1 The words of Yirmeyahu the son of Ḥilqiyahu, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Binyamin,
2 to whom the word of יהוה came in the days of Yoshiyahu son of Amon, sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 And it came in the days of Yehoyaqim, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, until the end of the eleventh year of Tsiḏqiyahu, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, until the exile of Yerushalayim in the fifth new moon.
4 Now the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I did set you apart — I appointed you a prophet to nations.”
6 And said I, “Ah, Master יהוה! See, I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth.”
7 And יהוה said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ but go to all to whom I send you, and speak whatever I command you.
8 “Do not fear their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares יהוה.
9 Then יהוה put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and יהוה said to me, “See, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the reigns, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 And יהוה said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to do it.”
13 And the word of יהוה came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”
14 And יהוה said to me, “Out of the north evil is set loose on all the inhabitants of the land.
15 “For look, I am calling all the clans of the reigns of the north,” declares יהוה. “And they shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Yerushalayim, against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Yehuḏah.
16 “And I shall pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their evil, because they have forsaken Me, burned incense to other mighty ones, and bowed themselves to the works of their own hands.
17 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not break down before their faces, lest I break you before them.
18 “For look, I have made you this day a walled city and an iron column, and bronze walls against all the land, against the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, against her heads, against her priests, and against the people of the land.
19 “And they shall fight against you, but not prevail against you. For I am with you,” declares יהוה, “to deliver you.”
1 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
2 “Go, and you shall cry in the hearing of Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “I remember you, the loving-commitment of your youth, the love of your bridehood, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 “Yisra’ĕl was set-apart to יהוה, the first-fruits of His increase. All who ate of it became guilty — evil came upon them,” declares יהוה.’ ”
4 Hear the word of יהוה, O house of Ya‛aqoḇ and all the clans of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
5 Thus said יהוה, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 “And did not they say, ‘Where is יהוה, who brought us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land that no one passed through and where no one dwelt?’
7 “Then I brought you into a garden land, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.
8 “The priests did not say, ‘Where is יהוה?’ And those who handle the Torah did not know Me, and the shepherds transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Ba‛al, and walked after matters that did not profit.
9 “Therefore I still contend with you,” declares יהוה, “and with your children’s children I contend.
10 “For, pass beyond the isles of Kittim and see, and send to Qĕḏar and observe well, and see if there has been any like this.
11 “Has a nation changed its mighty ones, which are not mighty ones? But My people have changed My esteem for that which does not profit.
12 “Be amazed, O heavens, at this, and be frightened, be utterly dried up,” declares יהוה.
13 “For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns, which do not hold water.
14 “Is Yisra’ĕl a servant? Was he born in the house? Why is he given to plunder?
15 “The young lions roared at him, they growled, and made his land waste; his cities have been burned, without inhabitant.
16 “Even the sons of Noph and of Taḥpanḥes have shaven the crown of your head.
17 “Have you not done this to yourself, by forsaking יהוה your Elohim when He led you in the way?
18 “And now why take the way to Mitsrayim, to drink the waters of Shiḥor? Or why take the way to Ashshur, to drink the waters of the River?
19 “Your own evil instructs you, and your backslidings reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter that you have forsaken יהוה your Elohim, and that My fear is not in you,” declares the Master יהוה of hosts.
20 “For of old I have broken your yoke and torn off your chastisements. And you said, ‘I am not serving You,’ when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, a whore.
21 “Yet I had planted you a choice vine, all of it a true seed. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of a strange vine?
22 “Although you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your crookedness is ingrained before Me,” declares the Master יהוה.
23 “How do you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Ba‛als’? See your way in the valley, know what you have done: a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the desire of her being — in her time of mating, who turns her away? All those who seek her need not weary themselves; in her month they find her.
25 “Keep your foot from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is useless, because I love strangers, and after them I go.’
26 “As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Yisra’ĕl ashamed — they and their sovereigns and their heads, and their priests and their prophets,
27 saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their calamity they say, ‘Arise and save us.’
28 “But where are your mighty ones that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, see if they save you in the time of your calamity. Because your mighty ones have become as many as your cities, O Yehuḏah.
29 “Why do you complain to Me? You all have transgressed against Me,” declares יהוה.
30 “In vain have I stricken your children — they received no instruction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.
31 “O generation, see the word of יהוה! Have I been a wilderness to Yisra’ĕl, Or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We have broken loose; we come to You no more’?
32 “Would a maiden forget her ornaments, or a bride her headband? Yet My people have forgotten Me, days without number.
33 “Why do you embellish your way to seek love? Therefore you have even taught the evil women your ways.
34 “Even on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. You did not find them breaking in, but in spite of all these,
35 you say, ‘Because I am innocent, certainly His displeasure shall turn from me.’ See, I shall bring judgment on you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 “Why do you go about so much to change your way? Even of Mitsrayim you are to be ashamed, as you were ashamed of Ashshur.
37 “Even from this one you shall go forth, with your hands on your head. For יהוה has rejected those you trust, and you shall not prosper by them.
1 Elohim said, “If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, does he return to her again? Would not that land be made greatly unclean? But you have committed whoring with many lovers. And would you return to Me?” declares יהוה.
2 “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see: where have you not lain with men? Besides the ways you have sat for them like an Araḇian in the wilderness. And you made the land unclean with your whorings and your evil.
3 “Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain. You have had a whore’s forehead, you refuse to be ashamed.
4 “Shall you not from now on cry to Me, ‘My father, You are the guide of my youth?
5 Does one bear a grudge forever? Does one keep it to the end?’ See, you have spoken and done the evils that you could.”
6 And יהוה said to me in the days of Yoshiyahu the sovereign, “Have you seen what backsliding Yisra’ĕl has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there committed whoring.
7 “And after she had done all these, I said ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Yehuḏah saw it.
8 “And I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Yisra’ĕl had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Yehuḏah did not fear, but went and committed whoring too.
9 “And it came to be, through her frivolous whoring, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and wood.
10 “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Yehuḏah has not turned to Me with all her heart, but falsely,” declares יהוה.
11 And יהוה said to me, “Backsliding Yisra’ĕl has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Yehuḏah.
12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, O backsliding Yisra’ĕl,’ declares יהוה, ‘I shall not look on you in displeasure, for I am lovingly-committed,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I do not bear a grudge forever.
13 Only, acknowledge your crookedness, because you have transgressed against יהוה your Elohim, and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares יהוה.
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” declares יהוה, “for I shall rule over you, and shall take you, one from a city and two from a clan, and shall bring you to Tsiyon.
15 “And I shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 “And it shall be, when you have increased, and shall be fruitful in the land in those days,” declares יהוה, “that they no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of יהוה.’ Neither would it come to heart, nor would they remember it, nor would they visit it, nor would it be made again.
17 “At that time Yerushalayim shall be called the throne of יהוה, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of יהוה, to Yerushalayim, and no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18 “In those days the house of Yehuḏah shall go to the house of Yisra’ĕl, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
19 “But I said, ‘How would I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a splendid inheritance of the hosts of nations?’ ”And I said, ‘Call Me, “My Father,” and do not turn away from Me.’
20 “But indeed as a wife betrays her husband, so have you betrayed Me, O house of Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה.
21 A voice was heard on the bare heights, weeping supplications of the children of Yisra’ĕl, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten יהוה their Elohim.
22 “Return, O backsliding children, I shall make your backslidings cease.” “See, we have come to You, for You are יהוה our Elohim.
23 “Truly, delusion comes from the high hills, the noisy throng on the mountains. Truly, in יהוה our Elohim is the deliverance of Yisra’ĕl.
24 “For shame has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 “We shall lie down in our shame, while our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against יהוה our Elohim, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of יהוה our Elohim.”
1 “If you do return, O Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה, “return to Me. And if you remove your abominations from My presence, and cease straying,
2 and shall swear, ‘As יהוה lives,’ in truth, in right-ruling, and in righteousness — then nations shall bless themselves in Him, and they shall boast in Him!”
3 For this is what יהוה said to the men of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, “Break up your tillable ground, and do not sow among thorns.
4 “Circumcise yourselves unto יהוה, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Yehuḏah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, lest My wrath come forth like fire and burn, with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Declare in Yehuḏah and let it be heard in Yerushalayim, and say, “Blow a shophar in the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Gather yourselves, and let us go into the walled city.’
6 “Lift up the banner toward Tsiyon. Be strong, do not stand still! For I am bringing evil from the north, and great destruction.”
7 “A lion has come up from his bush, and the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has set out from his place to make your land a ruin. Your cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.
8 “For this, gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail. For the burning displeasure of יהוה has not turned back from us.
9 “And in that day it shall be,” declares יהוה, “that the heart of the sovereign shall perish, and the heart of the heads. And the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets wonder.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Master יהוה! Truly, You have greatly deceived this people and Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Peace is for you,’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11 At that time it shall be said to this people and to Yerushalayim, “A scorching wind of the bare heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse.
12 “A wind too strong for this shall come for Me. Now it is I who speak judgments against them.
13 “See, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses shall be swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we shall be ravaged!”
14 O Yerushalayim, wash your heart from evil, and be saved. Till when would your wicked thoughts remain within you?
15 For a voice is declaring from Dan, and is proclaiming trouble from Mount Ephrayim:
16 “Announce to the nations, look, proclaim against Yerushalayim, that besiegers are coming from a distant land and raise their voice against the cities of Yehuḏah.
17 “Like keepers of a field they are against her all around, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares יהוה.
18 “Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your evil, because it is bitter, because it has reached into your heart.”
19 O my inward parts, my inward parts! I am in pain! O the walls of my heart! My heart pounds in me, I am not silent. For you have heard, O my being, a voice of a shophar, a shout of battle!
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried, for all the land is ravaged. Suddenly my tents are ravaged — my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see a banner, and hear a voice of a shophar?
22 “For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
23 I looked at the earth, and saw it was formless and empty. And the heavens, they had no light.
24 I looked at the mountains, and saw they shook, and all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and saw there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I looked, and saw the garden land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of יהוה, by His burning displeasure.
27 For thus said יהוה, “All the earth shall be a ruin, but I shall not make a complete end.
28 “On account of this, let the earth mourn and the heavens above be dark, because I have spoken, because I have purposed and shall not relent, nor do I turn back from it.”
29 All the city is fleeing from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into bushes and climb up on the rocks. All the city is forsaken, and no one is dwelling in it.
30 And when you are ravaged, what would you do? Though you put on crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, you beautify yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you, they seek your life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labour, the distress as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Tsiyon! She bewails herself, she spreads out her hands, saying, “Woe to me, for my being faints because of killers!”
1 “Diligently search the streets of Yerushalayim, and please look, and know and seek in her open places if you find a man, if there is anyone doing right-ruling, seeking the truth, then I shall pardon her.
2 “Even when they say, ‘As יהוה lives,’ they swear falsely, for certain.”
3 O יהוה, are Your eyes not on truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive instruction. They made their faces stronger than rock, they refused to turn back.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor. They have been foolish, for they have not known the way of יהוה, the right-ruling of their Elohim.
5 “Let me go to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of יהוה, the right-ruling of their Elohim.” But these have altogether broken the yoke and torn off the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them, a wolf of the deserts ravage them. A leopard is watching over their cities, whoever comes out of them is torn in pieces. For their transgressions have been many, their backslidings have been numerous.
7 “Why should I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are not mighty ones. When I had filled them up, they then committed adultery and they thronged to the house of a whore.
8 “They were like well-fed horses, every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
9 “Would I not punish them for this?” declares יהוה. “And would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 “Go up on her walls and destroy, but do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, for they do not belong to יהוה.
11 “For the house of Yisra’ĕl and the house of Yehuḏah have utterly betrayed Me,” declares יהוה.
12 They have been untrue to יהוה, and said, “It is not He. No evil comes upon us, nor do we see sword or scarcity of food.”
13 And the prophets have become wind, and the Word is not in them. Thus shall be done to them:
14 Therefore thus said יהוה Elohim of hosts, “Because you speak this word, see, I am making My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15 “See, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה. “It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor do you understand what they say.
16 “Their quiver is like an open burial-site, all of them are mighty men.
17 “And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds, they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. With the sword they shall demolish your walled cities, in which you are trusting.
18 “But even in those days,” declares יהוה, “I shall not make a complete end of you.
19 “And it shall be, when they say, ‘Why does יהוה our Elohim do all this to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign mighty ones in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Ya‛aqoḇ and proclaim it in Yehuḏah, saying,
21 Hear this now, O foolish people without heart, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:
22 Do you not fear Me?’ declares יהוה. ‘Do you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, by an everlasting law, and it does not pass over it? Though its waves toss to and fro, they are not able; though they roar, they do not pass over it.
23 But this people has a backsliding and rebellious heart, they have turned aside and gone away.
24 And they do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear יהוה our Elohim, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He guards for us, the required-by-law, weeks of the harvest.”
25 Your crookednesses have turned these away, and your sins have kept the good from you.
26 For among My people are found wrong men who lie in wait as one who sets snares. They have set up a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage is filled with birds, so their houses are filled with deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
28 They have become fat, they are sleek. They also overlook the deeds of the wrong. They did not rightly rule the cause of the fatherless, so that they prosper. And the right of the needy they did not rightly rule.
29 Would I not punish them for this?’ declares יהוה. ‘Would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
30 “An astounding and horrible matter has come to be in the land:
31 The prophets have prophesied falsely, and the priests rule by their own hand, and My people have loved it so. And what are you going to do at the end of it?
1 “O children of Binyamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Yerushalayim! Blow a shophar in Teqowa, and set up a signal-fire in Bĕyth Hakkerem, for evil has been seen from the north, and great destruction.
2 “I shall cut off the lovely and delicate one, the daughter of Tsiyon.
3 “The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her, they shall pitch their tents against her all around. They shall pasture, each one in his own place.”
4 “Set apart battle against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
5 “Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus said יהוה of hosts, “Cut down her trees, and cast up a siege mound against Yerushalayim. She is the city to be punished, in whose midst there is only oppression.
7 “As a well flows with water, so she flows with her evil. Violence and destruction are heard in her. Before Me continually are suffering and smiting.
8 “Be instructed, O Yerushalayim, lest My being be torn from you, lest I make you a waste, a land not inhabited.”
9 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Let them thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Yisra’ĕl; pass your hand again over the branches like a grape-gatherer.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, so that they hear? See, their ear is uncircumcised, and they are unable to listen. See, the word of יהוה is a reproach to them, they do not delight in it.
11 Therefore I am filled with the wrath of יהוה. I have become weary of containing it. “Pour it out on the children outside, and on the company of young men together, for even husband and wife shall be taken, the aged and the very old.
12 “And their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together. For I shall stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares יהוה.
13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, they are all greedy for gain. And from the prophet even to the priest, all act falsely.
14 “And they heal the breach of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had done abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. They shall stumble at the time I visit them,” said יהוה.
16 Thus said יהוה, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and find rest for yourselves. But they said, ‘We do not walk in it.’
17 “And I raised up watchmen over you, and said, ‘Listen to a voice of a shophar!’ But they said, ‘We do not listen.’
18 “Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is upon them!
19 “Hear, O earth! See, I am bringing evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words, nor My Torah — and they rejected it.
20 “What need have I of frankincense from Sheḇa, and sweet cane from a distant land? Your ascending offerings are not acceptable, and your slaughterings have not been sweet to Me.”
21 Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am laying stumbling-blocks before this people. And the fathers and the sons together shall stumble on them, the neighbour and his friend shall perish.”
22 Thus said יהוה, “See, a people shall come from the land of the north, and a great nation is stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth,
23 they strengthen their bow and spear, they are cruel and have no compassion, their voice roars like the sea. And they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Tsiyon.”
24 We have heard the report of it, our hands grow weak. Distress has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labour.
25 Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation because suddenly the ravager shall come upon us.
27 “I have made you a trier and a stronghold among My people, so that you know, and shall try their way.
28 “All of them are rebels of rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, all of them are corrupters.
29 “The bellows have burned, the lead has been consumed by fire. The refiner has refined in vain, for those who are evil have not been separated.
30 “They shall call them rejected silver, because יהוה has rejected them.”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
2 “Stand in the gate of the House of יהוה, and you shall proclaim there this word, and shall say, ‘Hear the word of יהוה, all you of Yehuḏah who enter in at these gates to bow before יהוה!’ ”
3 Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Make your ways and your deeds good, then I let you dwell in this place.
4 “Do not trust in these false words, saying, ‘This is the Hĕḵal of יהוה, the Hĕḵal of יהוה, the Hĕḵal of יהוה!’
5 “For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do right-ruling between a man and his neighbour,
6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other mighty ones to your own evil,
7 then I shall let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “See, you are trusting in false words, which do not profit —
9 stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, and swearing falsely, and burning incense to Ba‛al, and walking after other mighty ones you have not known.
