Bible (Literal Standard Version)/Jeremiah

For other versions of this work, see Jeremiah (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ Words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who [are] in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, ² to whom the word of YHWH has been in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, ³ and it is in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the expulsion of Jerusalem in the fifth month. ⁴ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ⁵ "Before I form you in the belly, I have known you; and before you come forth from the womb I have separated you; I have made you a prophet to the nations." ⁶ And I say, "Aah! Lord YHWH! Behold, I have not known—to speak, for I [am] a youth." ⁷ And YHWH says to me, "Do not say, I [am] a youth, for to all to whom I send you—go, and all that I command you—speak. ⁸ Do not be afraid of their faces, for I [am] with you to deliver you," a declaration of YHWH. ⁹ And YHWH puts forth His hand, and strikes against my mouth, and YHWH says to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, I have charged you this day concerning the nations, and concerning the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." ¹¹ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, "What are you seeing, Jeremiah?" And I say, "I am seeing a rod of an almond tree." ¹² And YHWH says to me, "You have seen well: for I am watching over My word to do it." ¹³ And there is a word of YHWH to me a second time, saying, "What are you seeing?" And I say, "I am seeing a blown pot, and its face [is] from the north." ¹⁴ And YHWH says to me, "From the north the evil is loosed against all inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵ For behold, I am calling for all families of the kingdoms of the north," a declaration of YHWH, "And they have come, and each put his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and by its walls all around, and by all cities of Judah. ¹⁶ And I have spoken My judgments with them concerning all their evil, in that they have forsaken Me, and make incense to other gods, and bow themselves to the works of their own hands. ¹⁷ And you, you gird up your loins, and have arisen, and spoken to them all that I command you: do not be frightened because of them, lest I frighten you before them. ¹⁸ And I, behold, have given you this day for a fortified city, and for an iron pillar, and for bronze walls over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its heads, to its priests, and to the people of the land; ¹⁹ and they have fought against you, and they do not prevail against you; for I [am] with you," a declaration of YHWH, "to deliver you."

Chapter 2

¹ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ² "Go, and you have called in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said YHWH: I have remembered for you || The kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, || Your going after Me in a wilderness, in a land not sown. ³ Israel [is] holy to YHWH, || The first-fruit of His increase, || All consuming him are guilty, || Calamity comes to them," || A declaration of YHWH. ⁴ Hear a word of YHWH, O house of Jacob, || And all you families of the house of Israel— ⁵ Thus said YHWH: "What perversity have your fathers found in Me, || That they have gone far off from Me, || And go after vanity, and become vain, ⁶ And have not said, Where [is] YHWH, || Who brings us up out of the land of Egypt, || Who leads us in a wilderness, || In a land of deserts and pits, || In a dry land, and of death-shade, || In a land that none has passed through, || Nor has man dwelt there? ⁷ Indeed, I bring you into a land of fruitful fields, || To eat its fruit and its goodness, || And you come in and defile My land, || And have made My inheritance an abomination. ⁸ The priests have not said, Where [is] YHWH? And those handling the Law have not known Me. And the shepherds transgressed against Me, || And the prophets have prophesied by Ba'al, || And have gone after those who do not profit. ⁹ Therefore, I yet plead with you," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I plead with your sons' sons. ¹⁰ For pass to the islands of Chittim and see, || And send to Kedar and consider well, || And see if there has been [anything] like this: ¹¹ Has a nation changed gods? (And they [are] no gods!) And My people has changed its glory || For that which does not profit. ¹² Be astonished, you heavens, at this, || Indeed, be frightened, be greatly desolated," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹³ "For My people have done two evils, || They have forsaken Me, a fountain of living waters, || To hew out for themselves wells—broken wells, || That do not contain the waters. ¹⁴ [Is] Israel a servant? Is he a child of the house? Why has he been for a prey? ¹⁵ Young lions roar against him, || They have given forth their voice, || And make his land become a desolation, || His cities have been burned without inhabitant. ¹⁶ Also sons of Noph and Tahapanes || Consume you—the crown of the head! ¹⁷ Do you not do this to yourself? [By] your forsaking your God YHWH, || At the time He is leading you in the way? ¹⁸ And now, why do you [go] in the way of Egypt, || To drink the waters of Sihor? And why do you [go] in the way of Asshur, || To drink the waters of the River? ¹⁹ Your wickedness instructs you, || And your backslidings reprove you, || Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing [is] your forsaking your God YHWH, || And My fear not being on you," || A declaration of Lord YHWH of Hosts. ²⁰ "For from of old you have broken your yoke, || Drawn away your bands, and say, I do not serve, || For on every high height, and under every green tree, || You are wandering—a harlot. ²¹ And I planted you [as] a choice vine, wholly of true seed, || And how have you been turned || Into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine to Me? ²² But though you wash with natron, || And multiply soap to yourself, || Your iniquity is marked before Me," || A declaration of Lord YHWH. ²³ "How can you say, I have not been defiled, || I have not gone after the Ba'alim? See your way in a valley, know what you have done, || A swift dromedary winding her ways, ²⁴ A wild donkey accustomed to a wilderness, || She has swallowed up wind in the desire of her soul, || Her meeting—who turns her back? None seeking her weary themselves, || In her month they find her. ²⁵ Withhold your foot from being unshod, || And your throat from thirst, || And you say, It is incurable, || No, for I have loved strangers, and I go after them. ²⁶ As the shame of a thief when he is found, || So has the house of Israel been put to shame, || They, their kings, their heads, || And their priests, and their prophets, ²⁷ Saying to wood, You [are] my father! And to a stone, You have brought me forth, || For they turned to me the back and not the face, || And in the time of their distress, || They say, Arise, and save us. ²⁸ And where [are] your gods, that you have made to yourself? Let them arise, if they may save you, || In the time of your distress, || For—the number of your cities have been your gods, O Judah, ²⁹ Why do you strive with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me," || A declaration of YHWH. ³⁰ "I have struck your sons in vain, || They have not accepted instruction, || Your sword has devoured your prophets, || As a destroying lion. ³¹ O generation, see the word of YHWH: Have I been a wilderness to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Why have My people said, || We wandered freely, || We do not come to You again. ³² Does a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me [for] days without number. ³³ Why do you make your ways pleasing to seek love? Therefore you have even taught the wicked your ways. ³⁴ Also the blood of innocent needy souls || Has been found on your skirts, || I have not found them by digging, || But on all these. ³⁵ And you say, Because I have been innocent, || Surely His anger has turned back from me? Behold, I have been judged with you, || Because of your saying, I have not sinned. ³⁶ What? You are very vile to repeat your way, || You are even ashamed of Egypt, || As you have been ashamed of Asshur, ³⁷ Also you go out from this, || And your hands on your head, || For YHWH has kicked at your confidences, || And you do not give prosperity to them!"

Chapter 3

¹ "Saying, Behold, one sends his wife away, || And she has gone from him, || And she has been to another man, || Does he return to her again? Is that land not greatly defiled? And you have committed whoredom with many lovers, || And turn to Me again," || A declaration of YHWH. ² "Lift your eyes to the high places, and see, || Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them on the ways, || As an Arab in a wilderness, || And you defile the land, || By your fornications, and by your wickedness. ³ And showers are withheld, and there has been no spring rain. You have the forehead of a whorish woman, || You have refused to be ashamed. ⁴ Have you not from now on called to Me, || My Father, You [are] the leader of my youth? ⁵ Does He keep for all time? Watch forever? Behold, you have spoken these things, || And you do evil, and prevail." ⁶ And YHWH says to me, in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She is going on every high mountain, and to the place of every green tree, and commits fornication there. ⁷ And I say, after her doing all these, Return to Me, and she has not returned, and her treacherous sister Judah sees it. ⁸ And I see that for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I have sent her away, and I give the bill of her divorce to her; and her treacherous sister Judah has not feared, and goes and commits fornication—she also. ⁹ And it has come to pass, from the vileness of her fornication, that the land is defiled, and she commits fornication with stone and with wood. ¹⁰ And even in all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned back to Me with all her heart, but with falsehood," a declaration of YHWH. ¹¹ And YHWH says to me: "Backsliding Israel has justified herself, || More than treacherous Judah. ¹² Go, and you have proclaimed these words toward the north, and have said, Return, O backsliding Israel," || A declaration of YHWH! "I do not cause My anger to fall on you, for I [am] kind," || A declaration of YHWH, || "I do not watch for all time. ¹³ Only, know your iniquity, || For you have transgressed against your God YHWH, || And you scatter your ways to strangers, || Under every green tree, || And you have not listened to My voice," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁴ "Return, O backsliding sons," || A declaration of YHWH. "For I have ruled over you, || And taken you—one from a city, and two from a family, || And have brought you to Zion, ¹⁵ And I have given shepherds to you || According to My own heart, || And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ And it has come to pass, when you are multiplied, || And have been fruitful in the land, || In those days," || A declaration of YHWH, || "They no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, || Nor does it go up on the heart, || Nor do they remember concerning it, || Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again. ¹⁷ At that time they cry to Jerusalem, O throne of YHWH, || And all the nations have been gathered to her, || For the Name of YHWH, to Jerusalem, || Nor do they go after the stubbornness of their evil heart anymore. ¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah || Goes to the house of Israel, || And they come together from the land of the south, || To the land that I caused your fathers to inherit. ¹⁹ And I have said, How do I put you among the sons, || And give a desirable land to you, || A beautiful inheritance of the hosts of nations, || And I say, You call Me—My Father, || And you do not turn back from after Me. ²⁰ But a woman has deceived her friend, || So you have dealt treacherously with Me, || O house of Israel," || A declaration of YHWH. ²¹ A voice is heard on high places—weeping, || Supplications of the sons of Israel, || For they have made their way perverse, || They have forgotten their God YHWH. ²² "Return, O backsliding sons, || I cause your backslidings to cease." "Behold us, we have come to You, || For You [are] our God YHWH. ²³ Surely in vain—from the heights, || The multitude of mountains—Surely the salvation of Israel [is] in our God YHWH. ²⁴ And the shameful thing has devoured || The labor of our fathers from our youth, || Their flock and their herd, || Their sons and their daughters. ²⁵ We have lain down in our shame, and our confusion covers us, || For we have sinned against our God YHWH, || We, and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, || Nor have we listened to the voice of our God YHWH!"

Chapter 4

¹ "If you return, O Israel," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Return to Me, || And if you turn aside Your abominations from My face, || Then you do not bemoan. ² And you have sworn—YHWH lives, || In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, || And nations have blessed themselves in Him, || And they boast themselves in Him." ³ For thus said YHWH, || To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: "Till for yourselves tillage, || And do not sow to the thorns. ⁴ Be circumcised to YHWH, || And turn aside the foreskins of your heart, || O man of Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, || Lest My fury goes out as fire, and has burned, || And there is none quenching, || Because of the evil of your doings." ⁵ Declare in Judah, and sound in Jerusalem, and say: "Blow a horn in the land, || Call, Fill up together, || And say, Assemble yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities. ⁶ Lift up an ensign toward Zion, || Strengthen yourselves, do not stand still, || For I am bringing evil in from the north, || And a great destruction." ⁷ A lion has gone up from his thicket, || And a destroyer of nations has journeyed, || He has come forth from his place || To make your land become a desolation, || Your cities are laid waste, without inhabitant. ⁸ For this, gird on sackcloth, lament and howl, || For the fierce anger of YHWH has not turned back from us. ⁹ "And it has come to pass in that day," || A declaration of YHWH, || "The heart of the king perishes, || And the heart of the princes, || And the priests have been astonished, || And the prophets wonder." ¹⁰ And I say, "Aah! Lord YHWH, || Surely you have entirely forgotten this people and Jerusalem, || Saying, Peace is for you, || And a sword has struck to the soul!" ¹¹ At that time it is said of this people, || And of Jerusalem: "A dry wind of high places in the wilderness, || The way of the daughter of My people || (Not for winnowing, nor for cleansing), ¹² A full wind from these comes for Me, || Now also, I speak judgments with them." ¹³ "Behold, he comes up as clouds, || And his chariots as a windstorm, || His horses have been lighter than eagles, || Woe to us, for we have been spoiled." ¹⁴ Wash evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, || That you may be saved, || Until when do you lodge in your heart || Thoughts of your strength? ¹⁵ For a voice is declaring from Dan, || And sounding sorrow from Mount Ephraim: ¹⁶ "Make mention to the nations, || Behold, sound to Jerusalem, || Besiegers are coming from the far-off land, || And they give forth their voice against cities of Judah. ¹⁷ As the keepers of a field || They have been against her all around, || For she has been rebellious with Me," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁸ "Your way and your doings have done these to you, || This [is] your distress, for [it is] bitter, || For it has struck to your heart." ¹⁹ My bowels, my bowels! I am pained [in] the walls of my heart, || My heart makes a noise for me, I am not silent, || For I have heard the voice of a horn, || O my soul—a shout of battle! ²⁰ Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, || For all the land has been spoiled, || My tents have suddenly been spoiled, || In a moment—my curtains. ²¹ Until when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a horn? ²² "For My people [are] foolish, || They have not known Me, || They [are] foolish sons, || Indeed, they [are] not intelligent, || They [are] wise to do evil, || And they have not known to do good." ²³ I looked [to] the earth, and behold—formless and void, || And to the heavens, and they [had] no light. ²⁴ I have looked [to] the mountains, || And behold, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly. ²⁵ I have looked, and behold, man is not, || And all birds of the heavens have fled. ²⁶ I have looked, and behold, || The fruitful place [is] a wilderness, || And all its cities have been broken down, || Because of YHWH, || Because of the fierceness of His anger. ²⁷ For thus said YHWH: "All the land is a desolation, but I do not make a completion. ²⁸ For this the earth mourns, || And the heavens above have been black, || Because I have spoken—I have purposed, || And I have not relented, || Nor do I turn back from it. ²⁹ From the voice of the horseman, || And of him shooting with the bow, || All the city is fleeing, || They have come into thickets, || And they have gone up on cliffs, || All the city is forsaken, || And there is no one dwelling in them. ³⁰ And you, O spoiled one, what do you do? For you put on scarlet, || For you adorn yourself [with] ornaments of gold. For you tear your eyes with pain, || In vain you make yourself beautiful, || Unhealthy ones have kicked against you, || They seek your life. ³¹ For I have heard a voice as of a travailing woman, || Distress, as of one bringing forth a firstborn, || The voice of the daughter of Zion, || She laments herself, || She spreads out her hands, || Woe to me now, my soul is weary of slayers!"

Chapter 5

¹ "Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, || And see now and know, || And seek in her broad places, || If you find a man, || If there is one doing judgment, || Seeking steadfastness—Then I am propitious to her. ² And if they say, YHWH lives, || Surely they swear to a falsehood." ³ YHWH, Your eyes, are they not on steadfastness? You have struck them, and they have not grieved, || You have consumed them, || They have refused to receive instruction, || They made their faces harder than a rock, || They have refused to turn back. ⁴ And I said, "Surely these [are] poor, || They have been foolish, || For they have not known the way of YHWH, || The judgment of their God. ⁵ I go to the great, and I speak with them, || For they have known the way of YHWH, || The judgment of their God." Surely they have broken the yoke together, || They have drawn away the bands. ⁶ Therefore a lion out of the forest has struck them, || A wolf of the deserts spoils them, || A leopard is watching over their cities, || Everyone who is going out of them is torn, || For their transgressions have been many, || Their backslidings have been mighty. ⁷ "I am not propitious to you for this, || Your sons have forsaken Me, || And are satisfied by [those who are] not gods, || I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, || And at the house of a harlot || They gather themselves together. ⁸ Fed horses—they have been early risers, || They each neigh to the wife of his neighbor. ⁹ Do I not lay a charge for these?" A declaration of YHWH, "And on a nation such as this, || Does My soul not avenge itself? ¹⁰ Go up on her walls, and destroy, || And I do not make a completion, || Turn her branches aside, || For they [are] not YHWH's, ¹¹ For the house of Israel has dealt treacherously against Me, || And the house of Judah," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹² They have lied against YHWH, || And they say, "[It is] not He, || Nor does evil come in against us, || Indeed, we do not see sword and famine. ¹³ And the prophets become wind, || And the word is not in them, || Thus it is done to them." ¹⁴ Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts: "Because of your speaking this word, || Behold, I am making My words become fire in your mouth, || And this people wood, || And it has devoured them. ¹⁵ Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, || O house of Israel," || A declaration of YHWH, || "It [is] a strong nation, || It [is] an ancient nation, || A nation whose tongue you do not know, || Nor understand what it speaks. ¹⁶ Its quiver [is] as an open tomb, || All of them—mighty ones. ¹⁷ And it has consumed your harvest and your bread, || They consume your sons, and your daughters, || It consumes your flock, and your herd, || It consumes your vine and your fig tree, || It makes your fortified cities poor, || In which you are trusting—by the sword. ¹⁸ And even in those days," || A declaration of YHWH, || "I do not make you a completion. ¹⁹ And it has come to pass, when you say, Why has our God YHWH done all these [things] to us? That you have said to them, As you have forsaken Me, || And serve the gods of a foreigner in your land, || So you serve strangers in a land [that is] not yours. ²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob, || And sound it in Judah, saying, ²¹ Now hear this, || O people, foolish and without heart, || They have eyes, and they do not see, || They have ears, and they do not hear. ²² Do you not fear Me?" A declaration of YHWH; "Are you not pained from My presence? Who has made sand the border of the sea, || A perpetual limit, and it does not pass over it, || They shake themselves, and they are not able, || Indeed, its billows have sounded, and they do not pass over. ²³ And this people has an apostatizing and rebelling heart, || They have turned aside, and they go on. ²⁴ And they have not said in their heart, || Now let us fear our God YHWH, who is giving rain, || The autumn rain and the spring rain, in its season, || He keeps the appointed weeks of harvest for us. ²⁵ Your iniquities have turned these away, || And your sins have kept the good from you. ²⁶ For the wicked have been found among My people. He watches like one who sets snares, || They have set up a trap—they capture men. ²⁷ As a cage full of birds, || So their houses are full of deceit, || Therefore they have been great, and are rich. ²⁸ They have been fat, they have shone, || Indeed, they have surpassed the acts of the evil, || They have not judged judgment, || The judgment of the fatherless—and they prosper, || And they have not judged the judgment of the needy. ²⁹ Do I not inspect for these," || A declaration of YHWH, || "On a nation such as this, || Does My soul not avenge itself? ³⁰ An astonishing and horrible thing has been in the land: ³¹ The prophets have prophesied falsely, || And the priests bear rule by their means, || And My people have loved [it] so, || And what do they do at its latter end?"

Chapter 6

¹ "Strengthen yourselves, sons of Benjamin, || From the midst of Jerusalem, || And blow a horn in Tekoa, || And lift up a flame over Beth-Haccerem, || For evil has been seen from the north, || And great destruction. ² I have cut off the lovely and delicate one, || The daughter of Zion. ³ Shepherds and their droves come to her, || They have struck tents by her all around, || They have each fed [in] his own station." ⁴ "Sanctify the battle against her, || Rise, and we go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day has turned, || For the shades of evening are stretched out, ⁵ Rise, and we go up by night, || And we destroy her palaces." ⁶ For thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Cut down her wood, || And pour out a mound against Jerusalem, || She [is] the city to be inspected, || She [is] full of oppression in her midst. ⁷ As the digging of a well, is [for] its waters, || So she has dug [for] her wickedness, || Violence and spoil is heard in her, || Sickness and striking [are] continually before My face. ⁸ Be instructed, O Jerusalem, || Lest My soul be alienated from you, || Lest I make you a desolation, || A land [that is] not inhabited." ⁹ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: "They surely glean, as a vine, the remnant of Israel, || Put your hand back, as a gatherer to the baskets." ¹⁰ To whom do I speak, and testify, and they hear? Behold, their ear [is] uncircumcised, || And they are not able to attend. Behold, a word of YHWH has been to them for a reproach, || They do not delight in it. ¹¹ And I have been filled with the fury of YHWH || (I have been weary of containing), "To pour [it] on the suckling in the street, || And on the assembly of youths together, || For even husband with wife are captured, || [The] elderly with one full of days, ¹² And their houses have been turned to others, || Fields and wives together, || For I stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹³ "For from their least to their greatest, || Everyone is gaining dishonest gain, || And from prophet even to priest, || Everyone is dealing falsely, ¹⁴ And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, || Saying, Peace, peace! And there is no peace. ¹⁵ They were ashamed when they did abomination! Indeed, they are not at all ashamed, || Indeed, they have not known blushing, || Therefore they fall among those falling, || In the time I have inspected them, || They stumble," said YHWH. ¹⁶ Thus said YHWH: "Stand by the ways and see, and ask for paths of old, || Where [is] this—the good way? And go in it, || And find rest for yourselves. And they say, We do not go. ¹⁷ And I have raised up watchmen for you, || Attend to the voice of the horn. And they say, We do not attend. ¹⁸ Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, || That which [is] on them. ¹⁹ Hear, O earth, behold, I am bringing evil on this people, || The fruit of their plans, || For they gave no attention to My words, || And My law—they kick against it. ²⁰ Why [is] this to Me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, || And the sweet cane from a far-off land, || Your burnt-offerings [are] not for acceptance, || And your sacrifices have not been sweet to Me." ²¹ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "Behold, I give stumbling blocks to this people, || And fathers and sons have stumbled against them together, || The neighbor and his friend perish." ²² Thus said YHWH: "Behold, a people has come from a north country, || And a great nation is stirred up from the sides of the earth. ²³ They take hold of bow and javelin, || It [is] fierce, and they have no mercy, || Their voice sounds as a sea, || And they ride on horses, || Set in array as a man of war, || Against you, O daughter of Zion." ²⁴ We have heard its sound, our hands have been feeble, || Distress has seized us, pain as of a travailing woman. ²⁵ Do not go forth to the field, || And do not walk in the way, || For the enemy has a sword, || Fear [is] all around. ²⁶ O daughter of my people, || Gird on sackcloth, || And roll yourself in ashes, || Make mourning [as for] an only one, || A most bitter lamentation, || For the spoiler suddenly comes against us. ²⁷ "I have given you a watchtower, || A fortress among My people, || And you know, and have tried their way. ²⁸ All of them are turned aside by apostates, || Walking slanderously—bronze and iron, || All of them are corrupters. ²⁹ The bellows have been burned, || The lead has been consumed by fire, || A refiner has refined in vain, || And the wicked have not been drawn away. ³⁰ They have called them rejected silver, || For YHWH has kicked against them!"

