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities
of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23. O LORD, I know that the way of man is not
in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
24. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not
in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know
thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for
they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him,
and have made his habitation desolate.
Jeremiah - Chapter 11
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak
unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3. And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD
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, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command
you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
5. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn
unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey,
as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
6. Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these
words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem,
saying, Hear ye 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, even
unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
8. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear,
but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore
I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I
commanded them to do; but they did them not.
9. And the LORD 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, which refused to hear my words; and they went
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 the LORD, Behold, I will
bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape;
and though they shall cry unto me, 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 offer incense:
but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
13. For according to the number of thy cities
were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets
of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even
altars to burn incense unto Baal.
14. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither
lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in
the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
15. What hath my beloved to do in mine house,
seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh
is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
16. The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree,
fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he
hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
17. For the LORD 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 against
themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
18. And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it,
and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
19. But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought
to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had 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, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously,
that 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 the LORD of the men of
Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name
of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
22. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold,
I will 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, even the year of their
visitation.
Jeremiah - Chapter 12
1. Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with
thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth
the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that
deal very treacherously?
2. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken
root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in
their mouth, and far from their reins.
3. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen
me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep
for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4. How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs
of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?
the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He
shall not see our last end.
5. If thou hast run with the footmen, and they
have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and
if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied
thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy
father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they
have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they
speak fair words unto thee.
7. I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine
heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the
hand of her enemies.
8. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest;
it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
9. Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird,
the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the
beasts of the field, come to devour.
10. Many pastors 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 desolate, and being desolate
it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because
no man layeth it to heart.
12. The spoilers are come upon all high places
through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour
from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land:
no flesh shall have peace.
13. They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns:
they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they
shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger
of the LORD.
14. Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil
neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my
people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their
land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15. And it shall come to pass, after that I have
plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and
will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man
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, The LORD liveth;
as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be
built in the midst of my people.
17. But if they will not obey, I will utterly
pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 13
1. Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee
a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2. So I got a girdle according to the word of
the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second
time, saying,
4. Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is
upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there
in a hole of the rock.
5. So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the
LORD commanded me.
6. And it came to pass after many days, that the
LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle
from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7. Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took
the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the
girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8. Then the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
9. Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will
I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10. This evil people, which refuse to hear my
words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk
after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even
be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11. For as the 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 the LORD; 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. Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this
word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be
filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly
know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13. Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land,
even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests,
and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14. And I will dash them one against another,
even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will
not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
15. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the
LORD hath spoken.
16. Give glory to the LORD your God, before he
cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains,
and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death,
and make it gross darkness.
17. But 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 the LORD's flock is carried
away captive.
18. Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble
yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down,
even the crown of your glory.
19. The cities of the south shall be shut up,
and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive
all of it, it shall be 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 punish thee?
for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee:
shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
22. And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore
come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity
are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed
to do evil.
24. Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble
that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures
from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted
in falsehood.
26. Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon
thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27. I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings,
the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills
in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be
made clean? when shall it once be?
Jeremiah - Chapter 14
1. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah
concerning the dearth.
2. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish;
they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone
up.
3. And their nobles have sent their little ones
to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they
returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded,
and covered their heads.
4. Because the ground is chapt, for there was
no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their
heads.
5. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and
forsook it, because there was no grass.
6. And the wild asses did stand in the high places,
they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because
there was no grass.
7. O LORD, though our iniquities testify against
us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against thee.
8. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in
time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land,
and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9. Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as
a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst
of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
10. Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus
have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet,
therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember
their iniquity, and visit their sins.
11. Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this
people for their good.
12. When they fast, I will not hear their cry;
and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not
accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the
famine, and by the pestilence.
13. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets
say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have
famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
14. Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy
lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them,
neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision
and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their
heart.
15. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the
prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they
say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and
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 they shall have none to bury them, them, their
wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their
wickedness upon them.
17. Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them;
Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them
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, then behold
the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then
behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet
and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
19. Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy
soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing
for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the
time of healing, and behold trouble!
20. We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and
the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not
disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant
with us.
22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles
that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not
thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for
thou hast made all these things.
Jeremiah - Chapter 15
1. Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and
Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people:
cast 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 the LORD; 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 the captivity, to the captivity.
3. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith
the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls
of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
4. And I will cause them to be removed into all
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, O Jerusalem?
or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou
doest?
6. Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou
art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against
thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
7. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates
of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my
people, since they return not from their ways.
8. Their widows are increased to me above the
sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother
of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall
upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
9. She that hath borne seven languisheth: she
hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet
day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of
them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the
LORD.
10. Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne
me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth!
I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury;
yet every one of them doth curse me.
11. The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with
thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well
in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12. Shall iron break the northern iron and the
steel?
13. Thy substance and thy treasures will I give
to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in
all thy borders.
14. And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies
into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine
anger, which shall burn upon you.
15. O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit
me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy
longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart:
for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers,
nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled
me with indignation.
18. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable,
which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me
as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19. Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return,
then will I bring thee again, and 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 fenced
brasen 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 the LORD.
21. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of
the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Jeremiah - Chapter 16
1. The word of the LORD came also unto me,
saying,
2. Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt
thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3. For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons
and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and
concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their
fathers that begat them in this land;
4. They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall
not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall
be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed
by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat
for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
5. For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the
house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I
have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even
lovingkindness and mercies.
6. Both the great and the small shall die in this
land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them,
nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
7. Neither shall men tear themselves for them
in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give
them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their
mother.
8. Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting,
to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your
eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt
shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee,
Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against
us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have
committed against the LORD our God?
11. Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your
fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, 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 ye have done worse than your fathers;
for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil
heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
13. Therefore will I cast you out of this land
into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and
there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not
shew you favour.
14. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15. But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the
children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the
lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again
into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith
the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after 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 hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine
eyes.
18. And first I will recompense their iniquity
and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they
have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable
and abominable things.