10 “And you came and stood before Me in this house which is called by My Name, and said, ‘We have been delivered’ — in order to do all these abominations!
11 “Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I Myself have seen it,” declares יהוה.
12 “But go now to My place at Shiloh, where I set My Name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Yisra’ĕl.
13 “And now, because you have done all these works,” declares יהוה, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,
14 “I shall also do to this house, which is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
15 “And I shall cast you out of My presence, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the seed of Ephrayim.
16 “And you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.
17 “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim?
18 “The children are gathering wood, the fathers are lighting the fire, and the women are kneading their dough, to make cakes for the sovereigness of the heavens, and to pour out drink offerings to other mighty ones, to provoke Me.
19 “Is it Me they are provoking?” declares יהוה. “Is it not themselves — unto the shame of their own faces?”
20 Therefore, thus said the Master יהוה, “See, My displeasure and My wrath is poured out on this place, on man and on beast, and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it shall burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Add your ascending offerings to your slaughterings and eat meat.
22 “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim, about matters of ascending offerings or slaughterings.
23 “But this word I did command them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I shall be your Elohim, and you be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, so that it be well with you.’
24 “But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.
25 “From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Mitsrayim until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
26 “But they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did evil, more than their fathers.
27 “And you shall speak all these words to them, though they do not listen to you. And you shall also call to them, though they do not answer you.
28 “But you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that did not obey the voice of יהוה their Elohim, nor did they accept instruction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.
29 Cut off your hair and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights, for יהוה has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
30 “For the children of Yehuḏah have done what is evil in My eyes,” declares יהוה. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.
31 “And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
32 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when it shall no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they shall bury in Topheth until no room is left.
33 “And the corpses of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth, with none to frighten them away.
34 “And in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim I shall make to cease the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall become a waste!
1 “At that time,” declares יהוה, “they shall bring the bones of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, and the bones of its heads, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, out of their burial-sites,
2 and shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought, and to which they have bowed themselves. They shall not be gathered nor buried, they shall be for dung on the face of the earth.
3 “And death shall be preferred to life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil people, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” declares יהוה of hosts.
4 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Would they fall, and not rise? Does one turn away and not return?
5 “Why then has this people, Yerushalayim, turned away in a continual backsliding? They are strengthened in deceit, they refuse to turn back.
6 “I have listened and heard — they do not speak right. No man has repented of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ They all turned to their own course, like a horse rushing into battle.
7 “Even a stork in the heavens knows her appointed times. And a turtledove, and a swallow, and a thrush guard the time of their coming. But My people do not know the right-ruling of יהוה.
8 “How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the Torah of יהוה is with us’? But look, the false pen of the scribe has worked falsehood.
9 “The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be broken down and caught. See, they have rejected the Word of יהוה, so what wisdom do they have?
10 “Therefore I give their wives to others, and their fields to possessing ones. For from the least even to the greatest, they are all greedy for gain. From the prophet to the priest, all act falsely.
11 “And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
12 “Were they ashamed when they had done abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. So they shall fall among those who fall. They shall stumble in the time of their visitation,” said יהוה.
13 “I shall snatch them away,” declares יהוה. “There are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf has faded. And what I gave them shall pass away from them.” ’ ”
14 Why are we sitting still? Gather yourselves, and let us go into the walled cities, and let us be silent there. For יהוה our Elohim has let us perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against יהוה.
15 We looked for peace, but there was no good; and for a time of healing, but see — fear!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan. All the land shook at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones. They came and devoured the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.
17 “For look, I am sending among you serpents, adders, which have no enchanter, and they shall bite you,” declares יהוה.
18 When in grief I would seek comfort; my heart is sick within me.
19 Observe! The voice, the cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land, “Is יהוה not in Tsiyon? Is her Sovereign not in her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, and with foreign worthlessnesses?”
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we have not been saved!”
21 For the breach of the daughter of my people I have been broken. I have grown sad; astonishment has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gil‛aḏ, is there no healer there? Why has the healing of the daughter of my people not come?
1 Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, and I would weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for wayfaring men, and I would leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3 “And they bend their tongue like a bow. Falsehood, and not truth, prevails on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they have not known Me,” declares יהוה.
4 “Let everyone beware of his neighbour and not trust any brother. For every brother catches by the heel, and every neighbour walks with slanderers.
5 “And everyone deceives his neighbour, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, and have wearied themselves to crook.
6 “You live in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to know Me,” declares יהוה.
7 Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, “See, I shall refine them, and shall try them, for what shall I do because of the daughter of My people?
8 “Their tongue is a slaying arrow. It speaks deceit — speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he sets his ambush.
9 “Would I not punish them for this?” declares יהוה. “Would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10 “I shall take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they have been burned up, without any passing over, nor has the voice of cattle been heard. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled, they have gone.
11 “And I shall make Yerushalayim a heap of ruins, a habitation for jackals; and the cities of Yehuḏah I shall make a waste, without an inhabitant.”
12 Who is the wise man, that he understands this? And to whom has the mouth of יהוה spoken, that he declares it? Why has the land perished, has it been burned up like a wilderness, with none passing through?
13 And יהוה says, “Because they have forsaken My Torah which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it,
14 but they have walked according to the stubbornness of their own heart and after the Ba‛als, which their fathers had taught them.”
15 Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am making this people eat wormwood, and I shall make them drink poisoned water.
16 “And I shall scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I shall send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Discern! And call for the mourning women, that they come. And send for the wise women, that they come.
18 “And let them hasten and take up a wailing for us, and let our eyes run with tears and our eyelids gush with water.
19 “For a voice of wailing is heard from Tsiyon, ‘How we are ravaged! We are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because we have been thrown out of our dwellings.’ ”
20 But hear the word of יהוה, O women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth. And teach your daughters wailing, and each one her neighbour a lamentation.
21 For death has come through our windows, has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets, and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak, “Thus declares יהוה, ‘The corpses of men shall fall as dung on the face of the field, like cuttings after the reaper, with none to gather them.’ ”
23 Thus said יהוה, “Let not the wise boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty boast in his might, nor let the rich boast in his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am יהוה, doing loving-commitment, right-ruling, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” declares יהוה.
25 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall punish all circumcised with the uncircumcised —
26 “Mitsrayim, and Yehuḏah, and Eḏom, and the children of Ammon, and Mo’aḇ, and all those trimmed on the edges, who dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Yisra’ĕl are uncircumcised in heart!”
1 Hear the word which יהוה speaks to you, O house of Yisra’ĕl.
2 Thus said יהוה, “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are awed by them.
3 “For the laws of these peoples are worthless, for one cuts a tree from the forest, work for the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4 “They beautify it with silver and gold, they strengthen it with nails and hammers so that it does not topple.
5 “They are like a rounded post, and they do not speak. They have to be carried, because they do not walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, nor is it in them to do any good.”
6 There is none like You, O יהוה. You are great, and great is Your Name in might.
7 Who would not fear You, O Sovereign of the nations? For this is Your due, for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their reigns, there is none like You.
8 They are both brutish and foolish, an instruction of worthlessness is the tree.
9 Silver is beaten into plates; it is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the smith; draped in blue and purple; all of them are the work of skilled ones.
10 But יהוה is truly Elohim. He is the living Elohim and the everlasting Sovereign. At His wrath the earth shakes, and nations are unable to stand His displeasure.
11 Say to them this, “The elah that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
12 He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
13 When He makes His voice heard, there is a roaring of waters in the heavens. And He makes vapours rise from the ends of the earth. The lightnings for rain He has made, and brings wind from His treasuries.
14 Everyone is brutish in knowledge; every smith is put to shame by his idol. For his moulded image is falsehood, and there is no spirit in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they perish.
16 The Portion of Ya‛aqoḇ is not like these, for He is the Maker of all, and Yisra’ĕl is the tribe of His inheritance — יהוה of hosts is His Name.
17 Gather up your bundle from the ground, you who live under siege!
18 For thus said יהוה, “See, at this time I am hurling out the inhabitants of the land, and shall distress them, so that they feel it.”
19 Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous, but I say, “This is my sickness, and I bear it.
20 “My tent has been ravaged, and all my cords have been broken. My children have gone from me, and they are no more. There is no one to pitch my tent any more, or to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become brutish, and they have not sought יהוה. Therefore they did not understand, and all their flock scattered.”
22 See, it has come, the voice of a report, and a great shaking out of the land of the north, to make the cities of Yehuḏah a waste, a habitation of jackals.
23 O יהוה, I know the way of man is not in himself, it is not for man who walks to direct his own steps.
24 O יהוה, chastise me, but with right-ruling — not in Your displeasure, lest You bring me to naught.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations who do not know You, and on the tribes who do not call on Your Name. For they have eaten up Ya‛aqoḇ, devoured him and consumed him, and laid waste his home.
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Yehuḏah and to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
3 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,
4 which I commanded your fathers in the day when I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and you shall do according to all that I command you, and you shall be My people, and I be your Elohim,’
5 in order to establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” And I answered and said, “Amĕn, יהוה.”
6 And יהוה said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
7 For I earnestly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Mitsrayim, until this day, rising early and warning, saying, “Obey My voice.”
8 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, and they did not do.’ ”
9 And יהוה said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the men of Yehuḏah and among the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
10 “They have turned back to the crookednesses of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other mighty ones to serve them. The house of Yisra’ĕl and the house of Yehuḏah have broken My covenant I made with their fathers.”
11 Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am bringing evil on them which they are unable to escape. Then they shall cry out to Me, but I shall not listen to them.
12 “And the cities of Yehuḏah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim shall go and cry out to the mighty ones to whom they burn incense, but they shall bring no deliverance to them at all in the time of their evil.
13 “For your mighty ones have become as many as your cities, O Yehuḏah. And you have set up as many slaughter-places to shame as there are streets in Yerushalayim — slaughter-places to burn incense to Ba‛al.
14 “And you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I do not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their evil.
15 “Why should My beloved be in My house — she has done wickedness with many. And does the set-apart flesh remove your evil from you? Then you rejoice?
16 “יהוה has named you, ‘Green Olive Tree, Beautiful, of Goodly Fruit.’ With the noise of a great sound He has set it on fire, and its branches shall be broken.
17 “And יהוה of hosts, who planted you, has spoken evil against you for the evil of the house of Yisra’ĕl and of the house of Yehuḏah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me, by burning incense to Ba‛al.”
18 And יהוה made it known to me, and I know it. Then You showed me their deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb brought to the slaughter. And I did not know that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O יהוה of hosts, who judges righteously, who tries kidneys and heart, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for unto You I have revealed my cause.
21 “Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the men of Anathoth who are seeking your life, saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the Name of יהוה, lest you die by our hand’ —
22 therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘See, I am punishing them, the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by scarcity of food.
23 And there shall be no remnant of them, for I bring evil on the men of Anathoth — the year of their punishment.’ ”
1 Righteous are You, O יהוה, when I plead with You. Indeed, let me speak with You about right-rulings. Why has the way of the wrong prospered? All the workers of treachery are at ease?
2 You have planted them and they have taken root, they grow and they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their kidneys.
3 But You have known me, O יהוה. You see me, and You have tried my heart toward You. Draw them away like sheep for slaughter, and separate them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the plants of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the evil of those who dwell there, because they said, “He does not see our latter ending.”
5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how do you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, you feel safe, then how do you manage in the Yardĕn jungle?
6 “For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have betrayed you, even they have cried aloud after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you.
7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance, I have given the beloved of My being into the hand of her enemies.
8 “My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. It cries out against Me, therefore I have hated it.
9 “My inheritance is to Me like a speckled bird of prey, the birds of prey all around are against her. Go, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour!
10 “Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion become a deserted wilderness.
11 “They have laid it waste — a waste, it mourns to Me. All the land is laid waste, because no one takes it to heart.
12 “The ravagers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness, for the sword of יהוה is devouring from one end of the land to the other end of the land. There is no peace to any flesh.
13 “They have sown wheat but reaped thorns, they have exhausted themselves — they do not profit. And they shall be ashamed of your harvest because of the burning displeasure of יהוה.”
14 Thus said יהוה, “As for all My evil neighbours who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Yisra’ĕl to inherit; see, I am plucking them out of their land, and I shall pluck out the house of Yehuḏah from their midst.
15 “And it shall be, after My plucking them out, I shall return, and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his inheritance and everyone to his land.
16 “And it shall be, if they learn well the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, ‘As יהוה lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Ba‛al, then they shall be established in the midst of My people.
17 “But if they do not obey, I shall pluck up, pluck up and destroy that nation,” declares יהוה.
1 Thus יהוה said to me, “Go and get yourself a linen girdle, and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.”
2 So I bought a girdle according to the word of יהוה, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of יהוה came to me the second time, saying,
4 “Take the girdle that you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.”
5 And I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as יהוה commanded me.
6 And it came to be after many days that יהוה said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.”
7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it. And there was the girdle, ruined. It was completely useless.
8 “And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
9 “Thus said יהוה, ‘Thus I ruin the pride of Yehuḏah and the great pride of Yerushalayim.
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and walk after other mighty ones to serve them and to bow themselves to them, is like this girdle which is completely useless.
11 For as the girdle clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused all the house of Yisra’ĕl and all the house of Yehuḏah to cling to Me,’ declares יהוה, ‘to become Mine — for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for an adorning. But they did not listen.’
12 “And you shall speak to them this word, ‘Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Every bottle is to be filled with wine.” ’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not know that every bottle should be filled with wine?’
13 “Then say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, and the sovereigns who sit on the throne of Dawiḏ, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim with drunkenness!
14 “And I shall dash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares יהוה. “I do not spare nor pardon nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.” ’ ”
15 Listen and give ear, do not be proud, for יהוה has spoken.
16 Give esteem to יהוה your Elohim before He brings darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light. He turns it into the shadow of death, makes it gross darkness.
17 And if you do not listen, my being shall weep in secret for your pride, and my eyes bitterly weep and run down with tears, because the flock of יהוה shall be taken captive.
18 Say to the sovereign and to the sovereigness mother, “Humble yourselves. Sit down, for your rule, the crown of your comeliness, has come down.”
19 The cities of the South shall be shut up, with no one to open them. Yehuḏah shall be taken into exile, all of it. She shall be taken into exile, completely.
20 Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your fair sheep?
21 What would you say when He visits you? For you have taught them to be chiefs, to be head over you. Do not pangs seize you, like a woman in labour?
22 And when you say in your heart, “Why has this come upon me?” It is because of your great crookedness that your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare.
23 Does a Kushite change his skin and a leopard its spots? You who are taught to do evil are also unable to do good!
24 “So I shall scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 “This is your lot, your measured portion from Me,” declares יהוה, “because you have forgotten Me, and trust in falsehood.
26 “I shall even draw your skirts over your face, and your shame shall be seen,
27 your adulteries and your neighings, the wickedness of your whoring! I have seen your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Yerushalayim! How long before you would be made clean?”
1 The word of יהוה that came to Yirmeyahu concerning the matter of droughts.
2 “Yehuḏah has mourned, and her gates have languished. They have mourned on the ground, and the cry of Yerushalayim has gone up.
3 “And their nobles have sent their little ones for water, they went to the cisterns and found no water, they returned with their vessels empty. They were put to shame, and blushed and covered their heads.
4 “Because the ground became cracked, for there has been no rain in the land. The ploughmen were put to shame, they covered their heads.
5 “Even the deer gave birth in the field, but left because there was no grass.
6 “And wild donkeys stood in the bare heights, they sniffed at the wind like jackals. Their eyes have failed because there was no grass.”
7 O יהוה, though our crookednesses witness against us, act, for Your Name’s sake. For our backslidings have been many, we have sinned against You.
8 O Expectation of Yisra’ĕl, its Saviour in time of distress, why should You be like a stranger in the land, or like a traveller who turns aside to lodge?
9 Why should You be as one who is stunned, as a mighty man that is unable to save? Yet You, O יהוה, are in our midst, and Your Name has been called on us. Do not leave us!
10 Thus said יהוה to this people, “So they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet. Therefore יהוה has not accepted them. Now He does remember their crookedness and punish their sins.”
11 And יהוה said to me, “Do not pray for this people for their good.
12 “When they fast, I do not hear their cry. And when they offer ascending offering and grain offering, I do not accept them. Instead, I am consuming them by sword, and by scarcity of food, and by pestilence.”
13 But I said, “Ah, Master יהוה! See, the prophets say to them, ‘You are not to see a sword, nor have scarcity of food, for I give you true peace in this place.’ ”
14 Then יהוה said to me, “The prophets prophesy falsehood in My Name. I have not sent them, nor commanded them, nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own heart.