Chapter 7

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Stand in the gate of the house of YHWH, and you have proclaimed this word there, and have said, Hear a word of YHWH, all you of Judah, who are coming in at these gates, to bow before YHWH." ³ Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Amend your ways, and your doings, || And I cause you to dwell in this place. ⁴ Do not trust for yourselves || To the words of falsehood, saying, || The temple of YHWH! The temple of YHWH! These [are] the temple of YHWH! ⁵ For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, || If you thoroughly do judgment || Between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ You do not oppress sojourner, fatherless, and widow, || And innocent blood is not shed in this place, || And [you] do not walk after other gods, for evil to yourselves, ⁷ Then I have caused you to dwell in this place, || In the land that I gave to your fathers, || From age even to age. ⁸ Behold, you are trusting for yourselves || On the words of falsehood, so as not to profit. ⁹ Stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, || And swearing to falsehood, and giving incense to Ba'al, || And going after other gods whom you did not know. ¹⁰ And you have come in and stood before Me, || In this house on which My Name is called, || And have said, We have been delivered, || In order to do all these abominations. ¹¹ Has this house, || On which My Name is called, || Been a den of burglars in your eyes? Even I, behold, have seen," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹² "But go now to My place that [is] in Shiloh, || Where I caused My Name to dwell at first, || And see that which I have done to it, || For the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because of your doing all these works," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I speak to you, rising early and speaking, || And you have not listened, || And I call you, and you have not answered, ¹⁴ I also have done to the house on which My Name is called, || In which you are trusting, || And to the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, || As I have done to Shiloh. ¹⁵ And I have cast you from before My face, || As I have cast out all your brothers, || The whole seed of Ephraim. ¹⁶ And you do not pray for this people, || Nor lift up crying and prayer for them, || Nor intercede with Me, for I do not hear you. ¹⁷ Are you not seeing what they are doing || In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The sons are gathering wood, || And the fathers are causing the fire to burn, || And the women are kneading dough, || To make cakes to the queen of the heavens, || And to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, || So as to provoke Me to anger. ¹⁹ Are they provoking Me to anger?" A declaration of YHWH, "Is it not themselves, || For the shame of their own faces?" ²⁰ Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: "Behold, My anger and My fury is poured out on this place, || On man, and beast, and on tree of the field, || And on fruit of the ground, || And it has burned, and it is not quenched." ²¹ Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. ²² For I did not speak with your fathers, || Nor did I command them in the day of My bringing them out of the land of Egypt, || Concerning the matters of burnt-offering and sacrifice, ²³ But this thing I commanded them, saying, || Listen to My voice, || And I have been to you for God, || And you are to Me for a people, || And have walked in all the way that I command you, || So that it is well for you. ²⁴ And they have not listened, nor inclined their ear, || And they walk in the counsels, || [And] in the stubbornness, of their evil hearts, || And are backward and not forward. ²⁵ Even from the day when your fathers || Went out of the land of Egypt until this day, || I send all My servants the prophets to you, || Daily rising early and sending, ²⁶ And they have not listened to Me, || Nor inclined their ear—and they harden their neck, || They have done evil above their fathers. ²⁷ And you have spoken all these words to them, || And they do not listen to you, || And you have called to them, || And they do not answer you. ²⁸ And you have said to them: This [is] the nation that has not listened, || To the voice of its God YHWH, || Nor have they accepted instruction, || Steadfastness has perished, || Indeed, it has been cut off from their mouth. ²⁹ Cut off your crown, and cast [it] away, || And lift up lamentation on high places, || For YHWH has rejected, || And He leaves the generation of His wrath. ³⁰ For the sons of Judah || Have done evil in My eyes," || A declaration of YHWH, || "They have set their abominations in the house || On which My Name is called—to defile it, ³¹ And have built the high places of Tophet, || That [are] in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, || To burn their sons and their daughters with fire, || Which I did not command, || Nor did it come up on My heart. ³² Therefore, behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And it is no longer said, The Tophet, || And, Valley of the Son of Hinnom, || But, Valley of the Slaughter, || And they have buried in Tophet—without place. ³³ And the carcass of this people has been for food || To a bird of the heavens, and to a beast of the earth, || And there is none troubling. ³⁴ And I have caused to cease from cities of Judah, || And from streets of Jerusalem, || The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, || Voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, || For the land becomes a desolation!"

Chapter 8

¹ "At that time," || A declaration of YHWH, || "They bring the bones of the kings of Judah, || And the bones of its princes, || And the bones of the priests, || And the bones of the prophets, || And the bones of inhabitants of Jerusalem, || Out of their graves, ² And have spread them to sun, and to moon, || And to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, || And that they have served, || And that they have walked after, || And that they have sought, || And to which they have bowed themselves, || They are not gathered, nor buried, || They are for dung on the face of the ground. ³ And death is chosen rather than life || By all the remnant who are left of this evil family, || In all the remaining places, to where I have driven them," || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts. ⁴ "And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH: Do they fall, and not rise? Does he turn back, and not return? ⁵ Why has this people of Jerusalem || Turned back—a continuous backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, || They have refused to turn back. ⁶ I have given attention, indeed, I listen, || They do not speak right, || No man has sighed over his wickedness, || Saying, What have I done? Everyone has turned to his courses, || As a horse is rushing into battle. ⁷ Even a stork in the heavens has known her seasons, || And turtle, and swallow, and crane, || Have watched the time of their coming, || And—My people have not known the judgment of YHWH. ⁸ How do you say, We [are] wise, || And the Law of YHWH [is] with us? Surely, behold, it has worked falsely, || The false pen of scribes. ⁹ The wise have been ashamed, || They have been frightened, and are captured, || Behold, they kicked against a word of YHWH, || And what wisdom do they have? ¹⁰ Therefore, I give their wives to others, || Their fields to dispossessors, || For from the least even to the greatest, || Everyone is gaining dishonest gain, || From prophet even to priest, everyone is dealing falsely. ¹¹ And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, || Saying, Peace, peace! And there is no peace. ¹² They were ashamed when they did abomination! Indeed, they are not ashamed at all, || And they have not known blushing, || Therefore, they fall among falling ones, || They stumble in the time of their inspection, said YHWH. ¹³ I utterly consume them," || A declaration of YHWH, || "There are no grapes in the vine, || Indeed, there are no figs in the fig tree, || And the leaf has faded, || And the strength they have passes from them. ¹⁴ Why are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go into the fortified cities, || And we are silent there, || For our God YHWH has made us silent, || Indeed, He causes us to drink water of gall, || For we have sinned against YHWH. ¹⁵ Looking for peace—and there is no good, || For a time of healing, and behold—terror. ¹⁶ The snorting of his horses has been heard from Dan, || From the voice of the neighings of his mighty ones, || All the land has trembled, || And they come in and consume the land and its fullness, || The city and the inhabitants in it. ¹⁷ For behold, I am sending serpents among you, || Vipers that have no charmer, || And they have bitten you," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁸ My sorrow [is] beyond comfort, || My heart [is] sick in me. ¹⁹ Behold, the voice of a cry of the daughter of my people from a far-off land, || Is YHWH not in Zion? Is her King not in her? "Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, || With the vanities of a foreigner?" ²⁰ Harvest has passed, summer has ended, || And we have not been saved. ²¹ For a breach of the daughter of my people I have been broken, || I have been dark, || Astonishment has seized me. ²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why has the health of the daughter of my people not gone up?

Chapter 9

¹ Who makes my head waters, || And my eye a fountain of tears? And I weep by day and by night, || For the wounded of the daughter of my people. ² Who gives me in a wilderness || A lodging-place for travelers? And I leave my people, and go from them, || For all of them [are] adulterers, || An assembly of treacherous ones. ³ "And they bend their tongue, || Their bow [is] a lie, || And they have not been mighty for steadfastness in the land, || For they have gone forth from evil to evil, || And they have not known Me," || A declaration of YHWH! ⁴ "You each beware of his friend, || And do not trust any brother, || For every brother utterly supplants, || For every friend slanderously walks, ⁵ And they each mock at his friend, || And they do not speak truth, || They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, || They have labored to commit iniquity. ⁶ Your dwelling [is] in the midst of deceit, || Through deceit they refused to know Me," || A declaration of YHWH. ⁷ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Behold, I am refining them, and have tried them, || For how do I deal with the daughter of My people? ⁸ Their tongue [is] a slaughtering arrow, || It has spoken deceit in its mouth, || It speaks peace with its neighbor, || And in its heart it lays its ambush, ⁹ Do I not see after them for these things?" A declaration of YHWH, "Does My soul not avenge itself against a nation such as this?" ¹⁰ I lift up weeping and wailing for the mountains, || And a lamentation for the habitations of the wilderness, || For they have been burned up without any passing over, || Nor have they heard the voice of livestock, || From the bird of the heavens and to the beast—they have fled, || They have gone. ¹¹ "And I make Jerusalem become heaps, || A habitation of dragons, || And I make the cities of Judah a desolation, || Without inhabitant." ¹² Who [is] the wise man? And he understands this, || And he to whom the mouth of YHWH spoke? And he declares it, || For why has the land perished? It has been burned up as a wilderness, || Without any passing through. ¹³ And YHWH says: "Because of their forsaking My law that I set before them, || And they have not listened to My voice nor walked in it, ¹⁴ And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, || And after the Ba'alim, || That their fathers taught them," ¹⁵ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Behold, I am causing them—this people—to eat wormwood, || And I have caused them to drink water of gall, ¹⁶ And I have scattered them among nations || Which they did not know, they and their fathers, || And have sent the sword after them, || Until I have consumed them." ¹⁷ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Consider, and call for mourning women, || And they come, || And send to the wise women, || And they come, ¹⁸ And they hurry, and lift up a wailing for us. And tears run down our eyes, || And waters flow from our eyelids. ¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: How we have been spoiled! We have been greatly ashamed, || Because we have forsaken the land, || Because they have cast down our dwelling places." ²⁰ But hear, you women, a word of YHWH, || And your ear receives a word of His mouth, || And teach your daughters wailing, || And each her neighbor lamentation. ²¹ For death has come up into our windows, || It has come into our palaces, || To cut off the suckling from outside, || Young men from the broad places. ²² Speak thus, "A declaration of YHWH, || And the carcass of man has fallen, || As dung on the face of the field, || And as a handful after the reaper, || And there is none gathering." ²³ Thus said YHWH: "Do not let the wise boast himself in his wisdom, || Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, || Do not let the rich boast himself in his riches, ²⁴ But let the boaster boast himself in this, || In understanding and knowing Me, || For I [am] YHWH, doing kindness, || Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, || For I have delighted in these," || A declaration of YHWH. ²⁵ "Behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin, ²⁶ On Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, || And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, || And on all cutting the corner [of the beard], || Who are dwelling in the wilderness, || For all the nations [are] uncircumcised, || And all the house of Israel [are] uncircumcised in heart!"

Chapter 10

¹ Hear the word, O house of Israel, || That YHWH has spoken for you. ² Thus said YHWH: "Do not accustom yourselves to the way of the nations, || And do not be frightened by the signs of the heavens, || For the nations are frightened by them. ³ For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, || For one has cut a tree from a forest, || Work of the hands of a craftsman, with an axe, ⁴ They beautify it with silver and with gold, || They fix it with nails and with hammers, || And it does not stumble. ⁵ They [are] stiff as a palm, and they do not speak, || They are surely carried, for they do not step, || Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, || Indeed, to do good is also not in them." ⁶ Because there is none like You, O YHWH, || You [are] great, and Your Name [is] great in might. ⁷ Who does not fear You, King of the nations? For it is befitting to You, || For among all the wise of the nations, || And in all their kingdom, there is none like You. ⁸ And as one they are brutish and foolish, || An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself. ⁹ Spread-out silver is brought from Tarshish, || And gold from Uphaz, || Work of an artisan, and of the hands of a refiner, || Their clothing [is] blue and purple, || Work of the skillful—all of them. ¹⁰ And YHWH [is] a God of truth, || He [is] a living God, and a perpetual King, || The earth shakes from His wrath, || And nations do not endure His indignation. ¹¹ Thus you say to them, "The gods who have not made the heavens and earth, || They perish from the earth, || And from under these heavens." ¹² The Maker of the earth by His power, || The Establisher of the world by His wisdom, || Who, by His understanding, stretched forth the heavens— ¹³ When He gives forth His voice, || A multitude of waters [is] in the heavens, || And He causes vapors to come up from the end of the earth, || He has made lightnings for rain, || And brings out wind from His treasures. ¹⁴ Every man is brutish by knowledge, || Every refiner is put to shame by a carved image, || For his molten image [is] false. And there is no breath in them. ¹⁵ They [are] vanity, work of erring ones, || They perish in the time of their inspection. ¹⁶ The Portion of Jacob [is] not like these, || For He [is] the Framer of all things, || And Israel [is] the rod of His inheritance, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name. ¹⁷ Gather your merchandise from the land, || O dweller in the bulwark, ¹⁸ For thus said YHWH: "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, || And have been an adversary to them, || So that they are found out." ¹⁹ Woe to me for my breaking, || My striking has been grievous, || And I said, "Surely this [is] my sickness, and I bear it." ²⁰ My tent has been spoiled, || And all my cords have been broken, || My sons have gone out from me, and they are not, || There is none stretching out my tent anymore, || And raising up my curtains. ²¹ For the shepherds have become brutish, || And they have not sought YHWH, || Therefore they have not acted wisely, || And all their flock is scattered. ²² A voice of a report, behold, it has come, || Even a great shaking from the north country, || To make the cities of Judah a desolation, || A habitation of dragons. ²³ I have known, O YHWH, that not of man [is] his way, || Not of man [is] the going and establishing of his step. ²⁴ Discipline me, O YHWH, only in judgment, || Not in Your anger, lest You make me small. ²⁵ Pour out Your fury on the nations that have not known You, || And on the families that have not called on Your Name, || For they have eaten up Jacob, || Indeed, they have eaten him up, indeed, they consume him, || And they have made his habitation desolate!

Chapter 11

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Hear the words of this covenant, and you have spoken to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ³ and you have said to them, Thus said YHWH God of Israel: Cursed [is] the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, ⁴ That I commanded your fathers, || In the day of My bringing them out from the land of Egypt, || Out of the iron furnace, saying, Listen to My voice, and you have done them, || According to all that I command you, || And you have been to Me for a people, || And I am to you for God, ⁵ In order to establish the oath that I have sworn to your fathers, || To give to them a land flowing with milk and honey, as this day." And I answer and say, "Amen, O YHWH." ⁶ And YHWH says to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, || Hear the words of this covenant, || And you have done them. ⁷ For I certainly testified against your fathers, || In the day of My bringing them up out of the land of Egypt—until this day, || Rising early and testifying, saying, Listen to My voice, ⁸ And they have not listened nor inclined their ear, || And they each walk in the stubbornness of their evil heart, || And I bring on them all the words of this covenant, || That I commanded to do, and they did not." ⁹ And YHWH says to me: "A conspiracy is found in the men of Judah, || And in the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have turned back to the iniquities of their first fathers, || Who refused to hear My words, || And they have gone after other gods to serve them, || The house of Israel and the house of Judah || Have made void My covenant that I made with their fathers." ¹¹ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "Behold, I am bringing calamity on them, || That they are not able to go out from, || And they have cried to Me, || And I do not listen to them. ¹² And the cities of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem have gone, || And they have cried to the gods, || To whom they are making incense, || And they give no deliverance at all to them, || In the time of their distress. ¹³ For the number of your cities have been your gods, O Judah, || And [for] the number of the streets of Jerusalem You have placed altars to a shameful thing, || Altars to make incense to Ba'al. ¹⁴ And you, you do not pray for this people, || Nor do you lift up cry and prayer for them, || For I do not listen in the time of their calling to Me for their distress. ¹⁵ What has My beloved to do in My house, || Her doing wickedness with many, || And does the holy flesh pass over from you? When you do evil, then you exult. ¹⁶ An olive, green, beautiful, of good fruit, || Has YHWH called your name, || At the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire against it, || And its thin branches have been broken. ¹⁷ And YHWH of Hosts, who is planting you, || Has spoken calamity concerning you, || For the evil of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, || That they have done to themselves, || To provoke Me to anger, to make incense to Ba'al." ¹⁸ And, O YHWH, cause me to know, and I know, || Then You have showed me their doings. ¹⁹ And I [am] as a trained lamb brought to slaughter, || And I have not known || That they have devised schemes against me: "We destroy the tree with its food, || And cut him off from the land of the living, || And his name is not remembered again." ²⁰ And O YHWH of Hosts, judging righteousness, || Trying reins and heart, || I see Your vengeance against them, || For I have revealed my cause to You. ²¹ Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning the men of Anathoth, who are seeking your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the Name of YHWH, and you do not die by our hands." ²² Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Behold, I am seeing after them, || The chosen ones die by sword, || Their sons and their daughters die by famine, ²³ And they have no remnant, || For I bring calamity to the men of Anathoth, || The year of their inspection!"

Chapter 12

¹ You [are] righteous, O YHWH, || When I plead toward You, || Only, let me speak judgments with You, || Why did the way of the wicked prosper? All treacherous dealers have been at rest. ² You have planted them, || Indeed, they have taken root, || They go on, indeed, they have made fruit, || You [are] near in their mouth, || And far off from their reins. ³ And You, O YHWH, You have known me, || You see me, and have tried my heart with You, || Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, || And separate them for a day of slaughter. ⁴ Until when does the earth mourn, || And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, || Beast and bird have been consumed, || Because they said, "He does not see our latter end." ⁵ "For you have run with footmen, || And they weary you, || And how you fret yourself with horses! Even in the land of peace, || [In which] you are confident—And how will you do in the rising of Jordan? ⁶ For even your brothers and the house of your father, || Even they dealt treacherously against you, || Even they called after you fully, || Do not trust in them when they speak good things to you. ⁷ I have forsaken My house, || I have left My inheritance, || I have given the beloved of My soul || Into the hand of her enemies. ⁸ My inheritance has been to Me as a lion in a forest, || She gave forth against Me with her voice, || Therefore I have hated her. ⁹ [Is] My inheritance a speckled bird to Me? Is the bird around against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, || Come for food. ¹⁰ Many shepherds destroyed My vineyard, || They have trodden down My portion, || They have made My desirable portion || Become a wilderness—a desolation. ¹¹ He has made it become a desolation, || The desolation has mourned to Me, || All the land has been desolated, || But there is no one laying it to heart. ¹² Spoilers have come in on all high places in the plain, || For the sword of YHWH is consuming, || From the end of the land even to the end of the land, || There is no peace to any flesh. ¹³ They sowed wheat, and have reaped thorns, || They have become sick—they do not profit, || And they have been ashamed of your increases, || Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH." ¹⁴ Thus said YHWH: "Concerning all My evil neighbors, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused My people—Israel—to inherit: Behold, I am plucking them from off their ground, || And I pluck the house of Judah out of their midst. ¹⁵ And it has been, after My plucking them out, || I turn back, and have pitied them, || And I have brought them back, || Each to his inheritance, and each to his land. ¹⁶ And it has come to pass, || If they learn the ways of My people well, || To swear by My Name, YHWH lives, || As they taught My people to swear by Ba'al, || Then they have been built up in the midst of My people. ¹⁷ And if they do not listen, || Then I have plucked up that nation, || Plucking up and destroying," || A declaration of YHWH!