19. O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and
my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto
thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers
have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein 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 mine hand and my might;
and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 17
1. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,
and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of
their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
2. Whilst their children remember their altars
and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
3. O my mountain in the field, I will give thy
substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places
for sin, throughout all thy borders.
4. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from
thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve
thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have
kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
5. Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the LORD.
6. For he shall be like the heath in the desert,
and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched
places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD,
and whose hope the LORD is.
8. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see
when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit.
9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?
10. I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins,
even to give every man according to his ways, and according to
the fruit of his doings.
11. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth
them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave
them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
12. A glorious high throne from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake
thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written
in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain
of living waters.
14. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save
me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15. Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word
of the LORD? let it come now.
16. As for me, I have not hastened from being
a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day;
thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before
thee.
17. Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope
in the day of evil.
18. Let them be confounded that persecute me,
but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not
me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them
with double destruction.
19. Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in
the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah
come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of
Jerusalem;
20. And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the
LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
21. Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves,
and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the
gates of Jerusalem;
22. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses
on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the
sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
23. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their
ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor
receive instruction.
24. And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently
hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through
the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath
day, to do no work therein;
25. Then shall there enter into 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 remain
for ever.
26. And they shall come from the cities of Judah,
and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin,
and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south,
bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings,
and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house
of the LORD.
27. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow
the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at
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.
Jeremiah - Chapter 18
1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
2. Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and
there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred
in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel,
as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as
this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down,
and to destroy it;
8. If that nation, against whom I have pronounced,
turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought
to do unto them.
9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning
a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not
my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would
benefit them.
11. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against
you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your
ways and your doings good.
12. And they said, There is no hope: but we will
walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination
of his evil heart.
13. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now
among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel
hath done a very horrible thing.
14. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which
cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing
waters that come from another place be forsaken?
15. Because my people hath forgotten me, they
have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble
in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way
not cast up;
16. To make their land desolate, and a perpetual
hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and
wag his head.
17. I will scatter them as with an east wind before
the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the
day of their calamity.
18. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices
against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest,
nor counsel from the wise, nor the 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. Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the
voice of them that contend with me.
20. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they
have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee
to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
21. Therefore deliver up their children to the
famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and
let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows;
and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain
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 hid snares for my feet.
23. Yet, LORD, thou 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 thus with them in the time of thine anger.
Jeremiah - Chapter 19
1. Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's
earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of
the ancients of the priests;
2. And go forth unto the valley of the son of
Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there
the words that I shall tell thee,
3. And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings
of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD 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, 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. They have built also the high places of Baal,
to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which
I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
6. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The
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 hands of them that seek
their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the
fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
8. And I will make this city desolate, and an
hissing; every one that passeth thereby 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 every
one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith
their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten
them.
10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight
of the men that go with thee,
11. And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD
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 them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the
LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city
as Tophet:
13. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses
of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet,
because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense
unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings
unto other gods.
14. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the
LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the
LORD's house; and said to all the people,
15. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all
the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have
hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
Jeremiah - Chapter 20
1. Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who
was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah
prophesied these things.
2. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and
put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin,
which was by the house of the LORD.
3. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur
brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah
unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.
4. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will 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 behold
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 slay them
with the sword.
5. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of
this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things
thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give
into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take
them, and carry them to Babylon.
6. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine
house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon,
and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and
all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
7. O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived:
thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision
daily, every one mocketh me.
8. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence
and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto
me, and a derision, daily.
9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him,
nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart
as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing,
and I could not stay.
10. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on
every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my
familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will
be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take
our revenge on him.
11`. But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible
one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not
prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper:
their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
12. But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous,
and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on
them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
13. Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for
he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let
not the day wherein my mother bare 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 the
LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in
the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
17. Because he slew me not from the womb; or that
my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always
great with me.
18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to
see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
Jeremiah - Chapter 21
1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the
LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah,
and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2. Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be
that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous
works, that he may go up from us.
3. Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye
say to Zedekiah:
4. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold,
I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith
ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans,
which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them
into the midst of this city.
5. And I myself will fight against you with an
outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even 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 afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver
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 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
the LORD; 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 falleth 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 the LORD: 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,
say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
12. O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute
judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of
the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and
burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
13. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of
the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say,
Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
14. But I will punish you according to the fruit
of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the
forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
Jeremiah - Chapter 22
1. Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of
the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2. And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king
of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy
servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
3. Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye 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, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this
place.
4. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall
there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the
throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his
servants, and his people.
5. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear
by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6. For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house
of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet
surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not
inhabited.
7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee,
every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice
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 the
LORD done thus unto this great city?
9. Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken
the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods,
and served them.
10. Weep ye 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 the LORD touching Shallum the
son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his
father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return
thither any more:
12. But 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 chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service
without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14. That saith, I will build me a wide house and
large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled
with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15. Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself
in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and
justice, and then it was well with him?
16. He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the
LORD.
17. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but
for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for
oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him,
saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament
for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,
drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20. Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy
voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers
are destroyed.
21. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou
saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth,
that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22. The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and
thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be
ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
23. O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest
in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon
thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24. As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand,
yet would 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 whose face thou
fearest, 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. But to the land whereunto they desire to return,
thither shall they not return.
28. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?
is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast
out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know
not?
29. O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the
LORD.
30. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye 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.
Jeremiah - Chapter 23
1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter
the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel
against the pastors 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 the LORD.
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 folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4. And I will set up shepherds over them which
shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
5. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8. But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and
which led 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. Mine heart within me is broken because of the
prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like
a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because
of the words of his holiness.
10. For the land is full of adulterers; for because
of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness
are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not
right.
11. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea,
in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
12. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as
slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall
therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their
visitation, saith the LORD.
13. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria;
they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem
an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they
strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return
from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and
the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15. Therefore thus saith 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 profaneness gone forth into all the land.
16. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not
unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make
you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out
of the mouth of the LORD.
17. They say still unto them that despise me,
The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every
one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil
shall come upon you.
18. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD,
and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word,
and heard it?
19. Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth
in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon
the head of the wicked.
20. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until
he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his
heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
21. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran:
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had
caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned
them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not
a God afar off?
24. Can any hide himself in secret places that
I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and
earth? saith the LORD.
25. I have heard what the prophets said, that
prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26. How long shall this be in the heart of the
prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit
of their own heart;
27. Which 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
a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
29. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the
LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the
LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false
dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people
to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them
not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this
people at all, saith the LORD.
33. And when this people, or the prophet, or a
priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD?
thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake
you, saith the LORD.
34. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and
the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, 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 the LORD answered? and,
What hath the LORD spoken?
36. And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention
no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have
perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our
God.
37. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath
the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
38. But since ye say, The burden of the LORD;
therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden
of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say,
The burden of the LORD;
39. Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly
forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you
and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
40. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon
you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Jeremiah - Chapter 24
1. The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets
of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and
smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2. One basket had very good figs, even like the
figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty
figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3. Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou,
Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the
evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4. Again the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
5. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like
these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away
captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the
land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6. For 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 an heart to know me, that
I am the LORD: 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 evil figs, which cannot be eaten,
they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah
the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem,
that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9. And I will deliver them to be removed into
all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, 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 the sword, the famine, and
the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the
land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Jeremiah - Chapter 25
1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all
the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon;
2. The which Jeremiah the prophet spake 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 king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and
twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I
have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not
hearkened.
4. And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants
the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened,
nor inclined your ear to hear.
5. They said, Turn ye again now every one from
his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the
land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for
ever and ever:
6. And go not after other gods to serve them,
and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works
of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the
LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your
hands to your own hurt.
8. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because
ye have not heard my words,
9. Behold, I will send and take all the families
of the north, saith the LORD, and 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 will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment,
and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10. Moreover I will take from them the voice of
mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom,
and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the
light of the candle.
11. And this whole land shall be a desolation,
and 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 punish the king of Babylon, and
that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land
of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
13. And I will bring upon that land all my words
which I have pronounced against it, even 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 works of their own hands.
15. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto
me; Take the wine cup 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 be moved, and be
mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
17. Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and
made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
18. To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah,
and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a
desolation, an astonishment, an 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 Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
21. Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
22. And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings
of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
23. Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are
in the utmost corners,
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. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken,
and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which
I will send among you.
28. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the
cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
29. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city
which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?
Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon
all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
30. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these
words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and
utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar
upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread
the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31. A noise shall come even to the ends of the
earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will
plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the
sword, saith the LORD.
32. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil
shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall
be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
33. And the slain of the LORD 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 ground.
34. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves
in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your
slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall
fall like a pleasant vessel.
35. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee,
nor the principal of the flock to escape.
36. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an
howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the
LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
37. And the peaceable habitations are cut down
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion:
for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.
Jeremiah - Chapter 26
1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD,
saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of
the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which
come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command
thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
3. If so be 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 evil of their doings.
4. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the
LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I
have set before you,
5. To hearken to the words of my servants the
prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up 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. So the priests and the prophets and all the
people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the
LORD.
8. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made
an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak
unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all
the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9. Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the
LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall
be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered
against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10. When the princes of Judah heard these things,
then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the
LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's
house.
11. Then spake the priests and the prophets 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. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and
to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against
this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings,
and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent
him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
14. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with
me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
15. But know ye 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 the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words
in your ears.
16. Then said the princes and all the people unto
the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die:
for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
17. Then rose up certain of the elders of the
land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18. Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days
of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah,
saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like
a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountains 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 the LORD, and besought the
LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced
against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
20. And there was also a man that prophesied in
the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim,
who prophesied against this city and against this land according
to all the words of Jeremiah:
21. And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his
mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought
to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid,
and fled, and went into Egypt;
22. And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt,
namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into
Egypt.
23. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt,
and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the
sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of
Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into
the hand of the people to put him to death.
Jeremiah - Chapter 27
1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD to 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 Ammonites, and to the king
of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers
which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4. And command them to say unto their masters,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye
say unto your masters;
5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast
that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched
arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6. And now have I given all these lands unto the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the
beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son,
and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then
many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8. And it shall come to pass, that the nation
and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king
of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of
the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD,
with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence,
until I have consumed them by his hand.
9. Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets,
nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters,
nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall
not serve the king of Babylon:
10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove
you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye
should perish.
11. But the nations that bring their neck under
the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let
remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall
till it, and dwell therein.
12. I spake also 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 the LORD hath
spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14. Therefore hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king
of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15. For I have not sent them, saith the LORD,
yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out,
and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto
you.
16. Also I spake to the priests and to all this
people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words
of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels
of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon:
for they prophesy a lie unto you.
17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon,
and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of
the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD
of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the
LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem,
go not to Babylon.
19. For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning
the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases,
and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this
city,
20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took
not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of
Judah and Jerusalem;
21. Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of
the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22. They shall be carried to Babylon, and there
shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD;
then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
Jeremiah - Chapter 28
1. And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning
of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and
in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet,
which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in
the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
2. Thus speaketh the LORD 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 the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to
Babylon:
4. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah
the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah,
that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke
of the king of Babylon.
5. Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet
Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of
all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,
6. Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD
do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied,
to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is
carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
7. Nevertheless hear thou now this word that 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 both against many countries, and against
great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
9. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when
the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet
be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.
10. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from
off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
11. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all
the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break
the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all
nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah
went his way.
12. Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah
the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke
from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13. Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the
LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make
for them yokes of iron.
14. For thus saith the LORD 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. Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah
the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee;
but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
16. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt
die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
17. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year
in the seventh month.
Jeremiah - Chapter 29
1. Now these are the words of the letter that
Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the
elders which were carried away captives, 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 carpenters,
and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3. By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and
Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent
unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to
be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5. Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant
gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6. Take ye 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; that ye may be increased
there, and not diminished.
7. And seek the peace of the city whither I have
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD
for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the
midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which
ye cause to be dreamed.
9. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name:
I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10. For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy
years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform
my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end.
12. Then shall ye 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, when ye
shall search for me with all your heart.
14. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD:
and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from
all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven
you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place
whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
15. Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised
us up prophets in Babylon;
16. Know that thus saith the LORD of the king
that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that
dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone
forth with you into captivity;
17. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will
send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and
will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are
so evil.
18. And I will persecute them with the sword,
with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them
to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse,
and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all
the nations whither I have driven them:
19. Because they have not hearkened to my words,
saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets,
rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith
the LORD.
20. Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all
ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah,
which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver
them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall
slay them before your eyes;
22. And of them shall be taken up a curse by all
the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD
make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon
roasted in the fire;
23. Because they have committed villany in Israel,
and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and
have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded
them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
24. Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the
Nehelamite, saying,
25. Thus speaketh the LORD 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. The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead
of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house
of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet,
that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah
of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
28. For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon,
saying, This captivity is long: build ye 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 Jeremiah the prophet.
30. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah,
saying,
31. Send to all them of the captivity, saying,
Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because
that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and
he caused you to trust in a lie:
32. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have
a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the
good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he
hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 30
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
2. Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying,
Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3. For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,
saith the LORD: 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 the LORD spake
concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice
of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6. Ask ye now, and see whether a man 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. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck,
and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves
of him:
9. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and
David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob,
saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, 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 be quiet, and
none shall make him afraid.
11. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save
thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered
thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct
thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable,
and thy wound is grievous.
13. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou
mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek
thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy,
with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine
iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
15. Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy
sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because
thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
16. Therefore all they 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 a spoil,
and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17. For I will restore health unto thee, and I
will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called
thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring
again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces;
and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace
shall remain 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 few; I will also glorify them, and they
shall not be small.
20. Their children also shall be as aforetime,
and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will
punish all that oppress them.
21. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and
their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will
cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who
is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the
LORD.
22. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your
God.
23. Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth
with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon
the head of the wicked.
24. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return,
until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents
of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
Jeremiah - Chapter 31
1. At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be
the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were
left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel,
when I went to cause him to rest.
3. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be
built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy
tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains
of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common
things.
6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen
upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to
Zion unto the LORD our God.
7. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness
for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye,
praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8. Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the
blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth
with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications
will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters
in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a
father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and
declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel
will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed
him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12. Therefore they shall come and sing in the
height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the
LORD, for wheat, and for 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 sorrow any more at all.
13. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning
into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their
sorrow.
14. And I will satiate the soul of the priests
with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
saith the LORD.
15. Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in
Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her
children refused to be comforted for her children, because they
were not.
16. Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from
weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded,
saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the
enemy.
17. And there is hope in thine end, saith the
LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself
thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned;
for thou art the LORD my God.
19. Surely after that I was turned, I repented;
and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach
of my youth.
20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant
child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember
him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely
have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21. Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps:
set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest:
turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22. How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding
daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth,
A woman shall compass a man.
23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in
the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity;
The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of
holiness.
24. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and
in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that
go forth with flocks.
25. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I
have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep
was sweet unto me.
27. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the
seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28. And it shall come to pass, that like as I
have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to
throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over
them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
29. In those days they shall say no more, The
fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are
set on edge.
30. But every one shall die for his own iniquity:
every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on
edge.
31. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, 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 that I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake,
although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33. But this shall be the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and 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 the LORD: for
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and
I will remember their sin no more.
35. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun
for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the
stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves
thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36. If those ordinances depart from before me,
saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from
being a nation before me for ever.
37. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be
measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they
have done, saith the LORD.
38. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel
unto the gate of the corner.
39. And the measuring line shall yet go forth
over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to
Goath.
40. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and
of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto
the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto
the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more
for ever.
Jeremiah - Chapter 32
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD
in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth
year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged
Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of
the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
3. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up,
saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will 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, but shall surely be delivered
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 the LORD: though ye
fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper?
6. And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came
unto me, saying,
7. Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle
shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth:
for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
8. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in
the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and
said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth,
which is in the country 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 the LORD.
9. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's
son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen
shekels of silver.
10. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed
it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
11. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both
that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that
which was open:
12. And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto
Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of
Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses
that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews
that sat in the court of the prison.
13. And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which
is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an
earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
15. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed
again in this land.
16. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the
purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD,
saying,
17. Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there
is nothing too hard for thee:
18. Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands,
and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of
their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD
of hosts, is his name,
19. Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for
thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give
every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of
his doings:
20. Which hast set signs and wonders in the land
of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men;
and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
21. And hast brought forth thy people Israel out
of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a
strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22. And hast given them this land, which thou
didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with
milk and honey;
23. And they came in, and possessed it; but they
obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done
nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou
hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
24. Behold the mounts, they are come unto the
city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans,
that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine,
and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass;
and, behold, thou seest it.
25. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy
thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is
given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah,
saying,
27. Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh:
is there any thing too hard for me?
28. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand
of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29. And the Chaldeans, that fight against this
city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with 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 only done evil before me from their youth: for the
children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work
of their hands, saith the LORD.
31. For this city hath been to me as 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: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching
them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34. But they set their abominations in the house,
which is called by my name, to defile it.
35. And they built the high places of Baal, which
are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and
their daughters to pass through the fire 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 thus saith the LORD, the
God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall
be delivered 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 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 for ever, 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 turn away from them, to do them good; but
I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart
from me.
41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good,
and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart
and with my whole soul.
42. For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought
all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them
all the good that I have promised 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
evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin,
and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah,
and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley,
and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity
to return, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 33
1. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah
the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the
prison, saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the
LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3. Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew
thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
4. For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel,
concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses
of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and
by the sword;
5. They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but
it is fill them with the dead bodies of 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 bring it health and cure, and
I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace
and truth.
7. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and
the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at
the first.
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, and whereby they have transgressed
against me.
9. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise
and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall
hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and
tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I
procure unto it.
10. Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be
heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man
and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets
of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant,
and without beast,
11. The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice
of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD
is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall
bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For
I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first,
saith the LORD.
12. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this
place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in
all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing
their flocks to lie down.
13. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities
of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of
Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities
of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that
telleth them, saith the LORD.
14. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the
house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15. In those days, and at that time, will I cause
the 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 safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be
called, The LORD our righteousness.
17. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never
want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18. Neither shall the priests the Levites want
a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings,
and to do sacrifice continually.
19. And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah,
saying,
20. Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant
of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should
not be day and night in their season;
21. Then may 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 heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed
of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
23. Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah,
saying,
24. Considerest thou not what this people have
spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he
hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that
they should be no more a nation before them.
25. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not
with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances
of heaven and earth;
26. Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and
David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be
rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will
cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
Jeremiah - Chapter 34
1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the
LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and
all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people,
fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof,
saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go
and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith
the LORD; Behold, I will 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 surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine
eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall
speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king
of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the
sword:
5. But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings
of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall
they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying,
Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words
unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
7. When 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 defenced cities
remained of the cities of Judah.
8. This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from
the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with
all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto
them;
9. That every man should let his manservant, and
every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go
free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew
his brother.
10. Now when all the princes, and all the people,
which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should
let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that
none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed,
and let them go.
11. But afterward they turned, and caused the
servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return,
and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12. Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah
from the LORD, saying,
13. Thus saith the LORD, 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 bondmen, saying,
14. At the end of seven years let ye go every
man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and
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 ye were now 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 turned and polluted my name, and caused
every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had
set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them
into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not
hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother,
and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for
you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the
famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms
of the earth.
18. And I will give the men that have transgressed
my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant
which they had made before me, when they cut the calf 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,
which passed between the parts of the calf;
20. I will even give them into the hand of their
enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their
dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and
to 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 will command, saith the LORD, and
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 an inhabitant.
Jeremiah - Chapter 35
1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the
LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
saying,
2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak
unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one
of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
3. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah,
the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and
the whole house of the Rechabites;
4. And I brought them into the house of the LORD,
into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a
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 door:
5. And I set before the sons of the house of the
Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them,
Drink ye wine.
6. But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab
the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink
no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
7. Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed,
nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell
in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
8. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the
son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink
no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
9. Nor 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. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let
us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and
for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
12. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah,
saying,
13. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith
the LORD.
14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that
he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto
this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment:
notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking;
but ye hearkened not unto me.
15. I have sent also unto you all my servants
the prophets, rising up early and sending them, 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 which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have
not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16. Because 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 the LORD 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
heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
18. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have
obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his
precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man
to stand before me for ever.
Jeremiah - Chapter 36
1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah
from the LORD, 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 spake
unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
3. It may be that the house of Judah will hear
all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return
every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity
and their sin.
4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah:
and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the
LORD, 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 the LORD:
6. Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which
thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the
ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and
also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out
of their cities.
7. It may be they will present their supplication
before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way:
for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced
against this people.
8. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according
to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the
book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.
9. And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they
proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem,
and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto
Jerusalem.
10. Then read Baruch in the book the words of
Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah
the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry
of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people.
11. When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son
of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
12. Then he went down into the king's house, into
the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even
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. Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words
that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the
people.
14. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the
son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto
Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast
read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of
Neriah 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. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16. Now it came to pass, when they had heard all
the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto
Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
17. And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now,
How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18. Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all
these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink
in the book.
19. Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide
thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
20. And they went in to the king into the court,
but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe,
and told all the words in the ears of the king.
21. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll:
and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi
read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes
which stood beside the king.
22. Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the
ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before
him.
23. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had
read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast
it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was
consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments,
neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these
words.
25. Nevertheless 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. But 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 the LORD hid them.
27. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah,
after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch
wrote at the mouth of 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 the king of
Judah, Thus saith the LORD; 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 thence man and beast?
30. Therefore thus saith the LORD of 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 punish him and his seed and his
servants for their iniquity; 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; but they hearkened not.
32. Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave
it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein
from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim
king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides
unto them many like words.
Jeremiah - Chapter 37
1. And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned
instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people
of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he
spake by 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 the LORD our God for us.
4. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the
people: for they had not put him into prison.
5. Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt:
and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of
them, they departed from Jerusalem.
6. Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet
Jeremiah, saying,
7. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus
shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire
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 the LORD; Deceive not yourselves,
saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall
not depart.
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, that when the army of
the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's
army,
12. Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem
to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in
the midst of the people.
13. And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a
captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son
of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet,
saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.
14. Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not
away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah
took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15. Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah,
and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan
the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
16. When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon,
and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
17. Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him
out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is
there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for,
said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon.
18. Moreover 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 prison?
19. Where are now your prophets which prophesied
unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you,
nor against this land?
20. Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord
the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before
thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan
the scribe, lest I die there.
21. Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they
should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that
they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers'
street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah
remained in the court of the prison.
Jeremiah - Chapter 38
1. Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah
the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur
the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken
unto all the people, saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD, 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; for he shall
have his life for a prey, and shall live.
3. Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely
be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall
take it.
4. Therefore the princes said unto the king, We
beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth
the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the
hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for
this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
5. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is
in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against
you.
6. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into
the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the
court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And
in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk
in the mire.
7. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of
the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had
put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate
of Benjamin;
8. Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house,
and spake to the king, saying,
9. My lord the king, these men have done evil
in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they
have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in
the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.
10. Then 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. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and
went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence
old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords
into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
12. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah,
Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes
under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
13. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took
him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court
of the prison.
14. Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah
the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house
of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee
a thing; hide nothing from me.
15. Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare
it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I
give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?
16. So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah,
saying, As the LORD 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. Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith
the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly
go forth unto 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 thine 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 Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah,
I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest
they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
20. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver
thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak
unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
21. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the
word that the LORD hath shewed me:
22. And, 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 those women shall say, Thy friends have
set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk
in the mire, and they are turned away back.
