Open Bible Data Home  About  News  OET Key

Moff JOS 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

JER C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52

Moff JER Chapter 16

◄ JER 16 ► ║ ©

16 This message from the Eternal came to me, 2 “You must not marry a wife, you must not have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For this is the Eternal’s sentence upon sons and daughters born in this place, on the mothers who bore them, and on their fathers in this place: 4 ‘They shall die of the pestilence, with none to wail for them and none to bury them; they shall lie like dung upon the surface of the ground. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be food for wild birds and wild beasts.’ 5 This is the Eternal’s order:

Never enter a house of mourning,

never go to lament or bemoan them;

for I withdraw my goodwill from this people

says the Eternal.

Throughout the land both high and low shall di

and all unburied lie,

with none to lament or gash themselves

or cut their hair for them,

with none to press the mourner to take food

on their account,

with none to hand a cup of comfort

for a father or a mother’s death.

Nor shall you enter any house of feasting,

to eat and drink in company.

For thus declares the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel:

Before your eyes and in your day

I banish from this place

the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and of bride. 10 Now, when you tell all this to the people, and they ask you, ‘Why has the Eternal decreed all this terrible misery against us? What is our crime? What sin have we committed against the Eternal, our God?’ 11 then tell them, ‘It is because your fathers forsook me, the Eternal says, because they followed foreign gods, serving them and worshipping them, because they forsook me and did not keep my law; 12 and because you have done worse than your fathers, each of you following his own evil, stubborn mind, and refusing to listen to me-- 13 that is why I expel you from this land to a land that neither you nor your fathers ever knew, where you will have to serve foreign gods day and night, who will show you no favour.’ 16 I am sending for many a fisherman, says the Eternal, to capture this people. After that, I will send for many a huntsman, to hunt them out of every mountain and hill and cranny of the rocks.

For mine eye is on all they do,

nothing is hidden from me;

their guilt does not escape me.

I will doubly punish their guilt and sin,

for desecrating my land with dead, detestable idols,

for filling up my heritage with their abominations.

So I will let them feel,

this once I will let them feel,

the full force of my power,

to teach them that my name is the Eternal.” * * * 19 O thou Eternal, my strength, my stronghold, my refuge in the hour of trouble, nations shall come from the ends of the earth to thee, saying, “All the traditions our fathers inherited were lies, vain and profitless. 20 Is man to make gods for himself--gods that are no gods at all?” * * *

[[Like a partridge hatching eggs it never laid,

so is the man who makes money unfairly;

it leaves him ere his life is over,

and in the end he proves himself a fool.]]

12 [[The site of our sanctuary is a glorious throne, exalted from the very first. 13 O thou Eternal, Israel’s hope, all who forsake thee shall be disappointed, those who abandon thee in the land shall be reduced to shame, because they have forsaken the Eternal, the fresh fountain of water.]]

Deep is a man’s mind, deeper than all else

on evil bent;

who can fathom it?

“I the Eternal search the mind,

I test the heart

rewarding every man as he has lived,

and as his deeds deserve.”

Then heal me, O Eternal, and I shall be healed,

save me, and I shall be saved;

for it is thou to whom I render praise.

Men taunt me, crying,

“Where is the Eternal’s word?

Come on with it!”

Yet never would I press thee

to bring on calamity;

I never longed--thou knowest--

for a judgment day;

all that I ever said,

is known to thee.

So be not thou a terror to me,

O thou my refuge on the day of evil.

Terrify my tormentors,

terrify them, not me;

bring on them the day of evil,

double ruin for them. * * * 19 This is what the Eternal said to me. “Go and stand at the gate of Benjamin, where the kings of Judah pass in and out, and at all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 saying: ‘Listen to the word of the Eternal, you kings of Judah, all you men of Judah, and all citizens of Jerusalem who enter by these gates. 21 This is what the Eternal says: 22 For the sake of your fives, never carry a load on the sabbath, or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem; never carry any load out of your houses on the sabbath, nor do any work, but keep the sabbath sacred, as I ordered your fathers-- 23 though they would not listen, they would not lend an ear, but obstinately refused to listen and take warning. 24 But if you attend to me carefully, says the Eternal, and bring in no load through the gates of this city on the sabbath, if you keep the sabbath sacred by doing no work, 25 then kings of David’s dynasty, riding in chariots and on horses, with the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, shall pass the gates of this city, and this city shall always be inhabited; 26 men shall come from the towns of Judah and the districts round Jerusalem and the land of Benjamin and the lowlands and the highlands and the south, bringing burnt-offerings and sacrifices and cereal-offerings and incense and thank-offerings to the house of the Eternal. 27 But if you will not listen to me, as I bid you keep the sabbath sacred and forbid you to carry in loads through the gates of Jerusalem on the sab­bath, then I will fight a fire in the city-gates that will burn up the buildings of Jerusalem and never be put out.’ ”

18 This message came to Jeremiah from the Eternal: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear what I have to say.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house. He was at work with his wheel; 4 and whenever any vessel he was making got spoiled in his hands, he re-moulded it to please himself, till he was satisfied. 5 Then the Eternal’s word came to me, 6 “O house of Israel, cannot I do to you as this potter does? Why, as the clay in the potter’s hands, so you are in my hands. 7 [[At one time I may speak of tearing up a nation or kingdom, breaking it down and destroying it; 8 but if that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the evil that I thought of inflicting upon it. 9 Again, I may speak of building up a nation or kingdom, of planting it; 10 but if that nation does evil in my sight by refusing to listen to my voice, then I will change my mind about the benefits which I meant to bestow upon it. 11 So give the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this message from the Eternal: I am shaping a calamity for you and devising a plan against you; ah, turn every one of you from your evil courses, amend your life and work!’ 12 They will say, ‘It is no use to talk; we mean to live as we choose, and follow, every man of us, our own evil, stubborn minds.’]]”

13 This is what the Eternal says:

“Inquire among the nations

if the like of this was ever heard,

the awful, the appalling thing

that maiden Israel has done?

Does hoar-frost ever leave mount Sirion,

or snow Lebanon?

Do cold streams from the hills

ever run dry?

And yet my people have forgotten me,

and sacrificed to no-gods!

So they stumble as they pass

along the old path,

and then take to bypaths of their own,

badly made;

till their country goes to ruin,

a scorn and horror for all time,

at which the passer-by is shocked

and openly derides.

Like a sirocco will I scatter them

in flight before their foe;

my back and not my face I turn to them,

upon their day of woe.” * * * 18 “Come on,” they said, “let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah; we shall not fail to get advice about it from the priests, or counsel from the sages, or some inspiration from the prophets. Come on, let us undermine him with some slander; let us note any word he utters.”

Note them, O Eternal,

listen to my foes!

Is good to be repaid by evil?

They have dug a pit to take my life,

men for whom once (remember) I made intercession,

pleading in thy presence

to avert thy wrath from them!

Leave their children to fall by famine,

throw them to the sword!

May their wives be childless and widows,

their men die by the pestilence,

their young men be slain in war!

Let shrieks rise from their homes,

when suddenly thou bringest on them the raiders!

For they have dug a pit to capture me,

and hidden traps to catch my feet.

But, O Eternal, well thou knowest

all their murderous moves against me;

never pardon their iniquity,

never blot out their sin;

trip them till they crash before thee,

deal with them in thy day of anger!

19 The Eternal said to me, “Go and get a potter’s jar of clay; get some of the leading laymen and some of the priests, 2 and go out to the valley belonging to Ben-Hinnom, close to the entry of the Potsherd Gate; there announce the message I give you, 3 saying, ‘Listen to the word of the Eternal, O kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am bringing a disaster on this city, that will make the ears of every hearer ring; 4 because the people have forsaken me and desecrated this valley by sacrificing here to foreign gods, which neither they nor their fathers ever knew; kings of Judah have drenched this valley with innocent blood, 5 erecting shrines to Baal for burning alive their children as a sacrifice to Baal--a thing I never ordered, never mentioned, a thing that never entered my mind! 6 So the day will come, the Eternal declares, when its name shall no longer be Topheth, or The valley belonging to Ben-Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter; 7 I will empty out here this jar full of plans made by Judah and Jerusalem; I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and die by the hand of murderous pursuers, leaving their corpses as food for the wild birds and wild beasts; 8 I will make this city a desolation and a scorn, so that any passer-by shall whistle in surprise and horror at all my crushing blows; 9 I will make the citizens eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters, and every man shall eat the flesh of his fellow, in the siege and straits by which their enemies and murderous pursuers hem them in.’ 10 Then you must break the jar in presence of the men who have accompanied you, 11 giving them this message from the Lord of hosts: ‘I will break this people and this city just as one breaks a potter’s jar, so that it cannot be repaired. 12 That is how I will treat this city and its citizens, says the Eternal. I will desecrate this city like Topheth, 13 and make the house of Jerusalem and of the kings of Judah as unclean as Topheth, all the houses on whose roofs sacrifice was offered to the starry host and libations poured out in honour of foreign gods.’ ”

14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Eternal had sent him to prophesy, and stood inside the court of the Eternal’s house, where he told the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am bringing on the city and on all her townships the full evil that I threatened; for they have obstinately refused to listen to my words.’ ”

20 Now when Pashhur, the son of the priest Immer, who was in charge of the Eternal’s house, heard Jeremiah making this prophecy, 2 Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in the stocks at the upper Gate of Benjamin, beside the house of the Eternal. 3 Next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Eternal’s name for you is not Pashhur but Terror; 4 for this is what the Eternal says, ‘I will make you a terror both to yourself and to all your friends; they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, while you look on. I will hand over all Judah to the king of Babylon, to be carried off in exile to Babylon and slain by the sword; 5 moreover, I will hand over all the wealth of this city and all its possessions, all the treasures of the kings of Judah, to their enemies, who shall rifle and seize them and bear them off to Babylon. 6 And as for you and your household, Pashhur, you shall be exiled; you shall go to Babylon and die there and be buried there, you and all the friends to whom you have been a false prophet.’ ” * * *

Cursed be the day

when I was born,

unblessed the day

my mother bore me!

Cursed be the man

who told my father,

crying, “A son is born to you!”

and giving him joy.

May that man fare as fared the towns

that the Eternal pitilessly crushed!

May he hear shrieks at dawn,

and the battle-cry at noon,

because he did not stifle me in the womb!

Then would my mother have been my tomb,

and her womb ever big with me.

Why did I ever leave the womb,

only for toil and trouble,

only to wear out my life with shame?

Eternal One, thou didst persuade me,

and I let myself be persuaded!

Thou wast too strong for me;

I had to yield.

Now all day long I am a laughing-stock;

men all deride me.

Whenever I speak, they mock,

and they ill-treat me;

for uttering the Eternal’s word day after day,

I am taunted and insulted.

If I say, “I will not mention it,

I will not speak in his name any more,”

then I feel within me as it were

a fire that burns my very being.

I am tired of this,

so tired I cannot bear it any longer;

at every turn I am in terror,

for I hear many whispering,

“Denounce him! let us denounce him!”

My very friends are on the watch for a false step;

“Perhaps,” they whisper, “he will make a slip;

and then we have him,

then for our revenge!”

Ah, but I have the Eternal on my side,

a dread and doughty champion!

My persecutors shall collapse

and miss their aim;

bitter shall be their shame

over their failure,

a lasting shame to them,

never to be forgotten. * * *

21 The message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah, when king Zedekiah sent Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephanlah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, 2 to ask him, “Pray consult the Eternal on our behalf, for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon is making war on us; perhaps the Eternal will work a miracle for us, as he has often done, and force the man to retreat.” 3 But Jeremiah said to them, “Tell Zedekiah that 4 this is the reply of the Eternal, the God of Israel: ‘The weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and your Chaldean besiegers outside the city, I will render useless, forcing you back inside the city, 5 where I myself will fight you with might and main, in anger, fury, and fierce wrath; 6 I will strike down the citizens of this city, and beasts as well as men shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Then (the Eternal declares) Zedekiah king of Judah, with his officers, and with any citizens who survive the pestilence, the sword, and the famine, I will hand over to the enemy and to those who would destroy them, till they are killed without quarter, without pity, not one spared.’ ” 8 “Also,” said the Eternal, “tell this people that the Eternal’s message is: ‘Here I put before you the way of life and the way of death; 9 anyone who stays in the city shall die by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence; but anyone who leaves and surrenders to your Chaldean besiegers shall live, he shall escape with his life. 10 For I have determined evil and not good for this city; it shall be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it up.

8 And as many nn a nation passes this city, every man shall ask his fellow, ‘Why has the Eternal done this to yon great city?’ 9 And the answer will be, ‘Because they gave up their compact with the Eternal their God and worshipped foreign gods and served them.’ ” * * *

O dweller in the glen,

on the rocks of the tableland,

I am against you,

the Eternal declares!

You with your boast, “Who can reach us?

Who can push into our lairs?”

I will punish you for your misdeeds,

the Eternal declares,

lighting a fire in your forest,

to burn down everything. * * *

22 The Eternal bade me go down to the palace of the king of Judah and there deliver this message: 2 “Listen to the word of the Eternal, O king of Judah, seated on the throne of David--you and your officers and your people who pass through these gates. 3 This is the Eternal’s order: ‘Govern justly and fairly, rescue the victims of oppression, never wrong nor ill-treat a resident alien, an orphan, or a widow, and never shed innocent blood in this place. 4 If you carry out this loyally, then kings of David’s dynasty, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officers and people shall pass these palace gates. 5 But if you will not listen to this order, then I swear by myself (the Eternal declares) that this palace shall be laid in ruins.’