Chapter 13

¹ Thus said YHWH to me: "Go, and you have acquired a girdle of linen for yourself, and have placed it on your loins, and you do not cause it to enter into water." ² And I get the girdle, according to the word of YHWH, and I place [it] on my loins. ³ And there is a word of YHWH to me a second time, saying, ⁴ "Take the girdle that you have acquired, that [is] on your loins, and rise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock"; ⁵ and I go and hide it by the Euphrates, as YHWH commanded me. ⁶ And it comes to pass, at the end of many days, that YHWH says to me, "Rise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle there, that I commanded you to hide there"; ⁷ and I go to the Euphrates, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle has been marred, it is not profitable for anything. ⁸ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, "Thus said YHWH: ⁹ Thus I mar the excellence of Judah, || And the great excellence of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, || Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, || And go after other gods to serve them, || And to bow themselves to them, || Indeed it is—as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything. ¹¹ For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, || So I caused to cleave to Me || The whole house of Israel, || And the whole house of Judah," || A declaration of YHWH, || "To be to Me for a people, and for a name, || And for praise, and for beauty, || And they have not listened. ¹² And you have said this word to them, || Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Every bottle is full of wine, || And they have said to you: Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine? ¹³ And you have said to them, || Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, || And the kings who sit for David on his throne, || And the priests, and the prophets, || And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, || [With] drunkenness, ¹⁴ And have dashed them against one another, || And the fathers and the sons together," || A declaration of YHWH, || "I do not pity, nor spare, nor do I have mercy, || So as not to destroy them." ¹⁵ Hear, and give ear—do not be haughty, || For YHWH has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to your God YHWH, || Before He causes darkness, || And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, || And you have waited for light, || And He has made it for death-shade, || And has appointed [it] for thick darkness. ¹⁷ And if you do not hear it, || My soul weeps in secret places, because of pride, || Indeed, it weeps and wails, || And the tear comes down my eyes, || For the flock of YHWH has been taken captive. ¹⁸ Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low—sit still, || For your principalities have come down, || The crown of your beauty. ¹⁹ The cities of the south have been shut up, || And there is none opening, || Judah has been removed—all of her, || She has been completely removed— ²⁰ Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, || Where [is] the drove given to you, your beautiful flock? ²¹ What do you say when He looks after you? And you have taught them [to be] over you—leaders for head? Do pangs not seize you as a travailing woman? ²² And when you say in your heart, "Why have these met me?" For the abundance of your iniquity || Have your skirts been uncovered, || Have your heels suffered violence. ²³ "Does a Cushite change his skin? And a leopard his spots? Can you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil? ²⁴ And I scatter them as stubble, || Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness. ²⁵ This [is] your lot, the portion of your measures from Me," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Because you have forgotten Me, || And trust in falsehood. ²⁶ I have also made your skirts bare before your face, || And your shame has been seen. ²⁷ Your adulteries, and your neighings, || The wickedness of your whoredom, on heights in a field, || I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, || You are not [yet] made clean—after when [will you be] again?"

Chapter 14

¹ That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah concerning the matters of the scarcities: ² "Judah has mourned, and her gates have languished, || They have mourned to the earth, || And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. ³ And their majestic ones have sent their little ones to the water, || They have come to ditches, || They have not found water, || They have turned back—their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, || And have blushed and covered their head. ⁴ Because the ground has been broken, || For there has been no rain in the land, || Farmers have been ashamed, || They have covered their head. ⁵ For even the doe in the field has brought forth—to forsake [it!] || For there has been no grass. ⁶ And wild donkeys have stood on high places, || They have swallowed up wind like dragons, || Their eyes have been consumed, for there is no herb." ⁷ Surely our iniquities have testified against us, || O YHWH, work for Your Name's sake, || For our backslidings have been many, || We have sinned against You. ⁸ O Hope of Israel—its Savior in time of trouble, || Why are You as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveler turned aside to lodge? ⁹ Why are You as one mute? As a mighty one not able to save? And You [are] in our midst, O YHWH, || And Your Name is called over us, || Do not leave us. ¹⁰ Thus said YHWH concerning this people: "They have loved to wander well, || They have not restrained their feet, || And YHWH has not accepted them, || Now He remembers their iniquity, || And inspects their sin." ¹¹ And YHWH says to me: "You do not pray for this people for good. ¹² When they fast, I do not listen to their cry, and when they cause burnt-offering and present to ascend, I do not accept them; for I am consuming them by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence." ¹³ And I say, "Aah! Lord YHWH, behold, the prophets are saying to them: You do not see a sword, indeed, famine is not [on] you, for I give true peace to you in this place." ¹⁴ And YHWH says to me: "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My Name. I did not send them, nor command them, nor have I spoken to them. A false vision, and divination, and vanity—indeed, they are prophesying the deceit of their own heart to you. ¹⁵ Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My Name and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land: By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed. ¹⁶ And the people to whom they are prophesying are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword, and they have none burying them—them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters—and I have poured out their evil on them. ¹⁷ And you have said this word to them: Tears come down my eyes night and day, || And they do not cease, || For [with] a great breach, || The virgin daughter of my people has been broken, || A very grievous stroke. ¹⁸ If I have gone forth to the field, || Then, behold, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, || Then, behold, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down || To a land that they did not know." ¹⁹ Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You struck us, || And there is no healing to us? Looking for peace, and there is no good, || And for a time of healing, and behold, terror. ²⁰ We have known, O YHWH, our wickedness, || The iniquity of our fathers, || For we have sinned against You. ²¹ Do not despise, for Your Name's sake, || Do not dishonor the throne of Your glory, || Remember, do not break Your covenant with us. ²² Are there any among the vanities of the nations causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O our God YHWH? And we wait for you, for You have done all these!

Chapter 15

¹ And YHWH says to me: "Though Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, || My soul is not toward this people, || Send from before My face, and they go out. ² And it has come to pass, when they say to you, || To where do we go out? That you have said to them, || Thus said YHWH: Those who [are] for death—to death, || And those who are for the sword—to the sword, || And those who are for famine—to famine, || And those who are for captivity—to captivity. ³ And I have appointed four kinds over them," || A declaration of YHWH, || "The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, || And the bird of the heavens, || And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour. ⁴ And I have given them for a trembling || To all kingdoms of the earth, || Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, || For that which he did in Jerusalem. ⁵ For who has pity on you, O Jerusalem? And who bemoans for you? And who turns aside to ask of your welfare? ⁶ You have left Me," || A declaration of YHWH, || "You go backward, || And I stretch out My hand against you, || And I destroy you, || I have been weary of relenting, ⁷ And I scatter them with a fan, || In the gates of the land, || I have bereaved [them], || I have destroyed My people, || They did not turn back from their ways. ⁸ Its widows have been more to Me than the sand of the seas, || I brought on them—against the mother—A young man—a spoiler—at noon. I caused wrath and trouble to fall on her suddenly. ⁹ The bearer of seven has languished, || She has breathed out her spirit, || Her sun has gone in while yet day, || It has been ashamed and confounded, || And I give up their remnant to the sword before their enemies," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁰ Woe to me, my mother, || For you have borne me, || A man of strife and a man of contention to all the land, || I have not lent on usury, || Nor have they lent on usury to me—All of them are reviling me. ¹¹ YHWH said, "Did I not direct you for good? Did I not intercede for you in a time of evil, || And in a time of adversity, with the enemy? ¹² Does one break iron, || Northern iron and bronze? ¹³ I give your strength and your treasures for a prey—not for price, || Even for all your sins, and in all your borders. ¹⁴ And I have caused your enemies || To pass over into the land [that] You have not known, || For a fire has been kindled in My anger, || It burns against you." ¹⁵ You, You have known, O YHWH, || Remember me, and inspect me, || And take vengeance for me of my pursuers, || In Your long-suffering do not take me away, || Know [that] I have borne reproach for You. ¹⁶ Your words have been found, and I eat them, || And Your word is to me for a joy, || And for the rejoicing of my heart, || For Your Name is called on me, O YHWH, God of Hosts. ¹⁷ I have not sat in an assembly of deriders, || Nor do I exult, because of your hand—I have sat alone, || For You have filled me [with] indignation. ¹⁸ Why has my pain been continuous? And my wound incurable? It has refused to be healed, || You are surely as a failing stream to me, || Waters [that are] not steadfast. ¹⁹ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "If you turn back, then I bring you back, || You stand before Me, || And if you bring out the precious from the vile, || You are as My mouth! They return to you, || And you do not return to them. ²⁰ And I have made you to this people || For a wall—bronze—fortified, || And they have fought against you, || And they do not prevail against you, || For I [am] with you to save you, || And to deliver you," || A declaration of YHWH, ²¹ "And I have delivered you from the hand of evildoers, || And I have ransomed you || From the hand of the terrible!"

Chapter 16

¹ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ² "You do not take a wife to yourself, || Nor do you have sons and daughters in this place." ³ For thus said YHWH, || Of the sons and of the daughters who are born in this place, || And of their mothers—those bearing them, || And of their fathers—those begetting them in this land: ⁴ "They die painful deaths, || They are not lamented, nor are they buried, || For they are dung on the face of the ground, || And are consumed by sword and by famine, || And their carcass has been for food || To the bird of the heavens, || And to the beast of the earth." ⁵ For thus said YHWH: "Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, || Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, || For I have removed My peace from this people," || A declaration of YHWH, || "The kindness and the mercies. ⁶ And great and small have died in this land, || They are not buried, and none lament for them, || Nor does any cut himself, nor become bald for them. ⁷ Nor do they deal out to them for mourning, || To comfort him concerning the dead, || Nor cause them to drink a cup of consolations || For his father and for his mother. ⁸ You do not enter a house of banqueting, || To sit with them, to eat and to drink," ⁹ For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Behold, I am causing to cease from this place, || Before your eyes, and in your days, || The voice of joy, and the voice of rejoicing, || The voice of bridegroom and voice of bride. ¹⁰ And it has come to pass, || When you declare all these words to this people, || And they have said to you, || Why has YHWH spoken all this great evil against us? Indeed, what [is] our iniquity, and what [is] our sin, || That we have sinned against our God YHWH? ¹¹ Then you have said to them: Because that your fathers have forsaken Me, || A declaration of YHWH, || And go after other gods, and serve them, || And they bow themselves to them, || And have forsaken Me, and not kept My law, ¹² You also have done evil above your fathers, || And behold, you are each walking after the stubbornness of his evil heart, || So as not to listen to Me. ¹³ And I have cast you from off this land, || On to a land that you have not known, || You and your fathers, || And you have served other gods there by day and by night, || Where I do not give grace to you. ¹⁴ Therefore, behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And it is not said anymore, || YHWH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, ¹⁵ But, YHWH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of the north, || And out of all the lands to where He drove them, || And I have brought them back to their land, || That I gave to their fathers. ¹⁶ Behold, I am sending for many fishers," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And they have fished them, || And after this I send for many hunters, || And they have hunted them from off every mountain, || And from off every hill, and from holes of the rocks. ¹⁷ For My eyes [are] on all their ways, || They have not been hidden from My face, || Nor has their iniquity been concealed from before My eyes. ¹⁸ And I have repaid a first—A second time—their iniquity and their sin, || Because of their defiling My land, || With the carcass of their detestable things, || Indeed, their abominations have filled My inheritance." ¹⁹ O YHWH, my strength, and my fortress, || And my refuge in a day of adversity, || Nations come to You from the ends of the earth, || And say, "Our fathers only inherited falsehood, || Vanity, and none among them is profitable." ²⁰ Does man make gods for himself, || And they—no gods? ²¹ "Therefore, behold, I am causing them to know at this time, || I cause them to know My hand and My might, || And they have known that My Name [is] YHWH!"

Chapter 17

¹ "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, || With the point of a diamond, || Engraved on the tablet of their heart, || And on the horns of your altars, ² As their sons remember their altars and their Asherim, || By the green tree, by the high hills. ³ O My mountain in the field—your strength, || All your treasures—I give for a prey, || Your high places for sin in all your borders. ⁴ And you have let go—even through yourself, || Of your inheritance that I gave to you, || And I have caused you to serve your enemies, || In a land that you have not known, || For you have kindled a fire in My anger, || It burns for all time." ⁵ Thus said YHWH: "Cursed [is] the man who trusts in man, || And has made flesh his arm, || And whose heart turns from YHWH. ⁶ And he has been as a naked thing in a desert, || And does not see when good comes, || And has inhabited parched places in a wilderness, || A salt land, and not inhabited. ⁷ Blessed [is] the man who trusts in YHWH, || And whose confidence has been YHWH. ⁸ And has been as a tree planted by waters, || And he sends forth his roots by a stream, || And he does not see when heat comes, || And his leaf has been green, || And he is not sorrowful in a year of scarcity, || Nor does he cease from making fruit. ⁹ The heart [is] deceitful above all things, || And it [is] incurable—who knows it? ¹⁰ I, YHWH, search the heart, try the reins, || Even to give to each according to his way, || According to the fruit of his doings. ¹¹ A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, || [Is] one making wealth, and not by right, || In the midst of his days he forsakes it, || And in his latter end—he is a fool." ¹² A throne of glory on high from the beginning, || The place of our sanctuary, ¹³ The hope of Israel [is] YHWH, || All forsaking You are ashamed. "And My apostates are written in the earth, || For they have forsaken YHWH, || A fountain of living waters." ¹⁴ Heal me, O YHWH, and I am healed, || Save me, and I am saved, || For You [are] my praise. ¹⁵ Behold, they are saying to me: "Where [is] the word of YHWH? Pray, let it come." ¹⁶ And I did not hurry from feeding after You, || And I have not desired the desperate day, || You have known the produce of my lips, || It has been before Your face, ¹⁷ Do not be to me for a terror, || You [are] my hope in a day of calamity. ¹⁸ Let my pursuers be ashamed, || And do not let me be ashamed—me! Let them be frightened, || And do not let me be frightened—me! Bring in on them a day of calamity, || And destroy them a second time [with] destruction. ¹⁹ Thus said YHWH to me: "Go, and you have stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem, ²⁰ and you have said to them: Hear a word of YHWH, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates," ²¹ Thus said YHWH: "Take heed to yourselves, || And you do not bear a burden on the day of rest, || Nor have you brought [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem. ²² Nor do you take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest, || Indeed, you do not do any work, || And you have sanctified the day of rest, || As I have commanded your fathers. ²³ And they have not listened nor inclined their ear, || And they stiffen their neck not to hear, || And not to receive instruction. ²⁴ And it has been, if you certainly listen to Me," || A declaration of YHWH, || "So as not to bring in a burden by the gates of this city on the day of rest, || And to sanctify the day of rest, || So as not to do any work in it— ²⁵ Then kings and princes have entered by the gates of this city, || Sitting on the throne of David, || Riding in a chariot, and on horses, || They, and their princes, the man of Judah, || And inhabitants of Jerusalem, || And this city has remained for all time. ²⁶ And they have come in from cities of Judah, || And from outskirts of Jerusalem, || And from the land of Benjamin, || And from the low country, || And from the hill-country, || And from the south, || Bringing in burnt-offering, and sacrifice, || And present, and frankincense, || And bringing praise [to] the house of YHWH. ²⁷ And if you do not listen to Me to sanctify the day of rest, || And so as not to bear a burden, || And to come in at the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest, || Then I have kindled a fire in its gates, || And it has consumed the high places of Jerusalem, || And it is not quenched!"

Chapter 18

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Rise, and you have gone down [to] the potter's house, and there I cause you to hear My words"; ³ and I go down [to] the potter's house, and behold, he is doing a work on the stones, ⁴ and the vessel that he is making is marred, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he has turned and he makes it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. ⁵ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ⁶ "O house of Israel, am I not able to do to you as this potter?" A declaration of YHWH. "Behold, as clay in the hand of the potter, || So [are] you in My hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ The moment I speak concerning a nation, || And concerning a kingdom, || To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy, ⁸ And that nation has turned from its evil, || Because I have spoken against it, || Then I have relented of the calamity that I thought to do to it. ⁹ And the moment I speak concerning a nation, || And concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant, ¹⁰ And it has done evil in My eyes, || So as not to listen to My voice, || Then I have relented of the good || That I have spoken of doing to it. ¹¹ And now, speak now to men of Judah, || And against inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, || Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am framing calamity against you, || And devising a scheme against you; Please turn back, each from his evil way, || And amend your ways and your doings." ¹² And they have said, "It is incurable, || For we go after our own plans, || And each of us does the stubbornness of his evil heart." ¹³ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "Now ask among the nations, || Who has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. ¹⁴ Does snow of Lebanon || Cease from the rock of the field? Will the cold strange [waters] that are flowing be forsaken? ¹⁵ But My people have forgotten Me, they make incense to a vain thing, || And they cause them to stumble in their ways—paths of old, || To walk in paths—a way not raised up, ¹⁶ To make their land become a desolation, || A continuous hissing, || Everyone passing by it is astonished, || And bemoans with his head. ¹⁷ I scatter them before an enemy as with an east wind, || I show them the neck and not the face, || In the day of their calamity." ¹⁸ And they say, "Come, || And we devise schemes against Jeremiah, || For law does not perish from the priest, || Nor counsel from the wise, || Nor the word from the prophet, || Come, and we strike him with the tongue, || And we do not attend to any of his words." ¹⁹ Give attention, O YHWH, to me, || And listen to the voice of those contending with me. ²⁰ Is evil repaid instead of good, || That they have dug a pit for my soul? Remember my standing before You to speak good of them, || To turn back Your wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore, give up their sons to famine, || And cause them to run on the sides of the sword, || And their wives are bereaved and widows, || And their men are slain by death, || Their young men [are] struck by sword in battle, ²² A cry is heard from their houses, || For You suddenly bring a troop against them, || For they dug a pit to capture me, || And they have hidden snares for my feet. ²³ And You, O YHWH, You have known, || All their counsel against me [is] for death, || You do not cover over their iniquity, || Nor blot out their sin from before You, || And they are made to stumble before You, || Work against them in the time of Your anger!

Chapter 19

¹ Thus said YHWH: "Go, and you have acquired a potter's earthen vessel, and from [the] elderly of the people, and from [the] elderly of the priests, ² and you have gone forth to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that [is] at the opening of the gate of the pottery, and have proclaimed there the words that I speak to you, ³ and have said, Hear a word of YHWH, you kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem!" Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Behold, I am bringing in evil on this place, at which the ears of everyone who is hearing it tingles, ⁴ because that they have forsaken Me, and make known this place, and make incense in it to other gods, that they did not know, they and their fathers, and the kings of Judah, and they have filled this place [with] innocent blood, ⁵ and have built the high places of Ba'al to burn their sons with fire, burnt-offerings to Ba'al, that I did not command, nor spoke of, nor did it come up on My heart. ⁶ Therefore, behold, days are coming," a declaration of YHWH, "and this place is no longer called The Tophet and Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but Valley of the Slaughter. ⁷ And I have made void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and have caused them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those seeking their life, and I have given their carcass for food to the bird of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, ⁸ and I have made this city for a desolation, and for a hissing, everyone passing by it is astonished, and hisses for all its plagues. ⁹ And I have caused them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they each eat the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the constriction with which their enemies constrict them, and those seeking their life." ¹⁰ "And you have broken the bottle before the eyes of the men who are going with you, ¹¹ and have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Thus I break this people and this city, as one breaks the potter's vessel, that is not able to be repaired again, and in Tophet they bury—without place to bury; ¹² so I do to this place—a declaration of YHWH—and to its inhabitants, so as to make this city as Tophet; ¹³ and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, have been as the place of Tophet—defiled, even all the houses on whose roofs they have made incense to all the host of the heavens, so as to pour out oblations to other gods." ¹⁴ And Jeremiah comes in from Tophet, to where YHWH had sent him to prophesy, and he stands in the court of the house of YHWH, and he says to all the people: ¹⁵ "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing to this city, and on all its cities, all the calamity that I have spoken against it, for they have hardened their neck to not hear My words!"

Chapter 20

¹ And Pashhur son of Immer the priest—who [is] also overseer, leader in the house of YHWH—hears Jeremiah prophesying these things, ² and Pashhur strikes Jeremiah the prophet, and puts him in the stocks that [are] by the Upper Gate of Benjamin, that [is] by the house of YHWH. ³ And it comes to pass on the next day, that Pashhur brings Jeremiah out from the stocks, and Jeremiah says to him, "YHWH has not called your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. ⁴ For thus said YHWH: Behold, I am making you for a fear to yourself, || And to all loving you, || And they have fallen by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes are beholding, || And all Judah I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, || And he has removed them to Babylon, || And he has struck them with the sword. ⁵ And I have given all the strength of this city, || And all its labor, and all its precious things, || Indeed, I give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, || And they have spoiled them, and taken them, || And have brought them into Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all dwelling in your house, || Go into captivity. And you enter Babylon, || And there you die, and there you are buried, || You and all loving you, || To whom you have prophesied falsely." ⁷ You have persuaded me, O YHWH, and I am persuaded; You have hardened me, and prevail, || I have been for a laughter all the day, || Everyone is mocking at me, ⁸ Because from the time I speak I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" || For the word of YHWH has been to me || For reproach and for derision all the day. ⁹ And I said, "I do not mention Him, || Nor do I speak anymore in His Name," || And it has been in my heart || As a burning fire shut up in my bones, || And I have been weary of containing, || And I am not able. ¹⁰ For I have heard the evil report of many, "Fear [is] all around!" "Declare, and we declare it!" All my allies are watching [for] my halting, "Perhaps he is enticed, and we prevail over him, || And we take our vengeance on him." ¹¹ And YHWH [is] with me, as a mighty, awesome One, || Therefore my persecutors stumble and do not prevail, || They have been exceedingly ashamed, || For they have not acted wisely, || Continuous confusion is not forgotten. ¹² And, O YHWH of Hosts, trier of the righteous, || Beholder of reins and heart, || I see Your vengeance on them, || For I have revealed my cause to you. ¹³ Sing to YHWH, praise YHWH, || For He has delivered the soul of the needy || From the hand of evildoers. ¹⁴ Cursed [is] the day in which I was born, || The day that my mother bore me, || Let it not be blessed! ¹⁵ Cursed [is] the man who bore tidings [to] my father, || Saying, "A male child has been born to you," || Making him very glad! ¹⁶ Then that man has been as the cities, || That YHWH overthrew, and did not relent, || And he has heard a cry in the morning, || And a shout at noontime. ¹⁷ Because he has not put me to death from the womb, || And my mother is to me—my grave, || And her womb [is] a perpetual pregnancy. ¹⁸ Why [is] this? I have come out from the womb || To see labor and sorrow, || Indeed, my days are consumed in shame!

