 CHAPTER 37 Zedekhaya, the son of Josiah, reigned as king instead of Kanaia, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did listen to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. Zedekhaya, the king's son to Jehoiakal, the son of Shalomaya, and Zephaniah, the son of Maseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh, our God, for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him into prison. Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem. Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me. Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. The Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city, and they shall take it and burn it with fire. Thus says Yahweh, don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us, for they shall not depart. For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent and burn this city with fire. It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there in the midst of the people. When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Ereja, the son of Shalamaya, the son of Hananiah, and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling away to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, it is false, I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn't listen to him, so Ereja laid hold on Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. The princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made that the prison. When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon house and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, then Zedekiah the king sent and fetched him, and the king asked him secretly in his house and said, Is there any word from Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you put me in prison? Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land? Now please hear, my lord the king, please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the baker's street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Shephothiah the son of Maten, and Getaliah the son of Pashur, and Dukal the son of Shemaliah, and Pashur the son of Milchajiah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, Thus says Yahweh, he who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, that he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus says Yahweh, this city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Then the princes said to the king, Let this man we pray you be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them, for this man doesn't seek the welfare of this people but the hurt. Zedekiah the king said, Behold he is in your hand, for the king is not he who can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Milchajiah the king's son that was in the court of the guard, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water but mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire. Now when Abed Melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon, the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin, Abed Melech went forth out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying, My Lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die in the place where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Abed Melech, the Ethiopian, saying, Take from thence thirty men with you and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies. So Abed Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took their rags and worn out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. Abed Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn out garments under your armholes under the cords. Jeremiah did so, so they drew up Jeremiah with the cords and took him up out of the dungeon, and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a thing, hide nothing from me. Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me. So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah saying, As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life. Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of armies, the God of Israel, If you will go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you shall live and your house. But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand. Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you, obey I beg you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to you, so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me. Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you. Now that your feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned way back. They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans, and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire. Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die. But if the princes here that I have talked to you, and they come to you and tell you, declare to us now what you have said to the king, don't hide it from us, and we will not put you to death, also what the king said to you. Then you shall tell them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house to die there. Then came all the princes to Jeremiah and asked him, and he told them, according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him, for the matter was not perceived. So Jeremiah oboed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken. CHAPTER 39 It happened when Jerusalem was taken in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. That all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate to wit Nurgle-Sharazer, Sam Garnabow, Zedar Secom, Rabbi Saras, Nurgle-Sharazer, Rabbi Mag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. It happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls, and he went out toward the Ereba. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and when they had taken him they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he gave judgment on him. Then the King of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. Also the King of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah. Moreover, he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuchadnezzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained. But Nebuchadnezzaradan, the captain of the guard, left the poor of the people who had nothing in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. Now Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, commanded Nebuchadnezzaradan, the captain of the guard, concerning Jeremiah, saying, Take him and look well to him and do him no harm, but do to him as he shall tell you. So Nebuchadnezzaradan, the captain of the guard, sent, and Nebuchadnezzaradan, Rabbi Saras and Nurgol Sharazer, Rabbi Mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon. They sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to get Aliyah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Safan, that he should carry him home, so he lived among the people. Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, Go and speak to Abedmelech, the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you in that day. But I will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid, for I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey to you, because you have put your trust in me, says Yahweh. Chapter 40 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after that Nebuchadnezzaradan, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Emma, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon. The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, Yahweh, your God, pronounced this evil on this place, and Yahweh has brought it and done according as he spoke, because you have sinned against Yahweh and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come on you. Now behold, I loose you, this day, from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don't. Behold, all the land is before you, where it seems good and right for you to go, there go. Now while he was not yet gone back, go back then, said he, to get Eliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphon, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people, or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present and let him go. Then went Jeremiah to get Eliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Get Eliah the son of Ahikam, governor in the land, and had committed to him men and women and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon, then they came to Get Eliah to Mizpah, to Witt, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johannon and Jonathan, the sons of Correa, and Sariaia, the son of Tanhometh, and the sons of Ephide, the Tophethite, and Gezaniah, the son of Makethite, they and their men. Get Eliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Safon, squirt to them and their men, saying, Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans, dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us. But you gather you wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken. Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Get Eliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Safon, then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Get Eliah to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much. Moreover, Johannon, the son of Corea, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Get Eliah to Mizpah, and said to him, Do you know that Baelas, the king of the children of Ammon, has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Get Eliah the son of Ahikam didn't believe them. Then Johannon, the son of Corea, spoke to Get Eliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it. Why should he take your life that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? But Get Eliah the son of Ahikam said to Johannon the son of Corea, you shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael. Chapter 41 Now it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Get Eliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and there they ate bread together in Mizpah. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Get Eliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphon with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, to wit with Get Eliah at Mizpah, and the Kaldians who were found there the men of war. It happened the second day after he had killed Get Eliah, and no man knew it, that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring to the house of Yahweh. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and it happened as he met them, he said to them, Come to Get Eliah the son of Ahikam. It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men who were with him. But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, Don't kill us, for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped and didn't kill them among their brothers. Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Get Eliah, the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Basha king of Israel, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebesedarun, the captain of the guard, had committed to Get Eliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon. But when Johannon, the son of Correa, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. Now it happened that when all the people who were with Ishmael sawed Johannon the son of Correa, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad. So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johannon the son of Correa. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johannon with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. Then took Johannon the son of Correa, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he killed Getalliah the son of Ahikom, to wit the men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. And they departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt because of the Chaldeans. But they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Getalliah the son of Ahikom, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land. Chapter 42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johannon the son of Correa, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiya, and all the people from the least, even to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let we pray you, our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many as your eyes do see us. That Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do. Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words, and it shall happen that whatever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you. Then they said to Jeremiah, Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don't do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God shall send you to us. Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God. It happened after ten days that the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. Then called he, Johannin, the son of Correa, and the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, and said to them, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him. If you will still abide in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon of whom you are afraid. Don't be afraid of him, says Yahweh, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land. But if you say we will not dwell in this land, so that you don't obey the voice of Yahweh your God, saying no, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread, and there will we dwell. Now therefore hear you the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, if you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt and go to Sojourn there, then it shall happen that the sword which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and your famine about which you are afraid shall follow hard after you there in Egypt, and there you shall die. So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to Sojourn there. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them. For thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, as my anger and my wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth on you when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an object of horror and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach, and you shall see this place no more. Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, don't go into Egypt. Know certainly that I have testified to you this day. For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls. For you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it. And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God in anything for which he has sent me to you. Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to Sojourn there. Chapter 43 It happened that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people, all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words, then spoke as Araya, the son of Hoshaiya, and Johannon, the son of Kareya, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely, Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, You shall not go into Egypt to Sojourn there. But Baruch, the son of Neriah, sets you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death and carry us away captive to Babylon. So Johannon, the son of Kareya, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people didn't obey the voice of Yahweh to dwell in the land of Judah. But Johannon, the son of Kareya, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to Sojourn in the land of Judah. The men and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every person who nebrew Zaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gadoliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphon, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah, and they came into the land of Egypt, for they didn't obey the voice of Yahweh, and they came to Tapanhiz. Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah in Tapanhiz, saying, Take great stones in your hand and hide them in mortar in the brickwork, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tapanhiz in the sight of the men of Judah, and tell them, Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. He shall come and shall strike the land of Egypt, such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for sword to the sword. I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive, and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go forth from there in peace. He shall also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdal, and Taphnees, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying, Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein. Because of their wickedness, which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods that they didn't know, neither they nor you nor your fathers. However, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, don't do this abominable thing that I hate. But they didn't listen, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods. Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day. Therefore now, Thus says Yahweh, the God of armies, the God of Israel. Why commit you this great evil against your own souls to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining, in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are gone to sojourn, that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth. Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers. Therefore Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt shall they fall. They shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die from the least, even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. And they shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there. For none shall return, save such as shall escape. Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in pathros, answered Jeremiah saying, As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you, but we will certainly perform every word that has gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands? Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn't Yahweh remember them, and didn't it come to his mind? So that Yahweh could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore is your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant as it is this day. Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies, therefore this evil is happened to you as it is this day. Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we are vowed to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her. Establish then your vows and perform your vows. Therefore Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt. Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Yahweh lives, Behold, I watch over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine until there be an end of them. Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number, and all the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to Sojourn there shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. This shall be the sign to you, says Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil. Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Haffra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah the king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life. CHAPTER 45 The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Miriah, when he wrote these things in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch. You did say, Woe is me now, for Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain, I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest. You shall tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, and this in the whole land. Seek you great things for yourself? Don't seek them, for behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Yahweh, but your life will I give to you for a pray in all places where you go. END OF CHAPTERS 37-45 CHAPTERS 46-52 of the book of Jeremiah, from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Jeremiah, from the World English Bible, chapters 46-52. CHAPTER 46 The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah, the prophet, concerning the nations, of Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neko, King of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Karkamesh, which Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, King of Judah. Prepare you the buckler in shield and draw near to battle. Harness the horses and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets. Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail. Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward, and their mighty ones are beaten down and have fled apace and don't look back. Terror is on every side, says Yahweh. Don't let the swift flee away, nor let the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers. And he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and its inhabitants. Go up, you horses, and rage, you chariots, and let the mighty men go forth, push and put, who handle the shield, and the lewdim, who handle and bend the bow. For that day is a day of the Lord Yahweh of armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge them of his adversaries. And the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord Yahweh of armies has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up to Gilead and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain do you use many medicines. There is no healing for you. The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both of them together. The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt. Declare to you in Egypt, and publish in Migdal, and publish in Memphis, and in Tappinies. Say you, stand forth and prepare you, for the sword has devoured around you. Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn't stand, because Yahweh did drive them. He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another, and they said, arise and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword. They cried there, Barrow king of Egypt is but a noise. He has let the appointed time pass by. As I live, says the king, whose name is Yahweh of armies, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. You daughter who dwell in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity. For Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up without inhabitant. Egypt is a very beautiful heifer, but destruction out of the north is come, it is come. Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall, for they also are turned back and are fled away together. They didn't stand. For the day of their calamity is come on them, the time of their visitation. The sound of it shall go like the serpent, for they shall march with an army and come against her with axes as woodcutters. They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can't be searched, because they are more than the locusts and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, says, He hold, I will punish Ammon of Noh and Pharaoh and Egypt with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him, and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants, and afterwards it shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says Yahweh. But don't be afraid you, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed Israel, for behold I save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob shall return and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Don't be afraid you, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh, for I am with you, for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure and will in no way leave you unpunished. Chapter 47 The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before that Pharaoh struck Gaza. Thus says Yahweh, behold waters rise up out of the north and shall become an overflowing stream and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein, and the men shall cry and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. At the noise of the stamping of the hooves of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don't look back to their children for feebleness of hands. Because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from tire and Sidon every helper who remains. For Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the Isle of Captor. Baldness has come upon Gaza. Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley. How long will you cut yourself? You sort of Yahweh, how long will it be before you be quiet? Put up yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still. How can you be quiet seeing Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon and against the seashore there has he appointed it. Chapter 48 Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste. Curiosity is disappointed, it is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down. The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshban they have devised evil against her. Come and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, madmen, shall be brought to silence. The sword shall pursue you. The sound of a cry from Horanain, desolation and great destruction. Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For by the ascent of Lujith, with continual weeping shall they go up. For at the descent of Horanain they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives and be like the heath in the wilderness. For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken. And Chimosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. The destroyer shall come on every city and no city shall escape. The valley also shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken. Give wings to Moab that she may fly and get her away, and her city shall become a desolation without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he who does the work of Yahweh negligently, and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood. Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lease and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel. Neither has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off, and they shall empty his vessels and break their bottles in pieces. Moab shall be ashamed of Chimosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. How say you, we are mighty men and valiant men for the war. Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the king, whose name is Yahweh of armies. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name, say, how is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod? You daughter who dwells in debon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst, for the destroyer of Moab is come up against you, and has destroyed your strongholds. Inhabitant of Aror, stand by the way, and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes, say, what has been done? Moab is disappointed, for it is broken down, wail and cry, tell you it by the arnan, that Moab is laid waste. Judgment has come on the plain country, on Holon, and on Jaza, and on Mepheth, and on debon, and on Nebo, and on Beth Diblithane, and on Kyriethane, and on Beth Gamal, and on Beth Maon, and on Kyria, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab far or near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Yahweh. Make you him drunken, for he has magnified himself against Yahweh, and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he shall also be in derision. For wasn't Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you wag the head. You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud, his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, says Yahweh, that it is nothing. His boistings have worked nothing. Therefore will I wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. For the men of Cure Harris shall they mourn. With more than the weeping of Jaser will I weep for you, vine of Sybma. Your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jaser. On your summer fruits, and on your vintage, the destroyer is fallen. Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field, and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. None shall tread with shouting, the shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshban, even to Aleale, even to Jehaz, have they uttered their voice. From Zoar, even to Horaname, to Egleth Shalisha, for the waters of Nimrim shall also become desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Yahweh, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Cure Heras. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished. For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth. On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights, says Yahweh. How is it broken down? How do they wail? How has Moab turned back with shame? So shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him. For thus says Yahweh, behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and he shall spread out his wings against Moab. Cure Heras is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. Fear and the pit and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab, says Yahweh. He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, says Yahweh. Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshban. For a fire has gone forth out of Heshban, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemash is undone. For your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab. CHAPTER 49 OF THE CHILDREN OF AMON Thus says Yahweh, Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why, then, does Malcolm possess Gad, and its people well in its cities? Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbi of the children of Ammon, and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire. Then shall Israel possess those who did possess him, says Yahweh. Wail, Heshban, for A.I. is laid waste. Cry, you daughters of Rabbi, gird you with sackcloth, lament, and run back and forth among the fences. For Malcolm shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. Why glory you in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? Who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come to me? Behold, I will bring a fear in you, says the Lord, Yahweh of armies, from all who are around you. And you shall be driven out, every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives. But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh. Of Edom, thus says Yahweh of armies, Is wisdom no more in Timon? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished? Flee you, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedon. For I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him. If grape-gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night wouldn't they destroy until they had enough? But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself. His seed is destroyed, and his brothers and his neighbors, and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let your widows trust in me. For thus says Yahweh, Behold, they to whom it didn't pertain to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink. And are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink. For I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, that Bosra shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up to the battle. For behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh. Edom shall become an astonishment, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan, against the strong habitation, for I will suddenly make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it. For who is like me, and who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me? Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom, and his purposes that he has proposed against the inhabitants of Timon. Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. The earth trembles at the noise of their fall. There is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Fozrah, and the heart of the mighty men of Edom, at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. Of Damascus Hamoth is confounded and arpad, for they have heard evil news, they are melted away. There is sorrow on the sea, it can't be quiet. Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy? Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of armies. I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad, of Qadar and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh, arise you, go up to Qadar, and destroy the children of the east. Their tents and their flocks shall they take. They shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels, and they shall cry to them, terror on every side. Flee you, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh, that have neither gates nor bars that dwell alone. Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil, and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their hair cut off, and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh. Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation for ever. No man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh of armies, Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come. I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life, and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says Yahweh. And I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from their king and princes, says Yahweh. But it shall happen in the latter days that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh. Chapter 50 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard. Publish and don't conceal. Say Babylon is taken. Bell is disappointed. Meridak is dismayed. Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed. For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein. They are fled, and they are gone, both man and animal. In those days and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together, they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God. They shall inquire concerning Zion, with their faces turned toward it, saying, Come you and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep. The shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away from the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, and have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them, and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh the hope of their fathers. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. For behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon, a company of great nations from the North Country, and they shall set themselves in array against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man. None shall return in vain. Chaldea shall be a prey. All who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh. Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage. Because you are wanton, as a heifer that treads out the grain, and nay as strong horses. Your mother shall be utterly disappointed. She who bore you shall be confounded. Behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of Yahweh, she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh. Shout against her all around, she has submitted herself. Her bulwarks are fallen. Her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take vengeance on her, as she has done, due to her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land. Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. Therefore thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel. Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. In those days and in that time says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. For I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. Go up against the land of Marathane, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekad. Kill and destroy utterly after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken? How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations? I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware. You were found and also caught because you have striven against Yahweh. Yahweh has opened his armory and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation, for the Lord Yahweh of armies has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses, cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. Kill all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter, woe to them, for their day has come the time of their visitation. The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon and all those who bend the bow, and camp against her all around, let none of it escape. Recompense her according to her work, according to all that she has done due to her, for she has been proud against Yahweh against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh. Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord Yahweh of armies. For your day is come, the time that I will visit you. The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up, and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him. Thus says Yahweh of armies. The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together, and all who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go. Their redeemer is strong. Yahweh of armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause that he may give rest to the earth and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men. A sword is on the bolsters, and they shall become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her. And they shall become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed. A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols. Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein, and it shall be no more inhabited forever. Neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses everyone set in array as a man to the battle against you, daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation, for I will suddenly make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it. For who is like me, and who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who can stand before me? Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that he has taken against Babylon, and his purpose is that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations. Chapter 51 Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamei a destroying wind. I will send to Babylon strangers who shall winnow her, and they shall empty her land, for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around. Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. And don't you spare her young men, destroy you utterly all her army. They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of armies, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life. Don't be cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance. He will render to her a recompense. Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Whale for her, make balm for her pain. If so be, she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country, for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God. Make sharp the arrows, hold firm the shields. Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon to destroy it, for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple. Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong. Set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes. For Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke, concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, the measure of your covetousness. Yahweh of armies has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm, and they shall lift up a shout against you. He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a two mult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries. Every man is become brutish, and is without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Yahweh of armies is his name. You are my battle acts and weapons of war, and with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with you will I destroy kingdoms, and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider, and with you will I break in pieces the chariot in him who rides therein, and with you will I break in pieces man and woman, and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth, and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin, and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen, and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies. I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Caldea all their evil that they have done on Zion in your sight, says Yahweh. Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth, and I will stretch out my hand on you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take of you a stone for a corner nor a stone for foundations, but you shall be desolate forever, says Yahweh. Set up a standard in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Mine, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her. Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm. Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Meads, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion. The land trembles and is in pain. For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have foreborn to fight. They remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They are become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken. One runner will run to meet the other, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter, and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened. For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel. The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up, and has filled his ma with my delicacies. He has cast me out. The violence done to me and to my flesh beyond Babylon shall the inhabitant of Zion say. And my blood beyond the inhabitant of Caldea shall Jerusalem say. Therefore thus says Yahweh. Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you, and I will dry up her sea and make her founten dry. Babylon shall become heat, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing without inhabitant. They shall roar together like young lions. They shall growl as lions' cubs. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, and they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. How is Sheeshack taken, and the praise of the whole earth seized? How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations? The sea is come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves. Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby. I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up, and the nations shall not flow any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. My people, go you out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh. Don't let your heart faint. Neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land. For news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. Therefore behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon, and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon. For the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh. As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. You who have escaped the sword, go you, don't stand still. Remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces. For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house. Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh. The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans. For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice, and their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered, for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces. For Yahweh is a god of recompenses, he will surely requite. I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men, and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the king, whose name is Yahweh of armies. Thus says Yahweh of armies, the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates will be burned with fire, and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire, and they shall be weary. The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Saraiah, the son of Neraiah, the son of Maasaiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Saraiah was chief quartermaster. Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. Jeremiah said to Saraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever. It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her, and they shall be weary, thus far the words of Jeremiah. Chapter 52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Hematal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakene had done. For through the anger of Yahweh did it happen in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem, and encamped against it. And they built forts against it round about. So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of kings Zedekiah. In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in that city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden. Now the Chaldeans were against the city all around. And they went toward the Ereba. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamat, and he gave judgment on him. The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death. Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Neba Zaratan, the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon into Jerusalem, and he burned the house of Yahweh, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire. All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Neba Zaratan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. But Neba Zaratan, the captain of the guard, left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers. The pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. The pots also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, which with they ministered, took they away. The cups and the fire pans, and the basins and the pots, and the lamp stands, and the spoons and the bowls, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bowls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh. The brass of all these vessels was without weight. As for the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits did compass it, and its thickness was four fingers, it was hollow. A capital of brass was on it, and the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of brass. And the second pillar also had, like these, and pomegranates. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around. The captain of the guard took Saraiyah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war, and seven men of those who saw the king's face who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. Nebus Adaran, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive. In the seventh year, 3023 Jews. In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons. In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebus Adaran, the captain of the guard, carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons were four thousand and six hundred. It happened in the seventh and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiakene, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that evil Moradak, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiakene, king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. Jehoiakene ate bread before him continually, all the days of his life, and for his allowance there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion, until the day of his death, all the days of his life. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude she dwells among the nations. She finds no rest. All her persecutors overtook her within the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly. All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh. Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness. Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper. For Yahweh has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary. From the daughter of Zion, all her majesty is departed. Her princes are become like hearts that find no pasture. They are gone without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her. The adversaries saw her. They did mock at her desolations. Jerusalem has grievously sinned. Therefore she has become as an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, she sighs and turns backward. Her filthiness was in her skirts. She didn't remember her latter end. Therefore is she come down wonderfully. She has no comforter, see? Yahweh, my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself. The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things, for she has seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom you commanded that they should not enter into your assembly. All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul. Look, Yahweh, and see, for I am become object. Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow, which is brought on me, with which Yahweh has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. From on high has he sent fire into my bones, and it prevails against them. He has spread a net for my feet. He has turned me back. He has made me desolate and faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. They are knit together. They are come upon my neck. He has made my strength to fail. The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand. The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men in the midst of me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden as in a wine-press the virgin daughter of Judah. For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. Zion spreads forth her hands. There is none to comfort her. Yahweh has commanded concerning Jacob that those who are around him should be his adversaries. Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing. Yahweh is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, while they sought them food to refresh their souls. See, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My heart is troubled. My heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abored the sword bereaves, at home there is as death. They have heard that I sigh. There is none to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day that you have proclaimed, and they shall be like me. Let all their wickedness come before you. Due to them as you have done to me for all my transgressions, for my size of many and my heart is faint. How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger? He has cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and hasn't remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord has swallowed up all the inhabitants of Jacob, and has not pitied. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes. He has cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire which devours all around. He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has stood with his right hand as an adversary. Has killed all that were pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion. He has poured out his wrath like fire. The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. Yahweh has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. He despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of Yahweh as in the day of solemn assembly. Yahweh has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line. He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying. He has made the rampart and the wall to lament. They languish together. Her gates are sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from Yahweh. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground. They keep silence. They have cast up dust upon their heads. They have clothed themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. My eyes do fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My liver is poured on the earth because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city. They tell their mothers, Where is grain and wine when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city. When their soul is poured out into their mother's bosom. What shall I testify to you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare you to? That I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion. For your breach is great like the sea who can heal you. Your prophets have seen for you faults and foolish visions. They have not uncovered your iniquity to bring back your captivity, but have seen for you faults, oracles, and causes of banishment. All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found. We have seen it. Yahweh has done that which He purposed. He has fulfilled His word, that He commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down. He has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries. Their heart cried to the Lord, Wall of the daughter of Zion. Let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no respite. Don't let the apple of your eye cease. Arise. Cry out to the night at the beginning of the watches. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your young children that faint for hunger at the head of every street. Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that they have dendled in their hands? Shall the priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? The youth and the old men lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger. You have slaughtered and not pitied. You have called, as in the day of solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was none that escaped or remained in the day of Yahweh's anger. Those that I have dendled and brought up as my enemy consumed. Chapter 3 I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day. My flesh and my skin has he made old. He has broken my bones. He has built against me and surrounded me with gall and travail. He has made me to dwell in dark places as those that have been long dead. He has walled me about that I can't go forth. He has made my chain heavy. Yes, when I cry and call for help he shuts out my prayer. He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked. He is to me as a bear lying in wait as a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate. He has bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys. I am become a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness. He has sated me with wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones. He has covered me with ashes. You have removed my soul far from peace. I forgot prosperity. I said my strength is perished and my expectation from Yahweh. Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers them and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. It is of Yahweh's loving kindness that we are not consumed because his compassion doesn't fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Yahweh is my portion says my soul. Therefore I will hope in him. Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silence because he has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope. Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full with reproach for the Lord will not cast off forever. For though he cause grief yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men to crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most high to subvert a man in his cause the Lord doesn't approve. Who is he who says and it comes to pass when the Lord doesn't command it, doesn't evil and good come out of the mouth of the most high? Why does a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways and turn again to Yahweh. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned. You have covered with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied. You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us an offscoring and refuse in the midst of the peoples. All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. Fear and the pit are come on us devastation and destruction. My eye runs down with streams of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eye pours down and doesn't cease without any intermission. Until Yahweh looked down and see from heaven, my eye affects my soul because of all the daughters of my city. They have chased me relentlessly like a bird. Those who are my enemies without cause, they have cut off my life in the dungeon and have cast a stone on me. Waters flowed over my head. I said, I am cut off. I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon. You heard my cry. Don't hide your ear at my breathing, at my cry. You drew near in the day that I called on you. You said, don't be afraid. Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul. You have redeemed my life, Yahweh. You have seen my wrong. Judge my cause. You have seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me. You have heard their reproach, Yahweh, and all their devices against me. The lips of those that rose up against me and their device against me all the day. You see they're sitting down and they're rising up. I am their song. You will render to them a recompense, Yahweh. According to the work of their hands, you will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh. Chapter 4 How is the gold become dim? How is the most pure gold changed? The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold. How are they esteemed as earthen pictures to work of the hands of the potter? Even the jackals draw out the breast. They nurse their young ones. The daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread and no man breaks it to them. Those who did feed delicately are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in scarlet embrace dung hills. For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment and no hands were laid on her. Her nobles were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more rooty than in body and rubies. Their polishing was as of sapphire. Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick. Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger. For these pine away, stricken through for want to the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people. Yahweh has accomplished his wrath. He has poured out his fierce anger. He has kindled a fire in Zion which has devoured its foundations. The kings of the earth didn't believe neither all the inhabitants of the world that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem. It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her. They wander as blind men in the streets. They are polluted with blood so that men can't touch their garments. Depart! They cried to them. Unclean! Depart! Depart! Don't touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more live here. The anger of Yahweh has scattered them. He will no more regard them. They didn't respect the persons of the priests. They didn't favor the elders. Our eyes do not yet fail in looking for our vain help. In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save. They hunt our steps so that we can't go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled. For our end is come. Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They laid weight for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, was taken in their pits. Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations. Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, That dwell in the land of Uz. The cup shall pass through you also. You shall be drunken and shall make yourself naked. The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished. Daughter of Zion. He will no more carry you away into captivity. He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom. He will uncover your sins. Chapter 5 Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us? Look and see our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money. Our wood is sold to us. Our pursuers are on our necks. We are weary. We have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians. To the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers sinned and are no more. We have borne their iniquities. Servants rule over us. There is none to deliver us out of their hand. We get our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin is black like an oven because of the burning heat of famine. They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hanged up by their hand. The faces of elders were not honored. The young men bear the mill. The children stumbled under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate. The young men from their music. The joy of our heart is ceased. Our dance is turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us for we have sinned. For this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dim. For the mountain of Zion which is desolate. The foxes walk on it. You, Yahweh, remain forever. Your throne is from generation to generation. Why do you forget us forever and forsake us so long time? Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old, but you have utterly rejected us. You are very angry against us. End of the book, Lamentations