15 “Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the prophets who prophesy in My Name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and scarcity of food shall not be in this land.’ ‘By sword and scarcity of food those prophets shall be consumed!
16 And the people to whom they are prophesying shall be thrown out in the streets of Yerushalayim because of the scarcity of food and the sword, with no one to bury them — them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters. For I shall pour their evil on them.’
17 “And you shall say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the maiden daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, with a very severe wound.
18 If I go out to the field, then see those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, then see those sick from scarcity of food! For both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”
19 Have You completely rejected Yehuḏah? Has Your being loathed Tsiyon? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good; and for the time of healing, but see — fear!
20 O יהוה, we know our wrong and the crookedness of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not scorn us, for Your Name’s sake. Do not despise the throne of Your esteem. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
22 Are there among the worthless idols of the nations any causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O יהוה our Elohim? And we wait for You, for You are the One who does all this.
1 And יהוה said to me, “Even if Mosheh and Shemu’ĕl were to stand before Me, My being is not toward this people. Send them away from My presence, let them go.
2 “And it shall be, when they say to you, ‘Where do we go?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Those for death, to death. And those for the sword, to the sword. And those for scarcity of food, to scarcity of food. And those for captivity, to captivity.” ’
3 “And I shall appoint over them four kinds,” declares יהוה, “the sword to kill, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
4 “And I shall make them for a horror to all the reigns of the earth, on account of Menashsheh son of Ḥizqiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, because of what he did in Yerushalayim.
5 “For who has compassion on you, O Yerushalayim? And who mourns for you? And who turns aside to ask how you are doing?
6 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares יהוה, “you have gone backward. Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you. I have been weary of relenting!
7 “And I shall winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land. I shall bereave, I shall destroy My people. They would not turn back from their ways.
8 “Their widows shall be more numerous than the sand of the seas. I shall bring against them, against the mother of the young men, a ravager at noon. I shall cause agitation and sudden alarm to fall on her, suddenly.
9 “She who has borne seven shall pine away. She shall breathe her last. Her sun shall go down while it is yet day. She shall be put to shame and be humiliated. And their remnant I give up to the sword before their enemies,” declares יהוה.
10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth! I have neither lent for interest, nor have men lent to me for interest. All of them are reviling me.
11 יהוה said, “Did I not direct you for your good? Did I not intercede for you in a time of evil and in a time of distress against the enemy?
12 “Does one break iron, iron or bronze from the north?
13 “Your wealth and your treasures I give as plunder, not for price, because of all your sins, even in all your borders.
14 “And I shall cause them to pass over with your enemies into a land which you did not know, for a fire is kindled in My displeasure, which burns upon you.”
15 You Yourself know, O יהוה. Remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on these who persecute me. In Your patience, do not take me away. Know that for You I have suffered reproach.
16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For Your Name is called on me, O יהוה Elohim of hosts.
17 I have not sat in the company of the mockers, nor do I exult. I have sat alone because of Your hand, for You have filled me with displeasure.
18 Why is my pain without end and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Are You to me like a failing stream, as waters not steadfast?
19 Therefore thus said יהוה, “If you turn back, then I shall bring you back. Before Me you shall stand. And if you take out the precious from the worthless, you shall become as My mouth. Let them return to you, but do not return to them.
20 “And I shall make you to this people a strong bronze wall. And they shall fight against you, but not overcome you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you,” declares יהוה.
21 “And I shall deliver you from the hand of evil-doers, and I shall ransom you from the grip of the ruthless.”
1 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
2 “Do not take a wife, nor have sons or daughters in this place.”
3 For thus said יהוה concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them and their fathers who bring them forth in this land,
4 “They shall die of deaths from diseases, they shall not be lamented nor be buried, but be like dung on the face of the earth, and be consumed by sword and by scarcity of food. And their corpses shall be meat for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.”
5 For thus said יהוה, “Do not enter the house of mourning, neither go to lament or mourn for them, for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares יהוה, “even the loving-commitment and the compassions.
6 “Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them, or cut themselves, or make themselves bald for them.
7 “Neither shall they break bread in mourning for them to comfort them for the dead, nor give them the cup of comfort to drink for their father or their mother.
8 “Do not enter the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.”
9 For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, before your eyes and in your days, I am making the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride to cease in this place.
10 “And it shall be, when you declare to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, ‘Why has יהוה pronounced all this great evil against us? And what is our crookedness, and what is our sin that we have committed against יהוה our Elohim?’
11 then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ declares יהוה, ‘and have walked after other mighty ones and served them and bowed themselves to them, and have forsaken Me, and did not guard My Torah.
12 And you have done more evil than your fathers, for look, each one walks according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.
13 So I shall throw you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers. And there you shall serve other mighty ones day and night, where I show you no favour.’
14 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when it is no longer said, ‘יהוה lives who brought up the children of Yisra’ĕl from the land of Mitsrayim,’
15 but, ‘יהוה lives who brought up the children of Yisra’ĕl from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I shall bring them back into their land I gave to their fathers.
16 “See, I am sending for many fishermen,” declares יהוה, “and they shall fish them. And after that I shall send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
17 “For My eyes are on all their ways; they have not been hidden from My face, nor has their crookedness been hidden from My eyes.
18 “And first I shall repay double for their crookedness and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the dead bodies of their disgusting matters, and have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”
19 O יהוה, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”
20 Would a man make mighty ones for himself, which are not mighty ones?
21 “Therefore see, I am causing them to know, this time I cause them to know My hand and My might. And they shall know that My Name is יהוה!”
1 “The sin of Yehuḏah is written with a pen of iron, engraved with the point of a diamond on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your slaughter-places,
2 while their children remember their slaughter-places and their Ashĕrim by the spreading trees on the high hills.
3 “My mountain in the field, I give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures, your high places of sin, throughout all your borders.
4 “And you, even of yourself, shall let go of your inheritance which I gave you. And I shall make you serve your enemies in a land which you have not known, for you have kindled a fire in My displeasure which burns forever.”
5 Thus said יהוה, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from יהוה.
6 “For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and not see when good comes, and shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land that is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in יהוה, and whose trust is יהוה.
8 “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and does not see when heat comes. And his leaf shall be green, and in the year of drought he is not anxious, nor does he cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is crooked above all, and desperately sick — who shall know it?
10 “I, יהוה, search the heart, I try the kidneys, and give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
11 “As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right. It leaves him in the midst of his days, and at his end he is a fool.”
12 An esteemed throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our set-apart place.
13 O יהוה, the expectation of Yisra’ĕl, all who forsake You are put to shame. “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken יהוה, the fountain of living waters.”
14 Heal me, O יהוה, so that I am healed. Save me, so that I am saved, for You are my praise.
15 See, they say to me, “Where is the word of יהוה? Let it come now!”
16 And I have not run away from being a shepherd who follows You, nor have I longed for the desperately sick day. You Yourself have known, that which came out of my lips was before You.
17 Do not be a ruin to me, You are my shelter in the day of evil.
18 Let these who persecute me be put to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Let them be broken, but do not let me be broken. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction!
19 Thus יהוה said to me, “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the sovereigns of Yehuḏah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Yerushalayim.
20 “And you shall say to them, ‘Hear the word of יהוה, you sovereigns of Yehuḏah, and all Yehuḏah, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, who enter by these gates.
21 Thus said יהוה, “Guard yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Yerushalayim,
22 nor take a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work. And you shall set apart the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
23 “But they did not obey, or incline their ear, and they made their neck stiff not to hear and not to receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, if you diligently obey Me,” declares יהוה, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and set apart the Sabbath day, to do no work in it,
25 then sovereigns and heads sitting on the throne of Dawiḏ shall enter in through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their heads — the men of Yehuḏah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. And this city shall be inhabited forever.
26 “And they shall come from the cities of Yehuḏah and from the places around Yerushalayim, and from the land of Binyamin and from the low country, from the mountains and from the South, bringing ascending offerings and slaughterings, grain offerings and incense, bringing offerings of praise to the House of יהוה.
27 “But if you do not obey Me to set apart the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden when entering the gates of Yerushalayim on the Sabbath day, then I shall kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces of Yerushalayim, and not be quenched.” ’ ”
1 The word which came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I let you hear My words.”
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and saw him doing a piece of work on the wheel.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
6 “O house of Yisra’ĕl, am I not able to do with you as this potter?” declares יהוה. “Look, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Yisra’ĕl!
7 “The moment I speak concerning a nation and concerning a reign, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,
8 and that nation shall turn from its evil because I have spoken against it, then I shall repent of the evil that I thought to do to it.
9 “And the moment I speak concerning a nation and concerning a reign, to build and to plant it,
10 and it shall do evil in My eyes in not obeying My voice, then I shall repent concerning the good with which I spoke of doing to it.
11 “And now, speak to the men of Yehuḏah and to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I am forming evil and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your deeds good.” ’ ”
12 But they shall say, “It is no use! For we walk according to our own plans, and we do each one the stubbornness of his evil heart.”
13 Therefore thus said יהוה, “Ask now among the nations, who has heard the like of this? The maiden of Yisra’ĕl has done what is most horrible.
14 “Does the snow of Leḇanon cease from the rock of the field? Or the cool flowing waters from afar dry up?
15 “But My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to what is false, and they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths and not on a highway,
16 to make their land become a ruin, a hissing forever — everyone who passes by it is appalled and shakes his head.
17 “I shall scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I shall show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Yirmeyahu, for the Torah shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not listen to any of his words.”
19 Attend to me, O יהוה, and listen to the voice of my adversaries!
20 Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You to speak good for them, and to turn away Your wrath from them.
21 So give their children over to scarcity of food, and hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become widows and bereaved of their children. Let their men be killed to death, their young men be stricken by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You bring a raiding party suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me, and laid snares for my feet.
23 But You, O יהוה, You know all their counsel against me, to slay me. Do not pardon their crookedness, nor blot out their sin from Your presence, and let them be overthrown before You. Deal with them in the time of Your displeasure.
1 Thus said יהוה, “Go and get a potter’s earthen jug, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.
2 “Then you shall go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and shall proclaim there the words that I speak to you,
3 and shall say, ‘Hear the word of יהוה, O sovereigns of Yehuḏah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim. Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am bringing evil on this place, that makes the ears tingle of all who hear it.
4 “Because they have forsaken Me and have profaned this place, and have burned incense in it to other mighty ones whom neither they, their fathers, nor the sovereigns of Yehuḏah have known, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocents,
5 and have built the high places of Ba‛al, to burn their sons with fire for ascending offerings to Ba‛al, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My heart.
6 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that this place shall no more be called Topheth or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter.
7 “And I shall pour out the counsel of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim in this place, and I shall make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I shall give their corpses as meat for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
8 “And I shall make this city a ruin, and a hissing — everyone who passes by it is appalled and hisses because of all its plagues.
9 “And I shall make them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their lives distress them.” ’
10 “And you shall break the jug before the eyes of the men who go with you,
11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Even so I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which one is unable to repair again. And let them bury them in Topheth till there is no place to bury.
12 “This is what I shall do to this place,” declares יהוה, “and to its inhabitants, so as to make this city like Topheth.
13 “And the houses of Yerushalayim and the houses of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah shall be as unclean as the place of Topheth, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of the heavens, and poured out drink offerings to other mighty ones.” ’ ”
14 And when Yirmeyahu returned from Topheth, where יהוה had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the courtyard of the House of יהוה and said to all the people,
15 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘See, I am bringing on this city and on all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to hear My words.’ ”
1 And Pashḥur son of Immĕr, the priest who was also chief governor in the House of יהוה, heard that Yirmeyahu prophesied these words,
2 And Pashḥur struck Yirmeyahu the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Binyamin, which was by the House of יהוה.
3 And it came to be on the next day that Pashḥur brought Yirmeyahu out of the stocks, and Yirmeyahu said to him, “יהוה has not called your name Pashḥur, but Maḡor-Missaḇiḇ.
4 “For thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am making you a fear to yourself and to all your loved ones. And they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, while your eyes see it. And I shall give all Yehuḏah into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall exile them to Baḇel and strike them with the sword.
5 And I shall give all the wealth of this city and all its labour, and all its valuables, and all the treasures of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, I give into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, seize them, and shall bring them to Baḇel.
6 And you, Pashḥur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity, and enter into Baḇel. And there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your loved ones, to whom you have prophesied falsehood.’ ”
7 O יהוה, You enticed me, and I was enticed. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have been ridiculed all day long, everyone mocks me.
8 For when I speak, I cry out, proclaiming violence and ruin. Because the word of יהוה was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.
9 Whenever I said, “Let me not mention Him, nor speak in His Name again,” it was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I became weary of holding it back, and was helpless.
10 For I heard many mocking, “Fear on every side!” “Expose,” they say, “yes, let us expose him!” All my friends watched for my stumbling, saying, “He might be lured away, so that we prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”
11 But יהוה is with me like a mighty, awesome one. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and not prevail. They shall be greatly ashamed, for they have not acted wisely — an everlasting reproach never to be forgotten.
12 But, O יהוה of hosts, trying the righteous, and seeing the kidneys and heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to You.
13 Sing to יהוה! Praise יהוה! For He has delivered the being of the poor from the hand of evil ones.
14 Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
15 Let the man be cursed who brought news to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you,” making him very glad.
16 And let that man be like the cities which יהוה overthrew, and repented not. Let him hear the cry in the morning and the shouting at noon,
17 because I was not slain from the womb, so that my mother should have been my burial-site and her womb forever great.
18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה when Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu sent to him Pashḥur son of Malkiyah, and Tsephanyah the son of Ma‛asĕyah, the priest, saying,
2 “Please inquire of יהוה on our behalf, for Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel has started fighting against us. It might be that יהוה deals with us according to all His wondrous works, so that he withdraws from us.”
3 But Yirmeyahu said to them, “Say this to Tsiḏqiyahu,
4 Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am turning back the weapons of battle that are in your hands, with which you fight against the sovereign of Baḇel and the Kasdim who besiege you outside the wall. And I shall gather them inside this city.
5 “And I Myself shall fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, even in displeasure and rage and great wrath.
6 “And I shall strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast — let them die of a great pestilence.
7 “And afterward,” declares יהוה, “I give Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the scarcity of food, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not pardon them, nor spare nor have compassion.” ’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
9 “Whoever stays in this city dies by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence. But whoever goes out and shall go over to the Kasdim who besiege you, is going to live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.
10 “For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good,” declares יהוה. “It is given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall burn it with fire.” ’
11 “And to the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah, say, ‘Hear the word of יהוה,
12 O house of Dawiḏ! Thus said יהוה, “Render right-ruling in the morning, and deliver him who has been robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My wrath go out like fire and burn, with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.
13 “See, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain,” declares יהוה, “who are saying, ‘Who would come down against us? And who would come into our dwellings?’
14 “And I shall punish you according to the fruit of your deeds,” declares יהוה. “And I shall kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall consume all that is around her.” ’ ”
1 Thus said יהוה, “Go down to the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah. And there you shall speak this word,
2 and shall say, ‘Hear the word of יהוה, O sovereign of Yehuḏah, you who sit on the throne of Dawiḏ, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates!
3 Thus said יהוה, “Do right-ruling and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do not maltreat nor do violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
4 “For if you certainly do this word, then there shall enter in by the gates of this house sovereigns sitting on the throne of Dawiḏ, riding on horses and in chariots, he and his servants and his people.
5 “But if you do not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares יהוה, “that this house shall become a ruin.” ’ ”
6 For thus said יהוה to the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah, “You are like Gil‛aḏ to Me, the head of Leḇanon. But I shall make you a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 “And I shall prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons. And they shall cut down your choice cedars and throw them into the fire.
8 “And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say to one another, ‘Why has יהוה done so to this great city?’
9 “Then they shall say, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of יהוה their Elohim, and bowed themselves to other mighty ones and served them.’ ”
10 Do not weep for the dead, nor mourn for him. Weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall never come back nor see the land of his birth.
11 For thus said יהוה concerning Shallum son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, who reigned instead of Yoshiyahu his father, who went from this place, “He shall never come back,
12 but he shall die in the place where they have exiled him, and not see this land again.
13 “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness and his rooms without right-ruling, who uses his neighbour’s service without wages and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I am going to build myself a wide house with spacious rooms, and cut out windows for it, panelling it with cedar and painting it in red.’
15 “Do you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do right-ruling and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 “He defended the cause of the poor and needy — then it was well. Was this not to know Me?” declares יהוה.
17 “But your eyes and your heart are only upon your own greedy gain, and on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression and on doing violence.”
18 Therefore thus said יהוה concerning Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, “Let them not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’ Let them not lament for him: ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his excellency!’
19 “He shall be buried — the burial-place of a donkey — dragged and thrown outside the gates of Yerushalayim.