Chapter 21

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, in King Zedekiah's sending to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, ² "Please inquire of YHWH for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has fought against us; perhaps YHWH deals with us according to all His wonders, and causes him to go up from off us." ³ And Jeremiah says to them, "Thus you say to Zedekiah, ⁴ Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Behold, I am turning around the weapons of battle || That [are] in your hand, || With which you fight the king of Babylon, || And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, || At the outside of the wall, || And I have gathered them into the midst of this city, ⁵ And I have fought against you, || With an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, || And in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, ⁶ And I have struck the inhabitants of this city, || Both man and beast, || They die by a great pestilence. ⁷ And after this," || A declaration of YHWH, || "I give Zedekiah king of Judah, || And his servants, and the people, || And those left in this city, || From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, || Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, || And into the hand of their enemies, || And into the hand of those seeking their life, || And he has struck them by the mouth of the sword, || He has no pity on them, || Nor does he spare, nor does he have mercy." ⁸ "And you say to this people, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am setting before you the way of life, || And the way of death! ⁹ Whoever is abiding in this city—dies, || By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, || And whoever is going forth, || And has fallen to the Chaldeans, || Who are laying siege against you—lives, || And his life has been for a spoil to him. ¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for calamity, || And not for good," || A declaration of YHWH. "It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon, || And he has burned it with fire. ¹¹ And as for the house of the king of Judah," || Hear a word of YHWH; ¹² O house of David, thus said YHWH: "Decide judgment in the morning, || And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, || Lest My fury go forth as fire, || And has burned, and none is quenching, || Because of the evil of your doings. ¹³ Behold, I [am] against you," || A declaration of YHWH, || "O inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain, || Who are saying, Who comes down against us? And who comes into our habitations? ¹⁴ And I have laid a charge against you, || According to the fruit of your doings," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have kindled a fire in its forest, || And it has consumed all its outskirts!"

Chapter 22

¹ Thus said YHWH: "Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah, and you have spoken this word there, and have said, ² Hear a word of YHWH, O king of Judah, who are sitting on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people, who are coming in at these gates," ³ Thus said YHWH: "Do judgment and righteousness, || And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, || And sojourner, orphan, and widow, you do not oppress nor wrong, || And innocent blood you do not shed in this place. ⁴ For if you certainly do this thing, || Then kings sitting for David on his throne || Have come in by the gates of this house, || Riding on chariot, and on horses, || He, and his servants, and his people. ⁵ And if you do not hear these words, || I have sworn by Myself," || A declaration of YHWH, || "That this house is for a desolation." ⁶ For thus said YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You [are] Gilead to Me—head of Lebanon, || If not—I make you a wilderness, || Cities [that] are not inhabited. ⁷ And I have separated destroyers for you, || Each with his weapons, || And they have cut down the choice of your cedars, || And have cast them on the fire." ⁸ And many nations have passed by this city, || And they have each said to his neighbor, "Why has YHWH done thus to this great city?" ⁹ And they have said, "Because that they have forsaken || The covenant of their God YHWH, || And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them." ¹⁰ You do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, || Weep severely for the traveler, || For he does not return again, || Nor has he seen the land of his birth. ¹¹ For thus said YHWH concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of his father Josiah, who has gone forth from this place: "He does not return here again; ¹² For he dies in the place to where they have removed him, || And he does not see this land again. ¹³ Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, || And his upper chambers by injustice, || He lays service on his neighbor for nothing, || And he does not give his wage to him. ¹⁴ Who is saying, || I build a large house for myself, || And airy upper chambers, || And he has cut out its windows for himself, || Covered with cedar, and painted with vermillion. ¹⁵ Do you reign, because you are fretting yourself in cedar? Your father—did he not eat and drink? Indeed, he did judgment and righteousness, || Then [it is] well with him. ¹⁶ He decided the cause of the poor and needy, || Then [it is] well—is it not to know Me?" A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁷ "But your eyes and your heart are not, || Except on your dishonest gain, || And on shedding of innocent blood, || And on oppression, and on doing of violence." ¹⁸ Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "They do not lament for him, || Oh, my brother! And, Oh, my sister! They do not lament for him, || Oh, lord! And, Oh, his splendor! ¹⁹ He is buried [with] the burial of a donkey, || Dragged and cast out there to the gates of Jerusalem. ²⁰ Go up to Lebanon, and cry, || And give forth your voice in Bashan, || And cry from Abarim, || For all loving you have been destroyed. ²¹ I have spoken to you in your ease, || You have said, I do not listen, || This [is] your way from your youth, || For you have not listened to My voice. ²² Wind consumes all your friends, || And your lovers go into captivity, || Surely then you are ashamed, || And have blushed for all your wickedness. ²³ O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, || How gracious have you been when pangs come to you, || Pain—as of a travailing woman." ²⁴ "[As] I live," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah was a seal on My right hand, surely there I draw you away, ²⁵ And I have given you into the hand of those seeking your life, || And into hands of which you are afraid, || Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, || And into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ And I have cast you, || And your mother who bore you, to another country, || Where you were not born, and you die there. ²⁷ And to the land to where they are lifting up their soul to return, || They do not return there." ²⁸ A grief—a despised broken thing—is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Why have they been cast up and down, || He and his seed, || Indeed, were they cast on to a land that they did not know? ²⁹ Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of YHWH! ³⁰ Thus said YHWH: "Write this man down [as] childless, || A man—he does not prosper in his days, || For none of his seed prospers, || Sitting on the throne of David, || And ruling in Judah again!"

Chapter 23

¹ "Woe to shepherds destroying, || And scattering the flock of My pasture," || A declaration of YHWH. ² Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Israel, || Against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, and drive them away, || And have not inspected them, || Behold, I am charging on you the evil of your doings," || A declaration of YHWH. ³ "And I gather the remnant of My flock || Out of all the lands to where I drove them, || And have brought them back to their fold, || And they have been fruitful, and multiplied. ⁴ And I have raised shepherds for them, || And they have fed them, || And they no longer fear, nor are frightened, || Nor are they lacking," || A declaration of YHWH. ⁵ "Behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have raised a righteous shoot to David, || And a king has reigned and acted wisely, || And done judgment and righteousness in the earth. ⁶ Judah is saved in His days, and Israel dwells confidently, || And this [is] His Name that YHWH proclaims Him: Our Righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And they no longer say, YHWH lives who brought up || The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, ⁸ But—YHWH lives, who brought up, || And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, || From the land of the north, || And from all the lands to where I drove them, || And they have dwelt on their own ground!" ⁹ In reference to the prophets: My heart has been broken in my midst, || All my bones have fluttered, || I have been as a man—a drunkard, || And as a man—wine has passed over him, || Because of YHWH, and of His holy words. ¹⁰ For the land has been full of adulterers, || For the land has mourned because of these, || The pleasant places of the wilderness have dried up, || And their course is evil, and their might—not right. ¹¹ "For both prophet and priest have been profane, || Indeed, I found their wickedness in My house," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹² "Therefore their way is as slippery places to them, || They are driven into thick darkness, || And they have fallen in it, || For I bring in calamity against them, || The year of their inspection," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹³ "And I have seen folly in prophets of Samaria, || They have prophesied by Ba'al, || And cause My people—Israel—to err. ¹⁴ And I have seen a horrible thing in prophets of Jerusalem, || Committing adultery, and walking falsely, || Indeed, they strengthened the hands of evildoers, || So that they have not turned back, || Each from his wickedness, || All of them have been as Sodom to me, || And its inhabitants as Gomorrah." ¹⁵ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, concerning the prophets: "Behold, I am causing them to eat wormwood, || And have caused them to drink water of gall, || For from prophets of Jerusalem || Profanity has gone forth to all the land." ¹⁶ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: "You do not listen to the words || Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, || They are making you vain things, || They speak a vision of their own heart, || Not from the mouth of YHWH. ¹⁷ Diligently saying to those despising, || The word of YHWH: Peace is for you, || And [to] everyone walking in the stubbornness of his heart, they have said: Evil does not come to you." ¹⁸ For who has stood in the counsel of YHWH, || And sees and hears His word? Who has regarded My word, and listens? ¹⁹ Behold, a whirlwind of YHWH—Fury has gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, || It stays on the head of the wicked. ²⁰ The anger of YHWH does not turn back || Until His doing, and until His establishing, || The thoughts of His heart, || In the latter end of the days || You attend to it with understanding. ²¹ "I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, || I have not spoken to them, and they have prophesied. ²² But if they stood in My counsel, || Then they cause My people to hear My words, || And they turn them back from their evil way, || And from the evil of their doings. ²³ [Am] I a God near," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And not a God far off? ²⁴ Is anyone hidden in secret places, || And I do not see him?" A declaration of YHWH, "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" A declaration of YHWH. ²⁵ "I have heard that which the prophets said, || Who prophesy falsehood in My Name, saying, || I have dreamed, I have dreamed. ²⁶ Until when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, || Indeed, prophets of the deceit of their heart, ²⁷ Who are devising to cause My people || To forget My Name by their dreams, || That they each recount to his neighbor, || As their fathers forgot My Name for Ba'al. ²⁸ The prophet with whom [is] a dream, || Let him recount the dream, || And he with whom [is] My word, || Let him truly speak My word. What does the straw [have to do] with the grain?" A declaration of YHWH. ²⁹ "Is it not thus? My word [is] as fire," || A declaration of YHWH. "And as a hammer—it breaks a rock in pieces. ³⁰ Therefore, behold, I [am] against the prophets," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Each stealing My words from his neighbor. ³¹ Behold, I [am] against the prophets," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Who are making their tongue smooth, || And they affirm—an affirmation. ³² Behold, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And they recount them, and cause My people to err, || By their falsehoods, and by their instability, || And I have not sent them, || Nor have I commanded them, || And they are not profitable to this people at all," || A declaration of YHWH. ³³ "And when this people, or the prophet, || Or a priest, asks you, saying, What [is] the burden of YHWH? Then you have said to them: You [are] the burden, and I have left you," || A declaration of YHWH. ³⁴ "And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, || That says, The burden of YHWH, || I have seen after that man, and after his house. ³⁵ Thus you each say to his neighbor, || And each to his brother: What has YHWH answered? And what has YHWH spoken? ³⁶ And you do not mention the burden of YHWH anymore, || For the burden to each is His word, || And you have overturned the words of the living God, YHWH of Hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you say to the prophet, || What has YHWH answered you? And what has YHWH spoken? ³⁸ And if you say, The burden of YHWH, || Therefore, thus said YHWH: Because of your saying this word, || The burden of YHWH, || And I send to you, saying, || You do not say, The burden of YHWH. ³⁹ Therefore, behold, I have utterly taken you away, || And I have sent you out, || And the city that I gave to you, || And to your fathers, from before My face, ⁴⁰ And I have put continuous reproach on you, || And continuous shame that is not forgotten!"

Chapter 24

¹ YHWH has showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of YHWH—after the removing by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the heads of Judah, and the artisan, and the smith, from Jerusalem, when he brings them into Babylon— ² In one basket [are] very good figs, like the first-ripe figs, and in the other basket [are] very bad figs that are not eaten because of badness. ³ And YHWH says to me, "What are you seeing, Jeremiah?" And I say, "Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten because of badness." ⁴ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ⁵ "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Like these good figs so I acknowledge || The expulsion of Judah that I sent from this place, || [To] the land of the Chaldeans—for good. ⁶ And I have set My eyes on them for good, || And have brought them back to this land, || And built them up, and I do not throw down, || And have planted them, and do not pluck up. ⁷ And have given to them a heart to know Me, || For I [am] YHWH, || And they have been to Me for a people, || And I am to them for God, || For they turned back to Me with all their heart. ⁸ And like the bad figs that are not eaten for badness, || Surely thus said YHWH: So I make Zedekiah king of Judah, || And his heads, and the remnant of Jerusalem, || Who are left in this land, || And who are dwelling in the land of Egypt, ⁹ And I have given them for a trembling, || For evil—to all kingdoms of the earth, || For a reproach, and for an allegory, || For a byword, and for a reviling, || In all the places to where I drive them. ¹⁰ And I have sent the sword against them, || The famine and the pestilence, || Until their consumption from off the ground, || That I gave to them and to their fathers!"

Chapter 25

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah—it [is] the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon— ² Which Jeremiah the prophet has spoken concerning all the people of Judah, even to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ³ "From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and to this day—this twenty-third year—the word of YHWH has been to me, and I speak to you, rising early and speaking, and you have not listened; ⁴ and YHWH has sent all His servants to you, the prophets, rising early and sending, and you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear, saying, ⁵ Please turn back, each from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell on the ground that YHWH has given to you and to your fathers from age to age, ⁶ and you do not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow yourselves to them, nor do you provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I do no evil to you; ⁷ and you have not listened to Me," a declaration of YHWH, "so as to provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands for evil to you. ⁸ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts: Because that you have not obeyed My words, ⁹ behold, I am sending, and have taken all the families of the north—a declaration of YHWH—even to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and have brought them in against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations, and have devoted them, and appointed them for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for continuous ruins. ¹⁰ And I have destroyed from them the voice of rejoicing, and the voice of joy, voice of bridegroom and voice of bride, noise of millstones, and the light of lamps. ¹¹ And all this land has been for a desolation, for an astonishment, and these nations have served the king of Babylon seventy years. ¹² And it has come to pass, at the fullness of seventy years, I charge against the king of Babylon, and against that nation," a declaration of YHWH, "their iniquity, and against the land of the Chaldeans, and have appointed it for continuous desolations. ¹³ And I have brought in on that land all My words that I have spoken against it, all that is written in this scroll, that Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. ¹⁴ For laid service on them—also them—have many nations and great kings, and I have given repayment to them according to their doing, and according to the work of their hands." ¹⁵ For thus said YHWH, God of Israel, to me: "Take the wine cup of this fury out of My hand, and you have caused all the nations to drink it to whom I am sending you; ¹⁶ and they have drunk, and shaken themselves and shown themselves [to be] foolish, because of the sword that I am sending among them." ¹⁷ And I take the cup out of the hand of YHWH, and cause all the nations to drink to whom YHWH sent me: ¹⁸ Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, || And its kings, its heads, || To give them to ruin, to astonishment, || To hissing, and to reviling, as [at] this day; ¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, || And his heads, and all his people, ²⁰ And all the mixed people, || And all the kings of the land of Uz, || And all the kings of the land of the Philistines, || And Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, || And the remnant of Ashdod, ²¹ Edom, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, ²² And all the kings of Tyre, || And all the kings of Sidon, || And the kings of the island that [is] beyond the sea, ²³ Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, || And all cutting the corners [of the beard], ²⁴ And all the kings of Arabia, || And all the kings of the mixed people, || Who are dwelling in the wilderness, ²⁵ And all the kings of Zimri, || And all the kings of Elam, || And all the kings of Media, ²⁶ And all the kings of the north, || The near and the far off to one another, || And all the kingdoms of the earth, || That [are] on the face of the ground, || And King Sheshach drinks after them. ²⁷ "And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Drink, indeed drink abundantly, || And vomit, and fall, and do not rise, || Because of the sword that I am sending among you. ²⁸ And it has come to pass, || When they refuse to receive the cup out of your hand to drink, || That you have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: You certainly drink. ²⁹ For behold, in the city over which My Name is called, || I am beginning to bring ruin, || And are you entirely acquitted? You are not acquitted, for I am proclaiming a sword, || For all inhabitants of the land," || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts. ³⁰ "And you, you prophesy all these words to them, and have said to them: YHWH roars from the high place, || And gives forth His voice from His holy habitation, || He surely roars for His habitation, || A shout as those treading [the grapes], || God answers all the inhabitants of the land, ³¹ A rumbling has come to the end of the earth, || For YHWH has a controversy with nations, || He has executed judgment for all flesh, || He has given the wicked to the sword," || A declaration of YHWH. ³² Thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Behold, evil is going out from nation to nation, || And a great whirlwind is stirred up from the sides of the earth. ³³ And the pierced of YHWH have been in that day, || From the end of the earth even to the end of the earth, || They are not lamented, nor gathered, nor buried, || For they are dung on the face of the ground. ³⁴ Howl, you shepherds, and cry, || And roll yourselves, you majestic of the flock, || For your days have been full || For slaughtering, and [for] your scatterings, || And you have fallen as a desirable vessel. ³⁵ And refuge has perished from the shepherds, || And escape from the majestic of the flock. ³⁶ A voice of the cry of the shepherds, || And a howling of the majestic of the flock, || For YHWH is spoiling their pasture. ³⁷ And the peaceable habitations have been cut down, || Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH. ³⁸ He has forsaken His covert as a young lion, || Surely their land has become a desolation, || Because of the oppressing fierceness, || And because of the fierceness of His anger!"

Chapter 26

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word has been from YHWH, saying, ² "Thus said YHWH: Stand in the court of the house of YHWH, and you have spoken to all [those of] the cities of Judah, who are coming to bow themselves in the house of YHWH, all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them—you do not diminish a word. ³ Perhaps they listen, and each turns back from his evil way; then I have relented concerning the evil that I am thinking of doing to them, because of the evil of their doings. ⁴ And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH: If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My law that I set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I am sending to you, indeed, rising early and sending, and you have not listened, ⁶ then I have given up this house as Shiloh, and this city I give up for a reviling to all nations of the earth." ⁷ And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, hear Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of YHWH, ⁸ and it comes to pass, at the completion of Jeremiah's speaking all that YHWH has commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people catch him, saying, "You surely die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the Name of YHWH, saying, This house will be as Shiloh, and this city is desolated, without inhabitant?" And all the people are assembled to Jeremiah in the house of YHWH. ¹⁰ And the heads of Judah hear these things, and they go up from the house of the king [to] the house of YHWH, and sit in the opening of the New Gate of YHWH. ¹¹ And the priests and the prophets speak to the heads, and to all the people, saying, "Judgment of death [is] for this man, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears." ¹² And Jeremiah speaks to all the heads, and to all the people, saying, "YHWH sent me to prophesy concerning this house, and concerning this city, all the words that you have heard. ¹³ And now, amend your ways, and your doings, and listen to the voice of your God YHWH, and YHWH relents concerning the evil that He has spoken against you. ¹⁴ And I, behold, I [am] in your hand, do to me as is good and as is right in your eyes; ¹⁵ only, certainly know that if you are putting me to death, you are surely putting innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for YHWH has truly sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears." ¹⁶ And the heads and all the people say to the priests and to the prophets, "There is not a judgment of death for this man, for he has spoken to us in the Name of our God YHWH." ¹⁷ And men from [the] elderly of the land rise up and speak to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ "Micah the Morashtite has been prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he says to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Zion is a plowed field, and Jerusalem is heaps, || And the mountain of the house is for high places of a forest. ¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear YHWH? Indeed, he appeases the face of YHWH, and YHWH relents concerning the calamity that He spoke against them; and we are doing great evil against our souls." ²⁰ And there has also been a man prophesying in the Name of YHWH, Urijah son of Shemaiah, of Kirjath-Jearim, and he prophesies against this city, and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah, ²¹ and King Jehoiakim, and all his mighty ones, and all the heads, hear his words, and the king seeks to put him to death, and Urijah hears, and fears, and flees, and goes to Egypt. ²² And King Jehoiakim sends men to Egypt—Elnathan son of Achbor, and men with him to Egypt— ²³ and they bring out Urijah from Egypt, and bring him to King Jehoiakim, and he strikes him with a sword, and casts his corpse to the graves of the sons of the people. ²⁴ Only, the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan has been with Jeremiah so as not to give him up into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Chapter 27

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Thus said YHWH to me: Make bands and yokes for yourself, ³ and you have put them on your neck, and have sent them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of messengers who are coming to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah king of Judah; ⁴ and you have commanded them for their lords, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: ⁵ Thus you say to your lords, I have made the earth with man, and the livestock that [are] on the face of the earth, by My great power, and by My outstretched arm, and I have given it to whom it has been right in My eyes. ⁶ And now, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have also given the beast of the field to him to serve him; ⁷ and all the nations have served him, and his son, and his son's son, until the coming in of the time of his land, also it; and many nations and great kings have made him serve them. ⁸ And it has come to pass, the nation and the kingdom that does not serve him—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—and that which does not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, I lay a charge on that nation—a declaration of YHWH—until I consume them by his hand. ⁹ And you, you do not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your observers of clouds, and to your sorcerers who are speaking to you, saying, You do not serve the king of Babylon— ¹⁰ For they are prophesying falsehood to you, so as to remove you far from your ground, and I have driven you out, and you have perished. ¹¹ And the nation that causes its neck to enter into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and has served him—I have left it on its ground—a declaration of YHWH—and it has tilled it, and dwelt in it." ¹² And I have spoken to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, "Cause your necks to enter into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ¹³ Why do you die, you and your people, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as YHWH has spoken concerning the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ And you do not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, saying, You do not serve the king of Babylon—for they are prophesying falsehood to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them—a declaration of YHWH—and they are prophesying falsely in My Name, so as to drive you out, and you have perished, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you." ¹⁶ And to the priests, and to all this people, I have spoken, saying, "Thus said YHWH: You do not listen to the words of your prophets, who are prophesying to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of YHWH are now brought back from Babylon in haste, for they are prophesying falsehood to you. ¹⁷ You do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live! Why is this city a ruin? ¹⁸ And if they are prophets, and if a word of YHWH is with them, let them now intercede with YHWH of Hosts, so that the vessels that are left in the house of YHWH, and [in] the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, have not gone into Babylon. ¹⁹ For thus said YHWH of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has not taken, in his removing Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem, ²¹ surely thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left of the house of YHWH, and of the house of the king of Judah, and [in] Jerusalem: ²² They are brought to Babylon, and there they are until the day of My inspecting them—a declaration of YHWH; then I have brought them up, and have brought them back to this place."