11 For this is the Eternal’s decree about the court of the king of Judah. 12 ‘Listen to the Eternal’s message, O house of David: Govern diligently and justly, rescue the victims of oppression, lest my fury blaze up like fire at your evil doings and burn with none to quench it.’

6 This is what the Eternal has to say about the court of the king of Judah:

‘Though you were a flourishing Gilead of growth for me,

a thick-sown crest of Lebanon,

I will reduce you to a desert,

like a town untenanted;

I will set men to destroy you,

armed men all of them,

to fell your choicest cedars

and fling them in the fire.’ ” * * *

Weep not for the dead Josiah,

wail not over him;

weep rather for the exile,

who never shall return,

never behold his native land again. 11 (For this is the Eternal’s sentence on Shallum, Josiah’s son, Josiah’s successor, who left this place for exile: “He never shall come back again; 12 he shall die in the land where they have carried him into exile; he shall never see this land again.”)

Woe to him who builds his palace on injustice,

his chambers upon fraud,

who forces other men to work for nothing,

holding back their wages,

who thinks to build himself a spacious palace,

with roomy chambers and with windows wide,

panelling it with cedar

and painting it vermilion!

Are you a king indeed,

because you vie with Ahab?

Did not your father enjoy himself?--

and he ruled justly, lawfully.

Did he not uphold the rights of weak and wretched men?

And is not that the true knowledge of me?

But you have neither eyes nor heart

for aught but selfish gain,

for shedding innocent blood,

for outrage and oppression. 18 This therefore is the Eternal’s sentence upon Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

“There shall be no lamenting for him--

as men lament a brother or a sister;

there shall be no lamenting for him--

as men lament ‘My lord!’ ‘His Majesty!’

As an ass is buried, shall he be buried,

haled along, hurled outside the city gates.” * * *

Climb to Lebanon and call out,

raise your voice in Bashan,

wail from the hills of Abârim,

for all your allies are ruined.

I spoke to you in your prosperity,

but you refused to listen;

so has it ever been, since you were young,

you never would listen to me. 22 Therefore your leaders shall be all swept away,

your allies shall be exiled,

and then your doom shall be disgrace and shame,

for all your evil doing.

You, with your seat on Lebanon,

nestling among the cedars,

how you will groan when your agony comes,

like a woman in pains of labour! * * * 24 As sure as I live, says the Eternal, even though Koniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull him off. 25 “Yes, Koniah, and I will hand you over to your murderers, to the men you dread, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26 You and your mother I will fling far into a foreign land, where you shall die, in a land where you were not born.” 27 They shall never get back to the land where their heart longs to return.

What is this creature Koniah?

What but a broken pot,

a vessel no one cares for;

he is flung aside,

tossed far into a foreign country.

O land, O land, O land,

listen to the word of the Eternal!--

“Set this man down as childless,

for never shall a son of his

attain to sit on David’s throne

or rule again in Judah.”

Woe to rulers who ruin and scatter

the flock that was theirs to shepherd!

This therefore is the Eternal’s sentence

on the rulers in charge of his flock:

“You scattered my flock and drove them away,

you took no care of them;

so I will take good care to punish you

for the evil you have done.

I will gather all that is left of my flock

from every land where I have driven them,

I will bring them back to their folds,

and they shall be fruitful and multiply;

over them I will put rulers,

to shepherd them,

and they shall be no longer scared

or startled or dismayed.

The day comes, the Eternal promises,

when I raise up a true scion of David,

to reign both royally and ably,

to enforce law and justice in the land;

under him Judah shall be safe,

and Israel live secure,

and this shall be his title,

‘The Eternal our champion.’

7 So the day will come, the Eternal declares, when men no longer say, ‘As surely as the Eternal lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt!’ 8 but, ‘As surely as the Eternal lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country!’-- and from every country where I drove them; they shall dwell in their own land.” * * *

On the prophets;--

My heart is broken within me,

my limbs are all relaxed,

I feel like a drunken man,

like a man overcome by wine,

at the thought of the Eternal

and his glorious majesty!

For the land is full of faithless men,

running an evil course,

with might that is not right.

Prophet and priest are alike profane;

and, says the Eternal, “even inside my fane

I come upon their crimes.

Therefore their path shall prove to them

a slippery place,

they shall be driven along it in the dark

to their downfall;

for I will bring disaster upon them,

in their year of doom.

Sickening things have I seen

e in Samaria’s prophets;

they prophesied by Baal,

and misled my people Israel.

But horrible things have I seen

in the prophets of Jerusalem;

they are adulterers, they lie,

they abet evildoers,

till not a soul will repent;

they are all as bad as Sodom,

and the citizens bad as Gomorrah.” 15 This therefore is the sentence of the Lord of hosts upon the prophets:

“I will feed them with bitter wormwood,

and give them poisonous drugs;

for the prophets of Jerusalem have spread profanity

over the whole land.” 16 This is the warning of the Lord of hosts:

“Never listen to what the prophets say;

they fill you up with idle hopes,

they tell you fancies of their own,

not anything the Eternal says;

‘All will be well,’ they repeat,

to people who scorn what the Eternal says;

‘No harm will come to you,’ they tell

the folk who follow their own stubborn minds.

Which of these prophets ever saw

the council of the Eternal?

Which of them ever heard

or grasped a word of his?

I never sent the prophets,

yet they ran;

I never spoke to them,

and yet they prophesied.

If they had ever stood within my council,

and heard a word of mine,

they would have made my people turn

from evil ways and evil deeds.

Am I a God at hand,

and not a God far off?

Can any man conceal himself

out of my sight?

Do not I fill heaven and earth?--

the Eternal asks.

I have heard what the prophets say,

who prophesy falsely in my name--

‘I’ve had a dream,’ they cry,

‘I’ve had a dream!’

Will they never give over,

these prophets of falsehood,

who preach their own illusions,

and would make my folk forget my name,

by the dreams they tell each other,

as once their fathers forgot me for Baal?

If a prophet has had a dream,

then let him tell his dream;

but he who has a word of mine,

then let him tell it faithfully.

Why mix straw with wheat?--

the Eternal asks.

Is not my word like fire,

like a hammer that shatters stone?

30 Well then, the Eternal declares, I am against prophets who pick up my words, each from his fellow. 31 I am against prophets who mouth the prophets’ formula about what ‘the Eternal says.’ 32 I am against prophets who recount lying dreams, leading my people astray with their lies and their empty pretensions, though I never sent them, never commissioned them; they are no help whatever to this people, says the Eternal. 33 When a layman or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Eternal’s oracle?’ tell them this from the Eternal: ‘Burden! you are the burden, and I mean to throw you off. 34 Any prophet or priest or layman who talks of “the Eternal’s oracle” or of “what the Eternal says,” I will punish that man and his household. 35 No, this is what every man of you must say to his fellow, to his brother: “What is the Eternal’s answer?” “What is the Eternal’s message?” 36 You must never again mention the Eternal’s “burden.” 38 (A man’s own word shall be the “burden” of his oracle!) If you dare to mention “the burden of the Eternal’s oracle,” though I have expressly told you never to mention it, 39 then, the Eternal declares, I will lift you like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers, far away from me, 40 and I will cover you with a lasting reproach and an unending disgrace, never to be forgotten.’ ”

24 It was after Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried off to exile at Babylon Jekoniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the leading men of Judah, with the craftsmen and the joiners of Jerusalem, that the Eternal gave me a vision of two baskets of figs, placed in front of the Eternal’s temple. 2 One basket had very fine figs, as fine as first-ripe figs. The other basket had very poor figs, so poor that they were uneatable. 3 The Eternal said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered, “the fine figs very fine, the poor figs very poor, so poor that they are uneatable.” 4 Then the Eternal’s word came to me: 5 “This is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, says: so will I favour, like these fine figs, the exiles from Judah whom I have deported to the land of the Chaldeans; 6 I will look to their welfare, I will bring them back to this land, I will build them up, instead of pulling them down, I will plant them, instead of pulling them up; 7 I will give them a heart to understand that I am the Eternal, and they shall be my people, I will be a God to them, when they return to me with all their heart. 8 As for the poor figs, so poor that they are uneatable--that is how I will treat Zedekiah king of Judah, with his leading men, and the survivors of Jerusalem who are left in this land, and those who reside in the land of Egypt; 9 I will make them an object of disgust to every kingdom in the world, a derision, a byword, a taunt, and a curse, wherever I drive them; also, 10 I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence among them, till they are consumed out of the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.”

25 The word that came to Jeremiah regarding all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), 2 the message he delivered to all the people of Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem. 3 “[[For all these twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, down to this day, I have been telling you, earnestly and urgently, 5 to give up your evil courses, every one of you, and your evil conduct, that you may remain in the land that the Eternal gave to you and to your fathers for all time, 6 instead of wandering away to serve and worship foreign gods, angering the Eternal with your manufactured idols--only to your own hurt. 7 But you would not listen to me. 8 This therefore is the sentence of the Lord of hosts: Since you have not listened to my words,]] 9 I am sending for a race from the north and bringing it down upon this land, upon its inhabitants and upon all the surrounding nations. I will exterminate them, I will make them a lasting desolation, a scorn and horror; 10 I will banish from them the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of millstones and the light of a lamp. 11 The whole of this country shall be a waste and a horror [[and for seventy years the people shall be subject to the king of Babylon. 12 However, when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their guilt, says the Eternal, and I will make the land of the Chaldeans desolate for all time. 13 I will inflict on that land all the threats I have uttered against it, all the threats which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations, and which are written in this book. 14 Many a nation, many a great king, shall make slaves of them, yes even of them; but I will pay them back for what they have done, as they deserve]],” 15 For this is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this wine-cup of wrath that I hand to you, and hold it to the lips of all the nations to whom I send you, 16 till they drink it and stagger madly to and fro.” 17 [[So I took the cup from the hand of the Eternal and held it to the lips of all the nations to whom the Eternal had sent me-- 18 to Jerusalem, to Judah with its towns, its kings and leading men (to render them a desolation, a horror, a derision, and a curse, as at the present day), 19 to the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his courtiers, princes, all his people 20 and all the foreign population of Egypt, to all the kings of the land of Uz, to all the kings of the land of the Philistines--that is, of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the survivors in Ashdod, 21 to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites, 22 to all the kings of Tyre and of Sidon, to the kings of the coast-land overseas, 23 to Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all the crop-haired clans, 24 to all the nomad kings, 25 to all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media, 26 to all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, to all kingdoms on the face of the earth; and after them the king of Babylon shall drink.]] 27 “Tell them this is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink yourselves drunk, till you tumble in your vomit, never to rise again--under the sword I am sending among you.’ 28 And if they decline to drink the cup you hand to them, tell them this is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘Drink you must! 29 I begin by inflicting evil on the city that belongs to me, and are you to get off unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword to fall on all the inhabitants of the world, says the Lord of hosts.’

30 So prophesy all this against them; tell them:

The Eternal will roar from on high,

from his sacred abode he will utter a cry,

thundering at his own homestead,

shouting at all dwellers upon earth,

as men shout loudly at the vintage.

The din resounds to the world’s end,

for the Eternal arraigns the nations,

he indicts all mankind,

and puts the wicked to the sword.

The Lord of hosts declares:

from race to race calamity extends,

a mighty storm is stirring

from the earth’s far ends.”

Then shall the victims of the Eternal lie

all over earth, from end to end,

like dung on the face of the ground,

unwailed, ungathered, unburied.

Howl and cry, you rulers,

roll in the ashes, you lords of the flock!

’Tis high time you were slain,

and slain you shall be, falling like choice lambs.

No escape for the rulers,

no way for the lords of the flock to flee!

Hark to the shriek of the rulers,

the howl from the lords of the flock!

The Eternal is wasting their pasture.

No sound now in the peaceful meadows,

so fierce the Eternal’s fury!

The very lions leave their lairs,

for the land now lies a desert

under the stress of the sword,

the furious wrath of the Eternal.

26 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came from the Eternal. 2 “Here is what the Eternal says: Stand in the court of the Eternal’s temple, and as all the citizens of Judah come to worship in the Eternal’s temple, tell them all the words that I order you to utter. Do not keep back a single word; 3 perhaps they will listen and turn, each man, from his evil course, so that I may relent and withhold the evil which I plan to inflict upon them for their evil deeds. 4 Tell them that this is the Eternal’s message: ‘If you will not listen to me, if you will not follow the directions that I put before you, 5 if you will not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you eagerly and earnestly (though you have not listened to them), 6 then I will lay this temple low like Shilo, and make this city a byword for the curses of every nation upon earth.’ ”

7 Now the priests and the prophets, as well as all the people, heard Jeremiah saying this in the Eternal’s temple. 8 So when Jeremiah had finished saying all that the Eternal had ordered him to say to all the people, the priests and the prophets seized him. “You shall die,” they said; 9 “what do you mean by prophesying in the Eternal’s name that this temple shall become like Shilo and that this city is to be desolate and untenanted?”