20 “Go up to Leḇanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan. And cry from Aḇarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 “I have spoken to you in your ease, but you said, ‘I do not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, for you did not obey My voice.
22 “Let all your shepherds be devoured by the wind, and your lovers go into captivity. Then you shall be ashamed and humiliated for all your evil.
23 “You who dwell in Leḇanon, being nested in the cedars, how you shall groan when pangs come upon you, like the pains of a woman giving birth!
24 “As I live,” declares יהוה, “though Konyahu son of Yehoyaqim, sovereign of Yehuḏah, were the signet on My right hand, I would still pull you off from there;
25 and I shall give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel and the hand of the Kasdim.
26 “And I shall hurl you out, and your mother who bore you, into another land where you were not born, and there you shall die.
27 “But they shall not return to the land to which their being yearns to return.
28 “Is this man Konyahu a despised broken pot, or an undesirable vessel? Why are they hurled out, he and his descendants, and cast into a land which they do not know?
29 “O land, land, land! Hear the word of יהוה!
30 “Thus said יהוה, ‘Write this man down as childless, a strong man who is not to prosper in his days, for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of Dawiḏ, or rule any more in Yehuḏah.’ ”
1 “Woe to the shepherds destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares יהוה.
2 Therefore thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl against the shepherds who feed My people, “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and have not tended them. See, I am punishing you for the evil of your deeds,” declares יהוה.
3 “Therefore I shall gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and shall bring them back to their fold. And they shall bear and increase.
4 “And I shall raise up shepherds over them, and they shall feed them. And they shall fear no more, nor be discouraged, nor shall they be lacking,” declares יהוה.
5 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall raise for Dawiḏ a Branch of righteousness, and a Sovereign shall reign and act wisely, and shall do right-ruling and righteousness in the earth.
6 “In His days Yehuḏah shall be saved, and Yisra’ĕl dwell safely. And this is His Name whereby He shall be called: ‘יהוה our Righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when they shall say no more, ‘As יהוה lives who brought up the children of Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim,’
8 but, ‘As יהוה lives who brought up and led the seed of the house of Yisra’ĕl out of the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell on their own soil.”
9 My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man overcome by wine, because of יהוה, and because of His set-apart words.
10 For the land is filled with adulterers; for the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest have become defiled. Even in My house I have found their evil,” declares יהוה.
12 “Therefore their way is to them like slippery ways in the dark. They are driven on and they shall fall in them. For I bring evil on them, the year of their punishment,” declares יהוה.
13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Shomeron: they prophesied by Ba‛al and led My people Yisra’ĕl astray.
14 “And among the prophets of Yerushalayim I have seen a horrible matter: committing adultery and walking in falsehood. And they strengthen the hands of evil ones, so that no one turns back from his evil. All of them are like Seḏom to Me, and her inhabitants like Amorah.
15 “Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘See, I am making them eat wormwood, and shall make them drink poisoned water. For defilement has gone out into all the land from the prophets of Yerushalayim.’ ”
16 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, they lead you astray. They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of יהוה.
17 “They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘יהוה has said you shall have peace.’ And to all who walk according to the stubbornness of their own heart they say, ‘No evil comes upon you.’ ”
18 For who has stood in the counsel of יהוה, and has seen and heard His word? Who has listened to His word and obeyed it?
19 See, a storm of יהוה shall go forth in a rage, a whirling storm! It whirls on the head of the wrong.
20 The displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He has done and established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand it perfectly.
21 “I did not send these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 “But if they had stood in My counsel, then they would have let My people hear My Words, and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.
23 “Am I an Elohim close by,” declares יהוה, “and not an Elohim afar off?
24 “If anyone is hidden in secret places, would I not see him?” declares יהוה. “Do I not fill the heavens and earth?” declares יהוה.
25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsehood in My Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’
26 “Till when shall it be in the heart of the prophets? — the prophets of falsehood and prophets of the deceit of their own heart,
27 who try to make My people forget My Name by their dreams which everyone relates to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot My Name for Ba‛al.
28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him relate the dream, and he who has My Word, let him speak My Word in truth. What is the chaff to the wheat?” declares יהוה.
29 “Is not My Word like a fire?” declares יהוה, “and like a hammer that shatters a rock?
30 “Therefore see, I am against the prophets,” declares יהוה, “who steal My Words every one from his neighbour.
31 “See, I am against the prophets,” declares יהוה, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He declares.’
32 “See, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares יהוה, “and relate them, and lead My people astray by their falsehoods and by their reckless boasting. But I Myself did not send them nor have I commanded them. And they do not profit this people at all,” declares יהוה.
33 “And when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the message of יהוה?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What message?’ I shall forsake you,” declares יהוה.
34 “As for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The message of יהוה,’ I shall punish that man and his house.
35 “This is what each one says to his neighbour, and each one to his brother, ‘What has יהוה answered?’ and, ‘What has יהוה spoken?’
36 “But the message of יהוה you no longer remember! For every man’s message is his own word, for you have changed the Words of the living Elohim, יהוה of hosts, our Elohim!
37 “This is what you say to the prophet, ‘What has יהוה answered you?’ and, ‘What has יהוה spoken?’
38 “But since you say, ‘The message of יהוה!’ therefore thus said יהוה, ‘Because you say this word, “The message of יהוה!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The message of יהוה!’ ”
39 therefore see, I, I shall utterly forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city that I gave you and your fathers.
40 And I shall put an everlasting reproach on you, and an everlasting shame that is not forgotten.’ ”
1 יהוה showed me, and look, there were two baskets of figs set before the Hĕḵal of יהוה, after Neḇuḵaḏrets-tsar sovereign of Baḇel had exiled Yeḵonyahu son of Yehoyaqim, sovereign of Yehuḏah, and the heads of Yehuḏah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Yerushalayim, and had brought them to Baḇel.
2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe. And the other basket had very spoilt figs which could not be eaten, they were so spoilt.”
3 And יהוה said to me, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good. And the spoilt, very spoilt, which could not be eaten, they are so spoilt.”
4 Again the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
5 “Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Like these good figs, so do I acknowledge the exiles of Yehuḏah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Kasdim.
6 And I shall set My eyes on them for good, and shall bring them back to this land. And I shall build them and not pull them down, and shall plant them and not pluck them up.
7 And I shall give them a heart to know Me, that I am יהוה. And they shall be My people and I shall be their Elohim, for they shall turn back to Me with all their heart.
8 And as the spoilt figs that could not be eaten because they are so spoilt,’ for thus said יהוה, ‘so do I give up Tsiḏqiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, his heads, the rest of Yerushalayim who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Mitsrayim.
9 And I shall make them a horror to all the reigns of the earth, for evil, to be a reproach and a byword, a mockery and a curse, in all the places to which I drive them.
10 And I shall send the sword, the scarcity of food, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu concerning all the people of Yehuḏah, in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, which was the first year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel,
2 which Yirmeyahu the prophet spoke to all the people of Yehuḏah and to all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, saying,
3 “From the thirteenth year of Yoshiyahu son of Amon, sovereign of Yehuḏah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of יהוה has come to me. And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.
4 “Moreover, יהוה has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,
5 saying, ‘Turn back now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the soil which יהוה has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.
6 And do not go after other mighty ones to serve them and to bow down to them. And do not provoke Me with the works of your hands, so that I do you no evil.’
7 “But you did not listen to Me,” declares יהוה, “so as to provoke Me with the works of your hands, for your own evil.
8 “Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘Because you did not obey My words,
9 see, I am sending and taking all the tribes of the north,’ declares יהוה, ‘and Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, My servant, and shall bring them against this land and against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and shall put them under the ban, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and everlasting ruins.
10 And I shall banish from them the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 And all this land shall be a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the sovereign of Baḇel seventy years.
12 And it shall be, when seventy years are completed, that I shall punish the sovereign of Baḇel and that nation, the land of the Kasdim, for their crookedness,’ declares יהוה, ‘and shall make it everlasting ruins.
13 And I shall bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Yirmeyahu has prophesied concerning all the nations.
14 For they too shall be enslaved by many nations and great sovereigns. And I shall repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their hands.’ ”
15 For thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl to me, “Take this wine cup of wrath from My hand, and make all the nations, to whom I send you, drink it.
16 “And they shall drink, and shake, and go mad because of the sword that I am sending among them.”
17 I then took the cup from the hand of יהוה, and made all the nations drink, to whom יהוה had sent me,
18 namely Yerushalayim and the cities of Yehuḏah, and its sovereigns, its heads, to make them a ruin, an object of astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
19 Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim, and his servants, and his heads, and all his people;
20 and all the mixed multitude, and all the sovereigns of the land of Uts, and all the sovereigns of the land of the Philistines — even Ashqelon, and Azzah, and Eqron, and the remnant of Ashdoḏ;
21 Eḏom, and Mo’aḇ, and the children of Ammon;
22 and all the sovereigns of Tsor, and all the sovereigns of Tsiḏon, and the sovereigns of the coastlands which are beyond the sea;
23 Deḏan, and Tĕma, and Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners;
24 and all the sovereigns of Araḇia and all the sovereigns of the mixed multitude who dwell in the wilderness;
25 and all the sovereigns of Zimri, and all the sovereigns of Ěylam, and all the sovereigns of the Medes;
26 and all the sovereigns of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the reigns of the earth which are on the face of the ground. Also the sovereign of Shĕshaḵ shall drink after them.
27 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I am sending among you.” ’
28 “And it shall be, when they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, “You shall drink!
29 “For look, I am beginning to bring evil upon the city which is called by My Name, and should you be entirely unpunished? You are not going unpunished, for I am calling for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares יהוה of hosts.’
30 “And you shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, ‘יהוה roars from on high, and utters His voice from His set-apart dwelling place. He roars mightily over His fold, a shout as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 “Tumult shall come to the ends of the earth, for יהוה has a controversy with the nations. He shall enter into judgment with all flesh. The wrong He shall give to the sword,’ declares יהוה.”
32 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “See, evil is going forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind is raised up from the farthest parts of the earth.
33 “And in that day the slain of יהוה shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried, for they are dung on the face of the ground.
34 “Howl, you shepherds, and cry! And roll yourselves in the ashes, you leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and your scatterings are completed, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 “And a place of refuge shall perish from the shepherds, and escape from the leaders of the flock.
36 “Hear the cry of the shepherds, and a wailing of the leaders of the flock, for יהוה is ravaging their pasture!
37 “And the pastures of peace shall be cut down because of the burning displeasure of יהוה.
38 “Like a lion He shall leave His hiding place, for their land shall become a waste because of the sword of oppressors, and because of His burning displeasure.”
1 In the beginning of the reign of Yehoyaqim the son of Yoshiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, this word came from יהוה, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה, ‘Stand in the courtyard of the House of יהוה, and speak to all the cities of Yehuḏah, which come to bow themselves in the House of יהוה, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.
3 If so be that they listen and each turn from his evil way, then I shall repent of the evil that I plan to do to them, because of the evil of their deeds.’
4 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My Torah which I set before you,
5 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets I am sending you, even rising up early and sending them — though you have not listened —
6 then I shall make this house like Shiloh, and make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
7 And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Yirmeyahu speaking these words in the House of יהוה.
8 And it came to be, when Yirmeyahu had ended speaking all that יהוה had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You shall certainly die!
9 “Why have you prophesied in the Name of יהוה, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city be dried up, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Yirmeyahu in the House of יהוה.
10 And the heads of Yehuḏah heard this, and they came up from the sovereign’s house to the House of יהוה and sat down in the entrance of the new gate of the House of יהוה.
11 And the priests and the prophets spoke to the heads and all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”
12 And Yirmeyahu spoke to all the heads and all the people, saying, “יהוה sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words you heard.
13 “And now, make good your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, then יהוה shall relent concerning the evil He has pronounced against you.
14 “And I, look I am in your hand. Do with me as seems good and right to you.
15 “But know for certain that if you put me to death, you are bringing innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants. For truly יהוה has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”
16 Then the heads and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “No death sentence for this man. For he has spoken to us in the Name of יהוה our Elohim.”
17 And some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18 “Miḵayah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Ḥizqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah, and he spoke to all the people of Yehuḏah, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Tsiyon shall become a ploughed field, and Yerushalayim be heaps, and the mountain of the House like the bare hills of the forest.” ’
19 “Did Ḥizqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah and all Yehuḏah indeed put him to death? Did he not fear יהוה and seek the favour of יהוה? And the Master relented concerning the evil which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”
20 There was however a man who prophesied in the Name of יהוה, Uriyahu the son of Shemayahu of Qiryath Ye‛arim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Yirmeyahu.
21 And when Yehoyaqim the sovereign, with all his mighty men and all the heads, heard his words, the sovereign sought to put him to death. But Uriyahu heard of it, and was afraid and fled, and went to Mitsrayim.
22 Then Yehoyaqim the sovereign sent men to Mitsrayim: Elnathan the son of Aḵbor, and some men who went with him to Mitsrayim.
23 And they brought Uriyahu from Mitsrayim and brought him to Yehoyaqim the sovereign, who struck him with the sword and threw his dead body into the burial-sites of the common people.
24 However, the hand of Aḥiqam son of Shaphan was with Yirmeyahu, so as not to give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
1 In the beginning of the reign of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, this word came to Yirmeyah from יהוה, saying,
2 “This is what יהוה said to me, ‘Make for yourselves bands and yokes. Then you shall put them on your neck,
3 and shall send them to the sovereign of Eḏom, and the sovereign of Mo’aḇ, and the sovereign of the Ammonites, and the sovereign of Tsor, and the sovereign of Tsiḏon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Yerushalayim to Tsiḏqiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah.
4 And you shall command them to say to their masters, “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say this to your masters,’
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm. And I shall give it to whom it seemed right in My eyes.
6 And now, I have given all these lands into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, My servant. And the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.
7 And all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes. And then many nations and great sovereigns shall make him serve them.
8 And it shall be, the nation and reign that do not serve Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, and the one that does not put its neck under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel, that nation I shall punish,’ declares יהוה, ‘with the sword, and the scarcity of food, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9 So do not listen to your prophets, or to your diviners, or to your dreamers, or to your observers of clouds, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “Do not serve the sovereign of Baḇel.”
10 For they are prophesying falsehood to you, to remove you far from your land. And I shall drive you out, and you shall perish.
11 But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel and serve him, I shall leave in their own land,’ declares יהוה, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ”
12 And I spoke to Tsiḏqiyah the sovereign of Yehuḏah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel, and serve him and his people, and live!
13 “Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the scarcity of food, and by the pestilence, as יהוה has spoken against the nation that does not serve the sovereign of Baḇel?
14 “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘Do not serve the sovereign of Baḇel,’ for they prophesy falsehood to you,
15 for I have not sent them,” declares יהוה, “yet they prophesy falsehood in My Name, in order that I drive you out. Then you shall perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, “See, the vessels of the House of יהוה are brought back from Baḇel soon now,” for they prophesy falsehood to you.
17 Do not listen to them. Serve the sovereign of Baḇel, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of יהוה is with them, let them now make intercession to יהוה of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the House of יהוה, and in the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah, and at Yerushalayim, shall not go to Baḇel.’
19 “For thus said יהוה of hosts concerning the columns, and concerning the Sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the remainder of the vessels which are left in this city,
20 which Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel did not take, when he exiled Yeḵonyah the son of Yehoyaqim, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, from Yerushalayim to Baḇel, and all the nobles of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim —
21 thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning the vessels that remain in the House of יהוה, and in the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah and of Yerushalayim:
22 They shall be brought to Baḇel, and be there until the day that I visit them,’ declares יהוה. ‘Then I shall bring them back and restore them to this place.’ ”
1 And it came to be in that year, at the beginning of the reign of Tsiḏqiyah sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the fourth year and in the fifth new moon, that Ḥananyah son of Azzur the prophet, who was from Giḇ‛on, spoke to me in the House of יהוה in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
2 “Thus spoke יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘I have broken the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel.
3 Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the House of יהוה, that Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel removed from this place and took to Baḇel.
4 And I am going to bring back to this place Yeḵonyah son of Yehoyaqim, sovereign of Yehuḏah, with all the exiles of Yehuḏah who went to Baḇel,’ declares יהוה, ‘for I am going to break the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel.’ ”
5 Then the prophet Yirmeyah spoke to the prophet Ḥananyah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the House of יהוה,
6 and the prophet Yirmeyah said, “Amĕn! יהוה do so! יהוה establish your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the House of יהוה and all the exiles from Baḇel to this place!
7 “Only, hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people:
8 “The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many lands and great reigns, of battle and of evil and of pestilence.
9 “The prophet who prophesies of peace — when the word of the prophet comes to pass, that prophet is known as one whom יהוה has truly sent.”