Chapter 28

¹ And it comes to pass, in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah son of Azur the prophet, who [is] of Gibeon, has spoken to me in the house of YHWH, before the eyes of the priests, and all the people, saying, ² "Thus spoke YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon; ³ within two years of days I am bringing back to this place all the vessels of the house of YHWH that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken from this place, and carries to Babylon, ⁴ and Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the expulsion of Judah, who are entering Babylon, I am bringing back to this place—a declaration of YHWH; for I break the yoke of the king of Babylon." ⁵ And Jeremiah the prophet says to Hananiah the prophet, before the eyes of the priests, and before the eyes of all the people who are standing in the house of YHWH, ⁶ indeed, Jeremiah the prophet says, "Amen! So may YHWH do; YHWH establish your words that you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of YHWH and all the expulsion from Babylon, to this place. ⁷ Only, please hear this word that I am speaking in your ears, and in the ears of all the people. ⁸ The prophets who have been before me, and before you, from of old, even they prophesy concerning many lands, and concerning great kingdoms, of battle, and of calamity, and of pestilence. ⁹ The prophet who prophesies of peace, by the word of the prophet coming to pass, the prophet is known [as] one whom YHWH has truly sent." ¹⁰ And Hananiah the prophet takes the yoke from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, and breaks it, ¹¹ and Hananiah speaks before the eyes of all the people, saying, "Thus said YHWH: Thus I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, within two years of days, from off the neck of all the nations"; and Jeremiah the prophet goes on his way. ¹² And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah after the breaking, by Hananiah the prophet, of the yoke from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ¹³ "Go, and you have spoken to Hananiah, saying, Thus said YHWH: You have broken yokes of wood, and I have made yokes of iron instead of them. ¹⁴ For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they have served him, and I have also given the beast of the field to him." ¹⁵ And Jeremiah the prophet says to Hananiah the prophet, "Now hear, O Hananiah; YHWH has not sent you, and you have caused this people to trust on falsehood. ¹⁶ Therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am casting you from off the face of the ground; you die this year, for you have spoken apostasy concerning YHWH." ¹⁷ And Hananiah the prophet dies in that year, in the seventh month.

Chapter 29

¹ And these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of [the] elderly of the expulsion, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people—whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon, ² after the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsman, and the smith, from Jerusalem— ³ by the hand of Eleasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, ⁴ "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the expulsion that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ Build houses and abide; and plant gardens and eat their fruit; ⁶ take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and you are not few; ⁷ and seek the peace of the city to where I have removed you, and pray to YHWH for it, for in its peace you have peace. ⁸ For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor listen to their dreams, that you are causing [them] to dream; ⁹ for they are prophesying with falsehood to you in My Name; I have not sent them, a declaration of YHWH. ¹⁰ For thus said YHWH: Surely at the fullness of Babylon—seventy years—I inspect you, and have established My good word toward you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking toward you—a declaration of YHWH; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give posterity and hope to you. ¹² And you have called Me, and have gone, and have prayed to Me, and I have listened to you, ¹³ and you have sought Me, and have found, for you seek Me with all your heart; ¹⁴ and I have been found by you—a declaration of YHWH; and I have turned back [to] your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places to where I have driven you—a declaration of YHWH—and I have brought you back to the place from where I removed you. ¹⁵ Because you have said, YHWH has raised up prophets to us in Babylon, ¹⁶ surely thus said YHWH concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that are dwelling in this city, your brothers who did not go forth with you in the expulsion— ¹⁷ thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am sending the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten because of badness. ¹⁸ And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations to where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because that they have not listened to My words—a declaration of YHWH—that I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, and you did not listen—a declaration of YHWH. ²⁰ And you, hear a word of YHWH, all you of the captivity that I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon— ²¹ thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying falsehood to you in My Name: Behold, I am giving them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he has struck them before your eyes, ²² and because of them a reviling has been taken by all the expulsion of Judah that [are] in Babylon, saying, YHWH sets you as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire; ²³ because that they have done folly in Israel, and commit adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and falsely speak a word in My Name that I have not commanded them, and I [am] He who knows and a witness—a declaration of YHWH. ²⁴ And you speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, ²⁵ Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, Because that you have sent letters in your name to all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ YHWH has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for there being inspectors of the house of YHWH over every man [who] is mad and making himself a prophet, and you have put him in the stocks and in the pillory. ²⁷ And now, why have you not pushed against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is making himself a prophet to you? ²⁸ Because that he has sent to us [in] Babylon, saying, It [is] long, build houses and abide; and plant gardens and eat their fruit." ²⁹ And Zephaniah the priest reads this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ "Send to all the expulsion, saying, Thus said YHWH concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because that Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he causes you to trust on falsehood, ³² therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he has none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor does he look on the good that I am doing to My people," a declaration of YHWH, "for he has spoken apostasy against YHWH."

Chapter 30

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Thus spoke YHWH, God of Israel, saying, Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you on a scroll. ³ For behold, days are coming—a declaration of YHWH—and I have turned back [to] the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, said YHWH, and I have caused them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they possess it." ⁴ And these [are] the words that YHWH has spoken concerning Israel and concerning Judah: ⁵ Surely thus said YHWH: "We have heard a voice of trembling, || Fear—and there is no peace. ⁶ Now ask and see, is a male bringing forth? Why have I seen every man || [With] his hands on his loins, as a travailing woman, || And all faces have been turned to paleness? ⁷ Woe! For that day [is] great, without any like it, || Indeed, it [is] the time of Jacob's tribulation, || Yet he is saved out of it. ⁸ And it has come to pass in that day, || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, || I break his yoke from off your neck, || And I draw away your bands, || And strangers lay no more service on him. ⁹ And they have served their God YHWH, || And David their king whom I raise up to them. ¹⁰ And you, do not be afraid, My servant Jacob, || A declaration of YHWH, || Nor be frightened, O Israel, || For behold, I am saving you from afar, || And your seed from the land of their captivity, || And Jacob has turned back and rested, || And is quiet, and there is none troubling. ¹¹ For I [am] with you," || A declaration of YHWH, || "To save you, || For I make an end of all the nations || To where I have scattered you, || Only, I do not make an end of you, || And I have disciplined you in judgment, || And do not entirely acquit you." ¹² For thus said YHWH: "Your breach is incurable, your stroke grievous, ¹³ There is none judging your cause to bind up, || There are no healing medicines for you. ¹⁴ All loving you have forgotten you, || They do not seek you, || For I struck you with the stroke of an enemy, || The discipline of a fierce one, || Because of the abundance of your iniquity, your sins have been mighty! ¹⁵ Why do you cry concerning your breach? Your pain [is] incurable, || Because of the abundance of your iniquity, || Your sins have been mighty! I have done these to you. ¹⁶ Therefore all consuming you are consumed, || And all your adversaries—all of them—Go into captivity, || And your spoilers have been for a spoil, || And I give up all your plunderers to plunder. ¹⁷ For I increase health to you, || And I heal you from your strokes," || A declaration of YHWH, || "For they have called you an outcast, [saying], || It [is] Zion, || There is none seeking for her." ¹⁸ Thus said YHWH: "Behold, I turn back [to] the captivity of the tents of Jacob, || And I pity his dwelling places, || And the city has been built on its heap, || And the palace remains according to its ordinance. ¹⁹ And thanksgiving has gone forth from them, || And the voice of playful ones, || And I have multiplied them and they are not few, || And made them honorable, and they are not small. ²⁰ And his sons have been as before, || And his congregation is established before Me, || And I have seen after all his oppressors. ²¹ And his majestic one has been of himself, || And his ruler goes forth from his midst, || And I have caused him to draw near, || And he has drawn near to Me, || For who [is] he who has pledged his heart || To draw near to Me?" A declaration of YHWH. ²² "And you have been to Me for a people, || And I am to you for God." ²³ Behold, a whirlwind of YHWH—Fury has gone forth—a cutting whirlwind, || It stays on the head of the wicked. ²⁴ The fierceness of the anger of YHWH || Does not turn back until He has done [it], || Indeed, until His establishing the purposes of His heart. In the latter end of the days you consider it!

Chapter 31

¹ "At that time," a declaration of YHWH, "I am the God of all families of Israel, || And they are My people." ² Thus said YHWH: "A people remaining from the sword || Have found grace in the wilderness || When Israel went to find rest." ³ YHWH has appeared to me from afar, "I have loved you with perpetual love, || Therefore I have drawn you [with] kindness. ⁴ I build you again, || And you have been built, || O virgin of Israel, || You put on your tambourines again, || And have gone out in the chorus of the playful. ⁵ You plant vineyards in mountains of Samaria again, || Planters have planted, and made common. ⁶ For there is a day, || Watchmen have cried on Mount Ephraim, || Rise, and we go up to Zion, to our God YHWH"; ⁷ For thus said YHWH: "Sing [with] joy for Jacob, || And cry aloud at the head of the nations, || Sound, praise, and say, || Save, O YHWH, Your people, the remnant of Israel. ⁸ Behold, I am bringing them in from the north country, || And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, || Blind and lame [are] among them, || Conceiving and travailing one—together, || A great assembly—they return here. ⁹ They come in with weeping, || And I bring them with supplications, || I cause them to go to streams of waters, || In a right way—they do not stumble in it, || For I have been a Father to Israel, || And Ephraim—he [is] My firstborn." ¹⁰ Hear a word of YHWH, O nations, || And declare among the far off in the islands, and say: He who is scattering Israel gathers him, || And has kept His flock as a shepherd, ¹¹ For YHWH has ransomed Jacob, || And redeemed him from a hand stronger than he. ¹² And they have come in, || And have sung in the high place of Zion, || And flowed to the goodness of YHWH, || For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, || And for the young of the flock and herd, || And their soul has been as a watered garden, || And they do not add to grieve anymore. ¹³ "Then a virgin rejoices in a chorus, || Both young men and old men—together, || And I have turned their mourning to joy, || And have comforted them, || And gladdened them above their sorrow, ¹⁴ And satisfied the soul of the priests [with] fatness, || And My people are satisfied with My goodness," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁵ Thus said YHWH: "A voice is heard in Ramah, || Wailing [and] the weeping of bitterness, || Rachel is weeping for her sons, || She has refused to be comforted for her sons, because they are not." ¹⁶ Thus said YHWH: "Withhold your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, || For there is a reward for your work," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And they have turned back from the land of the enemy. ¹⁷ And there is hope for your latter end," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And the sons have turned back [to] their border. ¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, || You have disciplined me, || And I am disciplined, as a heifer [that is] not taught, || Turn me back, and I turn back, || For You [are] my God YHWH. ¹⁹ For after my turning back I regretted, || And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, || I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, || For I have borne the reproach of my youth. ²⁰ Is Ephraim a precious son to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, || I still thoroughly remember him, || Therefore My bowels have been moved for him, || I love him greatly," || A declaration of YHWH. ²¹ "Set up signs for yourself, || Make heaps for yourself, || Set your heart to the highway, the way you went, || Turn back, O virgin of Israel, || Turn back to these cities of yours. ²² Until when do you withdraw yourself, O backsliding daughter? For YHWH has prepared a new thing in the land, || Woman surrounds man." ²³ Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: "Still they say this word in the land of Judah, || And in its cities, || In My turning back [to] their captivity, || YHWH blesses you, habitation of righteousness, || Mountain of holiness. ²⁴ And farmers have dwelt in Judah, || And in all its cities together, || And they have journeyed in order. ²⁵ For I have satiated the weary soul, || And I have filled every grieved soul." ²⁶ On this I have awoken, and I behold, and my sleep has been sweet to me. ²⁷ "Behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have sown the house of Israel, || And the house of Judah, || With seed of man and seed of beast. ²⁸ And it has been, as I watched over them to pluck up, || And to break down, and to throw down, || And to destroy, and to afflict; So I watch over them to build, and to plant," || A declaration of YHWH. ²⁹ "In those days they no longer say: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, || And the sons' teeth are blunted. ³⁰ But—each dies for his own iniquity, || Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, || His teeth are blunted. ³¹ Behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have made a new covenant || With the house of Israel || And with the house of Judah, ³² Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, || In the day of My laying hold on their hand, || To bring them out of the land of Egypt, || In that they made My covenant void, || And I ruled over them," || A declaration of YHWH. ³³ "For this [is] the covenant that I make, || With the house of Israel, after those days," || A declaration of YHWH, || "I have given My law in their inward part, || And I write it on their heart, || And I have been their God, || And they are My people. ³⁴ And they do not teach anymore || Each his neighbor, and each his brother, || Saying, Know YHWH, || For they all know Me, from their least to their greatest," || A declaration of YHWH; "For I pardon their iniquity, || And I make no more mention of their sin." ³⁵ Thus said YHWH, || Who is giving the sun for a light by day, || The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, || Quieting the sea when its billows roar, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name: ³⁶ "If these statutes depart from before Me," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Even the seed of Israel ceases || From being a nation before Me [for] all the days." ³⁷ Thus said YHWH: "If the heavens above can be measured, || And the foundations of earth searched below, || Even I kick against all the seed of Israel, || For all that they have done," || A declaration of YHWH. ³⁸ "Behold, days [are coming]," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And the city has been built for YHWH, || From the Tower of Hananeel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ And the measuring line has gone out again before it, over the height of Gareb, || And it has gone around to Goah. ⁴⁰ And all the valley of the carcasses and of the ashes, || And all the fields to the Brook of Kidron, || To the corner of the Horse Gate eastward, || [Are] holy to YHWH, || It is not plucked up, || Nor is it thrown down anymore for all time!"

Chapter 32

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah—it [is] the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar— ² And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet has been shut up in the court of the prison that [is] in the house of the king of Judah, ³ where Zedekiah king of Judah has shut him up, saying, "Why are you prophesying, saying, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he has captured it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah does not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but is certainly given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth has spoken with his mouth, and his eyes see his eyes, ⁵ and he leads Zedekiah [to] Babylon, and there he is until My inspecting him—a declaration of YHWH—because you fight with the Chaldeans, you do not prosper." ⁶ And Jeremiah says, "A word of YHWH has been to me, saying, ⁷ Behold, Hanameel son of Shallum, your uncle, is coming to you, saying, Buy my field that [is] in Anathoth for yourself, for the right of redemption [is] yours to buy." ⁸ And Hanameel, my uncle's son, comes to me, according to the word of YHWH, to the court of the prison, and says to me, "Please buy my field that [is] in Anathoth, that [is] in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession [is] yours, and redemption yours—buy [it] for yourself." And I know that it [is] the word of YHWH, ⁹ and I buy the field that [is] in Anathoth from Hanameel, my uncle's son, and I weigh the money to him—seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I write in a scroll, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances; ¹¹ and I take the purchase scroll, the sealed one, according to law and custom, and the open one; ¹² and I give the purchase scroll to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and before the eyes of the witnesses, those writing in the purchase scroll, before the eyes of all the Jews who are sitting in the court of the prison. ¹³ And I charge Baruch before their eyes, saying, ¹⁴ "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Take these scrolls, this purchase scroll, both the sealed one and the open one, and you have put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days. ¹⁵ For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards are bought in this land again." ¹⁶ And I pray to YHWH after my giving the purchase scroll to Baruch son of Neriah, saying, ¹⁷ "Aah! Lord YHWH, behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power, and by Your outstretched arm; there is nothing too wonderful for You: ¹⁸ doing kindness to thousands, and repaying iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their sons after them; God, the great, the mighty, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name; ¹⁹ great in counsel, and mighty in act, in that Your eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of Adam, to give to each according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; ²⁰ in that you have done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt to this day, and in Israel, and among men, and You make for Yourself a name as [at] this day. ²¹ And You bring forth Your people Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and by a strong hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great fear, ²² and you give to them this land that you swore to their fathers to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey, ²³ and they come in, and possess it, and they have not listened to Your voice, and have not walked in Your law, all that which You laid a charge on them to do they have not done, and You proclaim all this calamity [to] them. ²⁴ Behold, the [siege] mounds have come to the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence; and that which You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You are seeing. ²⁵ Yet You have said to me, O Lord YHWH, Buy the field for yourself with money, and cause witnesses to testify—and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!" ²⁶ And the word of YHWH is to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷ "Behold, I [am] YHWH, God of all flesh: is anything too wonderful for Me?" ²⁸ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he has captured it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city have come in, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it—and the houses on whose roofs they made incense to Ba'al, and poured out drink-offerings to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger. ³⁰ For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My eyes from their youth; for the sons of Israel are surely provoking Me with the work of their hands," a declaration of YHWH. ³¹ "For this city has been a cause of My anger and a cause of My fury, even from the day that they built it, and to this day—to turn it aside from before My face, ³² because of all the evil of the sons of Israel, and of the sons of Judah that they have done, so as to provoke Me—they, their kings, their heads, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they turn the neck to Me, and not the face, and teaching them, rising early and teaching, and they are not listening to accept instruction. ³⁴ And they set their abominations in the house over which My Name is called, so as to defile it. ³⁵ And they build the high places of Ba'al that [are] in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come up on My heart to do this abomination, so as to cause Judah to sin. ³⁶ And now, therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Israel, concerning this city, of which you are saying, It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: ³⁷ Behold, I am gathering them out of all the lands to where I have driven them in My anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath, and I have brought them back to this place, and have caused them to dwell confidently; ³⁸ and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God; ³⁹ and I have given to them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for the good of them and their sons after them: ⁴⁰ and I have made a perpetual covenant for them, in that I do not turn back from after them for My doing them good, and I put My fear in their heart, so as not to turn aside from me; ⁴¹ and I have rejoiced over them to do them good, and have planted them in this land in truth, with all my heart, and with all My soul." ⁴² For thus said YHWH: "As I brought to this people all this great calamity, so I am bringing on them all the good that I am speaking concerning them; ⁴³ and the field has been bought in this land of which you are saying, It [is] a desolation, without man and beast, it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans. ⁴⁴ They buy fields with money, so as to write in a scroll, and to seal, and to cause witnesses to testify, in the land of Benjamin, and in outskirts of Jerusalem, and in cities of Judah, and in cities of the hill-country, and in cities of the low country, and in cities of the south, for I return their captivity," a declaration of YHWH.