The people were all swarming round Jeremiah in the Eternal’s temple; 10 and when the authorities of Judah learned this, they came up to the Eternal’s temple from the royal palace, and seated themselves at the entrance of the new gate into the Eternal’s temple. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the authorities and to all the people, “This fellow deserves to die; he has been prophesying against this city--you have heard him with your own ears!” 12 But Jeremiah said to the authorities and to all the people, “It was the Eternal who sent me to prophesy against this temple and this city every word you have just heard. 13 Now then, amend your ways and deeds, obey the voice of the Eternal your God, and the Eternal will relent, he will withhold the evil he has pronounced against you. 14 As for myself, I am in your power; you can do with me as you think right and good. 15 Only, be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you bring the guilt of innocent blood upon yourselves and this city and its citizens; for it is a fact that the Eternal did send me to say all this in your hearing.”

16 The authorities and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die; he has been speaking to us in the name of the Eternal our God.” 17 Some of the older inhabitants also rose to their feet and said to all the popular assembly, 18 “When Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, he told all the people of Judah that this was the word of the Lord of hosts:

Sion shall be ploughed up like a field,

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

the temple-hill a mere wooded height. 19 Did king Hezekiah or the peopie of Judah ever put him to death? Did they not reverently appease the Eternal, till the Eternal relented and withheld the evil he had pronounced against them? But as for us, we are about to wreak evil on ourselves!”

20 (There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Eternal, Uriah the son of Shemaiah, belonging to Kiriath-jearim; he too prophesied against this city and this land, just as Jeremiah did. 21 When king Jehoiakim and all the authorities heard what he said, the king tried to murder him; but Uriah heard of it and fled in fear, away to Egypt. 22 So king Jehoiakim sent El-nathan the son of Achbor, with some others, to Egypt; 23 they brought Uriah from Egypt to king Jehoiakim, who had him slain with the sword and his body flung into the public grave.)

24 Ahikam the son of Shaphan, however, came to the help of Jeremiah, and prevented him from being handed over to the people and killed.

27 At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign, this message came from the Eternal to Jeremiah. 2 “The Eternal’s order to Jeremiah: Make a yoke of thongs and bars and put it on your neck; 3 then send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites, to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon, by the messengers who have come from them to Zedekiah, king of Judah, at Jerusalem. 4 Bid them tell their masters this. ‘Here is .what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Tell your masters 5 that it is I who made the earth, with all the men and beasts upon the surface of the earth, by my great power and outstretched arm. I give it to anyone whom I choose. 6 I have now given all these lands into the hand of my servant Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon; I have given him even the wild beasts for his service. 7 [[All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, till the time comes round for his own land; and then many a nation and many a great king shall make him a slave.]] 8 Any nation or kingdom that will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation, says the Eternal, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, till I bring it under his sway. 9 Pay you no heed to your prophets and seers and dreamers and soothsayers and sorcerers, who tell you that you will not be subject to the king of Babylon. 10 It is a lie that they prophesy to you--it will only banish you far from your land. 11 Whereas any nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let that nation stay on in its own land, says the Eternal; they shall till the land and live in it.” ’

12 Jeremiah gave the very same message to Zedekiah, king of Judah. “Put your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,” he said; “serve him and his people, and you shall live. 13 Why should you and your people die by the sword and the famine and the pestilence with which the Eternal has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Never heed what the prophets say, when they tell you not to be subject to the king of Babylon. It is a lie that they prophesy to you. 15 I never sent them, says the Eternal, yet they prophesy falsely in my name; it will only end in your being driven out to perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 To the priests and all the people Jeremiah also spoke as follows: “This is the Eternal’s order: never heed what your prophets say when they tell you that the vessels of the Eternal’s temple are soon to be brought back from Babylon. 17 It is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 18 If they are really prophets, if they have the Eternal’s word, let them plead with the Lord of hosts that the vessels which are left in the temple of the Eternal and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, may not be taken to Babylon. 19 As for [[the columns and the tank and the pedestals and]] the rest of the vessels left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon did not remove when he bore off to exile Jekoniah [[the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah]] from Jerusalem [[to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem]], 21 this is what the Lord [[of hosts, the God of Israel,]] says [[with regard to the vessels that remain in the temple of the Eternal, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem]]: 22 ‘They shall be taken to Babylon [[and remain there till the day I remember them]], says the Eternal[[; then I will bring them up and restore them to this place]].’ ”

28 Hananiah the prophet, the son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, declared to me in presence of the priests and of all the people in the temple of the Eternal, 2 “This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon; 3 within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Eternal’s temple that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon took away from this place to Babylon; 4 I will also bring back to this place Jekoniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the exiles of Judah who have gone to Babylon, says the Eternal; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon!’ ”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah addressed the prophet Hananiah in presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the temple of the Eternal. 6 “Amen,” said the prophet Jeremiah, “may the Eternal do so! May the Eternal fulfil your prophecy, by bringing back the vessels of the Eternal’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 Only, I would have you listen to what I am going to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets of old, who lived before me and before you, prophesied war when they prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 When a prophet prophesies peace, it is only after his word comes true that he is known to have been really sent by the Eternal.” 10 Then the prophet Hananiah taking the yoke from the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, 11 broke it and declared in presence of all the people, “This is the Eternal’s word: ‘Thus will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon off the necks of all the nations.’ ” The prophet Jeremiah went away.

12 It was after the prophet Hanamah had broken the yoke from the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, that this message came from the Eternal to Jeremiah: 13 “Go and tell Hananiah that this is the Eternal’s message: ‘The wooden yoke you have broken, but I will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 For this is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: It will be an iron yoke that I lay on the necks of all these nations, a yoke of slavery to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; serve him they shall.’ ” 15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Eternal never sent you; you are making this people rely on what is false. 16 Therefore the Eternal’s sentence is: ‘I will send you--off the face of the earth! This very year you are to die, for having taught disloyalty to the Eternal.’ ” 17 And that very year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah did die.

29 Here are the terms of the letter sent from Jerusalem by the prophet Jeremiah to the sheikhs in exile, to the priests, the prophets, and the laity who had been carried off from Jerusalem to exile at Babylon by Nebuchadrezzar 2 (this was after the surrender of king Jekoniah and the queen-mother, the eunuchs, the authorities of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the joiners). 3 The letter was conveyed by Eleasah the son of Shaphan, and by Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, who were sent on a mission to Babylon by Zedekiah king of Judah, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 4 “This is the message of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, 6 marry wives and bring up families, get wives for your sons and husbands for your daughters, and multiply where you are--never let your numbers diminish. 7 Do your best for the welfare of the country where I have sent you to be exiles; pray to the Eternal for it, since your welfare lies in its welfare.’ 8 This is the message of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Never let yourselves be deceived by the prophets and the seers among you, never listen to their dreams; 9 for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name--I never sent them,’ says the Eternal. 10 This is what the Eternal says: ‘As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are over, I will visit you and carry out my promise to you, by bringing you back here. 11 For I keep in mind my purpose for you, a purpose of weal, not of woe, to let you have hope for the future; 12 pray to me, and I will answer you; 13 seek me, and you shall find me; when you seek for me with all your heart, 14 I will reveal myself to you,’ says the Eternal. [[And I will restore your fortunes and collect you from all the nations and countries where I have deported you, says the Eternal, and bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.]] 16 [[For this is the Eternal’s sentence on the king who is seated upon David’s throne and on all the people staying in this city--those kinsfolk of yours who have not accompanied you into exile. 17 This is what the Lord of hosts says: I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence among them, and make them like horrible figs, so bad that they are uneatable; 18 I will hunt them down with sword, famine, and pestilence, and turn them into a horror among all the kingdoms of the world, to be execrated and stared at and hissed and derided among all the nations wherever I deport them, 19 because they would not listen to what I said (the Eternal declares), to the words I sent them earnestly and urgently by my servants the prophets--but listen they would not, says the Eternal! 20 So listen you to what the Eternal says, all you exiles whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.]] 15 But, you say, we have prophets of our own from the Eternal in Babylon? 21 Well, here is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has to say about Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying falsely to you in my name: ‘I will hand them over to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to be slain before your eyes; 22 and when any of the exiles of Judah in Babylon curse, it will be in terms of their doom, saying, “The Eternal treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted alive in the fire!” 23 --for behaving impiously in Israel, debauching the wives of other men, and speaking falsely in my name, without any authority from me. I know it, the Eternal declares, I witnessed it.’ ”

24 Shemaiah of Nehelam also 25 sent a letter on his own account to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah. 26 “The Eternal,” he wrote, “has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, to take charge of the Eternal’s temple, and you ought to put every madman who poses as a prophet into the stocks and the iron collar. 27 Why then have you not reprimanded Jeremiah of Anathoth? He has been posing to you as a prophet. 28 He has sent word to me in Babylon that ‘the exile will be long,’ and that we are to ‘build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.’ ” 29 The priest Zephaniah read this letter to Jeremiah. 30 Then this word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send all the exiles this sentence of the Eternal upon Shemaiah of Nehelam. ‘Since Shemaiah has been prophesying to you, although I never sent him, and since he has led you to believe in a lie, 32 therefore (the Eternal declares) I will punish Shemaiah and his descendants; he shall have no descendant among you who lives to see the happiness I am about to bring to my people (says the Eternal), for he has spoken disloyally against the Eternal.’ ”

30 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah. 2 “These are the orders of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Write down in a book every word I have spoken to you, 3 for the day is coming, the Eternal declares, when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah, and bring them back to possess the land that I gave to their fathers.”

4 Here are the words spoken by the Eternal with regard to Israel and Judah:

Wre have heard a scream of terror;

all is alarm and unrest.

Ask now and inquire,

if a man is ever with child;

for why do I see every man

pressing his hands on his loins,

and why is every face

turned to a deadly pallor?

Ah, this is an awful Day!

what day is like it?--

an hour of anguish for Jacob;

but he shall come through it.

“For on this Day, says the Lord of hosts,

I will break the yoke from their neck,

and snap their thongs;

they shall serve foreigners no more,

but serve their God, the Eternal,

and their Davidic king,

whom I will raise up for them.

[[Fear not then, my servant Jacob,

O Israel, be not dismayed;

I will bring you safe from afar,

and your race from the land of their exile;

Jacob again shall have quiet and ease,

with none to disturb him.

For I am with you, the Eternal promises,

to succour you;

I will put an end to all the nations,

where I scattered you,

but I will not put an end to you;

I will chastise you, but not too hard,

though I must punish you.]]”

For this is the Eternal’s word:

“Your hurt is beyond healing,

your wound is sore;

there is none to bandage you,

no salve for your bruise;

all your allies have forgotten you,

they care nothing for you;

I wounded you as a foe wounds,

with cruel punishment.

Why wail over your hurt,

that your pain is past all healing?

I did it all to you

for your guilt profound,

for your sins that so abound.

Yet all who devour you shall be devoured,

your foes shall all be exiled,

those who despoil you shall themselves be spoiled,

your plunderers--I will have them plundered.

For I will give you health again,

and heal your wounds, the Eternal promises--

you whom the hunters called an outcast,

‘Our quarry! No one cares for her!’ ”

18 This is the Eternal’s word:

“Jacob’s exiles I will restore,

I will take pity on his homes;

towns shall be built on their own sites,

and buildings stand where once they stood;

from them shall chants of praise resound,

the songs of folk delighted.

I will increase them, and they shall abound,

they shall be honoured and not slighted;

their sons shall thrive as in the days of old,

and I will care for their community,

punishing any who oppress them.

Their prince shall be one of themselves,

their ruler shall be native-born;

I will grant him access to myself,

and he shall enter my presence--

for how else could one dare

to enter my presence?” says the Eternal.

[[Here is the Eternal’s storm of fury,

a sweeping cyclone,

bursting on sinful heads!

Till he has done what he designed,

till he has carried out his mind,

the Eternal calls not back his anger fierce--

as, at the consummation, you shall find.]]

“Then,” the Eternal promises,

“I will be God to all the families of Israel,

and they shall be my people.”

For this is the Eternal’s promise:

“Those who survive the sword

shall find grace in the dungeon.”

When Israel yearned for rest,

then in a far land the Eternal appeared,

saying, “From of old I love you,

so now I draw you gently home.

Once more I will settle you,

O maiden Israel;

once more you shall take the tambourine

and dance merrily;

once more you shall plant vines

upon Samaria’s slopes,

and those who plant shall enjoy the grapes,

with praise to the Eternal.”

[[Yes, the day will come when vintagers

on the heights of Ephraim cry,

“Let us rise and go to Sion,

to the Eternal, our own God!”]]

For this is the Eternal’s word to Jacob:

“Shout aloud on the hill-tops,

ring out your praises, cry,

‘The Eternal has saved his people,

the remnant of Israel!’

I am bringing them out of the north-land,

gathering them from the ends of the earth;

blind and lame are among them,

women with child and women in travail--

they come back, a great company.

They went away in tears,

but I lead them back consoled.

I guide them to streams of water,

by smooth roads where they cannot stumble;

for to Israel I am a father,

and Ephraim is my first-born son.”

Listen to the Eternal’s word, ye nations,

spread the news to far-off isles;

“He who scattered Israel gathers them,

and tends them as a shepherd tends his flock.