10 And Ḥananyah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Yirmeyah’s neck and broke it.
11 And Ḥananyah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus said יהוה, ‘So I shall break the yoke of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel from the neck of all nations within two years.’ ” And the prophet Yirmeyah went his way.
12 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyah, after Ḥananyah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Yirmeyah, saying,
13 “Go and speak to Ḥananyah, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you shall make yokes of iron instead.”
14 For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, to serve Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel. And they shall serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.” ’ ”
15 And the prophet Yirmeyah said to Ḥananyah the prophet, “Listen, please, Ḥananyah, יהוה has not sent you, but you have made this people trust in falsehood.
16 “Therefore thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am sending you away from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, for you have spoken apostasy against יהוה.’ ”
17 And Ḥananyah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh new moon.
1 And these are the words of the letter which Yirmeyah the prophet sent from Yerushalayim to the rest of the elders of the exile, and to the priests, and to the prophets and to all the people whom Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar had exiled from Yerushalayim to Baḇel —
2 after Yeḵonyah the sovereign, and the sovereigness mother, and the eunuchs, and the heads of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, and the craftsmen, and the smiths had gone into exile from Yerushalayim —
3 by the hand of El‛asah son of Shaphan, and Gemaryah the son of Ḥilqiyah, whom Tsiḏqiyah sovereign of Yehuḏah sent to Baḇel, to Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, saying,
4 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, to all the exiles whom I exiled from Yerushalayim to Baḇel,
5 Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Take wives and bring forth sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters, and be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have exiled you, and pray to יהוה for it, for in its peace you have peace.’
8 “For thus said יהוה of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Let not your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, neither listen to the dreams which you are dreaming.
9 For they are prophesying falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,’ declares יהוה.
10 “For thus said יהוה, ‘When seventy years are completed, at Baḇel I shall visit you and establish My good word toward you, to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares יהוה, ‘plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and an expectancy.
12 Then you shall call on Me, and shall come and pray to Me, and I shall listen to you.
13 And you shall seek Me, and shall find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 And I shall be found by you,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I shall turn back your captivity, and shall gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares יהוה. And I shall bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.’
15 “Because you have said, ‘יהוה has raised up prophets for us in Baḇel’ —
16 thus said יהוה concerning the sovereign who sits on the throne of Dawiḏ, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brothers who have not gone out with you into exile,
17 thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘See, I am sending on them the sword, the scarcity of food, and the pestilence. And I shall make them like spoilt figs, so spoilt as to be uneatable.
18 And I shall pursue them with the sword, with scarcity of food, and with pestilence. And I shall make them a horror among all the reigns of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them.
19 For they did not heed My words,’ declares יהוה, ‘which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, yet you did not listen,’ declares יהוה.
20 “You, therefore, hear the word of יהוה, all you exiles whom I have sent from Yerushalayim to Baḇel.
21 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning Aḥaḇ son of Qolayah, and Tsiḏqiyahu son of Ma‛asĕyah, who are prophesying falsely to you in My Name, ‘See, I am giving them into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall strike them before your eyes.
22 And because of them all the exiles of Yehuḏah who are in Baḇel shall use a curse, saying, “יהוה make you like Tsiḏqiyahu and Aḥaḇ, whom the sovereign of Baḇel roasted in the fire,”
23 because they have done wickedness in Yisra’ĕl, and committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken a word in My Name falsely which I have not commanded them. And I am He who knows, and a witness,’ declares יהוה.
24 “And speak to Shemayahu the Neḥelamite, saying,
25 “Thus speaks יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Yerushalayim, to Tsephanyah son of Ma‛asĕyah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 “יהוה has made you priest instead of Yehoyaḏa the priest, so that there are overseers in the House of יהוה over everyone who is mad and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.
27 “So why have you not reproved Yirmeyahu of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?
28 “For he has sent to us in Baḇel, saying, ‘This captivity is long — build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’” ’ ”
29 And Tsephanyah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Yirmeyahu the prophet.
30 Then the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
31 “Send to all those in exile, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה concerning Shemayah the Neḥelamite, “Because Shemayah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has made you to trust on falsehood,”
32 therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am bringing punishment upon Shemayah the Neḥelamite and his seed: he shall have no one to dwell among this people, nor is he to see the good that I am about to do for My people,” declares יהוה, “because he has spoken apostasy against יהוה.” ’ ”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
2 “Thus spoke יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.
3 For look, the days are coming,’ declares יהוה, ‘when I shall turn back the captivity of My people Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I shall bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and let them possess it.’ ”
4 And these are the words יהוה spoke concerning Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah.
5 “For this is what יהוה said, ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask now, and see if a man is giving birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labour, and all faces turned pale?
7 Oh! For great is that day, there is none like it. And it is the time of Ya‛aqoḇ’s distress, but he shall be saved out of it.
8 And it shall be in that day,’ declares יהוה of hosts, ‘that I break his yoke from your neck, and tear off your bonds, and foreigners no more enslave them.
9 And they shall serve יהוה their Elohim and Dawiḏ their sovereign, whom I raise up for them.
10 And you, do not fear, O Ya‛aqoḇ My servant,’ declares יהוה, ‘nor be discouraged, O Yisra’ĕl. For look, I am saving you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Ya‛aqoḇ shall return, and have rest and be at ease, with no one to trouble him.
11 For I am with you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to save you. Though I make a complete end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I do not make a complete end of you. But I shall reprove you in judgment, and by no means leave you unpunished.’
12 “For thus said יהוה, ‘Your breach is incurable, your wound is grievous.
13 No one pleads your cause, to bind up. There are no healing medicines for you.
14 All those loving you have forgotten you, they do not seek you. For I struck you as an enemy strikes, with cruel chastisement, because your crookedness is great, your sins have increased.
15 Why do you cry about your breach? Your pain is incurable. Because of your many crookednesses, because your sins have increased, I have done this to you.
16 However, all those who devour you shall be devoured. And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity. And those who exploit you shall be exploited, and all who prey upon you I shall make a prey.
17 For I restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ declares יהוה, ‘for they have called you an outcast saying, “This is Tsiyon, no one is seeking her.” ’
18 “Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I turn back the captivity of Ya‛aqoḇ’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace stand on its right place.
19 And out of them shall arise thanksgiving and the voice of those who are laughing. And I shall increase them, and they shall not diminish. And I shall esteem them, and they shall not be small.
20 And his children shall be as before, and his congregation shall be established before Me. And I shall punish all who oppress them.
21 And his Prince shall be from him, and his Ruler shall come from among him. And I shall bring him near, and he shall approach Me, for who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’ declares יהוה.
22 And you shall be My people, and I shall be your Elohim.’ ”
23 See, the storm of יהוה shall go forth in a rage, a whirling storm! It bursts upon the head of the wrong.
24 The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He has done and established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand it.
1 “At that time,” declares יהוה, “I shall be the Elohim of all the clans of Yisra’ĕl, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus said יהוה, “A people escaped from the sword found favour in the wilderness, Yisra’ĕl, when it went to find rest.”
3 יהוה appeared to me from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I shall draw you with loving-commitment.
4 “I am going to build you again. And you shall be rebuilt, O maiden of Yisra’ĕl! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
5 “Again you shall plant vines on the mountains of Shomeron. The planters shall plant and treat them as common.
6 “For there shall be a day when the watchmen cry on Mount Ephrayim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Tsiyon, to יהוה our Elohim.’ ”
7 For thus said יהוה, “Sing with gladness for Ya‛aqoḇ, and shout among the chief of the nations. Cry out, give praise, and say, ‘O יהוה, save Your people, the remnant of Yisra’ĕl!’
8 “See, I am bringing them from the land of the north, and shall gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together — a great assembly returning here.
9 “With weeping they shall come, and with their prayers I bring them. I shall make them walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they do not stumble. For I shall be a Father to Yisra’ĕl, and Ephrayim — he is My first-born.
10 “Hear the word of יהוה, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Yisra’ĕl gathers him, and shall guard him as a shepherd his flock.’
11 “For יהוה shall ransom Ya‛aqoḇ, and redeem him from the hand of one stronger than he.
12 “And they shall come in and shall sing on the height of Tsiyon, and stream to the goodness of יהוה, for grain and for new wine and for oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd. And their being shall be like a well-watered garden, and never languish again.
13 “Then shall a maiden rejoice in a dance, and young men and old, together. And I shall turn their mourning to joy, and shall comfort them, and shall make them rejoice from their sorrow,
14 and shall fill the being of the priests with fatness. And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness,” declares יהוה.
15 Thus said יהוה, “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing, bitter weeping, Raḥĕl weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
16 Thus said יהוה, “Hold back your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work,” declares יהוה, “and they shall return from the land of the enemy.
17 “And there is expectancy for your latter end,” declares יהוה, “and your children shall return to their own country.
18 “I have clearly heard Ephrayim lamenting, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained calf. Turn me back, and I shall turn back, for You are יהוה my Elohim.
19 For after my turning back, I repented. And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed, even humiliated, for I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 “Is Ephrayim a precious son to Me, a child of delights? For though I spoke against him, I still remembered him. That is why My affections were deeply moved for him. I have great compassion for him,” declares יהוה.
21 “Set up signposts, make landmarks; set your heart toward the highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O maiden of Yisra’ĕl, turn back to these cities of yours!
22 “Till when would you turn here and there, O backsliding daughter? For יהוה has created what is new on earth: a woman encompasses a man!”
23 Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Let them once again say this word in the land of Yehuḏah and in its cities, when I turn back their captivity, ‘יהוה bless you, O home of righteousness, mountain of set-apartness!’
24 “And in Yehuḏah and all its cities farmers and those who journey with flocks, shall dwell together.
25 “For I shall fill the weary being, and I shall replenish every grieved being.”
26 At this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.
27 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that I shall sow the house of Yisra’ĕl and the house of Yehuḏah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28 “And it shall be, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so I shall watch over them to build and to plant,” declares יהוה.
29 “In those days they shall no longer say, ‘The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are blunted.’
30 “But each one shall die for his own crookedness — whoever eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be blunted.
31 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall make a renewed covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah,
32 not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I strengthened their hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
34 “And no longer shall they teach, each one his neighbour, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know יהוה,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares יהוה. “For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus said יהוה, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the laws of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar — יהוה of hosts is His Name:
36 “If these laws vanish from before Me,” declares יהוה, “then the seed of Yisra’ĕl shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus said יהוה, “If the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I would also cast off all the seed of Yisra’ĕl for all that they have done,” declares יהוה.
38 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that the city shall be built for יהוה from the Tower of Ḥanan’ĕl to the Corner Gate.
39 “And the measuring line shall again extend straight ahead to the hill Garĕḇ, then it shall turn toward Go‛ah.
40 “And all the valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the wadi Qiḏron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, is to be set-apart to יהוה. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה in the tenth year of Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, which was the eighteenth year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar.
2 Now at that time the army of the sovereign of Baḇel besieged Yerushalayim, and Yirmeyahu the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah.
3 For Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah had shut him up, saying, “Why are you prophesying, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I am giving this city into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall take it,
4 and Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah shall not escape from the hand of the Kasdim, but certainly be given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and shall speak with him face to face, and see him eye to eye,
5 and he shall lead Tsiḏqiyahu to Baḇel, and be there until I visit him,” declares יהוה, “though you fight with the Kasdim, you shall not prosper” ’?”
6 And Yirmeyahu said, “The word of יהוה came to me, saying,
7 See, Ḥaname’ĕl son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’
8 “So Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of יהוה, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Binyamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ And I knew that this was the word of יהוה.
9 “And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Ḥaname’ĕl, my uncle’s son, and weighed out to him the silver, seventeen sheqels of silver.
10 “And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales.
11 “Then I took the deed of purchase — that which was sealed according to the command and law, and that which was open —
12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, in the presence of Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Yehuḏim who sat in the court of the guard.
13 “And I commanded Baruḵ before their eyes, saying,
14 Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Take these deeds, both this deed of purchase which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, so that they remain many days.”
15 For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” ’
16 “And after I had given the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, I prayed to יהוה, saying,
17 Ah, Master יהוה! See, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is no matter too hard for You,
18 who show loving-commitment to thousands, and repay the crookedness of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them — the Great, the Mighty Ěl, יהוה of hosts is His Name,
19 great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
20 For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Mitsrayim, to this day, and in Yisra’ĕl and among other men. And You have made Yourself a Name, as it is this day.
21 And You have brought Your people Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great fearsome deeds.
22 And You gave them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 And they came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice nor did they walk in Your Torah. They did not do all that You commanded them to do, so You brought all this evil upon them.
24 See the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it. And the city has been given into the hand of the Kasdim who fight against it, because of the sword and the scarcity of food and the pestilence. And what You have spoken has come about, and look, You see it!
25 Yet You, O Master יהוה, have said to me, “Buy the field for silver, and take witnesses”! although the city has been given into the hand of the Kasdim.’ ”
26 Then the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
27 “See, I am יהוה, the Elohim of all flesh. Is there any matter too hard for Me?”
28 Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am giving this city into the hand of the Kasdim, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall take it.
29 “And the Kasdim who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Ba‛al and poured out drink offerings to other mighty ones, to provoke Me.
30 “For the children of Yisra’ĕl and the children of Yehuḏah have done only evil before Me, from their youth. For the children of Yisra’ĕl have only provoked Me with the work of their hands,” declares יהוה.
31 “For this city has been a cause for My displeasure and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day that I should remove it from before My face,
32 because of all the evil of the children of Yisra’ĕl and the children of Yehuḏah, which they have done to provoke Me — they, their sovereigns, their heads, their priests, their prophets, and the men of Yehuḏah, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
33 “And they have turned their back to Me, and not their face — though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, they did not listen to receive instruction.
34 “And they set their abominations in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.
35 “And they built the high places of Ba‛al which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and their daughters to Moleḵ, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart, that they should do this abomination, to make Yehuḏah sin.
36 “And now, thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel by the sword, and by scarcity of food, and by pestilence’:
37 See, I am gathering them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My displeasure, and in My wrath, and in great rage. And I shall bring them back to this place, and shall let them dwell in safety.
38 And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim.
39 And I shall give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for the good of them and of their children after them.
40 And I shall make an everlasting covenant with them, that I do not turn back from doing good to them. And I shall put My fear in their hearts so as not to turn aside from Me.
41 And I shall rejoice over them to do good to them, and shall plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My being.’
42 “For thus said יהוה, ‘As I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I am bringing on them all the good that I am speaking to them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a wasteland, without man or beast. It has been given into the hand of the Kasdim.”
44 Fields shall be bought for silver, and deeds signed and sealed, and witnesses be called, in the land of Binyamin, and in the places around Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehuḏah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the low country, and in the cities of the South. For I shall turn back their captivity,’ declares יהוה.”
1 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה who made it, יהוה who formed it to establish it, יהוה is His Name,
3 Call unto Me, and I shall answer you, and show you great and inaccessible matters, which you have not known.’
4 “For thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, which are thrown down against the siege mounds and the sword,
5 while coming to fight with the Kasdim, and to fill their places with the corpses of men whom I shall strike in My displeasure and My wrath, all for whose evil I have hidden My face from this city.
6 See, I am bringing to it relief and healing. And I shall heal them and reveal to them the riches of peace and truth.
7 And I shall turn back the captivity of Yehuḏah and the captivity of Yisra’ĕl, and shall build them as at the first,
8 and shall cleanse them from all their crookedness that they have sinned against Me. And I shall pardon all their crookednesses that they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
9 And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and a pride before all nations of the earth, who hear all the good I am doing to them, and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the peace I am doing to it.’
10 “Thus said יהוה, ‘In this place of which you say, “It is dried up, without man and without beast,” in the cities of Yehuḏah, in the streets of Yerushalayim that are deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, there shall once again be heard
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who are saying, “Praise יהוה of hosts, for יהוה is good, for His loving-commitment is forever,” of those who are bringing the offering of praise into the House of יהוה. For I shall turn back the captivity of the land, as at the first,’ declares יהוה.
12 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘In this place which is dried up, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall once again be a home of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the low country, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Binyamin, and in the places around Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehuḏah, the flocks once again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ declares יהוה.
14 See, the days are coming,’ declares יהוה, ‘when I shall establish the good word which I have promised to the house of Yisra’ĕl and to the house of Yehuḏah:
15 In those days and at that time I cause a Branch of righteousness to spring forth for Dawiḏ. And He shall do right-ruling and righteousness in the earth.
16 In those days Yehuḏah shall be saved, and Yerushalayim dwell in safety. And this is that which shall be proclaimed to her: ‘יהוה our Righteousness.’