Chapter 33

¹ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah a second time—and he [is] yet detained in the court of the prison—saying: ² "Thus said YHWH who has made it, YHWH who has formed it, to establish it, YHWH [is] His Name: ³ Call to Me, and I answer you, indeed, I declare to you great and inaccessible things—you have not known them. ⁴ For thus said YHWH, God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah that are broken down for the [siege] mounds, and for the tool; ⁵ they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the carcasses of men, whom I have struck in My anger, and in My fury, and [for] whom I have hidden My face from this city, because of all their evil: ⁶ Behold, I am increasing health and cure to it, || And have healed them, and revealed to them || The abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And I have turned back the captivity of Judah, || And the captivity of Israel, || And I have built them as at the first, ⁸ And cleansed them from all their iniquity || That they have sinned against Me, || And I have pardoned all their iniquities || That they have sinned against Me, || And that they transgressed against Me. ⁹ And it has been for a name of joy to Me, || For praise, and for beauty, to all nations of the earth, || Who hear of all the good that I am doing them, || And they have feared, || And they have trembled for all the good, || And for all the peace, that I am doing to it." ¹⁰ Thus said YHWH: "Again is heard in this place—of which you are saying, It [is] dry, without man and without beast, || In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, || That are desolated, without man, || And without inhabitant, and without beast— ¹¹ A voice of joy and a voice of gladness, || Voice of bridegroom and voice of bride, || The voice of those saying, || Thank YHWH of Hosts, for YHWH [is] good, || For His kindness [is] for all time, || Who are bringing in thanksgiving to the house of YHWH, || For I return the captivity of the land, || As at the first," said YHWH. ¹² Thus said YHWH of Hosts: "Again there is in this place—that is dry, || Without man and beast, || And in all its cities—a habitation of shepherds, || Causing the flock to lie down. ¹³ In the cities of the hill-country, || In the cities of the low country, || And in the cities of the south, || And in the land of Benjamin, || And in the outskirts of Jerusalem, || And in the cities of Judah, || Again the flock passes by under the hands of the numberer," said YHWH. ¹⁴ "Behold, days are coming," a declaration of YHWH, "And I have established the good word || That I spoke to the house of Israel, || And concerning the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days, and at that time, || I cause a Shoot of righteousness to shoot up to David, || And He has done judgment and righteousness in the earth. ¹⁶ In those days Judah is saved, || And Jerusalem dwells confidently, || And this [is] what she is called: YHWH [is] Our Righteousness." ¹⁷ For thus said YHWH: "A man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel [is] never cut off from David, ¹⁸ And to the priests—the Levites, || A man is not cut off from before My face, || Causing a burnt-offering to ascend, || And perfuming a present, and making sacrifice—all the days." ¹⁹ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ "Thus said YHWH: If you can break My covenant with the day, || And My covenant with the night, || So that they are not daily and nightly in their season, ²¹ My covenant is also broken with My servant David, || So that he does not have a son reigning on his throne, || And with the Levites the priests, My ministers. ²² As the host of the heavens is not numbered, || Nor the sand of the sea measured, || So I multiply the seed of My servant David, || And My ministers the Levites." ²³ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ "Have you not considered what this people have spoken, saying, || The two families on which YHWH fixed, || He rejects them? And they despise My people, so that they are no longer a people before them!" ²⁵ Thus said YHWH: "If My covenant [is] not with day and night, || [And if] I have not appointed the statutes of the heavens and earth— ²⁶ I also reject the seed of Jacob, and My servant David, || From taking rulers from his seed || For the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, || For I return their captivity, and have pitied them."

Chapter 34

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH—and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his force, and all kingdoms of the land of the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all its cities—saying: ² "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Go, and you have spoken to Zedekiah king of Judah, and have said to him, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he has burned it with fire, ³ and you do not escape out of his hand, for you are certainly caught, and you are given into his hand, and your eyes see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth speaks with your mouth, and you enter Babylon. ⁴ Only, hear a word of YHWH, O Zedekiah king of Judah—thus said YHWH to you: You do not die by sword, ⁵ you die in peace, and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who have been before you, so they make a burning for you; and, Oh, lord, they lament for you, for the word I have spoken—a declaration of YHWH." ⁶ And Jeremiah the prophet speaks all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ and the forces of the king of Babylon are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that are left—against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these have been left among the cities of Judah, cities of fortresses. ⁸ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, after the making of a covenant by King Zedekiah with all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, ⁹ to each send out his manservant, and each his maidservant—the Hebrew and the Hebrewess—free, so as not to lay service on them—on any Jew, a brother, a man; ¹⁰ and all the heads listen, and all the people who have come into the covenant to each send forth his manservant and each his maidservant free, so as not to lay service on them anymore, indeed, they listen, and send them away; ¹¹ and they turn afterward, and cause the menservants and the maidservants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for menservants and for maidservants. ¹² And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ¹³ "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying, ¹⁴ At the end of seven years you each send forth his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to you, and has served you six years, indeed, you have sent him forth from you free: and your fathers did not listen to Me, nor inclined their ear. ¹⁵ And today you turn back and you do that which is right in My eyes, to each proclaim liberty to his neighbor, and you make a covenant before Me in the house over which My Name is called. ¹⁶ And you turn back, and defile My Name, and you each cause his manservant and each his maidservant, whom he had sent forth free (at their pleasure), to return, and you subdue them to be for menservants and for maidservants to you." ¹⁷ Therefore, thus said YHWH: "You have not listened to Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbor; behold, I am proclaiming to you liberty," a declaration of YHWH, "to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I have given the men who are transgressing My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant that they have made before Me, by the calf, that they have cut in two, and pass through between its pieces— ¹⁹ heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land who had passed through between the pieces of the calf— ²⁰ indeed, I have given them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and their carcass has been for food to the bird of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth. ²¹ And I give Zedekiah king of Judah and his heads into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and into the hand of the forces of the king of Babylon that are going up from off you. ²² Behold, I am commanding," a declaration of YHWH, "and have brought them back to this city, and they have fought against it, and captured it, and burned it with fire, and I make the cities of Judah a desolation—without inhabitant."

Chapter 35

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, ² "Go to the house of the Rechabites, and you have spoken with them, and brought them into the house of YHWH, to one of the chambers, and caused them to drink wine." ³ And I take Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and all the house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and bring them into the house of YHWH, to the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, that [is] near to the chamber of the princes, that [is] above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold; ⁵ and I put before the sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups, and I say to them, "Drink wine." ⁶ And they say, "We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, You do not drink wine, you and your sons—for all time; ⁷ and you do not build a house, and you do not sow seed, and you do not plant a vineyard, nor have of [these]; for you dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days on the face of the ground to where you are sojourning. ⁸ And we listen to the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, to all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters; ⁹ nor to build houses to dwell in; and we have no vineyard, and field, and seed; ¹⁰ and we dwell in tents, and we listen, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us; ¹¹ and it comes to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram—and we dwell in Jerusalem." ¹² And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying, "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: ¹³ Go, and you have said to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Do you not receive instruction to listen to My words? A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁴ The words of Jonadab son of Rechab, when he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have stood, and they have not drunk to this day, for they have obeyed the command of their father; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and you have not listened to Me. ¹⁵ And I send all My servants the prophets to you, rising early and sending, saying, Please turn back, each from his evil way, and amend your doings, indeed, you do not walk after other gods, to serve them; and dwell on the ground that I have given to you and to your fathers; and you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to Me. ¹⁶ Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have stood by the command of their father that he commanded them, and this people have not listened to Me, ¹⁷ therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing to Judah, and to all inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the calamity that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not listened, indeed, I call to them, and they have not answered." ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites: "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Because that you have listened to the command of your father Jonadab, and you observe all his commands, and do according to all that he commanded you; ¹⁹ therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: A man of Jonadab son of Rechab is not cut off [from] standing before Me all the days."

Chapter 36

¹ And it comes to pass, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying, ² "Take a roll of a scroll to yourself, and you have written on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day; ³ perhaps the house of Israel so hears all the evil that I am thinking of doing to them, so that they each turn back from his evil way, and I have been propitious to their iniquity, and to their sin." ⁴ And Jeremiah calls Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch writes from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of YHWH, that He has spoken to him, on a roll of a scroll. ⁵ And Jeremiah commands Baruch, saying, "I am restrained, I am not able to enter the house of YHWH; ⁶ but you have entered—and you have read in the scroll that you have written from my mouth, the words of YHWH, in the ears of the people, in the house of YHWH, in the day of the fast, and you also read them in the ears of all Judah who are coming in from their cities; ⁷ perhaps their supplication so falls before YHWH, and they each turn back from his evil way, for the anger and the fury that YHWH has spoken concerning this people [is] great." ⁸ And Baruch son of Neriah does according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, to read in the scroll the words of YHWH in the house of YHWH. ⁹ And it comes to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before YHWH to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who are coming in from cities of Judah to Jerusalem; ¹⁰ and Baruch reads in the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the house of YHWH, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the opening of the New Gate of the house of YHWH, in the ears of all the people. ¹¹ And Michaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, hears all the words of YHWH from off the scroll, ¹² and he goes down [to] the house of the king, to the chamber of the scribe, and behold, there all the heads are sitting: Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan son of Acbor, and Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the heads. ¹³ And Micaiah declares to them all the words that he has heard when Baruch reads in the scroll in the ears of the people; ¹⁴ and all the heads send to Baruch, Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, "Take in your hand the scroll, which you have read in the ears of the people, and come." And Baruch son of Neriah takes the scroll in his hand and comes to them, ¹⁵ and they say to him, "Please sit down and read it in our ears," and Baruch reads [it] in their ears, ¹⁶ and it comes to pass, when they hear all the words, they have been afraid—one to another—and say to Baruch, "We surely declare all these words to the king." ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, "Please declare to us, how did you write all these words from his mouth?" ¹⁸ And Baruch says to them, "He pronounces from his mouth all these words to me, and I am writing on the scroll with ink." ¹⁹ And the heads say to Baruch, "Go, be hidden, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you [are]." ²⁰ And they go to the king, to the court, and they have laid up the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they declare all the words in the ears of the king. ²¹ And the king sends Jehudi to take the scroll, and he takes it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi reads it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the heads who are standing by the king; ²² and the king is sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and the stove is burning before him, ²³ and it comes to pass, when Jehudi reads three or four leaves, he cuts it out with the scribe's knife, and has cast [it] into the fire that [is] on the stove, until the consumption of all the scroll by the fire that [is] on the stove. ²⁴ And the king and all his servants who are hearing all these words have not been afraid, nor torn their garments. ²⁵ And also Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah have interceded with the king not to burn the scroll, and he has not listened to them. ²⁶ And the king commands Jerahmeel son of Hammelek, and Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, and YHWH hides them. ²⁷ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah—after the king's burning the scroll, even the words that Baruch has written from the mouth of Jeremiah—saying: ²⁸ "Turn, take another scroll to yourself, and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned, ²⁹ and say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus said YHWH: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it, saying, The king of Babylon surely comes in, and has destroyed this land, and caused man and beast to cease from it? ³⁰ Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He has none sitting on the throne of David, and his carcass is cast out to heat by day, and to cold by night; ³¹ and I have charged on him, and on his seed, and on his servants, their iniquity; and I have brought in on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the men of Judah, all the evil that I have spoken to them, and they did not listen." ³² And Jeremiah has taken another scroll, and gives it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe, and he writes on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned in the fire; and again there were added to them many words like these.

Chapter 37

¹ And King Zedekiah son of Josiah reigns instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah, ² and he has not listened—he, and his servants, and the people of the land—to the words of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. ³ And Zedekiah the king sends Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Pray, we implore you, for us to our God YHWH." ⁴ And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people (and they have not put him in the prison-house), ⁵ and the force of Pharaoh has come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans who are laying siege against Jerusalem hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem. ⁶ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ⁷ "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Thus you say to the king of Judah who is sending you to Me, to seek Me: Behold, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help has turned back to its land, to Egypt, ⁸ and the Chaldeans have turned back and fought against this city, and captured it, and burned it with fire. ⁹ Thus said YHWH: Do not lift up your souls, saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go; ¹⁰ for though you had struck all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men—they rise, each in his tent, and have burned this city with fire." ¹¹ And it has come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh, ¹² that Jeremiah goes out from Jerusalem to go [to] the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion there in the midst of the people. ¹³ And it comes to pass, he is at the Gate of Benjamin, and there [is] a master of the ward, and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he catches Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are defecting to the Chaldeans!" ¹⁴ And Jeremiah says, "Falsehood! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans"; and he has not listened to him, and Irijah lays hold on Jeremiah, and brings him to the heads, ¹⁵ and the heads are angry against Jeremiah, and have struck him, and put him in the prison-house—the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it for a prison-house. ¹⁶ When Jeremiah has entered into the house of the dungeon, and to the cells, then Jeremiah dwells there many days, ¹⁷ and King Zedekiah sends, and takes him, and the king asks him in his house in secret, and says, "Is there a word from YHWH?" And Jeremiah says, "There is," and he says, "You are given into the hand of the king of Babylon." ¹⁸ And Jeremiah says to King Zedekiah, "What have I sinned against you, and against your servants, and against this people, that you have put me into a prison-house? ¹⁹ And where [are] your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon does not come in against you, and against this land? ²⁰ And now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my supplication fall before you, and do not cause me to return [to] the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I do not die there." ²¹ And King Zedekiah commands, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give a cake of bread to him daily from the bakers' street, until the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwells in the court of the prison.

Chapter 38

¹ And Shephatiah son of Mattan, and Gedaliah son of Pashhur, and Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah, hear the words that Jeremiah is speaking to all the people, saying, ² "Thus said YHWH: He who is remaining in this city dies, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and he who is going forth to the Chaldeans lives, and his soul has been to him for a prey, and he lives. ³ Thus said YHWH: This city is certainly given into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, and he has captured it." ⁴ And the heads say to the king, "Now let this man be put to death, because that he is making feeble the hands of the men of war who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them according to these words, for this man is not seeking for the peace of this people, but for its calamity." ⁵ And King Zedekiah says, "Behold, he [is] in your hand: for the king is not able [to do] anything against you." ⁶ And they take Jeremiah, and cast him into the pit of Malchiah son of the king, that [is] in the court of the prison, and they send Jeremiah down with cords; and there is no water in the pit, but mire, and Jeremiah sinks in the mire. ⁷ And Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a eunuch who [is] in the king's house, hears that they have put Jeremiah into the pit; and the king is sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, ⁸ and Ebed-Melech goes forth from the king's house, and speaks to the king, saying, ⁹ "My lord, O king, these men have done evil [in] all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit, and he dies in his place because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city." ¹⁰ And the king commands Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying, "Take with you thirty men from here, and you have brought up Jeremiah the prophet from the pit, before he dies." ¹¹ And Ebed-Melech takes the men with him, and enters the house of the king, to the place of the treasury, and takes there worn-out shreds of cloth, and worn-out rags, and sends them by cords into the pit to Jeremiah. ¹² And Ebed-Melech the Cushite says to Jeremiah, "Now put the worn-out pieces of cloth and rags under your arms, at the place of the cords," and Jeremiah does so, ¹³ and they draw Jeremiah out with cords, and bring him up out of the pit, and Jeremiah dwells in the court of the prison. ¹⁴ And King Zedekiah sends, and takes Jeremiah the prophet to him, to the third entrance that [is] in the house of YHWH, and the king says to Jeremiah, "I am asking you something, do not hide anything from me." ¹⁵ And Jeremiah says to Zedekiah, "When I declare [it] to you, do you not surely put me to death? And when I counsel you, you do not listen to me." ¹⁶ And King Zedekiah swears to Jeremiah in secret, saying, "YHWH lives, He who made this soul for us, I do not put you to death, nor give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your soul." ¹⁷ And Jeremiah says to Zedekiah, "Thus said YHWH, God of Hosts, God of Israel: If you certainly go forth to the heads of the king of Babylon, then your soul has lived, and this city is not burned with fire, indeed, you have lived, you and your house. ¹⁸ And if you do not go forth to the heads of the king of Babylon, then this city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they have burned it with fire, and you do not escape from their hand." ¹⁹ And King Zedekiah says to Jeremiah, "I am fearing the Jews who have fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand, and they have insulted me." ²⁰ And Jeremiah says, "They do not give you up; please listen to the voice of YHWH, to that which I am speaking to you, and it is well for you, and your soul lives. ²¹ And if you are refusing to go forth, this [is] the thing that YHWH has shown me: ²² That, behold, all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah are brought forth to the heads of the king of Babylon, and behold, they are saying: Persuaded you, and prevailed against you, || Have your allies, || Your feet have sunk into mire, || They have been turned backward. ²³ And all your wives and your sons are brought forth to the Chaldeans, and you do not escape from their hand, for you are caught by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city is burned with fire." ²⁴ And Zedekiah says to Jeremiah, "Let no man know of these words, and you do not die; ²⁵ and when the heads hear that I have spoken with you, and they have come to you, and have said to you, Now declare to us what you spoke to the king, do not hide [it] from us, and we do not put you to death, and what the king spoke to you, ²⁶ then you have said to them, I am causing my supplication to fall before the king, not to cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there." ²⁷ And all the heads come to Jeremiah, and ask him, and he declares to them according to all these words that the king commanded, and they keep silent from him, for the matter was not heard; ²⁸ and Jeremiah dwells in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem has been captured, and he was [there] when Jerusalem was captured.

Chapter 39

¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his force have come to Jerusalem, and they lay siege against it; ² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the city has been broken up; ³ and all the heads of the king of Babylon come in, and they sit at the middle gate, Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-Saris, Nergal-Sharezer, chief magus, and all the rest of the heads of the king of Babylon. ⁴ And it comes to pass, when Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war have seen them, that they flee and go forth by night from the city, the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and he goes forth the way of the plain. ⁵ And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after them, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and they take him, and bring him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaks with him—judgments. ⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughters the sons of Zedekiah, in Riblah, before his eyes, indeed, the king of Babylon has slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ And he has blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and he binds him with bronze chains to bring him to Babylon. ⁸ And the house of the king, and the house of the people, the Chaldeans have burned with fire, and they have broken down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ And the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those defecting who have defected to him, and the remnant of the people who are left, Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has removed [to] Babylon. ¹⁰ And Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has left in the land of Judah the poor people who have nothing, and he gives vineyards and fields to them in that day. ¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gives a charge concerning Jeremiah, by the hand of Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, saying, ¹² "Take him, and place your eyes on him, and do no evil thing to him, but as he speaks to you, so do with him." ¹³ And Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, sends, and Nebushazban, chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-Sharezer, chief magus, and all the chiefs of the king of Babylon, ¹⁴ indeed, they send and take Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and give him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to carry him home, and he dwells in the midst of the people. ¹⁵ And a word of YHWH has been to Jeremiah—in his being detained in the court of the prison—saying: ¹⁶ "Go, and you have spoken to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing in My words to this city for calamity, and not for good, and they have been before you in that day. ¹⁷ And I have delivered you in that day—a declaration of YHWH—and you are not given into the hand of the men of whose face you are afraid, ¹⁸ for I certainly deliver you, and you do not fall by sword, and your life has been to you for a spoil, for you have trusted in Me—a declaration of YHWH."

Chapter 40

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, after Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has sent him from Ramah, in his taking him—and he a prisoner in chains—in the midst of all the expulsion of Jerusalem and of Judah, who are removed to Babylon. ² And the chief of the executioners takes Jeremiah and says to him, "Your God YHWH has spoken this calamity concerning this place, ³ and YHWH brings [it] in, and does as He spoke, because you have sinned against YHWH, and have not listened to His voice, even this thing has been to you. ⁴ And now, behold, I have loosed you today from the chains that [are] on your hand; if [it is] good in your eyes to come with me [to] Babylon, come, and I keep my eye on you: and if [it is] evil in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, refrain; see, all the land [is] before you, to where [it is] good, and to where [it is] right in your eyes to go—go." ⁵ And while he does not reply—"Or turn back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of the people, or wherever it is right in your eyes to go—go." And the chief of the executioners gives a ration and gift to him, and sends him away, ⁶ and Jeremiah comes to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwells with him in the midst of the people who are left in the land. ⁷ And all the heads of the forces that [are] in the field hear, they and their men, that the king of Babylon has appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land, and that he has charged him [with] men, and women, and infants, and of the poor of the land, of those who have not been removed to Babylon; ⁸ and they come to Gedaliah at Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan [the] sons of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maachathite, they and their men. ⁹ And Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swears to them and to their men, saying, "Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans, abide in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it is well for you; ¹⁰ and I, behold, I am dwelling in Mizpah to stand before the Chaldeans who have come to us, and you, gather wine, and summer fruit, and oil, and put [them] in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken." ¹¹ And also all the Jews who [are] in Moab, and among the sons of Ammon, and in Edom, and who [are] in all the lands, have heard that the king of Babylon has given a remnant to Judah, and that he has appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, ¹² and all the Jews from all the places to where they have been driven, return and enter the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and they gather wine and summer fruit—to multiply abundantly. ¹³ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces that [are] in the field, have come to Gedaliah at Mizpah, ¹⁴ and they say to him, "Do you really know that Ba'alis king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to strike your soul?" And Gedaliah son of Ahikam has not given credence to them. ¹⁵ And Johanan son of Kareah has spoken to Gedaliah in secret, in Mizpah, saying, "Please let me go, and I strike Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one knows; why does he strike your soul? And all Judah who are gathered to you have been scattered, and the remnant of Judah has perished." ¹⁶ And Gedaliah son of Ahikam says to Johanan son of Kareah, "You do not do this thing, for you are speaking falsehood concerning Ishmael."