For the Eternal has set Jacob free,

and rescued him from a stronger power.

So they shall gather singing on the heights of Sion,

all radiant over the Eternal’s bounty,

yearlings of sheep and cattle,

corn, oil, and wine;

for them life shall be like a watered garden,

no longer shall they pine.

The girls shall delight in dancing,

young men and old shall be merry;

I will change their grief to gladness,

consoling, cheering them after their sorrow;

I will heap rich food on their priests,

and satisfy my people with my bounty.

I have indeed heard Ephraim

bemoaning thus his plight:

‘Under thy chastening I have been chastened,

like an unbroken colt;

bring me back, let me return,

for thou art the Eternal, mv God.

My exile led me to repent;

when I was chastened, I smote my breast;

I sink in shame under the penalty

for what I did in youth.’

Is it because Ephraim is my favourite son,

my darling child,

that whenever I must punish him,

my heart dwells on him still?

Yes, my pity stirs for him--

I must have mercy on him!

Put up waymarks, set up guideposts,

bethink you of the high road,

by which you travelled hence.

Come back by it, O maiden Israel,

come back to your home towns here.

How long will you hesitate,

O erring daughter?

Why, the Eternal makes a new thing upon earth;

frail woman becomes manly!”

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says:

“When I restore their fortunes,

then in Judah’s land and towns

once more they shall use this word,

‘The Eternal bless you, Home of goodness,

Sacred heights!’

There, in Judah and in all her townships,

they shall live together,

the men who plough the land,

the herdsmen wandering with their flocks;

for richly I refresh the weary life

and I replenish everyone who pines.”

[[Here I awoke, I opened wide my eyes--

this was a pretty dream!]]

“A day comes, the Eternal promises,

when I sow Israel and Judah

with the seed of men and the seed of cattle;

as once I was alert to tear them up and harm them,

so I will be alert to set them up and plant them.

Then they shall say no more,

‘The fathers ate sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are on edge’;

but each shall die for his own sin,

and he who eats the sour grapes,

his own teeth shall be set on edge.

A day comes, the Eternal promises,

when I make a fresh compact

with all the house of Israel--

not like the compact I once made with their fathers,

the day I took them by the hand

to bring them out of Egypt’s land,

the compact that they broke,

till I had to reject them.

No, this is the compact I make

with Israel in the end;

I will put my law within them,

writing it on their hearts;

and I will be a God to them,

and they to me a people;

no longer shall they have to teach

their fellows, each instructing each,

how to know the Eternal; for they all

shall know me, both the great and small;

for I will pardon their offences,

their sin I never will recall.

35 This is the word of the Eternal, who sets the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, who stirs the sea up till its waters roar (his name, the Lord of hosts): 36 only when this fixed order vanishes from my sight, says the Eternal, shall the race of Israel cease to be a nation before me for all time. 37 This is the Eternal’s word: only when heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below laid bare, will I ever cast off the race of Israel for all that they have done, says the Eternal.

38 A day comes, the Eternal dedares, when the Eternal will have the city rebuilt from the tower of Hananel to the gate at the corner, 39 when the line of the wall shall run straight south to the hill of Gareb and then turn round to Goah. 40 The very valley of the dead, where the altar-refuse is thrown, with the fields as far as the ravine of Kidron, as far as the corner of the Horse gate eastward, shall all be sacred to the Eternal; never again shall they be torn up or demolished.”

32 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah (the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar), 2 just when the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was a prisoner in the guard-house of the royal palace 3 (for Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “What do you mean by prophesying that the Eternal declares, ‘I will hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it? 4 Nor shall Zedekiah king of Judah make his escape from the Chaldeans; he shall certainly be given up to the king of Babylon, and speak to him personally and see him face to face; 5 the king shall conduct Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain [[till I remember him, says the Eternal; though you fight the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed]]’ ”). 6 This word from the Eternal came to Jeremiah: 7 “Hanamel the son of your uncle is coming to ask you to buy his land at Anathoth, since you have a right to the first offer of it.” 8 So Hanamel the son of my uncle came to me in the guard-house, as the Eternal had predicted. He said, “Pray buy my land at Anathoth; you are the lawful heir, you have a right to the first offer; buy it for yourself.” 8 (Then I realized that the word was really the Eternal’s.) 9 I bought the land at Anathoth from Hanamel the son of my uncle, paying him down two pounds seven shillings in silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, had it witnessed, and paid down the money in full. 11 Then I took the purchase-deeds, the sealed document and the covering envelope, 12 and handed them to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in presence of Hanamel the son of my uncle, in presence of the witnesses who had signed the purchase-deeds, and in presence of all the Jews who were seated in the guard-house. 13 In their presence I gave this charge to Baruch: 14 “These are the orders of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—take these purchase-deeds, the sealed document and the covering envelope, and place them in an earthen jar, that they may last for many a long day. 15 For, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the time will come when houses and lands and vineyards shall again be bought in this country.”

16 After I handed the purchase-deeds to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed thus to the Eternal: 17 “[[Ah! Lord Eternal, thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great power and outstretched arm--nothing is too hard for thee. 18 Thou showest kindness to thousands, and thou bringest the guilt of fathers home to their children after them, thou great and mighty God, 19 great in counsel and mighty in action, whose eyes are open to all the ways of men, rewarding every man as he has lived, and as his deeds deserve. 20 In Egypt’s land, as ever since, thou didst provide signal deeds of awe, both for Israel and for outsiders; thou didst make thyself a name that is still remembered. 21 From Egypt’s land thou didst bring out thy people Israel with signal deeds of awe, by might and main, spreading terror around: 22 thou gavest them this land which thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give them, a land abounding in milk and honey; 23 they entered in and took possession of it, but they would not listen to thy voice nor follow thy directions; they have not done a thing thou didst command them; and so thou hast made all this evil befall them.]] 24 Here are siege-mounds for storming the city, and under the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, the city is sure to fall into the hands of the Chaldean besiegers! Thy threat has been fulfilled, as thou seest. 25 And it was thou, O Lord Eternal, who didst tell me to buy the land for money: I had the deeds written and sealed and wit­nessed, and here is the city falling into the hands of the Chaldeans!”

26 Then this word from the Eternal came to me: 27 “I am the Eternal, God over all men; is anything too hard for me? 28 [[I am indeed handing this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who is to capture it. 29 The Chaldean besiegers shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, burning up the houses on whose roofs sacrifice was offered to Baal and libations poured out in honour of foreign gods—in order to spite me! 30 For ever since they were young, the Israelites and the Judahites have done nothing but evil in my sight; 31 ever since the day it was built, down to this day, this city has been provoking me to remove it in anger and fury from my presence, 32 for all the evil that the Israelites and the Judahites have done to spite me--themselves, their kings, their authorities, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the citizens of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned their backs to me, not their faces; though I taught them earnestly and urgently, they would not listen and be instructed. 34 They have defiled the very house that belongs to me, by putting their detestable idols inside it; 35 and they have erected shrines to Baal, in the valley belonging to Ben-Hinnom, for burning alive their sons and daughters to Molek--a thing I never ordered, a thing that never entered my mind, this abominable practice that led Judah into crime!

36 “This therefore is the word of the Eternal, the God of Israel, regarding this city. You say, it is falling into the hands of the king of Babylon, under the sword, the famine, and the pestilence? But the Eternal declares, as surely as I have brought all this grave evil on the people, so surely will I bring upon them all the good I promise. 37 I will gather them from all the countries where I drove them in my anger and fury and fierce wrath, and bring them back to this place, where I will let them live secure; 38 they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them a different life, within and without, a life of lasting reverence for me, to the good of themselves and of their children after them; 40 I will make a lasting compact with them, never to leave off doing them good, and I will put reverence for myself in their hearts, that they may never swerve from me; 41 yes, I will rejoice over them and settle them in this land faithfully, with all my heart and soul.]] 43 In this country that you call desolate, stripped of men and cattle, handed over to the Chaldeans, lands shall again be bought; 44 men shall buy lands for money, deeds shall be subscribed and sealed and witnessed, both in the district of Benjamin and in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem and in the townships of Judah, of the highlands, of the lowlands, and of the south. For I will restore their fortunes, the Eternal promises.”

33 When Jeremiah was still a prisoner in the guard-house, a second message came to him from the Eternal. 2 “[[This is the word of the Eternal who made the earth and formed it to stand fast--the Eternal is his name: 3 Call to me, and I will answer by revealing what is hard and hidden, what you do not know!]] 4 This is the word of the Eternal, the God of Israel, regarding the houses of this city and the royal palaces, which have been broken up to form a barricade against the siege-works and the sword. 5 The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill them with the corpses of those whom I slay in my anger and fury, men whose wickedness has made me withdraw my favour from this city. 6 Yet I will cure the city’s wounds, I will heal her, I will let the people see a rich and stable peace. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and set them up as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 The city shall bring me joy and praise and glory, while all nations of the world, when they hear of all the good I am doing her, shall tremble in awe at all the good and the welfare I provide for her.”

10 This is the Eternal’s word: “In this place that you call desolate, stripped of men and cattle, in the townships of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that lie desolate, stripped of men and cattle, 11 the sound of mirth and gladness shall again be heard, the voice of bridegroom and bride, the voice of those who bring their thank- offerings into the Eternal’s temple, singing,

‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,

for the Eternal is good,

for his kindness never fails.’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land, says the Eternal, as at the first. 12 This is the word of the Lord of hosts: In this place so desolate, stripped of men and cattle, and in all its townships, there shall again be homesteads of shepherds, with flocks reclining beside them; 13 in the townships of the highlands, the lowlands, and the south, in the district of Benjamin, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and in the townships of Judah, flocks shall once more file past to be counted up, the Eternal promises.

14 A day comes, the Eternal promises, when I shall carry out my gracious purpose for the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 3 In those days and at that time,

I raise up a true scion of David,

to enforce law and justice in the land;

in those days Judah shall be safe,

and Jerusalem live secure,

and this shall be her title,

‘The Eternal our champion’

17 For this is the Eternal’s promise: A Davidic king shall never be lacking to sit upon the throne of Israel, 18 nor shall the Levitical priests ever lack a man to offer burnt-offerings in my presence or to burn oblations or to offer sacrifice.”

19 This message also came from the Eternal to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Eternal says: If you could break my compact with day and night, so that day and night should not come round in their appointed order, 21 then my compact could be broken with my servant David, and a son of his might fail to sit upon his throne; or my compact with the Levitical priests my ministers might be broken. 22 I will make the race of my servant David and of the Levites who minister to me as numberless as the stars in heaven, as measureless as the sands of the sea.”

23 This message also came from the Eternal to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not noticed what this people are saying? They say that the Eternal has cast off his two chosen families; they say, he so despises his people that he no longer counts it a nation at all. 25 What the Eternal says is this: ‘As surely as I created day and night and fixed the frame of heaven and earth, 26 so surely will I never cast off the race of my servant David, or fail to choose descendants of his to rule the race of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will restore their fortunes, in pity for them.’ ”

34 This message came from the Eternal to Jeremiah, when Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon and all his army, with all the realms and races of the world under his sway, were attacking Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. 2 “This is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah the king of Judah and tell him that this is the Eternal’s word: ‘I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, who shall burn it up; 3 you cannot make your escape from him, you will certainly be captured and put into his hands; you will have to face the king of Babylon and speak to him in person, and to Babylon you must go. 4 But listen to what the Eternal says, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Eternal says regarding yourself: 5 you are not to die by the sword, you are to die a peaceful death; and as spices were burned at the burial of your forefathers, the kings before you, so shall they be burned for you, and the lament--“Alas for my lord!”--shall rise for you. I have said the word, the Eternal declares.’ ” 6 So Jeremiah gave this message to Zedekiah the king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7 when the king of BabyIon’s army was attacking Jerusalem, Lakhish, and Azekah--the only fortified towns of Judah that were left.