17 “For thus said יהוה, ‘For Dawiḏ there is not to cease a man to sit on the throne of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
18 And for the priests, the Lĕwites, there is not to cease a man to offer ascending offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to slaughter continually.’ ”
19 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
20 “Thus said יהוה, ‘If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there be not day and night in their season,
21 then My covenant could also be broken with Dawiḏ My servant — so that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne — and with the Lĕwites, the priests, My attendants.
22 As the host of the heavens is not counted, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I increase the descendants of Dawiḏ My servant and the Lĕwites who attend upon Me.’ ”
23 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
24 “Have you not observed what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two clans which יהוה has chosen have been rejected by Him’? So they have despised My people, no more to be a nation before them.
25 “Thus said יהוה, ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the laws of the heavens and earth,
26 then I would also reject the descendants of Ya‛aqoḇ and Dawiḏ My servant, so that I should not take of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Ya‛aqoḇ. For I shall turn back their captivity, and have compassion on them.’ ”
1 The word which came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, when Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel and all his army, and all the reigns of the earth under his rule, and all the people, fought against Yerushalayim and all its cities, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Go and speak to Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah and say to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am giving this city into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel. And he shall burn it with fire,
3 and you shall not escape out of his hand, but certainly be taken and given into his hand. And your eyes shall see the eyes of the sovereign of Baḇel, and his mouth shall speak with your mouth, and you shall go to Baḇel.’” ’
4 “But hear the word of יהוה, O Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah! Thus said יהוה concerning you, ‘You shall not die by the sword.
5 In peace you are to die, and as in the burnings of spices for your fathers, the former sovereigns who were before you, so they shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, master!” ’ For I have spoken the word,” declares יהוה.
6 And Yirmeyahu the prophet spoke all these words to Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah in Yerushalayim,
7 while the sovereign of Baḇel’s army was fighting against Yerushalayim and all the cities of Yehuḏah that were left, against Laḵish and Azĕqah. For only these walled cities remained of the cities of Yehuḏah.
8 The word which came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, after Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu had made a covenant with all the people who were at Yerushalayim to proclaim release to them:
9 that everyone was to set free his male and female slave, the Hebrew man and the Hebrew woman, no one was to keep a Yehuḏi, his brother, enslaved.
10 And when all the heads and all the people who had come into the covenant heard that each one was to set free his male and female slaves, and not keep them enslaved any longer, they obeyed and released them.
11 But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.
12 Therefore the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
13 “Thus said יהוה the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I Myself made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage, saying,
14 “At the end of seven years each one should set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear.
15 And you recently turned and did what was right in My eyes, each man proclaiming release to his neighbour. And you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.
16 But you turned back and profaned My Name, and each one of you took back his male and female slaves, whom he had set free, at their pleasure, and brought them into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’
17 “Therefore thus said יהוה, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release, each one to his brother and each one to his neighbour. See, I am proclaiming release to you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the scarcity of food! And I shall make you a horror to all reigns of the earth.
18 And I shall give the men who are transgressing My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it:
19 the heads of Yehuḏah, and the heads of Yerushalayim, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.
20 And I shall give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their corpses shall be for food to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth.
21 And I shall give Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah and his heads into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel’s army that has withdrawn from you.
22 See, I am commanding,’ declares יהוה, ‘and shall bring them back to this city, and they shall fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. And I shall make the cities of Yehuḏah a ruin without inhabitant.’ ”
1 The word which came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה in the days of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying,
2 “Go to the house of the Rĕḵaḇites. And you shall speak to them, and bring them into the House of יהוה, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.”
3 And I took Ya‛azanyah the son of Yirmeyahu, the son of Ḥaḇatstsinyah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the house of the Rĕḵaḇites,
4 and brought them into the House of יהוה, into the room of the sons of Ḥanan son of Yiḡdalyahu, a man of Elohim, which was by the chamber of the heads, above the room of Ma‛asĕyahu son of Shallum, the keeper of the door.
5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rĕḵaḇites bowls filled with wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.”
6 But they said, “We do not drink wine, because Yonaḏaḇ the son of Rĕḵaḇ, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.
7 And do not build a house, neither sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have any of these, but dwell in tents all your days, so that you live many days on the face of the land where you are sojourners.’
8 “So we obeyed the voice of Yonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters,
9 nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in. And we have no vineyard, field or seed.
10 “But we dwell in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Yonaḏaḇ our father commanded us.
11 “And it came to be, whenNeḇuḵaḏretst-sar sovereign of Baḇel came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us go to Yerushalayim for fear of the army of the Kasdim and for fear of the army of the Arameans.’ So we dwell at Yerushalayim.”
12 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
13 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Go, and you shall say to the men of Yehuḏah and to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, “Have you not received instruction, to obey My words?” declares יהוה.
14 “The words of Yonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are established, and they have not drunk unto this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. And as for Me, I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not obeyed Me.
15 “And I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn, each one from his evil way, and make good your deeds, and do not go after other mighty ones to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.
16 “The sons of Yonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ have indeed carried out the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’
17 “Therefore thus said יהוה Elohim of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘See, I am bringing on Yehuḏah and on all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim all the evil I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them but they did not listen, and I have called to them but they did not answer.’ ”
18 And Yirmeyahu said to the house of the Rĕḵaḇites, “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Because you have obeyed the command of Yonaḏaḇ your father, and guarded all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you,
19 therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Of Yonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ there shall never cease to be a man to stand before Me.” ’ ”
1 And it came to be in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, that this word came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה, saying,
2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Yisra’ĕl, and against Yehuḏah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Yoshiyahu even to this day.
3 “It could be that the house of Yehuḏah hears of all the evil which I plan to bring upon them, so that each one turns back from his evil way, and I shall pardon their crookedness and their sin.”
4 And Yirmeyahu called Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah. And Baruḵ wrote on a scroll from the mouth of Yirmeyahu, all the words of יהוה which He had spoken to him.
5 And Yirmeyahu commanded Baruḵ, saying, “I am shut up, I am unable to enter the House of יהוה.
6 “But you shall enter, and shall read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, the words of יהוה, in the hearing of the people in the House of יהוה on the day of fasting. And also read them in the hearing of all Yehuḏah who come from their cities.
7 “It could be that they present their supplication before יהוה, and they turn back, each one from his evil way. For great is the displeasure and the wrath that יהוה has spoken against this people.”
8 And Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah did according to all that Yirmeyahu the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of יהוה in the House of יהוה.
9 And it came to be in the fifth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the ninth new moon, that they called a fast before יהוה to all the people in Yerushalayim, and to all the people who came from the cities of Yehuḏah to Yerushalayim.
10 And Baruḵ read from the book the words of Yirmeyahu in the House of יהוה, in the room of Gemaryahu son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the entry of the New Gate of the House of יהוה, in the hearing of all the people.
11 And Miḵayehu son of Gemaryahu, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of יהוה from the book,
12 And then he went down to the sovereign’s house, into the scribe’s room. And there all the heads were sitting: Elishama the scribe, and Delayahu son of Shemayahu, and Elnathan son of Aḵbor, and Gemaryahu son of Shaphan, and Tsiḏqiyahu son of Ḥananyahu, and all the heads.
13 And Miḵayehu told them all the words which he heard when Baruḵ read the book in the hearing of the people.
14 Then all the heads sent Yehuḏi son of Nethanyahu, son of Shelemyahu, son of Kushi, to Baruḵ, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruḵ son of Nĕriyahu took the scroll in his hand and came to them.
15 And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it in our hearing.” Then Baruḵ read it in their hearing.
16 And it came to be, when they had heard all the words, that they looked at each other in fear, and said to Baruḵ, “We are certainly going to report all these words to the sovereign.”
17 And they asked Baruḵ, saying, “Please explain to us, how did you write all these words? From his mouth?”
18 And Baruḵ answered them, “From his mouth he spoke all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
19 Then the heads said to Baruḵ, “Go, hide, you and Yirmeyahu, and let no one know where you are.”
20 And they went to the sovereign, into the court. But they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the sovereign.
21 The sovereign therefore sent Yehuḏi to bring the scroll, and he took it from the room of Elishama the scribe. And Yehuḏi read it in the hearing of the sovereign and in the hearing of all the heads standing beside the sovereign.
22 And the sovereign was sitting in the winter house in the ninth new moon, with a fire burning on the hearth before him.
23 Then it came to be, when Yehuḏi had read three or four columns, that the sovereign cut it with the scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was on the hearth, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Yet the sovereign and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments.
25 Moreover, Elnathan, and Delayahu, and Gemaryahu pleaded with the sovereign not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them.
26 And the sovereign commanded Yeraḥme’ĕl son of the sovereign, and Serayahu son of Azri’ĕl, and Shelemyahu son of Aḇde’ĕl, to seize Baruḵ the scribe and Yirmeyahu the prophet, but יהוה had hid them.
27 And after the sovereign had burned the scroll with the words which Baruḵ had written from the mouth of Yirmeyahu, the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
28 “Take another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Yehoyaqim the sovereign of Yehuḏah has burned,
29 and say to Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah, ‘Thus said יהוה, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the sovereign of Baḇel is certainly coming to destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?’ ”
30 Therefore thus said יהוה concerning Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of Dawiḏ, and his dead body is to be thrown out, to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
31 “And I shall punish him, and his seed, and his servants for their crookedness. And I shall bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and on the men of Yehuḏah all the evil I have spoken against them. But they did not listen.” ’ ”
32 So Yirmeyahu took another scroll and gave it to Baruḵ the scribe, son of Nĕriyahu, who wrote on it from the mouth of Yirmeyahu all the words of the book which Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
1 And Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu son of Yoshiyahu reigned instead of Konyahu son of Yehoyaqim, whom Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel set up to reign in the land of Yehuḏah.
2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land had listened to the words of יהוה which He spoke by the prophet Yirmeyahu.
3 And Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign sent Yehuḵal son of Shelemyah, and the priest, Tsephanyahu son of Ma‛asĕyah, to the prophet Yirmeyahu, saying, “Please pray to יהוה our Elohim for us.”
4 Now Yirmeyahu was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.
5 Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had set out from Mitsrayim. And when the Kasdim who were besieging Yerushalayim heard news of them, they withdrew from Yerushalayim.
6 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying,
7 “Thus said יהוה the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say this to the sovereign of Yehuḏah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me, “See, Pharaoh’s army which has come up to help you, shall turn back to Mitsrayim, to their own land.
8 “And the Kasdim shall return and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.” ’
9 “Thus said יהוה, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Kasdim shall go away from us,” for they do not go.
10 For though you had stricken the entire army of the Kasdim who are fighting against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would get up, each man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.’ ”
11 And it came to be, when the army of the Kasdim left the siege of Yerushalayim for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12 that Yirmeyahu went out of Yerushalayim to go into the land of Binyamin to receive his portion there in the midst of the people.
13 And it came to be, as he was in the gate of Binyamin, a master of the guard was there whose name was Yiriyah son of Shelemyah, son of Ḥananyah. And he seized Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Kasdim!”
14 But Yirmeyahu said, “It is a lie! I am not deserting to the Kasdim.” But he did not listen to him, and Yiriyah seized Yirmeyahu and brought him to the heads.
15 And the heads were wroth with Yirmeyahu, and struck him and put him in prison in the house of Yehonathan the scribe. For they had made that for a prison.
16 When Yirmeyahu had entered into the dungeon and into the cells, then Yirmeyahu remained there many days.
17 And Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign sent and took him out. And the sovereign asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from יהוה?” And Yirmeyahu said, “There is.” And he said, “You are given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel!”
18 And Yirmeyahu said to Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign, “What have I sinned against you, and against your servants, and against this people, that you have put me into prison?
19 “Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The sovereign of Baḇel is not coming against you or against this land?’
20 “But now, please hear, O my master the sovereign. Please, let my petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of Yehonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”
21 Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign then commanded Yirmeyahu to be placed in the court of the guard, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard.
1 And Shephatyah son of Mattan, and Geḏalyahu son of Pashḥur, and Yuḵal son of Shelemyahu, and Pashḥur son of Malkiyah heard the words which Yirmeyahu had spoken to all the people, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה, ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence, but whoever goes over to the Kasdim shall live. And his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’
3 “Thus said יהוה, ‘This city is certainly given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel’s army, and he shall take it.’ ”
4 Then the heads said to the sovereign, “Please, let this man be put to death, because he is weakening the hands of the men of battle who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the peace of this people, but the evil.”
5 And Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the sovereign is unable to do any matter against you.”
6 And they took Yirmeyahu and threw him into the dungeon of Malkiyahu the sovereign’s son, which was in the court of the guard, and they let Yirmeyahu down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mud. So Yirmeyahu sank in the mud.
7 And Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ the Kushite, one of the eunuchs, who was in the sovereign’s house, heard that they had put Yirmeyahu in the dungeon. And the sovereign was sitting at the Gate of Binyamin,
8 And Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ came from the sovereign’s house and spoke to the sovereign, saying,
9 “My master the sovereign, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Yirmeyahu the prophet, whom they have thrown into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city.”
10 And the sovereign commanded Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ the Kushite, saying, “Take thirty men from here with you, and lift Yirmeyahu the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”
11 So Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ took the men with him and went into the house of the sovereign under the treasury, and took old clothes and old rags from there, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Yirmeyahu.
12 And Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ the Kushite said to Yirmeyahu, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Yirmeyahu did so,
13 and they pulled Yirmeyahu up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard.
14 Then Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign sent and had Yirmeyahu the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the House of יהוה. And the sovereign said to Yirmeyahu, “I am asking you a matter. Do not hide a matter from me.”
15 And Yirmeyahu said to Tsiḏqiyahu, “If I declare it to you, shall you not put me to death? And if I give you advice, you shall not listen to me.”
16 But Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign swore secretly to Yirmeyahu, saying, “As יהוה lives, who made us this life, I do not put you to death, nor do I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 And Yirmeyahu said to Tsiḏqiyahu, “Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘If you do indeed surrender to the heads of the sovereign of Baḇel, then your being shall live, and this city not be burned with fire. And you and your house shall live.
18 But if you do not surrender to the heads of the sovereign of Baḇel, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Kasdim, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”
19 Then Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign said to Yirmeyahu, “I am afraid of the Yehuḏim who have gone over to the Kasdim, lest they give me into their hand, and they maltreat me.”
20 But Yirmeyahu said, “They shall not hand you over. Please, obey the voice of יהוה which I speak to you, and let it be well with you, and your life be spared.
21 “But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that יהוה has shown me:
22 Then see, all the women who are left in the sovereign of Yehuḏah’s house shall be surrendered to the heads of the sovereign of Baḇel, and see, they are saying, “Your close friends have set upon you and prevailed against you; your feet have sunk in the mire; they have turned away again.”
23 And they are going to surrender all your wives and children to the Kasdim, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but be taken by the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and this city shall be burned with fire.’ ”
24 Then Tsiḏqiyahu said to Yirmeyahu, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.
25 “But if the heads hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the sovereign, and also what the sovereign said to you. Do not hide it from us, and we do not put you to death,’
26 then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my petition before the sovereign, not to send me back to the house of Yonathan to die there.’ ”
27 And all the heads came to Yirmeyahu and asked him. And he informed them according to all these words that the sovereign had commanded. And they said no more to him, for the matter was not heard.
28 So Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard until the day that Yerushalayim was taken, and he was there when Yerushalayim was taken.
1 In the ninth year of Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the tenth new moon, Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel and all his army came against Yerushalayim, and besieged it.
2 In the eleventh year of Tsiḏqiyahu, in the fourth new moon, on the ninth day of the new moon, the city was broken into.
3 And all the heads of the sovereign of Baḇel came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nĕrḡal-Shar’etser, Samgar-Neḇo, Sarseḵim, Raḇsaris, Nĕrḡal-Sarezer, Raḇmaḡ, and all the rest of the heads of the sovereign of Baḇel.
4 And it came to be, when Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah and all the men of battle saw them, they fled and left the city by night, by way of the sovereign’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out toward the desert plain.
5 But the army of the Kasdim pursued them and overtook Tsiḏqiyahu in the desert plains of Yeriḥo. And they captured him, and brought him up to Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel, to Riḇlah in the land of Ḥamath, where he spoke judgment on him.
6 And the sovereign of Baḇel slew the sons of Tsiḏqiyahu before his eyes in Riḇlah. The sovereign of Baḇel also slew all the nobles of Yehuḏah.
7 And he put out the eyes of Tsiḏqiyahu, and bound him with bronze shackles to bring him to Baḇel.
8 And the Kasdim burned the house of the sovereign and the houses of the people with fire, and they broke down the walls of Yerushalayim.
9 And Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, exiled to Baḇel the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who defected to him, with the rest of the people who were left.
10 But Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, left in the land of Yehuḏah the poor people, who had naught whatever, and gave them vineyards and fields on the same day.