Chapter 41

¹ And it comes to pass, in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and of the chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, have come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and there they eat bread together in Mizpah. ² And Ishmael son of Nethaniah rises, and the ten men who have been with him, and they strike Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and he puts him to death whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the land. ³ And all the Jews who have been with him, with Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who have been found there—the men of war—Ishmael has struck. ⁴ And it comes to pass, on the second day of the putting of Gedaliah to death (and no one has known), ⁵ that men come in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men—with shaven beards, and torn garments, and cutting themselves, and [with] an offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring [them] to the house of YHWH. ⁶ And Ishmael son of Nethaniah goes forth to meet them, from Mizpah, going on and weeping, and it comes to pass, at meeting them, that he says to them, "Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam." ⁷ And it comes to pass, at their coming into the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughters them, at the midst of the pit, he and the men who [are] with him. ⁸ And ten men have been found among them, and they say to Ishmael, "Do not put us to death, for we have things hidden in the field—wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey." And he refrains, and has not put them to death in the midst of their brothers. ⁹ And the pit to where Ishmael has cast all the carcasses of the men whom he has struck along with Gedaliah, is that which King Asa made because of Baasha king of Israel—Ishmael son of Nethaniah has filled it with the pierced. ¹⁰ And Ishmael takes captive all the remnant of the people who [are] in Mizpah, the daughters of the king, and all the people who are left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has committed [to] Gedaliah son of Ahikam, and Ishmael son of Nethaniah takes them captive, and goes to pass over to the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, hear of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah has done, ¹² and they take all the men, and go to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and they find him at the great waters that [are] in Gibeon. ¹³ And it comes to pass, when all the people who [are] with Ishmael see Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who [are] with him, that they rejoice. ¹⁴ And all the people whom Ishmael has taken captive from Mizpah turn around, indeed, they turn back, and go to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ And Ishmael son of Nethaniah has escaped, with eight men, from the presence of Johanan, and he goes to the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who [are] with him, take all the remnant of the people whom he has brought back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah—after he had struck Gedaliah son of Ahikam—mighty ones, men of war, and women, and infants, and eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon, ¹⁷ and they go and abide in the habitations of Chimham, that [are] near Beth-Lehem, to go to enter Egypt, ¹⁸ from the presence of the Chaldeans, for they have been afraid of them, for Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Chapter 42

¹ And they come near—all the heads of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest— ² and they say to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our supplication fall before you, and pray for us to your God YHWH for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as your eyes see us; ³ and your God YHWH declares to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we do." ⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet says to them, "I have heard: behold, I am praying to your God YHWH according to your words, and it has come to pass, the whole word that YHWH answers you, I declare to you—I do not withhold a word from you." ⁵ And they have said to Jeremiah, "YHWH is against us for a true and faithful witness, if—according to all the word with which your God YHWH sends you to us—we do not do so. ⁶ Whether [it is] good or evil, to the voice of our God YHWH, to whom we are sending you, we listen; because it is good for us when we listen to the voice of our God YHWH." ⁷ And it comes to pass, at the end of ten days, that there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, ⁸ and he calls to Johanan son of Kareah, and to all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, and to all the people, from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and he says to them, "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to cause your supplication to fall before Him: ¹⁰ If you certainly dwell in this land, then I have built you up, and I do not throw down; and I have planted you, and I do not pluck up; for I have relented concerning the calamity that I have done to you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are afraid of; do not be afraid of him—a declaration of YHWH—for I [am] with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ¹² And I give mercies to you, and he has pitied you, and caused you to return to your own ground. ¹³ And if you are saying, We do not dwell in this land—not to listen to the voice of your God YHWH, ¹⁴ saying, No; but we enter the land of Egypt, that we see no war, and do not hear the sound of a horn, and are not hungry for bread; and we dwell there— ¹⁵ And now, therefore, hear a word of YHWH, O remnant of Judah! Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and have gone to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then it has come to pass, the sword that you are afraid of, overtakes you there, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which you are sorrowful, cleaves after you there in Egypt, and there you die. ¹⁷ Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they die—by sword, by hunger, and by pestilence, and there is not a remnant and an escaped one to them, because of the calamity that I am bringing in on them; ¹⁸ for thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: As My anger and My fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My fury is poured out on you in your entering Egypt, and you have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and you do not see this place anymore. ¹⁹ YHWH has spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: certainly know that I have testified against you today; ²⁰ for you have showed yourselves perverse in your souls, for you sent me to your God YHWH, saying, Pray for us to our God YHWH, and according to all that our God YHWH says, so declare to us, and we have done [it]; ²¹ and I declare to you today, and you have not listened to the voice of your God YHWH, and to anything with which He has sent me to you. ²² And now, certainly know that by sword, by famine, and by pestilence you die, in the place that you have desired to go to sojourn there."

Chapter 43

¹ And it comes to pass, when Jeremiah finishes speaking to all the people all the words of their God YHWH, with which their God YHWH has sent him to them—all these words— ² that Azariah son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and all the proud men, speak to Jeremiah, saying, "You are speaking falsehood; our God YHWH has not sent you to say, Do not enter Egypt to sojourn there; ³ for Baruch son of Neriah is moving you against us, in order to give us up into the hand of the Chaldeans, to put us to death, and to remove us to Babylon." ⁴ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces, and all the people, have not listened to the voice of YHWH, to dwell in the land of Judah; ⁵ and Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces, take all the remnant of Judah who have turned from all the nations to where they were driven to sojourn in the land of Judah, ⁶ the men, and the women, and the infant, and the daughters of the king, and every person that Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch son of Neriah, ⁷ and they enter the land of Egypt, for they have not listened to the voice of YHWH, and they come as far as Tahpanhes. ⁸ And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ "Take great stones in your hand, and you have hidden them in the clay in the brick-kiln, that [is] at the opening of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah, ¹⁰ and you have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am sending, and I have taken Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have set his throne above these stones that I have hid, and he has stretched out his pavilion over them, ¹¹ and he has come, and struck the land of Egypt—those who [are] for death to death, and those who [are] for captivity to captivity, and those who [are] for the sword to the sword. ¹² And I have kindled a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and it has burned them, and he has taken them captive, and covered himself with the land of Egypt, as the shepherd covers himself with his garment, and he has gone forth there in peace; ¹³ and he has broken the standing pillars of the house of the sun, that [is] in the land of Egypt, and he burns the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire."

Chapter 44

¹ The word that has been to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who are dwelling in the land of Egypt—who are dwelling in Migdol, and in Tahpanhes, and in Noph, and in the land of Pathros—saying, ² "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: You have seen all the calamity that I have brought in on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah, and behold, they [are] a desolation to this day, and there is none dwelling in them, ³ because of their wickedness that they have done, by provoking Me to anger, by going to make incense, by serving other gods, that they did not know, they, you, and your fathers. ⁴ And I send to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Please do not do this abomination that I have hated— ⁵ and they have not listened nor inclined their ear to turn back from their wickedness, not to make incense to other gods, ⁶ and My fury is poured out, and My anger, and it burns in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, and they are for a ruin, for a desolation, as [at] this day. ⁷ And now, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Why are you doing great evil to your own souls, to cut off man and woman, infant and suckling, from you, from the midst of Judah, so as not to leave a remnant to you: ⁸ by provoking Me to anger by the works of your hands, by making incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, to where you are going to sojourn, so as to cut yourselves off, and so as to your being for a reviling and for a reproach among all nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you 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, that they have done in the land of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not been humbled to this day, nor have they been afraid, nor have they walked in My law, and in My statutes, that I have set before you and before your fathers. ¹¹ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am setting My face against you for calamity, even to cut off all Judah, ¹² and I have taken the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they have all been consumed in the land of Egypt; they fall by sword [and] are consumed by famine, from the least even to the greatest, they die by sword and by famine, and they have been for an execration, for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach. ¹³ And I have seen after those dwelling in the land of Egypt, as I saw after Jerusalem, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, ¹⁴ and there is not an escaped and remaining one of the remnant of Judah, who are entering into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, even to turn back to the land of Judah, to where they are lifting up their soul to return to dwell, for they do not turn back, except those escaping." ¹⁵ And they answer Jeremiah—all the men who are knowing that their wives are making incense to other gods, and all the women who are remaining, a great assembly, even all the people who are dwelling in the land of Egypt, in Pathros—saying: ¹⁶ "The word that you have spoken to us in the Name of YHWH—we are not listening to you; ¹⁷ for we certainly do everything that has gone out of our mouth, to make incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our heads, in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, and—we are satisfied with bread, and we are well, and we have not seen calamity. ¹⁸ And from the time we have ceased to make incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have lacked all, and we have been consumed by sword and by famine, ¹⁹ and when we are making incense to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out drink-offerings to her—have we made cakes for her to idolize her, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?" ²⁰ And Jeremiah says to all the people, concerning the men and concerning the women, and concerning all the people who are answering him, saying, ²¹ "The incense that you made in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, your kings, and your heads, and the people of the land, has YHWH not remembered it? Indeed, it comes up on His heart. ²² And YHWH is not able to accept [you] anymore, because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations that you have done, and your land is for a ruin, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, without inhabitant, as [at] this day. ²³ Because that you have made incense, and because you have sinned against YHWH, and have not listened to the voice of YHWH, and have not walked in His law, and in His statutes, and in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has met you as [at] this day." ²⁴ And Jeremiah says to all the people, and to all the women, "Hear a word of YHWH, all Judah who [are] in the land of Egypt: ²⁵ Thus spoke YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, You and your wives both speak with your mouth, and with your hands have fulfilled, saying, We certainly execute our vows that we have vowed, to make incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her. You certainly establish your vows, and certainly execute your vows. ²⁶ Therefore, hear a word of YHWH, all Judah who are dwelling in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great Name, said YHWH, My Name is no longer proclaimed by the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, Lord YHWH lives—in all the land of Egypt. ²⁷ Behold, I am watching over them for calamity, and not for good, and all the men of Judah who [are] in the land of Egypt have been consumed by sword and by famine, until their consumption. ²⁸ And the escaped of the sword turn back out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number, and all the remnant of Judah, who are coming into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, have known whose word is established, Mine or theirs. ²⁹ And this [is] the sign to you—a declaration of YHWH—that I am seeing after you in this place, so that you know that My words are certainly established against you for calamity— ³⁰ thus said YHWH: Behold, I am giving Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those seeking his life, as I have given Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who is seeking his life."

Chapter 45

¹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet has spoken to Baruch son of Neriah, in his writing these words on a scroll from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, ² "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel, concerning you, O Baruch: ³ You have said, Woe to me, now, for YHWH has added sorrow to my pain, I have been wearied with my sighing, and I have not found rest. ⁴ Thus you say to him, Thus said YHWH: Behold, that which I have built I am throwing down, and that which I have planted I am plucking up, even the whole land itself. ⁵ And you seek for great things—do not seek, for behold, I am bringing calamity on all flesh—a declaration of YHWH—and I have given your life to you for a spoil, in all places to where you go."

Chapter 46

¹ That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, ² for Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that has been by the Euphrates River, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has struck, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: ³ "Set shield and buckler in array, || And draw near to battle. ⁴ Gird the horses, and go up, you horsemen, || And station yourselves with helmets, || Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. ⁵ Why have I seen them dismayed [and] turned backward? And their mighty ones are beaten down, || And they have fled [to] a refuge, || And did not turn their face, || Fear [is] all around—a declaration of YHWH. ⁶ The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, || Northward, by the side of the Euphrates River, || They have stumbled and fallen. ⁷ Who is this? He comes up as a flood, || His waters shake themselves as rivers! ⁸ Egypt comes up as a flood, || And the waters shake themselves as rivers. And he says, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. ⁹ Go up, you horses; and boast yourselves, you chariots, || And go forth, you mighty, || Cush and Phut handling the shield, || And Lud handling—treading the bow. ¹⁰ And that day [is] to Lord YHWH of Hosts || A day of vengeance, || To be avenged of His adversaries, || And the sword has devoured, and been satisfied, || And it has been watered from their blood, || For a sacrifice [is] to Lord YHWH of Hosts, || In the land of the north, by the Euphrates River. ¹¹ Go up to Gilead, and take balm, || O virgin daughter of Egypt, || You have multiplied medicines in vain, || There is no healing for you. ¹² Nations have heard of your shame, || And your cry has filled the land, || For the mighty stumbled on the mighty, || Together they have fallen—both of them!" ¹³ The word that YHWH has spoken to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to strike the land of Egypt: ¹⁴ "Declare in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, || And sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, say, || Stand firm and prepare yourself, || For a sword has devoured around you, ¹⁵ Why has your bull been swept away? He has not stood, because YHWH thrust him away. ¹⁶ He has multiplied the stumbling, || Indeed, one has fallen on his neighbor, || And they say: Rise, and we return to our people, || And to the land of our birth, || Because of the oppressing sword. ¹⁷ They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt [is] a desolation, || The appointed time has passed by. ¹⁸ [As] I live—an affirmation of the King, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name, || Surely as Tabor [is] among mountains, || And as Carmel by the sea—he comes in, ¹⁹ Make goods for yourself for removal, || O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, || For Noph becomes a desolation, || And has been burned up, without inhabitant. ²⁰ Egypt [is] a very beautiful heifer, || Destruction comes into her from the north. ²¹ Even her hired ones in her midst [are] as calves of the stall, || For even they have turned, || They have fled together, they have not stood, || For the day of their calamity has come on them, || The time of their inspection. ²² Its voice goes on as a serpent, || For they go with a force, || And they have come in to her with axes, || As hewers of trees. ²³ They have cut down her forest, || A declaration of YHWH, || For it is not searched, || For they have been more than the grasshopper, || And they have no numbering. ²⁴ The daughter of Egypt has been ashamed, || She has been given into the hand of the people of the north. ²⁵ YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, has said: Behold, I am seeing after Amon of No, || And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, || And after her gods, and after her kings, || And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him, ²⁶ And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, || And into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, || And into the hand of his servants, || And afterward it is inhabited, || As [in] days of old—a declaration of YHWH. ²⁷ And you, you do not fear, My servant Jacob, || Nor [are] you dismayed, O Israel, || For behold, I am saving you from afar—And your seed from the land of their captivity, || And Jacob has turned back, || And has been at rest, and been at ease, || And there is none disturbing. ²⁸ You do not fear, My servant Jacob, || A declaration of YHWH, || For I [am] with you, || For I make an end of all the nations || To where I have driven you, || And I do not make an end of you, || And I have reproved you in judgment, || And do not entirely acquit you!"

Chapter 47

¹ That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh strikes Gaza: ² "Thus said YHWH: Behold, waters are going up from the north, || And have been for an overflowing stream, || And they overflow the land and its fullness, || The city, and those dwelling in it, || And men have cried out, || And every inhabitant of the land has howled. ³ From the sound of the stamping of the hooves of his mighty ones, || From the rushing of his chariot, || The noise of his wheels, || Fathers have not turned to sons, || From feebleness of hands, ⁴ Because of the day that has come to spoil all the Philistines, || To cut off every helping remnant from Tyre and from Sidon. For YHWH is spoiling the Philistines, || The remnant of the island of Caphtor. ⁵ Baldness has come to Gaza, || Ashkelon has been cut off, || O remnant of their valley, || Until when do you cut yourself? ⁶ Behold, sword of YHWH, until when are you not quiet? Be removed to your sheath, rest and cease. ⁷ How will it be quiet, || And YHWH has given a charge to it, || Against Ashkelon and against the seashore? He has appointed it there!"

Chapter 48

¹ Concerning Moab: "Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, for it is spoiled, || Kiriathaim has been captured [and] put to shame, || The high tower has been put to shame, || Indeed, it has been broken down. ² There is no longer praise of Moab, || In Heshbon they devised evil against her: Come, and we cut it off from [being] a nation, || Also, O Madmen, you are cut off, || A sword goes after you. ³ A voice of a cry [is] from Horonaim, || Spoiling and great destruction. ⁴ Moab has been destroyed, || Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. ⁵ For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, || Weeping goes up, || For in the descent of Horonaim || Adversaries have heard a cry of desolation. ⁶ Flee, deliver yourselves, || You are as a naked thing in a wilderness. ⁷ For because of your trusting in your works, || And in your treasures, even you are captured, || And Chemosh has gone out in a removal, || His priests and his heads together. ⁸ And a spoiler comes to every city, || And no city escapes, || And the valley has perished, || And the plain has been destroyed, as YHWH said. ⁹ Give wings to Moab, that she may go forth and flee away, || And her cities are for a desolation, || Without an inhabitant in them. ¹⁰ Cursed [is] he who is doing the work of YHWH slothfully, || And cursed [is] he || Who is withholding his sword from blood. ¹¹ Moab is secure from his youth, || And he [is] at rest for his preserved things, || And he has not been emptied out from vessel to vessel, || And he has not gone into captivity, || Therefore his taste has remained in him, || And his fragrance has not been changed. ¹² Therefore, behold, days are coming, || A declaration of YHWH, || And I have sent wanderers to him, || And they have caused him to wander, || And they empty out his vessels, || And they dash his bottles in pieces. ¹³ And Moab has been ashamed because of Chemosh, || As the house of Israel has been ashamed || Because of Beth-El, their confidence. ¹⁴ How do you say, We [are] mighty, || And men of strength for battle? ¹⁵ Moab is spoiled, and has gone up [from] her cities, || And the choice of its young men || Have gone down to slaughter, || An affirmation of the King, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name. ¹⁶ The destruction of Moab is near to come, || And his calamity has hurried exceedingly. ¹⁷ Bemoan for him, all you around him, || And all knowing his name, say, || How it has been broken, the staff of strength, || The rod of beauty! ¹⁸ Come down from glory, sit in thirst, || O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, || For a spoiler of Moab has come up to you, || He has destroyed your fortifications. ¹⁹ Stand on the way, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, || Ask the fugitive and escaped, || Say, What has happened? ²⁰ Moab has been put to shame, || For it has been broken down, || Howl and cry, declare in Arnon, || For Moab is spoiled, ²¹ And judgment has come to the land of the plain—to Holon, || And to Jahazah, and on Mephaath, ²² And on Dibon, and on Nebo, || And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, ²³ And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, ²⁴ And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, || And on all cities of the land of Moab, || The far off and the near. ²⁵ The horn of Moab has been cut down, || And his arm has been broken, || A declaration of YHWH. ²⁶ Declare him drunk, || For he made himself great against YHWH || And Moab has struck in his vomit, || And he has been for a derision—even he. ²⁷ And was Israel not the derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For since your words concerning him, || You bemoan yourself. ²⁸ Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, || You inhabitants of Moab, || And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth. ²⁹ We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, || Exceedingly proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, || And his pride, and the height of his heart, ³⁰ I have known, a declaration of YHWH, || His wrath, and [it is] not right, || His boastings—they have done nothing right. ³¹ Therefore I howl for Moab, even for Moab—all of it, || I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it mourns, ³² With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, || Your branches have passed over a sea, || They have come to the Sea of Jazer, || On your summer fruits, and on your harvest, || A spoiler has fallen. ³³ And joy and gladness have been removed from the fruitful field, || Even from the land of Moab, || And I have caused wine to cease from winepresses, || Shouting does not proceed, || The shouting [is] not shouting! ³⁴ Because of the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, || They have given their voice to Jahaz, || From Zoar to Horonaim, || A heifer of the third [year], || For even [the] waters of Nimrim become desolations. ³⁵ And I have caused to cease in Moab, || A declaration of YHWH, || Him who is offering in a high place, || And him who is making incense to his god. ³⁶ Therefore My heart sounds as pipes for Moab, || And My heart sounds as pipes for men of Kir-Heres, || Therefore the abundance he made perished. ³⁷ For every head [is] bald, and every beard diminished, || On all hands—cuttings, and on the loins—sackcloth. ³⁸ On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, || All of it—lamentation, || For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure," || A declaration of YHWH. ³⁹ "How it has been broken down! They have howled, || How Moab has turned the neck ashamed! And Moab has been for a derision || And for a terror to all around her." ⁴⁰ For thus said YHWH: "Behold, he flees as an eagle, || And has spread his wings to Moab. ⁴¹ The cities have been captured, || And the strongholds are caught, || And the heart of the mighty of Moab || Has been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman. ⁴² And Moab has been destroyed from [being] a people, || For he exerted himself against YHWH. ⁴³ Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [are] for you, || O inhabitant of Moab—a declaration of YHWH, ⁴⁴ Whoever is fleeing because of the fear falls into the snare, || And whoever is coming up from the snare is captured by the trap, || For I bring to her—to Moab—The year of their inspection, || A declaration of YHWH. ⁴⁵ In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives have stood powerless, || For fire has gone forth from Heshbon, || And a flame from within Sihon, || And it consumes the corner of Moab, || And the crown of the sons of Shaon. ⁴⁶ Woe to you, O Moab, || The people of Chemosh have perished, || For your sons were taken with the captives, || And your daughters with the captivity. ⁴⁷ And I have turned back [to] the captivity of Moab, || In the latter end of the days," || A declaration of YHWH! "Until now [is] the judgment of Moab."