8 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah, after king Zedekiah had made a compact with all the people in Jerusalem that freedom was to be proclaimed-- 9 every man to set free his Hebrew slaves, male or female, so that no Jew or Jewess should be a slave any longer. 10 But although all the authorities and all the people agreed to the compact that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, 11 they afterwards forced back into slavery the male and female slaves whom they had liberated. 12 So this message came from the Eternal to Jeremiah: 13 “Here is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, says: ‘Whereas on the day that I brought your fathers out of Egypt’s land, from that slave-pen, I made this com-pact with them 14 that at the end of six years they were to release any fellow Hebrew who had been sold to them--at the end of six years’ service they were to set him free (a compact of mine that your fathers would not obey or observe); 15 and whereas you on the other hand have now done what I consider right, by proclaiming a general freedom, making a compact in my presence, within the temple that belongs to me, 16 and have then turned round and sullied my honour by forcing back into slavery, every one of you, the very male and female slaves whom you had liberated to go where they pleased; 17 therefore, the Eternal declares, since you would not obey me and proclaim freedom, each to his brother and fellow, I now proclaim you free, says the Eternal--free to fall under the sword, the pestilence, and the famine! I will make your fate a terror to every kingdom upon earth. 10 And as for the men who broke my compact, who did not carry out the termsof the compact that they made in my presence when they passed between the pieces of the calf that they had cut in two, 19 and for the authorities of Judah and the authorities of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the laity, who passed between the pieces of the calf that they had cut in two, 20 I will hand them over to their enemies, and their dead bodies shall be devoured by wild birds and wild beasts. 21 Zedekiah king of Judah and his leading men I will hand over to their enemies, to the army of the king of Babylon which has retired from besieging you; 22 at my word of command, says the Eternal, they shall return to this city, attack it and capture it and bum it up, and the towns of Judah I will make desolate and uninhabited.’ ”

35 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah during the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the clan of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into one of the side-rooms in the temple of the Eternal; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah and the grandson of Habazziniah, with his brothers and all his sons and the whole clan of the Rechabites; 4 I brought them into the temple of the Eternal, into the side-room belonging to the sons of Hanan the son of Gedaliah, a man of God; it was near the side-room of the authorities and above the side-room belonging to Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the warden of the Threshold. 5 Then I put bowls full of wine and cups in front of the Rechabite clan, and told them to drink. 6 But they said, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab gave us this order: ‘Never drink any wine, neither you nor your sons; 7 never build a house, never sow seed, never plant, never own a vineyard; live in tents all your days, so that you may live long on the earth where you are but pass- ing guests.’ 8 And we have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab in every whit; we have drunk no wine, neither we nor our wives nor our sons nor our daughters; 9 we have built no houses to dwell in; we have neither vineyard nor field nor seed; 10 we have lived in tents, obeying our ancestor Jonadab in every whit. 11 It was only when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, that we thought we had better go to Jerusalem in order to escape the Babylonian and the Aramaean armies. That is why we are inside Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah. 13 “This is what the Lord of hosts says: Go and say to the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Will this not teach you to obey my words? says the Eternal. 14 What Jonadab the son of Rechab told his followers, his command to drink no wine, has been kept; to this day they drink no wine, in obedience to their ancestor’s command. But you have not listened to me, though I spoke to you earnestly and urgently. 15 I sent all my servants the prophets to tell you that if you gave up your evil courses, every man of you, and mended your ways, and ceased to follow foreign gods in worship, then you would remain in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers. But you would not attend, you would not listen to me. 16 So, as the followers of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command given them by their ancestors, while this people has not listened to me, 17 the Eternal, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: Now am I about to bring upon Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the misery with which I threatened them; for I spoke to them but they would not listen, I called to them but they would not answer.’ ” 18 But to the clan of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Since you have kept the command of your ancestor Jonadab and carried out all his injunctions and done all that he ordered you, 19 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, promises that Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to serve me in my ministry.’ ”

36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Eternal: 2 “Take a scroll and write upon it all that I have ever said to you against Jerusalem and Judah and all the nations, from the day when I first spoke to you in Josiah’s reign down to this day. 3 It may be that when the house of Judah hear all the evil that I intend for them, they will all give up their evil life and receive my pardon for their sin and guilt.” 4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote upon a scroll, while Jeremiah dictated all that the Eternal had said to him. 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am debarred from entering the temple; 6 so you must go and read aloud on a fast-day in the temple the words of the Eternal which you have written, to my dictation, on the scroll; the people are to hear them, and you must also read them aloud to the Judaeans who come in from the country towns. 7 It may be that, with humble entreaties to the Eternal, they will give up their evil life, each one of them; for fierce is the anger and fury with which the Eternal has threatened this people.”

45 This is what the prophet Jeremiah told Baruch the son of Neriah, after he had written on the scroll what Jeremiah dictated to him, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah: 2 “Here is what the Eternal, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch:

You say, ‘Alas now, the Eternal adds anguish to my pain;

I am wearied out with moaning, rest I cannot!’

But the Eternal says, ‘When I have to demolish what I built,

when I have to uproot what once I planted,

do you expect smooth fortunes for yourself?

Never expect that! Only, I promise you,

as I bring doom now upon all mankind,

I will let you escape with your own life,

wherever you must go.’ ”

8 Then Baruch the son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah had told him; he read the words of the Eternal from the scroll within the temple. 9 For when all the citizens of Jerusalem and all who came in to Jerusalem from the country towns of Judah were summoned to a fast before the Eternal in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, 10 Baruch read aloud Jeremiah’s message in the scroll to all the people, from the window of the side-room belonging to Gemariah the son of the secretary Shaphan, which was inside the upper court at the entrance to the new gate of the temple.

11 Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Eternal read from the scroll, 12 he walked down to the palace, where he found all the authorities seated in the secretary’s room--Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the others. 13 After Micaiah had told them all the words that he had heard Baruch read aloud from the scroll to the people, 14 the authorities all sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Kushi, to tell Baruch to bring the scroll from which he had been reading aloud to the people. 15 When Baruch appeared, scroll in hand, they told him to sit down and read it aloud. So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they had heard it all, they turned to one another in alarm, whispering, “We must inform the king of all this.” 17 They asked Baruch, “How did you come to write all this?” 18 Baruch answered “Jeremiah dictated it all to me, and I wrote it down in ink upon the scroll.” 19 So the authorities said to Baruch, “Go into hiding, you and Jeremiah; let no man know where you are.”

20 Then, after depositing the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king’s private cabinet and told the king everything. 21 The king sent Jehudi for the scroll; and when he brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary, he read it aloud to the king and all the authorities in attendance. 22 The king was in his winter apartments, with a brazier burning in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi read three or four leaves, the king would slash them off with a penknife and fling them into the fire burning upon the brazier, till the whole of the scroll was consumed in the fire burning upon the brazier. 24 There was no sense of horror, no tearing of clothes, on the part of the king or of any of his ministers who heard all these words, 25 although Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah besought the king not to burn the scroll. However, he would not listen to them; 26 he ordered the royal prince Jerahmeel, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to fetch Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Eternal hid them safe.

27 After the king had burned the scroll containing the words which Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, this word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take once more another scroll, and write upon it all the words that were on the former scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29 And give Jehoiakim king of Judah this message from the Eternal: ‘You burned the scroll and asked me why I had written in it that the king of Babylon was coming to destroy this land and clear it of man and beast. 30 Well, here is what the Eternal has to say about Jehoiakim king of Judah: No descendant of his shall ever sit upon the throne of David, and his own corpse shall be flung out, exposed to the day’s heat and to the frost by night. 31 I will punish him, his offspring, and his ministers, for their evil doing; I will bring upon them and the citizens of Jerusalem all the miseries with which I have threatened them in vain.’ ” 32 So Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote upon it, to Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned, besides many other words of the same nature.

37 Zedekiah the son of Jehoiakim reigning in place of Koniah the son of Jehoiakim, having been set upon the throne of Judah by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 2 Neither he nor his ministers nor the people of the country paid any heed to messages of the Eternal delivered by the prophet Jeremiah. 5 However, when the Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt, and when news of this led the Chaldeans to abandon their siege of Jerusalem, 3 king Zedekiah sent Jehukal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to ask Jeremiah if he would pray for them to the Eternal their God. 4 (Jeremiah was moving in and out among the people; he had not yet been imprisoned.) 6 Then this word came from the Eternal to Jeremiah: 7 “The Eternal, the God of Israel, bids you say this to the king of Judah who sent you to consult me: ‘This army of the Pharaoh, advancing to relieve you, shall retreat to Egypt, its own country, 8 and the Chaldeans shall come back to assault this city, capturing it and burning it in flames. 9 Do not delude yourselves, says the Eternal, with the notion that the Chaldeans will leave you alone; they will not leave you alone. 10 Though you were to defeat the whole of this Chaldean host arrayed against you, till none were left but wounded men, one to a tent, they would start up to burn this city in the flames.’ ”

11 When the Chaldean forces had abandoned the siege of Jerusalem, in fear of the Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started from Jerusalem for the district of Benjamin, to take over some property among his own people. 13 But just as he reached the Benjamin-gate of the city, he was arrested by a sentry called Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, who shouted to the prophet Jeremiah, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” 14 “It is a lie,” said Jeremiah, “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” However, Irijah would not listen to him; he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the authorities, 15 who in anger had Jeremiah flogged and confined in the house of the secretary Jonathan, which had been turned into a prison. 16 So Jeremiah found himself in the dungeon cells, where for some time he had to stay.

17 Then king Zedekiah sent for him privately, and interviewed him in the palace. “Is there any word from the Eternal?” he asked. “There is,” said Jeremiah, adding, “word that you are to be handed over to the king of Babylon!” 18 Jeremiah then asked king Zedekiah, “For what crime against yourself or your ministers or this nation have you put me in prison? 19 Pray where have you put your prophets, who assured you that the king of Babylon would never attack you or this country? 20 Listen, my lord king, be gracious to my plea; let me not be taken back to the house of the secretary Jonathan, or I shall die there.” 21 So king Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the guard-house, where he got a loaf from the bakers’ bazaar every day, so long as any bread was left within the city.

38 Jeremiah lay in the qo guard-house. But Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jehukal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah, had heard Jeremiah declaring in public that the Eternal said, 2 “Anyone who remains in the city shall die by the sword or by famine or by plague, but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans shall live, escaping with his life,” 3 or that the Eternal said, “This city shall certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and captured.” 4 So these authorities said to the king, “Pray have this fellow put to death; he takes the heart out of all the citizens and soldiers left within the city, by talking like this! The fellow is out to ruin the city, not to help it!” 5 “Well,” said king Zedekiah, “he is in your hands”--for the king was powerless against them. 6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into an underground cistern belonging to the royal prince Malchiah, below the guard-house, lowering him down with ropes; the cistern held no water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

7 However, an Ethiopian eunuch called Ebedmelek, belonging to the royal household, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. 8 So Ebedmelek left the palace to find the king who was then seated as judge at the Benjamin-gate. 9 “Your majesty,” he said, “these men have treated the prophet Jeremiah foully; they have put him into a cistern, and he will die on the spot from starvation, for there is no food left in the city.” 10 Then the king ordered Ebedmelek to take three men and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he died. 11 Ebedmelek took the men with him and went to the palace, where he got some torn, tattered rags out of a lumber-room below the treasury; these he lowered by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern, 12 saying, “Put them between your armpits and the ropes.” 13 Jeremiah did so. And they pulled him up by the ropes out of the cistern.

Jeremiah then stayed in the guard-house. 14 King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah to the guards’ entrance into the temple. The king said, “I ask you a question which you must answer frankly.” 15 Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, “But if I tell you the truth, you will certainly put me to death, will you not? Besides, you will not listen to any advice from me.” 16 So the king swore this oath in secret to Jeremiah: “As the Eternal lives, who made this life of ours, I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to these murderous men.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Eternal says, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surrender to the king of Babylon’s officers, then you save your life, and this city shall not be burned in flames; you and your household will be spared. 18 But if you will not surrender to the king of Babylon’s officers, then this city shall be handed over to the Chaldeans to be burned in flames, and you cannot escape from their hands.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I am afraid the Chaldeans may hand me over to the Jews who have deserted to them, and they may ill-treat me.” 20 “They shall not hand you over,” Jeremiah answered; “do listen to what I say--it is the voice of the Eternal--and then all will go well with you, and you shall live. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, then I have this vision for you from the Eternal: 22 I saw all the women who are left within the palace of the king of Judah, led away to the officers of the king of Babylon, and chanting as they went,

‘Your bosom friends have been too much for you

and led you far astray;

they got your feet deep in the mud,

then turned away.’ 23 All your wives and children shall be led away to the Chaldeans, and you yourself cannot escape from their hands; you shall be captured by the king of Babylon, and this city burned in flames.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Keep this interview a secret, and your life is safe. 25 If the authorities hear that I have been talking to you, and if they come and ask you to tell them what you said to the king and what the king said to you, on pain of death if you will not disclose it, 26 then you must tell them that you were petitioning the king not to be sent back to die at Jonathan’s house.” 27 The authorities did all come and question Jeremiah, and he answered them just as the king had told him; so they said no more, for the interview had been quite private. 28 Jeremiah then remained within the guardhouse till the day Jerusalem fell.

15 It was during Jeremiah’s detention in the guardhouse that this message came to him from the Eternal, 16 “Go and tell Ebedmelek the Ethiopian that the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: ‘Though I am bringing evil and not good upon this city, as I said I would, 17 yet I will preserve you on that day--so the Eternal promises; you shall not be handed over to the men you are afraid of. 18 I will certainly rescue you; you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me--so the Eternal promises.’ ”

28 When Jerusalem fell,

8 The Chaldeans burned down the royal palace and the houses of the common people, and they demolished the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief carried off to exile in Babylon the citizens who remained in the city, and those who had deserted to him, with all the craftsmen who were left. 10 However, he did leave in the land of Judah some poor people who were penniless, allotting them vineyards and fields.

11 As for Jeremiah, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon issued these orders to Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief: 12 “Take good care of him; do him no harm, but treat him as he wishes.” 13 So a message to this effect was forwarded by Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief to Nebushazban the field-marshal, and Nergalsarezer the cavalry commander, and the other principal officers of the king of Babylon.]]

40 A message that came from the Eternal to Jeremiah, after he had been released from Ramah by Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief, who had found him there, chained among the prisoners who were all being carried from Jerusalem and Judaea into exile at Babylon:

31 “Here is what the Eternal says:

‘A sound is heard at Ramah,

a wail, a passion of tears--

’tis Rachel sobbing for her children,

sobbing for her children gone,

refusing to be comforted.