23. So they shall bring out all thy wives and
thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of
their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon:
and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.
24. Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man
know of these words, and thou shalt not die.
25. But 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; also what 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. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and
asked him: and he told them according to all these words that
the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for
the matter was not perceived.
28. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison
until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when
Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah - Chapter 39
1. 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. And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the
fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
3. And all the princes of the king of Babylon
came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo,
Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue
of the princes of the king of Babylon.
4. And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the
king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled,
and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's
garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the
way of the plain.
5. But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them,
and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they
had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6. Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah
in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the
nobles of Judah.
7. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound
him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
8. And the Chaldeans burned the king's house,
and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls
of Jerusalem.
9. Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard
carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that
remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him,
with the rest of the people that remained.
10. But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard
left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land
of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
11. Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge
concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying,
12. Take him, and look well to 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 guard sent,
and Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all
the king of Babylon's princes;
14. Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the
court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he
dwelt among the people.
15. Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah,
while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
16. Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,
saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold,
I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good;
and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
17. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith
the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men
of whom thou art afraid.
18. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt
not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee:
because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 40
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go
from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among
all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which
were carried away captive unto Babylon.
2. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah,
and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil
upon this place.
3. Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according
as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and
have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
4. And now, behold, I loose thee this day from
the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee
to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto
thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon,
forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth
good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
5. Now while he was not yet gone back, he said,
Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of
Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever
it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the
guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
6. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were
left in the land.
7. Now when all the captains of the forces which
were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king
of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the
land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children,
and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away
captive to Babylon;
8. Then 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
sware 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. As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah
to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather
ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels,
and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.
11. Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab,
and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the
countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of
Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam
the son of Shaphan;
12. Even all the Jews returned out of all places
whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah,
unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
13. Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all
the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah
to Mizpah,
14. And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know
that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed
them not.
15. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah
in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will
slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore
should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto
thee should be scattered, and the remnant in 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.
Jeremiah - Chapter 41
1. Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed
royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came
unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did
eat bread together in Mizpah.
2. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and
the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the
king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
3. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with
him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were
found there, and the men of war.
4. And it came to pass the second day after he
had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5. That there came certain from Shechem, from
Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards
shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with
offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house
of the LORD.
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, as 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 slew them, and
cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were
with him.
8. But ten men were found among them that said
unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field,
of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare,
and slew them not among their brethren.
9. Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the
dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah,
was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of
Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that
were slain.
10. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the
residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters,
and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan
the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive,
and departed to go over to the Ammonites.
11. But when 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. Then they took all the men, and went to fight
with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great
waters that are in Gibeon.
13. Now it came to pass, that when all the people
which 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. So all the people that Ishmael had carried
away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto
Johanan the son of Kareah.
15. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from
Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
16. Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all
the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant
of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam,
even 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 in the habitation
of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18. Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid
of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the
land.
Jeremiah - Chapter 42
1. Then 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 unto the greatest, came near,
2. And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we
beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray
for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for
we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
3. That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein
we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
4. Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I
have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according
to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing
the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will
keep nothing back from you.
5. Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true
and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to
all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil,
we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee;
that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7. And it came to pass after ten days, that the
word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
8. Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and
all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the
people from the least even to the greatest,
9. And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the
God of Israel, unto 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 pull you down, 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 the LORD: for I am
with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
12. And I will shew mercies unto 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,
neither obey the voice of the LORD 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 of bread; and there will we dwell:
15. And now therefore hear the word of the LORD,
ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go
to sojourn there;
16. Then it shall come to pass, that the sword,
which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt,
and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after
you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
17. So shall it be with all the men that set their
faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they 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 the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath 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. The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant
of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished
you this day.
20. For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye
sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD
our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say,
so declare unto us, and we will do it.
21. And now I have this day declared it to you;
but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any
thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
22. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall
die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the
place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
Jeremiah - Chapter 43
1. And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had
made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the
LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them,
even all these words,
2. Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and
Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto
Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent
thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
3. But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on
against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans,
that they might 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, obeyed not the voice of the
LORD, to dwell 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 dwell
in the land of Judah;
6. Even men, and women, and children, and the
king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan the captain
of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son
of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7. So they came into the land of Egypt: for they
obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
8. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah
in Tahpanhes, saying,
9. Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them
in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's
house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
10. And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD 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 that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion
over them.
11. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land
of Egypt, and deliver 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
captives: 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. He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh,
that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the
Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
Jeremiah - Chapter 44
1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all
the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol,
and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros,
saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD 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, this day they are
a desolation, 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,
and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye,
nor your fathers.
4. Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the
prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this
abominable thing that I hate.
5. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6. Wherefore 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 wasted and desolate, as at this day.
7. Therefore now this saith the LORD, the God
of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil
against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and
suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
8. In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works
of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of
Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves
off, and that ye might 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 even unto this day, neither
have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that
I set before you and before your fathers.
11. Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there,
and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt;
they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they
shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword
and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment,
and a curse, and a reproach.
13. For 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. So that none of the remnant of Judah, which
are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape
or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to
the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none
shall return but such as shall escape.
15. Then all the men which knew that their wives
had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood
by, a great multitude, 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 the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
17. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing
goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen
of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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: for then had
we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
18. But since we left off to burn incense to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we
have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and
by the famine.
19. And when we burned incense to the queen of
heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her
cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without
our men?
20. Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to
the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given
him that answer, saying,
21. 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, did
not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
22. So that the LORD could no longer bear, because
of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which
ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an
astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
23. Because ye have burned incense, and because
ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice
of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in
his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as
at this day.
24. Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people,
and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that
are in the land of Egypt:
25. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and
fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows
that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and
to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish
your vows, and surely perform your vows.
26. Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all
Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by
my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named
in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying,
The Lord GOD 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. Yet a small number that escape the sword shall
return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all
the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to
sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
29. And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the
LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that
my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
30. Thus saith the LORD; 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.
Jeremiah - Chapter 45
1. The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto
Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a
book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto
thee, O Baruch;
3. Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD
hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I
find no rest.
4. Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith
thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that
which I have planted I will 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 the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey
in all places whither thou goest.
Jeremiah - Chapter 46
1. The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah
the prophet against the Gentiles;
2. Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho
king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish,
which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year
of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
3. Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near
to battle.
4. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen,
and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put
on the brigandines.
5. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned
away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled
apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the
LORD.
6. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty
man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the
river Euphrates.
7. Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose
waters are moved as the rivers?
8. Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters
are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will
cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
9. Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots;
and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans,
that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend
the bow.
10. For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,
a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries:
and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk
with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in
the north country by the river Euphrates.
11. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin,
the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines;
for thou shalt not be cured.
12. The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy
cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against
the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
13. The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the
prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite
the land of Egypt.
14. Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol,
and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and
prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
15. Why are thy valiant men swept away? they
stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
16. He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another:
and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and
to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17. They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt
is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
18. As I live, saith the King, whose name is the
LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as
Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
19. O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish
thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate
without an inhabitant.
20. Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction
cometh; it cometh out of the north.
21. Also her hired men are in the midst of her
like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled
away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity
was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
22. The voice thereof shall go like a serpent;
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 the
LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than
the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
24. The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded;
she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25. The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith;
Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt,
with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that
trust in him:
26. And I will deliver them into the hand of those
that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it
shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
27. But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and
be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from
afar off, 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, O Jacob my servant, saith the
LORD: 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 correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave
thee wholly unpunished.
Jeremiah - Chapter 47
1. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah
the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote
Gaza.
2. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up
out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall
overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them
that dwell therein: then 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 strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the
rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their
children for feebleness of hands;
4. Because of the day that cometh to spoil all
the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper
that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant
of the country of Caphtor.
5. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut
off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6. O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it
be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest,
and be still.
7. How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given
it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there
hath he appointed it.
Jeremiah - Chapter 48
1. Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim
is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon
they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off
from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the
sword shall pursue thee.
3. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling
and great destruction.
4. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused
a cry to be heard.
5. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping
shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have
heard a cry of destruction.
6. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath
in the wilderness.
7. For because thou hast trusted in thy works
and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall
go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the
plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
9. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and
get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any
to dwell therein.
10. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD
deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from
blood.
11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and
he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel
to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his
taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him
to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the
house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for
the war?
15. Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities,
and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith
the King, whose name is the LORD 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,
and the beautiful rod!
18. Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come
down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab
shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19. O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and
espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What
is done?
20. Moab is confounded; for it is broken down:
howl and cry; and tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21. And judgment is come upon the plain country;
upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22. And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon
Beth-diblathaim,
23. And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul,
and upon Beth-meon,
24. And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon
all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is
broken, saith the LORD.
26. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself
against the LORD: Moab also 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? for since thou spakest of him, thou
skippedst for joy.
28. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities,
and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest
in the sides of the hole's mouth.
29. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding
proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the
haughtiness of his heart.
30. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall
not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31. Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will
cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres.
32. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with
the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach
even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer
fruits and upon thy vintage.
33. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful
field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail
from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting
shall be no shouting.
34. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh,
and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar
even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters
also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith
the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth
incense to his gods.
36. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab
like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men
of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37. For every head shall be bald, and every beard
clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38. There shall be lamentation generally upon
all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have
broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39. They shall howl, saying, How is it broken
down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab
be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
40. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall
fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41. Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are
surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day 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 the LORD.
43. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be
upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
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 it, even upon Moab, the year
of their visitation, saith the LORD.
45. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon
because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner
of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh
perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters
captives.
47. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab
in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment
of Moab.
Jeremiah - Chapter 49
1. Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD;
Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king
inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
2. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah
of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters
shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them
that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
3. Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye
daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run
to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity,
and his priests and his princes together.
4. Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy
flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures,
saying, Who shall come unto me?
5. Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith
the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and
ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather
up him that wandereth.
6. And afterward I will bring again the captivity
of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.
7. Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent?
is their wisdom vanished?
8. Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants
of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the
time that I will visit him.
9. If grapegatherers come to thee, would they
not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will
destroy till they have enough.
10. But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered
his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his
seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he
is not.
11. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
12. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose
judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and
art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not
go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.
13. For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD,
that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and
a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14. I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an
ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together,
and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15. For, lo, I will make thee small among the
heathen, and despised among men.
16. Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the
pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the
rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest
make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from
thence, saith the LORD.
17. Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one
that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the
plagues thereof.
18. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall
abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from
the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but
I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen
man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who
will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will
stand before me?
20. Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that
he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed
against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock
shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate
with them.
21. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall,
at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle,
and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart
of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23. Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded,
and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted;
there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24. Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself
to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have
taken her, as a woman in travail.
25. How is the city of praise not left, the city
of my joy!
26. Therefore her young men shall fall in her
streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,
saith the LORD 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 shall smite, thus
saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of
the east.
29. Their tents and their flocks shall they take
away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their
vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear
is on every side.
30. Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants
of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath
taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against
you.
31. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation,
that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither
gates nor bars, which dwell alone.
32. And their camels shall be a booty, and the
multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all
winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their
calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.
33. And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons,
and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor
any son of man dwell in it.
34. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah
the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah
king of Judah, saying,
35. Thus saith the LORD 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 quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward
all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts
of Elam shall not come.
37. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before
their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will
bring evil upon them even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; 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 the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39. But it shall come to pass in the latter days,
that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah - Chapter 50
1. The word that the LORD spake against Babylon
and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2. Declare ye among the nations, and publish,
and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon
is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her
idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3. For out of the north there cometh up a nation
against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall
dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man
and beast.
4. In those days, and in that time, saith the
LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children
of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek
the LORD their God.
5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces
thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD
in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds
have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the
mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten
their restingplace.
7. All that found them have devoured them: and
their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned
against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the
hope of their fathers.
8. Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go
forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats
before the flocks.
9. For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up
against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country:
and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence
she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert
man; none shall return in vain.
10. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil
her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
11. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,
O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as
the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12. Your mother shall be sore confounded; she
that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the
nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13. Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall
not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that
goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at 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 the LORD.
15. Shout against her round about: she hath given
her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down:
for it is the vengeance of the LORD: 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 they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall
flee every one to his own land.
17. Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have
driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him;
and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his
land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation,
and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be
satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20. In those days, and in that time, saith the
LORD, 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 them whom I reserve.
21. Go up against the land of Merathaim, even
against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly
destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that
I have commanded thee.
22. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great
destruction.
23. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder
and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24. I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art
also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found,
and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
25. The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath
brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the
work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26. Come against her from the utmost border, open
her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, 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 the
LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29. Call together the archers against Babylon:
all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none
thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according
to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud
against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30. Therefore shall her young men fall in the
streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,
saith the LORD.
31. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud,
saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that
I will visit thee.
32. And the most proud shall stumble and fall,
and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it shall devour all round about him.
33. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children
of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and
all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let
them go.
34. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts
is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may
give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35. A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD,
and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and
upon her wise men.
36. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall
dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37. A 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: a 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 the land of graven images, and they are
mad upon their idols.
39. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with
the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls
shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever;
neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the
neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide
there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41. Behold, a people shall come from the north,
and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the
coasts of the earth.
42. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they
are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like
the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array,
like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43. The king of Babylon hath heard the report
of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him,
and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from
the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but
I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen
man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who
will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will
stand before me?
45. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD,
that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he
hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least
of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation
desolate with them.
46. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the
earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah - Chapter 51
1. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up
against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them
that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2. And will send unto Babylon fanners, that 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 brigandine:
and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the
Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5. For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah
of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled
with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver
every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is
the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's
hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken
of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl
for her; take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed.
9. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not
healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country:
for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to
the skies.
10. The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness:
come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11. Make bright the arrows; gather the shields:
the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes:
for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is
the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon,
make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes:
for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against
the inhabitants of Babylon.
13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant
in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14. The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying,
Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they
shall lift up 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
heaven by his understanding.
16. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude
of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend
from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17. Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every
founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image
is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the
time of their visitation they shall perish.
19. The portion of Jacob is not like them; for
he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance:
the LORD of hosts is his name.
20. Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war:
for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee
will I destroy kingdoms;
21. And with thee will I break in pieces the horse
and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot
and his rider;
22. With thee also 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. I will also break in pieces with thee 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 captains and rulers.
24. And I will render unto Babylon and to all
the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done
in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
25. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,
saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch
out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and
will make thee a burnt mountain.
26. And they shall not take of thee a stone for
a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate
for ever, saith the LORD.
27. Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the
trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call
together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz;
appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as
the rough caterpillers.
28. Prepare against her the nations with the kings
of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof,
and all the land of his dominion.
29. And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for
every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30. The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to
fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed;
they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her
bars are broken.
31. One post shall run to meet another, and one
messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his
city is taken at one end,
32. And that the passages are stopped, and the
reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it
is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her
harvest shall come.
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 inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon
the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up
her sea, and make her springs dry.
37. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace
for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38. They shall roar together like lions: they
shall yell as lion's whelps.
39. In their heat I will make their feasts, and
I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual
sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
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 surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment
among the nations!
42. The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered
with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and
a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any
son of man pass thereby.
44. And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will
bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up:
and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea,
the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45. My people, go ye out of the midst of her,
and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the
LORD.
46. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for
the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both
come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour,
and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47. Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will
do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land
shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst
of her.
48. Then the heaven and the earth, and all that
is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come
unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
49. As Babylon hath 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 away, stand
not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come
into your mind.
51. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach:
shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the
sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
52. Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through
all her land the wounded shall groan.
53. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven,
and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet
from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54. A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and
great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55. Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and
destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like
great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56. Because the spoiler is come upon her, even
upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their
bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57. And I will make drunk her princes, and her
wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King,
whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls
of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be
burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the
folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59. The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded
Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with
Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of
his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that
should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written
against Babylon.
61. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest
to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62. Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken
against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it,
neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end
of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and
cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64. And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink,
and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and
they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah - Chapter 52
1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah.
2. And he did that which was evil in the eyes
of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3. For through the anger of the LORD it came to
pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his
presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his
reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against
Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it
round about.
5. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh
year of king Zedekiah.
6. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of
the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was
no bread for the people of the land.
7. Then the city was broken up, 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 by the city round about:) and they went
by the way of the plain.
8. But 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. Then they took the king, and carried him up
unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where
he gave judgment upon him.
10. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah
before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and
the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon,
and put him in prison till the day of his death.
12. Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of
the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served
the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
13. And burned the house of the LORD, and the
king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses
of the great men, burned he with fire:
14. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were
with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem
round about.
15. Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard
carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the
residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that
fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the
multitude.
16. But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard
left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for
husbandmen.
17. Also the pillars of brass that were in the
house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was
in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all
the brass of them to Babylon.
18. The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the
snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of
brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
19. And the basons, and the firepans, and the
bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons,
and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was
of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
20. The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen
bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in
the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without
weight.
21. And concerning the pillars, the height of
one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits
did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it
was hollow.
22. And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the
height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates
upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar
also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
23. And there were ninety and six pomegranates
on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred
round about.
24. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah
the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three
keepers of the door:
25. He took also out of the city an eunuch, which
had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were
near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the
principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land;
and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found
in the midst of the city.
26. So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the 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 in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was
carried away captive out of his own land.
28. This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried
away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three
and twenty:
29. In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he
carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two
persons:
30. In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of
the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons
were four thousand and six hundred.
31. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth
year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth
month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach
king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head
of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,
32. And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne
above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
33. And changed his prison garments: and he did
continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
34. And for his diet, there was a continual diet
given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the
day of his death, all the days of his life.