11 And Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel gave a command concerning Yirmeyahu to Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, saying,
12 “Take him and look after him, and do no harm whatsoever to him, but do to him even as he shall speak to you.”
13 And Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, and Neḇushazban the Raḇsaris, Nĕrḡal-Shar’etser the Raḇmaḡ, and all the sovereign of Baḇel’s chief officers sent,
14 and had Yirmeyahu taken from the court of the guard, and gave him to Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, to take him home. And he dwelt among the people.
15 And the word of יהוה had come to Yirmeyahu while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
16 “Go, and you shall speak to Eḇeḏ-Meleḵ the Kushite, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am bringing My words upon this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be before you in that day.
17 “And I shall deliver you in that day,” declares יהוה, “so that you are not given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.
18 “For I shall rescue you, and you shall not fall by the sword. But your life shall be as a prize to you, for you have put your trust in Me,” declares יהוה.’ ”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה after Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles from Yerushalayim and Yehuḏah, who were being exiled to Baḇel.
2 And the chief of the guard took Yirmeyahu and said to him, “יהוה your Elohim has spoken this evil on this place.
3 “And יהוה has brought it on, and has done, as He has said. Because you have sinned against יהוה, and did not obey His voice, therefore this matter has come upon you.
4 “And now, see, I loosen you today from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Baḇel, come, and I shall look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Baḇel, remain here. See, all the land is before you, go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.”
5 And before he replied, Neḇuzaraḏan said, “Or go back to Geḏalyah son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, whom the sovereign of Baḇel has made governor over the cities of Yehuḏah, and dwell with him among the people, or go wherever it seems right for you to go.” And the chief of the guard gave him provisions and a gift and let him go.
6 So Yirmeyahu went to Geḏalyah son of Aḥiqam, to Mitspah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.
7 And all the commanders of the armies who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the sovereign of Baḇel had made Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam governor in the land, and had put him in charge of the men, and women, and children, and the poor of the land who had not been exiled to Baḇel.
8 So they came to Geḏalyah at Mitspah — Yishma‛ĕl the son of Nethanyahu, and Yoḥanan and Yonathan the sons of Qarĕaḥ, and Serayah the son of Tanḥumeth, and the sons of Ophai the Netophathite and Yezanyahu the son of a Ma‛aḵathite, they and their men.
9 And Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Kasdim. Dwell in the land and serve the sovereign of Baḇel, and it shall be well with you.
10 “And I, see, I am dwelling at Mitspah, to serve the Kasdim who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities which you have taken.”
11 Also, when all the Yehuḏim who were in Mo’aḇ, and among the Ammonites, and in Eḏom, and who were in all the lands, heard that the sovereign of Baḇel had left a remnant of Yehuḏah, and that he had set over them Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan,
12 then all the Yehuḏim returned from all the places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Yehuḏah, to Geḏalyahu at Mitspah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in large quantities.
13 And Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ and all the commanders of the army that were in the fields came to Geḏalyahu at Mitspah,
14 and they said to him, “Do you certainly know that Ba‛alis sovereign of the Ammonites has sent Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah to strike you — a being?” But Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam would not believe them.
15 Then Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ spoke secretly to Geḏalyahu in Mitspah, saying, “Please let me go and strike Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, without anyone knowing it. Why should he murder you, and so let all the Yehuḏim who are gathered to you be scattered, and the remnant in Yehuḏah perish?”
16 But Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam said to Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, “Do not do this matter, for what you are saying about Yishma‛ĕl is not true.”
1 And in the seventh new moon it came to be that Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and of the officers of the sovereign, came with ten men to Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, at Mitspah. And while they ate bread together there in Mitspah,
2 Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the sovereign of Baḇel had made governor over the land.
3 And Yishma‛ĕl struck all the Yehuḏim who were with him, with Geḏalyahu at Mitspah, and the Kasdim who were found there, the men of battle.
4 And it came to be, on the second day after he had killed Geḏalyahu, when no one yet knew it,
5 that men came from Sheḵem, from Shiloh, and from Shomeron, eighty men with their beards shaved and their garments torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the House of יהוה.
6 And Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah went out from Mitspah to meet them, weeping as he walked along. And it came to be, as he met them, that he said to them, “Come to Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam!”
7 And it came to be, when they came inside the city, that Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah slew them, throwing them into a pit, he and the men who were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them who said to Yishma‛ĕl, “Do not kill us, for we have wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he held back and did not kill them among their brothers.
9 And the pit into which Yishma‛ĕl had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had struck, because of Geḏalyahu, was the same one Asa the sovereign had made for fear of Ba‛asha sovereign of Yisra’ĕl — Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyahu had filled it with the slain.
10 Then Yishma‛ĕl took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mitspah, the sovereign’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mitspah, whom Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, had entrusted to Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam. And Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyahu took them captive and went to go over to the Ammonites.
11 But Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ and all the commanders of the army that were with him heard of all the evil that Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah had done,
12 so they took all the men and went to fight with Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah. And they found him by the great pool that is in Giḇ‛on.
13 And it came to be, when all the people who were with Yishma‛ĕl saw Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and all the commanders of the army who were with him, that they were glad.
14 And all the people whom Yishma‛ĕl had taken captive from Mitspah turned around, and came back, and went to Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ.
15 But Yishma‛ĕl the son of Nethanyah escaped from Yoḥanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and all the commanders of the army that were with him, took from Mitspah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah after he had struck Geḏalyah son of Aḥiqam — the mighty men of battle and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Giḇ‛on.
17 And they set out and dwelt in the lodging place of Kimham, which is near Bĕyth Leḥem, to go to enter Mitsrayim,
18 because of the Kasdim. For they were afraid of them, because Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah had struck Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, whom the sovereign of Baḇel had made governor in the land.
1 Then all the commanders of the army, and Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and Yezanyah son of Hoshayah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near
2 and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, “We beg you, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to יהוה your Elohim, for all this remnant, for we are few left of many, as your eyes see us.
3 “And let יהוה your Elohim show us the way in which we should walk and the word we should do.”
4 And Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them, “I have heard. See, I am praying to יהוה your Elohim according to your words, and it shall be that I declare to you all the word יהוה answers you. I withhold not a word from you.”
5 And they said to Yirmeyahu, “Let יהוה be a true and steadfast witness between us, if we do not do according to all the word which יהוה your Elohim sends us by you.
6 “Whether good or evil, let us obey the voice of יהוה our Elohim to whom we send you, in order that it might be well with us when we obey the voice of יהוה our Elohim.”
7 And after ten days it came to be that the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu.
8 So he called Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and all the commanders of the army which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
9 and said to them, “Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him,
10 If you would indeed stay in this land, then I shall build you and not pull you down, and I shall plant you and not pluck you up. For I have relented of the evil I have done to you.
11 Do not be afraid of the sovereign of Baḇel, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him,’ declares יהוה, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand.
12 And I shall show you compassion, so that he has compassion on you and let you return to your own land.’
13 “But if you say, ‘We are not staying in this land,’ and so disobey the voice of יהוה your Elohim,
14 saying, ‘No, but we are going to the land of Mitsrayim so that we see no fighting, nor hear a voice of a shophar, nor hunger for bread, and there we shall stay,’
15 then hear the word of יהוה, O remnant of Yehuḏah! Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter Mitsrayim, and shall go to sojourn there,
16 then it shall be that the sword which you feared overtakes you there in the land of Mitsrayim, and the scarcity of food of which you were afraid clings to you there in Mitsrayim, and you die there.
17 And so it shall be with all the men who set their faces to go to Mitsrayim to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence, and not one of them shall survive or escape from the evil I am bringing upon them.’
18 “For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘As My displeasure and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so shall My wrath be poured out on you when you enter Mitsrayim. And you shall be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and you shall see this place no more.’
19 “יהוה has spoken about you, O remnant of Yehuḏah, ‘Do not go to Mitsrayim!’ Know for certain that I have warned you this day.
20 “For you deceived yourselves when you sent me to יהוה your Elohim, saying, ‘Pray for us to יהוה our Elohim, and according to all that יהוה your Elohim says, so declare to us and we shall do it.’
21 “So I have declared it to you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of יהוה your Elohim in all which He has sent me to you.
22 “And now, know for certain that you shall die by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence in the place where you have desired to go to sojourn.”
1 And it came to be, when Yirmeyahu had ended speaking all these words to all the people — all the words of יהוה their Elohim, for which יהוה their Elohim had sent him to them —
2 that Azaryah son of Hoshayah, and Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Yirmeyahu, “You are speaking a lie! יהוה our Elohim has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Mitsrayim to sojourn there.’
3 “For Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah is moving you against us, to give us into the hand of the Kasdim, to put us to death or exile us to Baḇel.”
4 So Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and all the commanders of the army, and all the people disobeyed the voice of יהוה, to stay in the land of Yehuḏah.
5 And Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ and all the commanders of the army took all the remnant of Yehuḏah who had returned to dwell in the land of Yehuḏah, from all nations where they had been driven —
6 the men, and the women, and the children, and the sovereign’s daughters, and every being whom Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, had left with Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, and Yirmeyahu the prophet, and Baruḵ son of Nĕriyahu.
7 So they went to the land of Mitsrayim, for they disobeyed the voice of יהוה. And they went as far as Taḥpanḥes.
8 And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu in Taḥpanḥes, saying,
9 “Take large stones in your hand, and you shall hide them before the eyes of the men of Yehuḏah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Taḥpanḥes.
10 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am sending, and I shall bring Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, My servant. And I shall set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he shall spread his canopy over them.
11 “And he shall come and strike the land of Mitsrayim, bringing death to those appointed for death, and captivity to those for captivity, and the sword to those for the sword.
12 “And he shall set fire to the houses of the mighty ones of Mitsrayim. And he shall burn them and take them captive. And he shall cover himself with the land of Mitsrayim, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace.
13 “And he shall break the stone pillars of the House of the Sun which are in the land of Mitsrayim, and he shall burn the houses of the mighty ones of the Mitsrites with fire.” ’ ”
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu concerning all the Yehuḏim who were dwelling in the land of Mitsrayim — who were dwelling at Miḡdol, and at Taḥpanḥes, and at Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘You yourselves have seen all the evil that I have brought on Yerushalayim and on all the cities of Yehuḏah. And see, this day they are a ruin, and no one dwells in them,
3 because of their evil which they have done to provoke Me, by going to burn incense by serving other mighty ones whom they did not know, they nor you nor your fathers.
4 And I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Please do not do this abominable matter that I hate!”
5 But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil, not to burn incense to other mighty ones.
6 So My wrath and My displeasure were poured out and burned in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim, and they became a ruin and a wasteland, as it is this day.’
7 “And now, thus said יהוה, the Elohim of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Why are you doing this great evil against your lives, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from the midst of Yehuḏah, leaving none to remain,
8 by provoking Me with the works of your hands, by burning incense to other mighty ones in the land of Mitsrayim where you have gone to dwell, to cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, and the evils of their wives, and your own evils, and the evils of your wives, which they have done in the land of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim?
10 To this day they have not been humbled, nor have they feared, nor have they walked in My Torah and in My laws that I set before you and your fathers.’
11 “Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘See, I am setting My face against you for evil and for cutting off all Yehuḏah.
12 And I shall take the remnant of Yehuḏah who have set their faces to go into the land of Mitsrayim to sojourn there. And they shall all be consumed in the land of Mitsrayim — fall by the sword, consumed by scarcity of food. From the least to the greatest they shall die, by the sword and by scarcity of food. And they shall be an oath and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach!
13 And I shall punish those dwelling in the land of Mitsrayim, as I have punished Yerushalayim, by the sword, by scarcity of food, and by pestilence.
14 And none of the remnant of Yehuḏah who have gone into the land of Mitsrayim to sojourn there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Yehuḏah, to which they are longing to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except those who escape.’ ”
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other mighty ones, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Mitsrayim, in Pathros, answered Yirmeyahu, saying,
16 “We are not going to listen to you in the matter about which you spoke to us in the Name of יהוה!
17 “But we shall do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the sovereigness of the heavens and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our sovereigns and our heads, in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim. And we had plenty of food, and were well-off, and saw no evil.
18 “But since we ceased burning incense to the sovereigness of the heavens and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all and have been consumed by the sword and by scarcity of food.
19 “And when we burned incense to the sovereigness of the heavens and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to idolize her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
20 Then Yirmeyahu spoke to all the people — to the men and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,
21 “As for the incense that you burned in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim, you and your fathers, your sovereigns and your heads, and the people of the land, did not יהוה remember them? And it came into His heart!
22 “And יהוה could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your deeds and because of the abominations which you did. Therefore your land is a ruin, an object of astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day.
23 “Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against יהוה, and did not obey the voice of יהוה or walk in His Torah, in His laws or in His witnesses, therefore this evil did befall you, as at this day.”
24 And Yirmeyahu said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of יהוה, all Yehuḏah who are in the land of Mitsrayim!
25 “Thus spoke יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘You and your wives have spoken with your mouths, and have filled with your hands, saying, “We shall perform our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the sovereigness of the heavens and pour out drink offerings to her.” Then confirm your vows and perform your vows!’
26 “Therefore hear the word of יהוה, all Yehuḏah who are dwelling in the land of Mitsrayim, ‘See, I have sworn by My great Name,’ declares יהוה, ‘My Name shall no longer be called upon by the mouth of any man of Yehuḏah in all the land of Mitsrayim, saying, “As the Master יהוה lives...”
27 See, I am watching over them for evil and not for good. And all the men of Yehuḏah who are in the land of Mitsrayim shall be consumed by the sword and by scarcity of food, until they come to an end.
28 And those who escape the sword, few in number, shall return from the land of Mitsrayim to the land of Yehuḏah. And all the remnant of Yehuḏah, who came into the land of Mitsrayim to sojourn there, shall know whose word is established, Mine or theirs.
29 And this is the sign to you,’ declares יהוה, ‘that I am punishing you in this place, so that you know that My words are certainly established against you for evil.’
30 “Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am giving Pharaoh Ḥophra sovereign of Mitsrayim into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, his enemy who sought his life.’ ”
1 The word that Yirmeyahu the prophet spoke to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, when he had written these words in a book from the mouth of Yirmeyahu, in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying,
2 “Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning you, Baruḵ:
3 You have said, “Woe to me now! For יהוה has added grief to my pain. I have been wearied with my sighing, and I have found no rest.” ’
4 “Say this to him, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up, that is, the entire land.
5 “And do you seek great matters for yourself? Do not seek them, for look, I am bringing evil on all flesh,” declares יהוה. “But I shall give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” ’ ”
1 The word of יהוה which came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the nations:
2 For Mitsrayim, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neḵo, sovereign of Mitsrayim, which was by the River Euphrates in Karkemish, and which Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel had stricken in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim, son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah:
3 “Prepare the large and the small shield, and draw near to battle!
4 “Harness the horses, and mount up, you horsemen! Stand with helmets, polish the spears, put on the armour!
5 “Why do I see them afraid, turned back? And their fighters are beaten down. And they have fled in haste, and did not look back, for fear was all around,” declares יהוה.
6 Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They shall stumble and fall toward the north, by the River Euphrates.
7 Who is this rising like a flood, whose waters surge about like the rivers?
8 Mitsrayim rises like a flood, and its waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, ‘Let me rise and cover the earth; let me destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
9 Go up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men go forth — Kush and Put who handle the shield, and Luḏ who handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Master יהוה of hosts, a day of vengeance, to revenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and be satisfied and made drunk with their blood. For the Master יהוה of hosts has a slaughtering in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gil‛aḏ and take balm, O maiden, the daughter of Mitsrayim. In vain you have used many remedies, there is no healing for you.
12 Nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty has stumbled against the mighty, they have both fallen together.
13 The word which יהוה spoke to Yirmeyahu the prophet, about the coming of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, to strike the land of Mitsrayim:
14 “Declare in Mitsrayim, and let it be heard in Miḡdol. And let it be heard in Noph and in Taḥpanḥes. Say, ‘Stand fast and be prepared, for a sword shall devour all around you.’
15 “Why were your strong ones swept away? They did not stand because יהוה drove them away.
16 “He made many stumble; indeed, they fell over each other, and said, ‘Arise! Let us go back to our own people, and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.’
17 “There they cried, ‘Pharaoh, sovereign of Mitsrayim, is but a noise. He has let the appointed time pass by!’
18 “As I live,” declares the Sovereign, whose Name is יהוה of hosts, “For as Taḇor is among the mountains, and as Karmel by the sea, he shall come.
19 “O you daughter dwelling in Mitsrayim, prepare yourself to go into exile! For Noph shall become a waste and a ruin, and be burned, without inhabitant.
20 “Mitsrayim is like a very pretty heifer, but destruction comes, it comes from the north.
21 “Her hired ones too, in her midst, are like fattened calves, for they too shall turn, they shall flee away together. They shall not stand, for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.