But cease your sobbing,

stay your eyes from tears;

your labour for the children is not lost,

they shall return from the land of their foes;

there is hope for you in days to come,

your children shall return--the Eternal promises.’ ”

40 The commander-in-chief took Jeremiah and said to him, 2 “The Eternal your God pronounced this sentence of doom upon this place, and he has kept his word; 3 it is because you sinned against the Eternal and would not listen to him, that this has happened to you. 4 Well now, I am releasing you to-day from the chains upon your hands. If you care to come with me to Babylon, I will take good care of you. If not, then never mind; all the land lies open to you, go wherever you think right and good. 5 Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor of the towns of Judah; stay with him, or go wherever else you choose.” Then the commander-in-chief sent him off with some food and a present; 6 Jeremiah did go to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and stayed wi th him among the people who were left in the land.

When the leaders of the Jewish forces throughout the country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam as governor of the land, in charge of the destitute men, women, and children who had not been carried off to exile in Babylon, 8 they and their men all went to Gedaliah at Mizpah; there were Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah the son of a man from Maakah. 9 Gedaliah pledged his word to them and to their men, swearing that they need not fear to serve the Chaldeans; “stay on in the country,” he said, “serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well with you. 10 For my part I reside at Mizpah in order to represent your interests whenever Chaldean officials arrive upon the scene; but you can gather and store up wine, fruit, and oil; you can live in any towns you care to occupy.”

11 When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and elsewhere, heard that the king of Babylon had allowed some Jews to stay on in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam as governor, 12 they too returned to Judah from the countries to which they had been driven; they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered large stores of wine and fruit.

13 Now Johanan the son of Kareah went with all the other leaders of the Jewish forces to Gedaliah at Mizpah and asked him, 14 “Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to murder you?” Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe it. 15 Johanan the son of Kareah then had a private interview with him at Mizpah; he asked him, “Do let me go and kill Ishmael. No one need know about it. Why should he murder you? It will mean the dispersal of all the Jews who have rallied round you, and the ruin of all who are left in Judah.” 16 “No,” said Gedaliah to Johanan, “you must not do that; what you say about Ishmael is not true.”

41 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah; as they dined together, 2 Ishmael and his ten companions drew their swords and murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor of the country. 3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and all the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there. 4 Next day, before any one knew about Gedaliah’s murder, 5 eighty pilgrims arrived from Shechem, Shilo, and Samaria, their beards shaved off, their bodies gashed, and their clothes torn, bringing vegetables and frankincense to be offered at the temple. 6 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, as they marched along wailing. When he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7 But as soon as they were inside the town, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and his companions murdered them and flung their bodies into an underground cistern. 8 Ten men among them, however, said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us; we have stores hidden in the fields, wheat, barley, oil, and honey.” So he let them alone and did not murder them along with their fellows. 9 (The cistern into which Ishmael flung all the corpses of the men he murdered, was the large cistern constructed by king Asa during his campaign against Baasha Mng of Israel; the men whom Ishmael murdered filled it full.) 10 Ishmael then carried off as prisoners all the rest of the people at Mizpah, and the princesses whom Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief had left in charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

He started across country for Ammon. 11 But as soon as Johanan the son of Kareah and the other leaders of the Jewish forces heard of all the crimes committed by Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, 12 they mustered all their men and set out to attack him. They came upon Ishmael the son of Nethaniah at the large pool of Gibeon. 13 When the prisoners whom Ishmael had carried off from Mizpah saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the other leaders of the forces with him, they all rejoiced 14 and broke away to join Johanan. 15 Ishmael escaped with eight of his men, and got away to the Ammonites, 16 while Johanan the son of Kareah and the other leaders of the forces with him took charge of all the people whom Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had carried off as prisoners from Mizpah after his murder of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, men, women, children, and eunuchs. 17 They travelled on, stopping for a while at the sheepfolds of Kim- ham near Bethlehem, whence they intended to move on to Egypt; 18 for they were terrified of the Chaldeans, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor of the country.

42 Then all the leaders of the Jewish forces, with Johanan the son of Kareah, Azariah the son of Maaseiah, and all the people high and low, said to the prophet Jeremiah, 2 “Let us entreat you to favour us by praying for us to the Eternal your God, a mere remnant as we are. We are but a few left out of many, as you can see for yourself; 3 let the Eternal your God direct us where to go and what to do.” 4 “I hear you,” said Jeremiah; “I will indeed pray to the Eternal your God, as you desire, and I will tell you whatever the Eternal’s answer may be, keeping nothing back.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “The Eternal be our true and faithful witness that we will follow any instructions which the Eternal sends to us through you. 6 Whether it be welcome or unwelcome, we will obey the word of the Eternal our God to whom we send you, and so obeying prosper.”

7 Ten days later, the Eternal’s word came to Jeremiah. 8 He summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the other leaders of the Jewish forces, along with all the people high and low, 9 and said to them, “Here is the word of the Eternal, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your humble petition: 10 If only you remain in this country, I will build you up, instead of pulling you down; I will plant you, instead of uprooting you; for I am sorry about the misery I have inflicted on you. 11 You are terrified of the king of Babylon? Never fear him, never fear him, the Eternal says, for I will be with you to rescue you from his hands. 12 I will have pity on you, and move him to have pity on you and allow you to remain in your own country. 13 But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this country,’ if you disobey the Eternal your God 14 and say, ‘No, we will go to Egypt and make our home in a land where we shall see no more war and hear no blare of trumpets and never starve,’ 15 then listen to what the Eternal says, O survivors of Judah; the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares, ‘If you are bent on going to Egypt and if you really settle there, 16 then the sword you dread shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, the hunger that you fear shall pursue you into Egypt, and you shall die there; 17 all who are bent on going to settle in Egypt shall die by the sword, by famine, or by plague, not one of them shall survive or escape the fate that I inflict upon them. 18 Here is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: As my fury and anger have been poured out on the citizens of Jerusalem, so shall my fury be poured out upon you, when you enter Egypt; you shall become an object of execration and horror, accursed and derided, and you shall never see this place again!’ 19 O survivors of Judah, this is the Eternal’s word to you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ You will go? Then be sure of this, you have ruined yourselves. 20 I testify against you for sending me to the Eternal our God, asking me to pray for you to the Eternal our God, promising to do whatever I told you was the will of the Eternal our God, 21 and then, after I told you to-day, refusing to listen to any orders which the Eternal sends you by me. 22 For that, be sure, you are doomed to die by the sword, or by famine, or by the plague in the land where you choose to go and settle.”

43 When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words that the Eternal their God had sent him to deliver to them, 2 Azariah the son of Maaseiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and the rest of that insolent group, said to Jeremiah, “You are a liar; the Eternal our God never sent you to forbid us to go and settle in Egypt; 3 it is Baruch the son of Neriah who is setting you against us! He would have us handed over to the Chaldeans to be killed or carried prisoners to Babylon.”

4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, with all the other leaders of the Jewish forces and all the people, refused to obey the Eternal’s order to remain in the country of Judah; 5 Johanan the son of Kareah and all the other leaders took the survivors in Judah, who had come back to settle in the country, 6 men, women, and children, princesses, every person who had been entrusted by Nebuzaradan the commander-in-chief to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, took them all, including the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch the son of Neriah; 7 heedless of what the Eternal said, they entered the land of Egypt and reached Daphne.

8 At Daphne this message from the Eternal came to Jeremiah: 9 “Take some large stones in your hand, let some of the Jews see you hiding them secretly under the paved court in front of the entry to the Pharaoh’s house at Daphne, 10 and tell them that this is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am sending for my servant Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, who shall erect his throne over these stones that you have buried, spreading his state carpet on the top of them. 11 He shall come to ravage the land of Egypt, inflicting death on those who are doomed to die, capturing those doomed to be imprisoned, and putting to the sword those who are doomed to the sword; 12 he shall set fire to the temples of the gods in Egypt, burning them and carrying off the idols; he shall scour the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks vermin out of his plaid; 13 he shall demolish the obelisks of Beth-shemesh, and then leave unmolested.’ ”

44 Here is the message that a A came to Jeremiah about all the Jews who were living in Egypt, at Migdol, Daphne, Memphis, and in Upper Egypt: 2 “The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: ‘You have seen all the misery I have inflicted on Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. There they lie to-day, empty and desolate, 3 for their wicked practices that angered me! They took to offering sacrifices in the service of foreign gods, unknown to them or to yourselves or to your fathers. 4 I sent you all my servants the prophets, earnestly and urgently, to forbid this abomination which I hated; 5 but they would not listen or obey, they would not give up their wicked practice of sacrificing to foreign gods. 6 So my fury and my anger broke out blazing through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, laying them waste and desolate, as they lie to-day. 7 Now then, says the Eternal, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, why will you ruin yourselves and put an end to Judah, man, woman, child, and babe? 8 Why anger me with your practices, sacrificing to foreign gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to settle? It will mean the end of you; all nations upon earth will curse and taunt you. 9 Have you forgotten the crimes of your fathers, and of the kings and leaders of Judah, ay and the crimes of your own wives in the country of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 It has not made them humble or afraid, not to this day; they have not followed my directions nor have they lived by the rules I gave to you and to your fathers. 11 Therefore, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have determined on evil against you, to make an end of Judah; 12 as for the survivors of Judah who made up their minds to go and settle in the land of Egypt, in the land of Egypt shall they all perish, all of them, falling by the sword and famine, dying young and old by sword and famine, and becoming an object of horror and execration, accursed and derided. 13 For, as I punished Jerusalem, so will I punish all who have settled in the land of Egypt, by sword, by famine, and by plague, 14 till not a single Jewish settler in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive to make his way back to the longed-for land of Judah; only a fugitive or two shall ever get back.’ ”

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives sacrificed to foreign gods, and all the women who were standing by, shouted loudly to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen to this word of yours that you have uttered as from the Eternal. 17 No, we mean to keep without fail this oath of ours to offer sacrifices to the Queen of heaven, and pour libations in her honour, as we used to do, we and our fathers, our kings and leaders, in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we prospered and came to no harm. 18 But ever since we gave up sacrificing to the Queen of heaven and pouring out libations in her honour, we have beCn in utter need and at the mercy of the sword and famine.” 19 “Yes,” cried the women, “and had we not the consent of our husbands when we sacrificed to the Queen of heaven and poured libations in her honour and made cakes in the shape of her?” 20 [[Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women who had given this answer: 21 “You offered these sacrifices in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and leaders and the commons? Yes, and did the Eternal forget it? 22 Did it not rankle in his mind, till he could bear your wicked practices and abominable crimes no longer? That is why your land lies desolate and empty, horrible and accursed, to-day. 23 This doom is yours to-day, because you offered these sacrifices, because you sinned against the Eternal and would not obey him, because you would not follow his directions and orders and injunctions.”]]

24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women: “Listen to the word of the Eternal. 25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: You women have done all you swore to do, saying, ‘We will perform our vows without fail, sacrificing to the Queen of heaven and pouring libations in her honour.’ Well, keep your word, carry out your vows! 26 But listen to the Eternal’s word, you Jews in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name that my name shall never be heard on the lips of any Jew who has gone to settle in Egypt. 28 Then the survivors of the Jews in Egypt will find out whose word stands, mine or theirs. 29 And here is the sign that I will punish you in this country, the Eternal says, to teach you that my threat of doom will stand against you: 30 I will deliver the Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and murderers, as I put Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy and murderer.’ ” * * *

46 Messages from the Eternal to the prophet Jeremiah about the nations.

2 On Egypt: about the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt at Karkemish on the river Euphrates, where it was defeated by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

Ready with your shields and targes,

forward to the fray!

Harness horses, mount your chargers,

on with helmets, swing your spears,

don your coats of mail!

What! routed, in a panic!

Their braves are beaten,

they fly, never rally,

beset by terror;

but no speed saves them,

no hero escapes,

in the north, by the Euphrates,

they collapse.

What is this, rising like the Nile,

with tossing floods?

’Tis Egypt shouting, “I will engulf the world,

I rise to sweep off its inhabitants!”

Prance on, horses, rage away, chariots,

charge on, warriors,

men with shields from Kush and Punt,

bowmen from Libya!

But this is Lord Eternal’s day,

a day for vengeance on his foes,

a day when the sword devours with a vengeance,

drinking its fill of blood;

for the Lord of hosts is sacrificing victims

in the north, by the Euphrates.

You may get balsam from Gilead,

my lady Egypt,

but all your salves are vain,

for you there is no healing.

The whole world hears you wailing,

your crying rings around,

for one brave falls over another,

and both drop to the ground.

13 The Eternal’s prediction to the prophet Jeremiah that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon would come and ravage the land of Egypt:

Tell it in Migdol,

proclaim it at Memphis:

“To your feet, be all ready,

the sword sweeps all round you!”

Why has Apis run away?

That Bull-god could not stand,

for the Eternal laid him low.

Your foreign traders fall away,

they fall and to themselves they say,

“Let us begone to the land of our birth,

back home again,

away from the sweep of the sword.”

(Call the Pharaoh “Fatality,”

for he has let his chance go by!)

By my life, says the King, the Lord of hosts,

here comes an invader,

towering like mount Tabor,

like Karmel by the sea!

Get ready for your exile,

my lady Egypt;

for Memphis empty lies and desolate,

burned to the very ground.