Chapter 49

¹ Concerning the sons of Ammon: "Thus said YHWH: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why has Malcam possessed Gad, || And his people have dwelt in its cities? ² Therefore, behold, days are coming, || A declaration of YHWH, || And I have sounded a shout of battle in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, || And it has been for a heap—a desolation, || And her daughters are burned with fire, || And Israel has succeeded its heirs, said YHWH. ³ Howl, Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled, || Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, || Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, || For Malcam goes into captivity, || His priests and his princes together. ⁴ Why do you boast yourself in valleys? Your valley is flowing, || O backsliding daughter, || Who is trusting in her treasures: Who comes to me? ⁵ Behold, I am bringing fear in on you, || A declaration of Lord YHWH of Hosts, || From all around you, || And you have each been driven out before it, || And there is no gatherer of the wandering. ⁶ And after this I return the captivity of the sons of Ammon, || A declaration of YHWH." ⁷ Concerning Edom: "Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the intelligent? Has their wisdom vanished? ⁸ Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, you inhabitants of Dedan, || For I brought the calamity of Esau on him, || The time I inspected him. ⁹ If gatherers have come to you, || They do not leave gleanings, || If thieves in the night, || They have destroyed their sufficiency! ¹⁰ For I have made Esau bare, || I have uncovered his secret places, || And he is not able to be hidden, || Spoiled [is] his seed, and his brothers, || And his neighbors, and he is not. ¹¹ Leave your orphans—I keep alive, || And your widows—trust on Me, ¹² For thus said YHWH: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, || Do certainly drink, || And you [are] he that is entirely acquitted! You are not acquitted, for you certainly drink. ¹³ For I have sworn by Myself, || A declaration of YHWH, || That for a desolation, for a reproach, || For a dry place, and for a reviling—is Bozrah, || And all her cities are for continuous ruins. ¹⁴ I have heard a report from YHWH, || And an ambassador is sent among nations, || Gather yourselves and come in against her, || And rise for battle. ¹⁵ For behold, I have made you little among nations, || Despised among men. ¹⁶ Your terribleness has lifted you up, || The pride of your heart, || O dweller in clefts of the rock, || Holding the high place of the height, || For you make your nest high as an eagle, || From there I bring you down, || A declaration of YHWH. ¹⁷ And Edom has been for a desolation, || Everyone passing by her is astonished, || And hisses because of all her plagues. ¹⁸ As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, || And its neighbors, said YHWH, || No one dwells there, || Nor does a son of man sojourn in her. ¹⁹ Behold, he comes up as a lion, || Because of the rising of the Jordan, || To the enduring habitation, || But I cause to rest, || I cause him to run from off her, || And who is chosen? I lay a charge concerning her, || For who is like Me? And who convenes Me? And who [is] this shepherd who stands before Me? ²⁰ Therefore, hear the counsel of YHWH, || That He has counseled concerning Edom, || And His plans that He has devised || Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Do little ones of the flock not drag them out, || Does He not make their habitation desolate? ²¹ The earth has shaken from the noise of their fall, || The cry—its voice is heard at the Sea of Suph. ²² Behold, He comes up as an eagle, and flies, || And He spreads His wings over Bozrah, || And the heart of the mighty of Edom has been in that day, || As the heart of a travailing woman." ²³ Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad have been ashamed, || For they have heard an evil report, || They have been melted, sorrow [is] in the sea, || It is not able to be quiet. ²⁴ Damascus has been feeble, || She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, || Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman. ²⁵ How it is not left—the city of praise, || The city of My joy! ²⁶ Therefore her young men fall in her broad places, || And all the men of war are cut off in that day, || A declaration of YHWH of Hosts. ²⁷ And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, || And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!" ²⁸ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has struck: "Thus said YHWH: Arise, go up to Kedar, || And spoil the sons of the east. ²⁹ They take their tents and their flock, || Their curtains, and all their vessels, || And they carry away their camels for themselves, || And they called concerning them, || Fear [is] all around. ³⁰ Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, || You inhabitants of Hazor—a declaration of YHWH, || For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has given counsel against you, || Indeed, he devises a scheme against them. ³¹ Rise, go up to a nation at rest, || Dwelling confidently, a declaration of YHWH, || It has no double gates nor bar, || They dwell alone. ³² And their camels have been for a prey, || And the multitude of their livestock for a spoil, || And I have scattered them to every wind, || Who cut off the corner [of the beard], || And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, || A declaration of YHWH. ³³ And Hazor has been for a habitation of dragons, || A desolation for all time, || No one dwells there, nor does a son of man sojourn in it!" ³⁴ That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, ³⁵ "Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, || The beginning of their might. ³⁶ And I have brought four winds to Elam, || From the four ends of the heavens, || And have scattered them to all these winds, || And there is no nation to where outcasts of Elam do not come in. ³⁷ And I have frightened Elam before their enemies, || And before those seeking their life, || And I have brought calamity on them, || The heat of My anger, || A declaration of YHWH, || And I have sent the sword after them, || Until I have consumed them; ³⁸ And I have set My throne in Elam, || And I have destroyed king and princes from there, || A declaration of YHWH. ³⁹ And it has come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I return the captivity of Elam, || A declaration of YHWH!"

Chapter 50

¹ The word that YHWH has spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet: ² "Declare among nations, and sound, || And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, || Say, Babylon has been captured, || Bel has been put to shame, || Merodach has been broken, || Her grievous things have been put to shame, || Her idols have been broken. ³ For a nation from the north has come up against her, || It makes her land become a desolation, || And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even to beast, || They have moved, they have gone. ⁴ In those days, and at that time," || A declaration of YHWH, || "Sons of Israel come in, || They and sons of Judah together, || Going on and weeping they go, || And they seek their God YHWH. ⁵ They ask the way [to] Zion, || Their faces [are] toward that place: Come in, and we are joined to YHWH, || A perpetual covenant—never forgotten. ⁶ My people have been a perishing flock, || Their shepherds have caused them to err, || Causing them to go back [on] the mountains, || They have gone from mountain to hill, || They have forgotten their crouching-place. ⁷ All finding them have devoured them, || And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, || Because that they sinned against YHWH, || The habitation of righteousness, || And the hope of their fathers—YHWH. ⁸ Move from the midst of Babylon, || And go out from the land of the Chaldeans; And be as male goats before a flock. ⁹ For behold, I am stirring up, || And am causing to come up against Babylon, || An assembly of great nations from [the] land of the north, || And they have set in array against her, || From there she is captured, || Its arrow—as a skillful hero—does not return empty, ¹⁰ And Chaldea has been for a spoil, || All her spoilers are satisfied," || A declaration of YHWH. ¹¹ "Because you rejoice, because you exult, || O spoilers of My inheritance, || Because you increase as a heifer [at] the tender grass, || And cry aloud as bulls, ¹² Your mother has been greatly ashamed, || She who bore you has been confounded, || Behold, the last of nations [is] a wilderness, || A dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the wrath of YHWH it is not inhabited, || And it has been a desolation—all of it. Everyone passing by at Babylon is astonished, || And hisses because of all her plagues. ¹⁴ Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, || All you treading a bow, || Shoot at her, have no pity on the arrow, || For she has sinned against YHWH. ¹⁵ Shout against her all around, || She has given forth her hand, || Her foundations have fallen, || Her walls have been thrown down, || For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH, || Be avenged of her, as she did—do to her. ¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, || And him handling the sickle in the time of harvest, || Because of the oppressing sword, || Each to his people—they turn, || And each to his land—they flee. ¹⁷ Israel [is as] a scattered sheep, || Lions have driven [him] away, || At first, the king of Asshur devoured him, || And now, at last, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bone. ¹⁸ Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, || And after his land, || As I have seen after the king of Asshur; ¹⁹ And I have brought Israel back to his habitation, || And he has fed on Carmel and on Bashan; And his soul is satisfied on Mount Ephraim and on Gilead. ²⁰ In those days, and at that time," || A declaration of YHWH, || "The iniquity of Israel is sought, and it is not, || And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, || For I am propitious to those whom I leave! ²¹ Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, || And to the inhabitants of Pekod, || Dry up and devote their posterity," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And do according to all that I have commanded you. ²² A noise of battle [is] in the land, || And of great destruction. ²³ How it has been cut and broken, || The hammer of the whole earth! How Babylon has been for a desolation among nations! ²⁴ I have laid a snare for you, || And you are also captured, O Babylon, || And you have known, || You have been found, and are also caught, || For you have stirred yourself up against YHWH. ²⁵ YHWH has opened His treasury, || And He brings out the weapons of His indignation, || For a work [is] to Lord YHWH of Hosts, || In the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come in to her from the extremity, || Open her storehouses, || Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, || Let her have no remnant. ²⁷ Slay all her cows, they go down to slaughter, || Woe [is] on them, for their day has come, || The time of their inspection. ²⁸ A voice of fugitives and escaped ones || [Is] from the land of Babylon, || To declare in Zion the vengeance of our God YHWH, || The vengeance of His temple. ²⁹ Summon archers to Babylon, all treading the bow, || Encamp against her all around, || Let [her] have no escape; Repay to her according to her work, || According to all that she did—do to her, || For she has been proud against YHWH, || Against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore her young men fall in her broad places, || And all her men of war are cut off in that day," || A declaration of YHWH. ³¹ "Behold, I [am] against you, O pride," || A declaration of Lord YHWH of Hosts, || "For your day has come, the time of your inspection. ³² And pride has stumbled, || And he has fallen, and has none raising up, || And I have kindled a fire in his cities, || And it has devoured all around him. ³³ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The sons of Israel are oppressed, || And the sons of Judah together, || And all their captors have kept hold on them, || They have refused to send them away. ³⁴ Their Redeemer [is] strong, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name, || He thoroughly pleads their cause, || So as to cause the land to rest, || And He has given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword [is] for the Chaldeans," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And it [is] on the inhabitants of Babylon, || And on her heads, and on her wise men; ³⁶ A sword [is] on the princes, || And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, || And they have been broken down; ³⁷ A sword [is] on his horses and on his chariot, || And on all the rabble who [are] in her midst, || And they have become women; A sword [is] on her treasuries, || And they have been spoiled; ³⁸ A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, || For it [is] a land of carved images, || And they boast themselves in idols. ³⁹ Therefore desert-dwellers dwell with howlers, || Indeed, daughters of the ostrich have dwelt in her, || And it is not inhabited anymore forever, || Nor dwelt in from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ As the overthrow by God of Sodom, || And of Gomorrah, and of its neighbors," || A declaration of YHWH, || "None dwell there, || Nor does a son of man sojourn in her. ⁴¹ Behold, a people has come from the north, || Even a great nation, || And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth. ⁴² They seize bow and javelin, || They [are] cruel, and they have no mercy, || Their voice sounds as a sea, and they ride on horses, || Set in array as a man for battle, || Against you, O daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard their report, || And his hands have been feeble, || Distress has seized him; pain as a travailing woman. ⁴⁴ Behold, he comes up as a lion, || Because of the rising of the Jordan, || To the enduring habitation, || But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? I lay a charge on her, || For who [is] like Me? And who convenes Me? And who [is] this shepherd who stands before Me? ⁴⁵ Therefore, hear the counsel of YHWH, || That He counseled concerning Babylon, || And His plans that He has devised || Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Do little ones of the flock not drag them out, || Does He not make the habitation desolate over them? ⁴⁶ From the sound of Babylon having been captured, || The earth has been shaken, || And a cry has been heard among nations!"

Chapter 51

¹ Thus said YHWH: "Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, || And the inhabitants of Leb, My withstanders, || A destroying wind, ² And I have sent fanners to Babylon, || And they have fanned her, and they empty her land, || For they have been against her, || All around—in the day of evil. ³ Do not let the treader tread his bow, || Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, || Nor have pity on her young men, || Devote all her host to destruction. ⁴ And the wounded have fallen in the land of the Chaldeans, || And the pierced-through in her streets. ⁵ For Israel and Judah are not forsaken || By his God—by YHWH of Hosts, || For their land has been full of guilt, || Against the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon, || And let each deliver his soul, || Do not be cut off in her iniquity, || For it [is] a time of vengeance for YHWH—His, || He is rendering repayment to her. ⁷ Babylon [is] a golden cup in the hand of YHWH, || Making all the earth drunk, || Nations have drunk of her wine, || Therefore nations boast themselves. ⁸ Babylon has suddenly fallen, || Indeed, she is broken, howl for her, || Take balm for her pain, perhaps she may be healed. ⁹ We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, || Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, || For her judgment has come to the heavens, || And it has been lifted up to the clouds. ¹⁰ YHWH has brought forth our righteousnesses, || Come, and we recount in Zion the work of our God YHWH. ¹¹ Cleanse the arrows, fill the shields, || YHWH has stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media, || For His purpose [is] against Babylon to destroy her, || For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH, || The vengeance of His temple. ¹² Lift up an ensign to the walls of Babylon, || Strengthen the watch, || Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, || For YHWH has both devised and done that which He spoke, || Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³ O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, || Your end has come—the measure of your dishonest gain. ¹⁴ YHWH of Hosts has sworn by Himself, || That, Surely I have filled you [with] men as the cankerworm, || And they have cried against you—shouting. ¹⁵ Making [the] earth by His power, || Establishing [the] world by His wisdom, || Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens, ¹⁶ At the voice He gives forth, || A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, || And He causes vapors to come up from the end of the earth, || He has made lightnings for rain, || And He brings out wind from His treasures. ¹⁷ Every man has been brutish by knowledge, || Everyone has been put to shame—from refining a carved image, || For his molten image [is] falsehood, || And there is no breath in them. ¹⁸ They [are] vanity—a work of errors, || They perish in the time of their inspection. ¹⁹ The Portion of Jacob [is] not like these, || For He is forming the whole, || And [Israel is] the tribe of His inheritance, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name. ²⁰ You [are] My shatterer—weapons of war, || And I have broken in pieces nations by you, || And I have destroyed kingdoms by you, ²¹ And I have broken in pieces horse and its rider by you, || And I have broken in pieces chariot and its charioteer by you, ²² And I have broken in pieces man and woman by you, || And I have broken in pieces old and young by you, || And I have broken in pieces young man and virgin by you, ²³ And I have broken in pieces shepherd and his drove by you, || And I have broken in pieces farmer and his team by you, || And I have broken in pieces governors and prefects by you. ²⁴ And I have repaid to Babylon, || And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, || All the evil that they have done in Zion, || Before your eyes," a declaration of YHWH. ²⁵ "Behold, I [am] against you, O destroying mountain," || A declaration of YHWH, || "That is destroying all the earth, || And I have stretched out My hand against you, || And I have rolled you from the rocks, || And given you for a burnt mountain. ²⁶ And they do not take out of you a stone for a corner, || And a stone for foundations, || For you are continuous desolations," || A declaration of YHWH. ²⁷ "Lift up an ensign in the land, || Blow a horn among nations, || Sanctify nations against it, || Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, || Appoint an infant head against it, || Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm. ²⁸ Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, || Its governors and all its prefects, || And all the land of its dominion. ²⁹ And the land shakes, and it is pained, || For the purposes of YHWH have stood against Babylon, || To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. ³⁰ The mighty of Babylon have ceased to fight, || They have remained in strongholds, || Their might has failed, they have become [as] women, || They have burned her dwelling places, || Her bars have been broken. ³¹ Runner runs to meet runner, || And announcer to meet announcer, || To announce to the king of Babylon, || For his city has been captured—at the extremity. ³² And the passages have been captured, || And they have burned the reeds with fire, || And the men of war have been troubled. ³³ For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, || The time of her threshing—yet a little [while], || And the time of her harvest has come. ³⁴ Devoured us, crushed us, has Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, || He has set us [as] an empty vessel, || He has swallowed us as a dragon, || He has filled his belly with my delicacies, || He has driven us away. ³⁵ My wrong, and [that of] my flesh, [is] on Babylon—The inhabitant of Zion says; And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea—Jerusalem says. ³⁶ Therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am pleading your cause, || And I have avenged your vengeance, || And dried up her sea, and made her fountains dry. ³⁷ And Babylon has been for heaps, || A habitation of dragons, || An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ³⁸ They roar together as young lions, || They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps. ³⁹ In their heat I make their banquets, || And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, || And have slept a continuous sleep, || And do not awaken," a declaration of YHWH. ⁴⁰ "I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, || As rams with male goats. ⁴¹ How Sheshach has been captured, || Indeed, the praise of the whole earth is caught, || How Babylon has been for an astonishment among nations. ⁴² The sea has come up over Babylon, || She has been covered with a multitude of its billows. ⁴³ Her cities have been for a desolation, || A dry land, and a wilderness, || A land—none dwell in them, || Nor does a son of man pass over into them. ⁴⁴ And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, || And I have brought forth that which he swallowed—from his mouth, || And nations no longer flow to him, || Also the wall of Babylon has fallen. ⁴⁵ Go forth from her midst, O My people, || And let each deliver his soul, || Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH, ⁴⁶ And lest your heart be tender, || And you are afraid of the report that is heard in the land, || And the report has come in [one] year, || And after it [another] report in [another] year, || And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler; ⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, days are coming, || And I have seen after the carved images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, || And all its pierced ones fall in its midst. ⁴⁸ And heavens and earth and all that [is] in them || Have cried aloud against Babylon, || For the spoilers come to her from the north," || A declaration of YHWH. ⁴⁹ "As Babylon [has caused the] pierced of Israel to fall, || So they of Babylon have fallen, || You pierced of all the earth. ⁵⁰ You escaped of the sword, go on, do not stand, || Remember YHWH from afar, || And let Jerusalem come up on your heart. ⁵¹ We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, || Shame has covered our faces, || For strangers have come in against the sanctuaries of the house of YHWH. ⁵² Therefore, behold, days are coming," || A declaration of YHWH, || "And I have seen after her carved images, || And the wounded groan in all her land. ⁵³ Because Babylon goes up to the heavens, || And because she fortifies the high place of her strength, || Spoilers come into her from Me," || A declaration of YHWH. ⁵⁴ "A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, || And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean. ⁵⁵ For YHWH is spoiling Babylon, || And has destroyed her great voice, || And her billows have sounded as many waters, || Their voice has given forth a noise. ⁵⁶ For a spoiler has come in against her—against Babylon, || And her mighty ones have been captured, || Their bows have been broken, || For the God of recompenses—YHWH—certainly repays. ⁵⁷ And I have caused her princes to drink, || And her wise men, her governors, || And her prefects, and her mighty ones, || And they have slept a continuous sleep, || And they do not awaken—an affirmation of the King, || YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name. ⁵⁸ Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The wall of Babylon—The broad one—is made utterly bare, || And her high gates are burned with fire, || And peoples labor in vain, || And nations in fire, and have been weary!" ⁵⁹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet has commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign—and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince; ⁶⁰ and Jeremiah writes all the calamity that comes to Babylon on one scroll—all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ⁶¹ And Jeremiah says to Seraiah, "When you enter Babylon, then you have seen, and have read all these words, ⁶² and have said: YHWH, You have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even to livestock, for it is a continuous desolation. ⁶³ And it has come to pass, when you finish reading this scroll, you bind a stone to it, and have cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, ⁶⁴ and said, Thus Babylon sinks, and she does not arise, because of the calamity that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary." Until now [are the] words of Jeremiah.

Chapter 52

¹ Zedekiah [is] a son of twenty-one years in his reigning, and he has reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ² And he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that Jehoiakim has done, ³ for because of the anger of YHWH, it has been in Jerusalem and Judah until He has cast them from before His face, and Zedekiah rebels against the king of Babylon. ⁴ And it comes to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has come—he and all his force—against Jerusalem, and they encamp against it, and build against it a fortification all around; ⁵ and the city comes into siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, when the famine is severe in the city, and there has been no bread for the people of the land, ⁷ then the city is broken up, and all the men of war flee, and go forth from the city by night, the way of the gate between the two walls that [is] by the king's garden—and the Chaldeans [are] by the city all around—and they go the way of the plain. ⁸ And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his forces have been scattered from him, ⁹ and they capture the king, and bring him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaks with him—judgments. ¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slaughters the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he has also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah; ¹¹ and he has blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and he binds him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon brings him to Babylon, and puts him in the house of inspection to the day of his death. ¹² And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month—it [is] the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has come; he has stood before the king of Babylon in Jerusalem, ¹³ and he burns the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem—even every great house he has burned with fire, ¹⁴ and all the forces of the Chaldeans that [are] with the chief of the executioners have broken down all the walls of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And of the poor of the people, and the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those who are defecting, who have defected to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the multitude, Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has removed; ¹⁶ and of the poor of the land, Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, has left for vinedressers and for farmers. ¹⁷ And the pillars of bronze that [are] in the house of YHWH, and the bases, and the bronze sea that [is] in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans have broken, and they carry away all the bronze of them to Babylon; ¹⁸ and the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they minister, they have taken away; ¹⁹ and the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups, the gold of that which [is] gold, and the silver of that which [is] silver, the chief of the executioners has taken. ²⁰ The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that [are] beneath the bases, that King Solomon made for the house of YHWH, there was no weighing of the bronze of all these vessels. ²¹ As for the pillars, eighteen cubits [is] the height of the one pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits goes around it, and its thickness [is] four fingers hollow. ²² And the capital on it [is] of bronze, and the height of the one capital [is] five cubits, and network and pomegranates [are] on the capital all around, the whole [is] of bronze; and like these—the second pillar—and pomegranates. ²³ And the pomegranates are ninety-six on a side, all the pomegranates [are] one hundred on the network all around. ²⁴ And the chief of the executioners takes Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, ²⁵ and he has taken a certain eunuch out of the city, who has been inspector over the men of war, and seven men of those seeing the king's face, who have been found in the city, and the head scribe of the host, who musters the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land, who are found in the midst of the city; ²⁶ and Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, takes them, and brings them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²⁷ and the king of Babylon strikes them, and puts them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he removes Judah from off its own ground. ²⁸ This [is] the people whom Nebuchadnezzar has removed: in the seventh year, of Jews, three thousand and twenty-three; ²⁹ in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar—from Jerusalem—eight hundred thirty-two souls; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the guard, has removed of Jewish souls, seven hundred forty-five; all the souls [are] four thousand and six hundred. ³¹ And it comes to pass, in the thirty-seventh year of the expulsion of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon has lifted up, in the year of his reign, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brings him out from the house of restraint, ³² and speaks good things with him, and sets his throne above the throne of the kings who [are] with him in Babylon, ³³ and he has changed his prison garments, and he has continually eaten bread before him, all the days of his life. ³⁴ And his allowance—a continual allowance—has been given to him by the king of Babylon, the matter of a day in its day, until [the] day of his death—all [the] days of his life.

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