Egypt is a handsome heifer,

but herdsmen from the north shall master her;

her day of doom has dawned,

her punishing hour is upon her;

the soldiers that she hired

have proved like pampered kine,

they scampered off in flight,

they made no stand.

She can but draw back hissing

like a snake before her foes;

for they outnumber locusts,

past all counting,

they come at her with axes,

like woodmen hewing a tree,

while the Eternal cries out, “Fell her forest,

dense though it be.”

My lady Egypt is dishonoured,

in the hands of the north- men. 25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares: “I will punish Amon the god of Thebes, and also the Pharaoh with any who rely on him; 26 I will hand them over to their murderers, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Though in after days Egypt shall be inhabited as it was in the days of old (so the Eternal promises).”

47 A message from the a Eternal that came to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines, before the Pharaoh stormed Gaza. The Eternal declares:

“Floods are gathering there, in the north,

they swell into a torrent,

to flood the land and all it holds,

the capital and all its citizens!

At the thunder of hoofs in the cavalry charge,

at the rush and roar of the chariot wheels,

fathers fear to turn and save their children--

so unmanned are the Philistines!

The day of havoc strips from Tyre and Sidon

any support still left them;

for the Eternal will make havoc

of all left upon the coast.

Gaza mourns with shaven head,

Ashkelon is overwhelmed;

Poor Ekron--all that is left of you!--

long will you gash yourself in grief.”

“Sword of the Eternal,” you cry,

“will you never be quiet?

Sheathe yourself and give o’er!”

But how can it be quiet,

when it has the Eternal’s orders

to execute on Ashkelon and the shore?

On Moab.

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares:

“Alas for Nebo, it is sacked!

Kureyat captured, to its shame,

and Moab’s bulwark stormed!

Moab now has lost its fame;

from Heshbon foes have planned

to blot the nation out of being,

to press upon it, sword in hand,

to leave it not a sound of life.

Hark! a howl from Horonaim,

for the havoc and the slaughter;

Moab is shattered,

and her cry rings even to Zoar.

Moabites climb up to Luhith,

weeping as they go;

for, hurrying down from Horonaim,

they heard shrieks of slaughter.

Run for your lives, get away

like a wild ass to the wold!

You put faith in your fortresses;

so you are captured!

Kemosh your god shall be deported,

with his priests and princes;

every town shall be despoiled,

not one escapes;

valleys shall be raided,

and plains ruined--

so the Eternal orders.

Give Moab wings?

She fain would fly away

from towns laid waste,

all emptied!

No, a curse on him who slackens

in this work of the Eternal!

A curse on any who will stint

their swords of blood!

Moab from the first has lain at ease,

never known exile afar,

lain like wine left on the lees,

never poured from jar to jar,

that tastes the same as ever,

and its scent mellows never.

But the day comes, says the Eternal,

when I send men to move him,

tilting him up and over,

emptying out his casks,

and breaking up his flasks.

Then Moab shall find Kemosh fail him,

like Israel when it trusted Bethel.

‘You boast yourselves brave heroes

you are warriors bold,

and here is your Moab invaded,

and the flower of his youth mowed down!’--

says the King called the Lord of hosts.

Moab’s calamity closes upon him,

and fast his fate comes on. 17 Bemoan him, all ye neighbouring folk,

all ye who know his fame;

cry, ‘Ah, his sceptre strong is snapped,

his splendid sway has gone!’

O dwellers in Dibon, down from your height,

and cower in the mire;

for Moab’s invader attacks you,

and storms your stronghold!

O dwellers in Aroer,

stand on the road, look out,

ask news from men in flight

and women who escape.

‘Moab is broken, to his shame,’ they sigh,

‘Wail for it, cry.’ ” 21 [[Tell the news upon the banks of Arnon, that Moab is devastated, that doom has reached the plains, reached HoIon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22 Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, 23 Kureyat, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon, 24 Keriyyoth, Bezer, and all the towns of Moab, far and near.]]

Moab’s strength is lopped off,

Moab’s mighty arm is broken;

make him drunk and helpless,

for his insolence to the Eternal.

Loud was Moab in derision;

so let him be derided.

For Israel you did deride;

you tossed your head in scorn,

whenever you talked of him,

as of one caught in a thieves’ gang.

Leave your towns, take to the cliffs,

you folk of Moab;

make your nests like doves

in crevices of crags.

We have heard of Moab’s pride,

his lordly pride,

his airs and arrogance,

and haughty heart.

The Eternal says, “I know his rage,

his hollow vaunts, his hollow deeds.”

So I must wail for Moab,

lamenting for all Moab,

bemoaning what befalls Kirheres.

O vine of Sibmah, I join Jazer

in bewailing you;

for once your branches stretched across

as far as Jazer,

and now your gathered grapes

are being ravaged,

now Moab’s garden-land is all bereft

of joy and gladness,

no wine is trodden out from grapes,

no lilting at the vintage!

Heshbon and Elealeh wail,

from Zoar to Jahaz goes the cry,

Horonaim and Eglath-the-third call out,

for even Nimrim’s streams are dry.

[[I also abolish in Moab, says the Eternal,

all worshippers at shrines,

all those who sacrifice to idols.]]

So my heart thrills with pity for poor Moab,

thrills for the fate of Kir-heres,

losing all his gains.

Heads are shaven, beards cut close,

hands are gashed, and sackcloth worn,

on all the roofs of Moab, in its streets,

men moan and mourn;

for I have shattered Moab

like a discarded dish.

How shattered! (ah, bewail it!)

defeated and disgraced!

All around are over-awed,

and yet mock at Moab.

For (this is the Eternal’s word)

here is an eagle swooping

with a dash on Moab!

Towns are taken,

fortresses surprised;

the heart of Moab’s heroes on that day

is weak as any woman’s in her pangs.

Moab no more is a nation,

for its insolence to the Eternal.

Panic and pitfall and snares await you,

O inhabitants of Moab;

fly from the panic, you are in a pitfall--

crawl out, you are caught in a snare!

For I am bringing upon Moab (the Eternal says)

its year of punishment.

Fugitives cower for shelter at Heshbon,

all in vain;

for a blaze began at Heshbon,

flaming out from Sihon’s palace,

till Ar of Moab was consumed,

and Arnon’s heights devoured.

Poor Moabites!

O forlorn folk of Kemosh!

The god has left your sons to flight,

your daughters to a prisoner’s plight. 47 [[Though in the latter days--so the Eternal promises--I will restore the fortunes of Moab.]] [[Here ends the sentence passed on Moab.]]

49 On the Ammonites. Here is the Eternal’s word:

Has Israel no sons, no heir?

Why, then, is Gad claimed by god Milkom?

Why do his people tenant towns of Gad?

Therefore a day comes (the Eternal declares)

when I will send the war-cry

against Rabbah of the Ammonites,

till it is left a desolate heap,

its townships in the flames.

Then shall Israel come to hold

those who now hold her.

Howl, O palace of Rabbah,

at the sack of the city!

Scream, ye women of Rabbah,

gird yourselves with sackcloth,

wail and run about in mourning:

for Milkom is deported

with his priests and princes.

Why vaunt your valleys,

you careless creature,

so proud of your resources,

so sure you are beyond attack?

I will put you in terror

of all who are around you,

says the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

till you are routed headlong,

past all rallying. 6 [[Though later on, so the Eternal promises, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammon­ites.]]

7 On Edom.

Here is the word from the Lord of hosts:

Teman is no longer shrewd;

wary men have lost their wits,

their shrewdness has failed them.

So turn and fly to your retreats,

ye dwellers in Dedan;

for I bring upon Esau his doom,

his hour of punishment.

If gatherers of grapes came upon you,

would they leave any grapes to glean?

If robbers in the night came on you,

would they not steal more than they need?

So I strip Esau clean and bare,

I have laid open his retreats,

till he cannot conceal himself--

he is stamped out to a man.

Yet leave to me your orphans,

I will save them;

let your widows trust to me. 12 Here is the Eternal’s sentence: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup of the divine anger have to drink it notwithstanding, are you to go unpunished? No, you shall not get off; drink it you must. 13 For I have sworn by my own life, that Busaireh shall be waste and cursed, desolate and derided, with all its hamlets laid in ruin for all time.”

The Eternal sends me news

of an envoy sent to the nations,

bidding them muster against Edom,

to make war upon her.

“For I will make you least among the nations,

despised in the world of men.

How you will shudder then!

Your pride of heart has played you false,

perched in your fastness of the rocks,

ensconced upon your precipices!

Nest high as any eagle,

but I will pull you down, says the Eternal,

till Edom is a shocking desolation,

till passers-by whistle in surprise

and horror at its ruin;

as when Sodom and Gomorrah fell,

with the towns around them,

not a soul shall live there,

not a man shall dwell there.

Like shepherds when the lion leaves

the jungle of Jordan for the pasture,

I will chase them away suddenly,

and seize their rarest rams.

Who can match me? Who dare challenge me?

What shepherd can face me?

Hear, then, the Eternal’s plan against Edom,

his purpose for the Temanites:

their shepherd lads shall be dragged away,

and the farm appalled at their fate!

Earth trembles at the crash of Edom’s fall;

the noise resounds to the Reed Sea.

Here is an eagle swooping

with a dash upon Busaireh!

The heart of Edom’s warriors on that day

is weak as any woman’s in her pangs.”

23 On Damascus.

Hamath and Arpad are dumbfounded,

when the bad news comes;

they surge uneasy as the sea,

restless in their anxiety.

Damascus has collapsed,

and turned to fly,

seized suddenly with shuddering,

caught by sharp anguish,

like a woman in her pangs.

Woe to her, a famous city,

a gay city, now forlorn!

I will fling fires of war upon Damascus’ walls,

to burn up all Benhadad’s palaces. 28 On Kedar and the realm of Hazor, conquered by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. Here is the Eternal’s word:

“Up against Kedar,

ravage the Arabs!

The foe shall seize their tents and flocks,

their wares, their curtains, and their camels,

yelling fiercely at them,

scaring them on every side.

Turn and fly far to your retreats,

inhabitants of Hazor;

for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon

has planned and purposed to attack you.”

31 The Eternal’s word is:

“Up and attack them,

a people at their ease, untroubled,

with neither gate nor bar,

living remote from men;

their camels shall be your booty,

their vast herds fall to you.

I scatter to the winds

the crop-haired folk,

raining ruin upon them

from every side, 33 till Hazor is a heap of ruins,

a mere haunt of jackals; not a soul shall live there, not a man shall dwell there.”

34 The Eternal’s message to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. 35 The Lord of hosts declares:

“I will break the bow of Elam,

their mainstay;

[[hurl against Elam the four winds of the world

and scatter them to the winds,

till there is not a nation

where no waifs from Elam come;]]

I will make Elam quail before their foes,

before their murderers;

raining ruin upon them,

my fierce heat of anger;

sending the sword after them,

till they are all consumed;

to pass sentence of doom, out of Elam,

on its king and on its chiefs. 39 [[Though in the latter days--so the Eternal promises--I will restore the fortunes of Elam.]]”

50 The Eternal’s message for the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:

Tell the nations and proclaim it,

let the news go free,

that Babylon is captured,

her idols are disgraced,

her blocks of gods are in dismay,

Bel in disgrace and Marduk in dismay!

A foe from the north has attacked her,

to lay waste her land,

till not a man dwells there,

till man and beast are gone.

And then, says the Eternal, at that hour

the Israelites return,

they and the men of Judah,

wending their way weeping

in search of the Eternal their God,

asking the way to Sion,

their faces turned to it,

calling each other to join the Eternal

in a lasting compact,

never to be forgotten.

My people have been lost sheep,

for their shepherds led them astray,

and turned them loose on the bare hills;

where up and down they wandered,

all forgetful of the fold.

Those who caught them all devoured them;

“ ’Tis no sin,” said their foes,

“for they have offended the Eternal One,

their true Fold and their father’s Hope.”

Fly now from Babylon, leave Chaldea,

lead those who leave, like he- goats.

For here am I rousing against. Babylon

a horde of nations from the north,

to battle with her mightily

until they master her,

shooting like expert archers,

who never go empty-handed;

no, Chaldea, shall be their booty,

her plunderers shall all get their fill.

Though you rejoice now and exult,

you Babylonians, plundering my own people,

though you wanton like calves at the grass,

and neigh like lusty stallions,

your mother-city shall be sore disgraced,

and she who bore you shall be shamed--

left in the rear of all the nations,

a land deserted, desolate, and dry;

an empty ruin shall she lie,

under the wrath of the Eternal,

till all whistle in horror, passing by,

appalled at all the blows that beat down Babylon.

Set upon Babylon, all round,

all ye who bend the bow;

spare not your arrows, shoot at her--

she has offended the Eternal.

Raise the war-cry round her--

she gives way,

her bastions are stormed,

her walls are down!

’Tis the Eternal’s vengeance on her;

take your revenge,

treat her as she treated others!

Tear from Babylon every sower,

every reaper with his sickle;

let her foreigners all flee,

each scurrying home to his own land,

to escape the sweep of the sword.

A scattered flock is Israel,

harried by lions,

mauled first by the Assyrian king,

now gnawed by Nebuchadrezzar,

by the king of Babylon.

Therefore, the Lord of hosts declares,

the God of Israel,

I punish Babylon, king and land,

as I punished the Assyrian king;

I bring back Israel to his homestead,

to pasture on Karmel and Bashan,

till he can eat his fill

in Gilead and on Ephraim’s hill.

Then, the Eternal promises, at that hour,

no guilt in Israel shall be discovered,

nor any sin detected within Judah;

for whom I spare, I pardon.

21 Move against Merathaim,

press hard the men of Pekod,

slay them, devastate their land--

so carrying out the Eternal’s own command.

Listen, there is the war-cry!

Chaldea crashes!

What a hammering and shattering

for the Hammer of the world!

What a spectacle of horror

has Babylon become!

Aha! I have trapped you, Babylon,

taken you unawares!

I have tracked you, I have caught you,

for defying the Eternal!

The Eternal has opened his arsenal

and brought out his arms of wrath;

for the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

has work before him in Chaldea.

Rush at her from every quarter,

rifle her granaries,

pile up her stores of grain,

and devastate all of her,

leaving no trace of her.

Slay her bulls of warriors,

butcher every one of them!

Woe betide them, their hour has come,

their day of doom!

Listen to the waifs escaping

from the land of Babylon,

to tell in Sion how our God,

how the Eternal has avenged his temple.

Summon archers against Babylon,

all who bend the bow;

beleaguer her,

let not a man escape.

Requite her for her crimes,

treat her as she treated others--

she and her insolence to the Eternal,

the Majestic One of Israel!

So shall her youth fall in the open street,

and all her warriors in death be silenced.

I am attacking you, Queen Insolence,

says the Lord, the Lord of hosts;

your hour has come,

the day for me to doom you.

Queen Insolence falls down,

and her no one shall raise;

I set her forest ablaze,

till the flames shall burn her thickets.

33 The Lord of hosts proclaims:

“Israelites and men of Judah

are trampled down together;

their captors hold them fast,

and will not let them go.

But theirs is a strong champion,

his name the Lord of hosts;

he will take their part,

and daunt the Babylonians,

that the world may live at peace.”

Sword, strike the Chaldeans (the Eternal orders),

strike all the folk of Babylon,

her nobles and her sages!

Sword, strike the soothsayers,

and they shall play the fool!

Sword, strike her soldiers,

and they shall be in terror!

Sword, strike her chariots and horses,

and all her foreign crowd,

and they shall be weak as women!

Sword, strike her treasures,

and they shall be robbed!

Sword, strike her streams,

and they shall be dried up!

For it is a land of images,

and the folk boast of their idols;

so wolves and wildcats shall live there,

ostriches shall quarter there;

never shall it be tenanted,

forlorn from age to age.

It shall be as when God once overthrew

Sodom, Gomorrah, and the towns around;

not a soul shall live there,

not a man shall dwell there.

A people is coming,

out of the north-land,

a power is stirring, a host of kings,

from the far ends of earth!

Bow and javelin they seize,

they are cruel, pitiless;

their din is like the roaring sea,

they ride on horses,

mustering like one man to fight you,

maiden Babylon.

The king of Babylon hears the news,

his hands are limp,

panic seizes him,

pain like a woman’s in travail.

Like shepherds when the lion leaves

the jungle of Jordan for the pasture,

I will chase them away suddenly,

and seize their rarest rams.

Who can match me? Who dare challenge me?

What shepherd can face me?

Hear, then, the Eternal’s plan against Babylon,

his purpose for the Chaldeans:

their shepherd lads shall be dragged away,

and the farm appalled at their fate!

Earth trembles at the crash of Babylon’s capture,

the noise resounds all through the nations.

51 The Eternal declares:

I am stirring up destroyers

against Babylon, against the dwellers in Chaldea;

I am sending winnowers on Babylon,

to winnow her and leave her bare.

Woe betide her everywhere,

on her day of doom!

Let the archer bend his bow,

let him stand up in his armour;

spare none of her soldiers,

annihilate her army;

strike them down within Chaldea,

stab them in her streets;

for their land is full of guilt

against His Majesty of Israel.

(But Israel and Judah are not bereft

of their God, of the Lord of hosts.)

Fly from Babylon, every man of you;

save your lives, share not her doom;

’tis the hour of the Eternal’s vengeance,

he is rendering her due punishment.

Once Babylon was a golden cup,

that made the whole world drunk;

the nations drank her wine,

and lay before her helpless.

Suddenly Babylon falls and breaks!

Wail for the creature?

Get balsam for her wounds--

perhaps she can be cured?

“No,” you answer, “we would fain have healed her,

but there is no curing Babylon;

we must leave her to her fate,

and all go home,

for her doom rises up to heaven,

reaches the very skies,

The Eternal has made good our cause;

come, let us tell in Sion what the Eternal,

our own God, has done.”

Polish your arrows,

scour your armour--

the Eternal is stirring up Media’s king,

planning to ruin Babylon.

This is the Eternal’s vengeance,

vengeance for his temple.

Raise your standards against Babylon,

blockade it round and round;

post your sentries,

lay your ambushes;

for the Eternal executes his aim,

his sentence upon Babylon.

Throned upon many a stream,

with treasures that teem,

your end has come,

your web is spun!

The Lord of hosts has sworn by his own life,

“I fill you full of foes,

that swarm like locusts,

and shout in triumph over you.”...

You have been my battle-axe;

by you I shattered nations,

by you I have ruined realms,

by you I shattered horse and rider,

chariots and charioteers,

by you I shattered man and woman,

old and young, maidens and boys,

by you I shattered flock and shepherd,

ploughmen and their teams,

by you I shattered satraps and regents--

yes, and (the Eternal promises)

I will let Sion see how I repay

both Babylon and the Chaldeans all,

for all the wrongs they did her.

I strike at you, says the Eternal,

you volcano, ruining the world!

I will lay hands on you and level you,

and leave you all extinct; 26 men will never get from you

any stones for building;

you shall be a desolation for all time.

Raise your standard on the earth,

blow the trumpet among the nations,

open the campaign against her,

summon the realms--Armenia, Mannai, Ashkenaz;

muster your troops against her,

cavalry swarming like locusts.

Open the campaign against her,

with Media’s king, his satraps and his regents,

and all his domain.

All the world is trembling,

for the Eternal’s purpose against Babylon holds--

to lay the land empty and desolate.

Babylon’s soldiers cease to fight,

they stay inside their forts;

their strength has gone from them,

they are weak as women.

Couriers meet, messengers meet,

running to tell the king of Babylon

his city is stormed on every side,

its houses all ablaze,

the gates burst open;

the ferries have been seized,

the bastions burned,

the troops are scared.

For this is the sentence of the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel:

Babylon to be trampled like a threshing-floor,

then trampled like the grain upon the floor!

“Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon

has been devouring us;

he set us down like an empty cup,

he swallowed us like a monster,

he gorged himself with our delights,

and then he threw us aside.

My torn flesh be avenged on Babylon!”--

let those who dwell in Sion cry;

“My blood be avenged on the Chaldeans!”--

let Jerusalem cry.

And here is the Eternal’s answer:

“I will take your part, I will avenge you,

I will dry up her lake

and drain her springs.

Babylon shall lie in ruins,

a mere haunt of jackals,

a horror and a scorn,

where no man lives.”

The Babylonians all roar like lions,

growling like lion-cubs over their prey?

I will feast them in my fury,

make them drunk and stupefied,

till they sleep the sleep that knows no waking;

I will drive them to the shambles,

like sheep, like rains and goats.

What a downfall for Babylon!

The Splendour of the world surprised!

What horror in the world

at Babylon’s fate!

A sea has burst on Babylon,

she sinks below the roaring tides of war;

her towns lie desolate,

unpeopled, waterless,

a waste where no man lives,

none passes through.

And I will punish Bel in BabyIon,

forcing him to disgorge his plunder;

prisoners shall stream to him no more,

for Babylon’s walls are down.

Come out of her, my people,

save your lives, every man of you,

from the Eternal’s burning wrath.

Never be daunted or dismayed

by rumours that you hear,

when rumours rise, year after year,

and tyrants lord it in the land.

For, mark this, the day comes

when I shall punish the idols of Babylon,

when all her country is confounded,

and her inhabitants drop dead.

Then heaven and earth and all their host

shall exult over Babylon;

for invaders from the north- land

shall reach her, the Eternal promises.

Yes, Babylon shall fall, O slain of Israel,

as slain men have fallen everywhere for Babylon.

You who have escaped the sword,

stay not, get away;

remember the Eternal yonder,

bethink you of Jerusalem.

“We are ashamed,” you say,

“at hearing of this outrage;

foreigners entering the sacred temple!--

it covers us with shame.”

But, mark this, a day comes, the Eternal answers,

when I punish the idols of Babylon,

till wounded men groan over all the land.

Though Babylon mounted to the sky,

though she entrenched herself on high,

yet I would speed invaders to assail her,

the Eternal answers.

Hark! shrieks from Babylon,

a mighty crashing in Chaldea!

’Tis the Eternal battering down Babylon,

stilling the din of her city-life!

The enemy surge in like the roaring tides,

shouting aloud;

for the invader has reached Babylon,

her soldiers are captured,

their bows all shattered.

For the Eternal is a God of retribution,

he never fails to punish.

“I will make her nobles and her sages drunk,

satraps and regents and soldiers,

till they sleep the sleep that knows no waking,”

says the King called the Lord of hosts. 58 Here is the Eternal’s sentence:

“Babylon’s broad wall shall be razed,

and her high gates burned with fire.

So ends the toil of nations, ends in smoke,

and pagans waste their pains.” 59 Instructions given by the prophet Jeremiah to Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Maliseiah, the quartermaster who accompanied Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll all the evils that were to befall Babylon, 61 and he said to Seraiah, “When you reach Babylon, be sure to read this all over; 63 when you have finished, tie a stone to the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates, saying, ‘So shall Babylon sink and never rise again, for the Eternal dooms it.’ ”

Here end the words of Jeremiah.

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years; 2 his mother’s name was Hamutal, a daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. He did what was evil in the sight of the Eternal, exactly as Jehoiakim had done. 3 The Eternal was so wroth that he let Jerusalem go from bad to worse, till he would have no more to do with them.

And then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with all his army; they pitched camp, and ran a wall round it, 5 besieging the city till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month (and by this time the famine in the city was so severe that the people had no food), 7 a breach was made in the walls of the city. Seeing this, the whole garrison took to flight, leaving the city during the night, by the gate beside the royal garden, between the two walls, making their way along the Arabah, as the Chaldeans had invested the city on all sides. They made for the Jordan valley. 8 However, the Chaldean army went in pursuit of the king and overtook Zedekiah in the steppes of Jericho, his own army having all scattered and left him. 9 The king was captured and carried off to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the district of Hamath, where sentence was passed upon him. 10 At Riblah the king of Babylon slew Zedekiah’s sons before their father’s eyes, and also all the authorities of Judah; 11 he then put out the eyes of Zedekiah, chained him fast, and carried him away to Babylon, where he lay in prison till the day of his death. 12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the commander of the bodyguard, an officer of the king of Babylon, went to Jerusalem 13 and set fire to the temple of the Eternal, as well as the royal palace and indeed all the principal buildings in the country. 14 The Chaldean troops who were with him demolished the walls of Jerusalem all round. 15 Any people left in the city, together with those who had already surrendered to the king of Babylon, and any craftsmen who were left, Nebuzaradan the commander of the body-guard carried away prisoners, 16 though he left some of the very poorest people of the land to be vine-dressers and ploughmen. 17 The bronze columns, the trolleys, and the bronze tank that were in the temple, were broken up by the Chaldeans, who took all the bronze away to Babylon; 18 they also removed the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the saucers, and any bronze article used in the temple service; 19 while the commander removed any gold and silver goblets, fire-pans, basins, pots, lampstands, saucers, and bowls. 20 (The bronze was past weighing, the bronze from the two columns, the tank, the twelve bulls supporting the tank, and the ten trolleys which king Solomon had made for the temple. 21 Each column was twenty-seven feet high, eighteen feet round, and four inches thick--hollow inside, 22 with a bronze capital on the top, seven and a half feet high, surrounded by a network and pomegranates in bronze, 23 ninety-six out of a hundred pomegranates in the network being visible.)

24 The commander of the body-guard carried off Seraiah the chief priest, Zephanlah the vice-priest, and the three wardens, 25 along with a eunuch in charge of the army, seven privy councillors who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander, who kept the army registers, and sixty country folk whom he found within the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the commander of the body-guard took them away to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And there, at Riblah in the district of Hamath, the king of Babylon slew them all.

28 Thus was Judah carried from its land into exile. The number of prisoners carried off to exile by Nebuchadrezzar was as follows: in the seventeenth year of his reign, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, seven hundred and forty-five Jews, carried captive by Nebuzaradan the commander of the body-guard; in all, four thousand six hundred.

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiakin king of Judah, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodak king of Babylon--it was the first year of his reign--took Jehoiakin king of Judah out of prison; 32 he was civil to Jehoiakin and treated him better than his fellow-monarchs in captivity at Babylon; 33 he changed his prison dress, and Jehoiakin dined with the king every day of his life. 34 Also an allowance was made for him daily by the king of Babylon, to maintain him, as long as ever he lived.

◄ JER 16 ► ║ ©

JER C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52