22 “Its sound moves along like a serpent, for they move on like an army and come against her with axes, like woodcutters.
23 “They shall cut down her forest,” declares יהוה, “for it is not searched, because they are more numerous than locusts, and without number.
24 “The daughter of Mitsrayim shall be put to shame. She shall be given into the hand of the people of the north.”
25 יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, has said, “See, I am bringing punishment on Amon of No, and on Pharaoh, and on Mitsrayim, and on their mighty ones, and on their sovereigns, and on Pharaoh and on those trusting in him.
26 “And I shall give them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares יהוה.
27 “But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Ya‛aqoḇ, and do not be discouraged, O Yisra’ĕl! For look, I am saving you from afar, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. And Ya‛aqoḇ shall return, and shall have rest and be at ease, with no one disturbing.
28 “Do not fear, O Ya‛aqoḇ My servant,” declares יהוה, “for I am with you. Though I make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, yet I do not make a complete end of you. But I shall reprove you in right-ruling, and by no means leave you unpunished.”
1 The word of יהוה that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Azzah:
2 Thus said יהוה, “See, waters are rising out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood. And they shall overflow the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell within. And men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.
3 “At the noise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look to their children, because of weakness of hands,
4 because of the day that shall come to ravage all the Philistines, to cut off from Tsor and Tsiḏon every helper that survives. For יהוה is ravaging the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Kaphtor.
5 “Baldness shall come upon Azzah, Ashqelon shall be cut off with the remnant of their valley. Till when would you cut yourself?
6 “O you sword of יהוה, how long till you rest? Put yourself up into your sheath, rest and be still!
7 “How shall it rest, when יהוה has given it a command? Against Ashqelon and against the seashore — there He has appointed it.”
1 Concerning Mo’aḇ. This is what יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl said, “Woe to Neḇo! For it is ravaged, Qiryathayim is put to shame, captured. The high stronghold is put to shame and broken down.
2 “There is praise for Mo’aḇ no longer. In Ḥeshbon they have devised evil against her, ‘Come and let us cut it off as a nation.’ O Maḏmĕn, you are also cut off, a sword goes after you.
3 “Listen! An outcry from Ḥoronayim, ravaging and great destruction!
4 “Mo’aḇ shall be destroyed, her little ones shall cry out.
5 “For on the ascent to Luḥith they go up weeping bitterly. For in the descent of Ḥoronayim the enemies shall hear a cry of destruction.
6 “Flee, deliver your own lives! And be like a bush in the wilderness.
7 “For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures, you shall be captured. And Kemosh shall go forth into exile, his priests and his heads together.
8 “And a ravager shall come into every city, no one escapes. And the valley shall perish, and the plain be destroyed, as יהוה has spoken.
9 “Give wings to Mo’aḇ, for she has to flee away, and her cities become a ruin, with no one to dwell in them.
10 (Cursed is he who is slack in doing the work of יהוה, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood).
11 “Mo’aḇ has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore his flavour has stayed in him, and his fragrance is unchanged.
12 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall send him tilters, who shall tilt him over and empty his vessels and break the bottles.
13 “And Mo’aḇ shall be ashamed because of Kemosh, as the house of Yisra’ĕl was ashamed of Bĕyth Ěl, their refuge.
14 “How do you say, ‘We are mighty and strong men for battle’?
15 “Mo’aḇ is ravaged and her cities have been entered. And her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” declares the Sovereign, whose Name is יהוה of hosts.
16 “The calamity of Mo’aḇ is near to come and his affliction hurries fast.
17 “Lament for him, all you who are around him. And all you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong sceptre has been broken, the staff of splendour!’
18 “Come down from your esteem, and sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Diḇon. For the ravager of Mo’aḇ shall come against you, he shall destroy your strongholds.
19 “Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aro‛ĕr. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’
20 “Mo’aḇ has been put to shame, for it has been broken down. Howl and cry! Let it be heard in Arnon that Mo’aḇ is ravaged.
21 “And judgment has come on the plain country, on Ḥolon and on Yaḥtsah and on Mopha‛ath,
22 and on Diḇon and Neḇo and on Bĕyth Diḇlathayim,
23 and on Qiryathayim and on Bĕyth Gamul and on Bĕyth Me‛on,
24 and on Qeriyoth and on Botsrah, and on all the cities of the land of Mo’aḇ, far or near.
25 “The horn of Mo’aḇ has been cut off, and his arm has been broken,” declares יהוה.
26 “Make him drunk, because he has made himself great against יהוה. Mo’aḇ shall splash in his vomit, and he shall also be in mockery.
27 “And was not Yisra’ĕl a mockery to you? Was he found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him, you shake your head.
28 “O inhabitants of Mo’aḇ, leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove making a nest in the sides of the cave’s mouth.
29 “We have heard of the pride of Mo’aḇ (he is very proud!), of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, and of the haughtiness of his heart.”
30 “I know his wrath,” declares יהוה, “and his boastings are untrue, and his deeds are false.
31 “Therefore I wail for Mo’aḇ, and I cry out for all Mo’aḇ. I mourn for the men of Qir Ḥeres.
32 “O vine of Siḇmah! I weep for you with the weeping of Ya‛zĕr. Your branches have passed over the sea, they have come to the sea of Ya‛zĕr. The ravager has fallen on your summer fruit and your grape harvest.
33 “Joy and gladness have been taken away from the orchard and from the land of Mo’aḇ. And I have made wine to cease from the winepresses. No one treads with shouting — the shouting is no shouting!
34 “From the outcry of Ḥeshbon unto El‛alĕh, unto Yahats, they shall raise their voice, from Tso‛ar to Ḥoronayim, like a three-year-old heifer, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35 “And I shall make an end in Mo’aḇ to him who offers in the high places and burns incense to his mighty ones,” declares יהוה.
36 “So My heart sounds for Mo’aḇ like flutes, and My heart sounds for the men of Qir Ḥeres like flutes. Therefore the wealth they made shall be gone.
37 “For every head is bald, and every beard clipped — cuts on all the hands, and sackcloth on the loins.
38 “On all the house-tops of Mo’aḇ and in its streets it is all lamentation, for I have broken Mo’aḇ like a vessel in which no one delights,” declares יהוה.
39 “How has she been broken down! They shall wail! How has Mo’aḇ turned her back with shame! So Mo’aḇ shall be a mockery and a horror to all those about her.”
40 For thus said יהוה, “See, he soars like an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Mo’aḇ.
41 “Qeriyoth shall be captured, and the strongholds seized. And the heart of the mighty men in Mo’aḇ on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labour.
42 “And Mo’aḇ shall be destroyed as a people, because he has made himself great against יהוה.
43 “Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of Mo’aḇ,” declares יהוה.
44 “He who flees from the fear falls into the pit, and he who gets out of the pit is caught in the snare. For I am bringing upon Mo’aḇ the year of their punishment,” declares יהוה.
45 “Those who fled stood powerless under the shadow of Ḥeshbon. But a fire shall come out of Ḥeshbon, and a flame from the midst of Siḥon, and consume the brow of Mo’aḇ and the crown of the head of the sons of uproar.
46 “Woe to you, O Mo’aḇ! The people of Kemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken into exile, and your daughters into exile.
47 “But I shall turn back the captivity of Mo’aḇ in the latter days,” declares יהוה. Thus far is the judgment of Mo’aḇ.
1 Concerning the Ammonites: Thus said יהוה, “Has Yisra’ĕl no sons? Has he no heir? Why has Malkam taken possession of Gaḏ, and his people dwell in its cities?
2 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall sound a battle cry in Rabbah of the Ammonites. And it shall be a heap, a wasteland, and her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Yisra’ĕl shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,” declares יהוה.
3 “Howl, O Ḥeshbon, for Ai is ravaged! Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth! Lament and diligently search by the walls, for Malkam shall go into exile, with his priests and his heads.
4 “Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter who is trusting in her treasures, saying, ‘Who would come against me?’
5 “See, I am bringing fear upon you, from all those around you,” declares the Master יהוה of hosts. “And you shall be driven out, each one straight ahead, with no one to bring home the wanderer.
6 “And after this I turn back the captivity of the children of Ammon,” declares יהוה.
7 Concerning Eḏom: Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Is there no more wisdom in Tĕman? Has counsel been lost to those with understanding? Has their wisdom vanished?
8 “Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Deḏan! For I shall bring the calamity of Ěsaw upon him, the time that I shall punish him.
9 “If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? Even thieves by night would destroy only until they had enough!
10 “But as for Me, I shall make Ěsaw bare. I shall uncover his hiding places, so that he is unable to conceal himself. His seed is ravaged, his brothers and his neighbours, and he is no more.
11 “Leave your fatherless children, let Me keep them alive. And let your widows trust in Me.”
12 For thus said יהוה, “See, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have certainly drunk. And are you the one to go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but certainly drink of it.
13 “For I have sworn by Myself,” declares יהוה, “that Botsrah is to become a ruin, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all its cities become everlasting wastes.”
14 I have heard a report from יהוה, and an envoy has been sent to the nations, “Gather together, come against her, and rise up to battle!
15 “For look, I shall make you small among nations, despised among men.
16 “The dread for you, the pride of your heart, has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, holding the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, from there I bring you down,” declares the Master.
17 “And Eḏom shall be a ruin, everyone who passes by it is astonished and whistles at all its plagues.
18 “As in the overthrow of Seḏom and Amorah and their neighbouring cities,” declares יהוה, “No one shall dwell there, nor would a son of man sojourn in it.
19 “See, he comes up like a lion from the Yardĕn jungle against the home of the strong. But in an instant I shall make him run away from her. And who is the Chosen One, to appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who summons Me? And who is that Shepherd who stands before Me?”
20 Therefore hear the counsel of יהוה which He has counselled concerning Eḏom, and the purposes He has purposed concerning the inhabitants of Tĕman: the least of the flock shall drag them away! He shall make their pasture a waste before them!
21 The earth shall be shaken at the noise of their fall. There is an outcry! Its noise is heard at the Sea of Reeds.
22 See, like an eagle he flies up, and spreads his wings over Botsrah. And the heart of the mighty men of Eḏom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in her pain.
23 Concerning Dammeseq: “Ḥamath and Arpaḏ have been put to shame, for they have heard an evil report. They have been melted in anxiety, like the sea, unable to rest.
24 “Dammeseq has become feeble, she has turned to flee, and trembling has taken hold of her. Distress and pain have seized her like a woman in labour.
25 “How is the city of praise deserted, the city of My joy!
26 “Therefore her young men fall in her streets, and all the men of battle are cut off in that day,” declares יהוה of hosts.
27 “And I shall kindle a fire in the wall of Dammeseq, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Haḏaḏ.”
28 To Qĕḏar and to the reigns of Ḥatsor, which Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel struck: Thus said יהוה, “Arise, go up to Qĕḏar, and ravage the men of the East!
29 “Their tents and their flocks, their curtains and all their vessels shall be taken. And they shall take away their camels for themselves. And they shall cry out to them, ‘Fear is on every side!’
30 “Flee, go away! Dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Ḥatsor!” declares יהוה. “For Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel has taken counsel against you, and has devised a plan against you.
31 “Arise, go up to the nation at ease that dwells safely,” declares יהוה. “It has no gates or bars, they dwell alone.
32 “And their camels shall become plunder, and their large herds booty. And I shall scatter them to all winds, those who cut off the corner, and bring their calamity from all its sides,” declares יהוה.
33 "Ḥatsor shall be a habitation for jackals, a desert forever. No one dwells there, nor does son of man sojourn in it.”
34 The word of יהוה that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning Ěylam, in the beginning of the reign of Tsiḏqiyah, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying,
35 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘See, I am breaking the bow of Ěylam, the chief of their might.
36 And I shall bring upon Ěylam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens, and scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Ěylam do not go.
37 And I shall break Ěylam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. And I shall bring evil upon them, my burning displeasure,’ declares יהוה. ‘And I shall send the sword after them until I have consumed them.
38 And I shall set My throne in Ěylam, and destroy from there the sovereign and the heads,’ declares יהוה.
39 And it shall be in the latter days that I turn back the captivity of Ěylam,’ declares יהוה.”
1 The word that יהוה spoke concerning Baḇel, concerning the land of the Kasdim by Yirmeyahu the prophet.
2 “Declare among the nations, and let it be heard. And lift up a banner, let it be heard, and do not conceal it. Say, ‘Baḇel shall be taken, Bĕl shall be put to shame, Meroḏaḵ shall be broken, her images shall be put to shame, her idols shall be broken.’
3 For a nation shall come up against her from the north, which shall make her land waste, and none shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall go, both man and beast.
4 “In those days and at that time,” declares יהוה, “the children of Yisra’ĕl shall come, they and the children of Yehuḏah together, weeping as they come, and seek יהוה their Elohim.
5 “They shall ask the way to Tsiyon, their faces toward it, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to יהוה, in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.’
6 “My people have been wandering sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
7 “All who found them have devoured them. And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against יהוה, the Home of righteousness, and the Expectation of their fathers: יהוה.’
8 “Flee from the midst of Baḇel, come out of the land of the Kasdim. And be as rams before a flock.
9 “For look, I am stirring up and bringing up against Baḇel an assembly of great nations from a land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be captured — their arrows are like those of a mighty skilled man, not returning empty-handed.
10 “And Chaldea shall become plunder, all who plunder her shall satisfy themselves,” declares יהוה.
11 “Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you who plunder My inheritance, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you neigh like stallions,
12 your mother shall be greatly ashamed. She who bore you shall be humiliated. Look, the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.
13 “Because of the wrath of יהוה she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be deserted — all of it. Everyone passing by Baḇel shall be astonished and whistle at all her plagues.
14 “Set yourselves in array against Baḇel all around, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against יהוה.
15 “Shout against her all around. She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of יהוה. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.
16 “Cut off the sower from Baḇel, and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. From before the sword of the oppressor each one turns to his own people, and each one flees to his own land.
17 “Yisra’ĕl is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away. First the sovereign of Ashshur devoured him, and now, at last, this Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel has broken his bones.”
18 Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am punishing the sovereign of Baḇel and his land, as I have punished the sovereign of Ashshur.
19 “And I shall bring back Yisra’ĕl to his pasture, and he shall feed on Karmel and Bashan. And his being shall be satisfied on Mount Ephrayim and Gil‛aḏ.
20 “In those days and at that time,” declares יהוה, “the crookedness of Yisra’ĕl shall be searched for, but there shall be none; and the sin of Yehuḏah, but none shall be found. For I shall pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21 “Go up against the land of Merathayim, against it, and against the inhabitants of Peqoḏ. Slay and put them under the ban,” declares יהוה, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 “There is a sound of battle in the land, and of great destruction.
23 “How the hammer of all the earth has been cut off and broken! How Baḇel has become a ruin among the nations!
24 “I have laid a snare for you, and you were captured, O Baḇel, and you yourself did not know! You have been found and also caught, because you strove against יהוה.”
25 יהוה has opened His armoury, and has brought out the weapons of His displeasure, for the Master Elohim of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Kasdim.
26 Come against her from every quarter, open her storehouses, pile her up as heaps of ruins, and put her under the ban. Let her have no remnant.
27 Slay all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
28 Listen! They flee and escape from the land of Baḇel, to declare in Tsiyon the vengeance of יהוה our Elohim, the vengeance of His Hĕḵal.
29 “Summon archers against Baḇel. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around, let no one escape. Repay her according to her work, do to her according to all she has done. For she has been proud against יהוה, against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.
30 “Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of battle shall perish in that day,” declares יהוה.
31 “See, I am against you, O proud one!” declares the Master יהוה of hosts, “for your day has come, the time for your punishment.
32 “And the proud one shall stumble, and he shall fall, with no one to raise him up. And I shall kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all around him.”
33 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “The children of Yisra’ĕl were oppressed, along with the children of Yehuḏah. And all who took them captive have held them fast, they refused to let them go.
34 “Their Redeemer is strong, יהוה of hosts is His Name. He shall strongly plead their case, so as to give rest to the land, but unrest to the inhabitants of Baḇel.
35 “A sword is upon the Kasdim,” declares יהוה, “and it is upon the inhabitants of Baḇel, and upon her heads and upon her wise men.
36 “A sword is upon the liars, and they shall be fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be broken down.
37 “A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed peoples who are in her midst, and they shall become like women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be plundered.
38 “A sword is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they boast about their idols.
39 “Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell with the jackals, and the ostriches dwell in it. And it shall never again be inhabited, nor dwelt in, unto all generations.
40 “As Elohim overthrew Seḏom and Amorah and their neighbouring cities,” declares יהוה, “so no one would dwell there, nor would son of man sojourn in it.
41 “See, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many sovereigns stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42 “They strengthen their bow and spear, they are cruel and they show no compassion. They sound like the roaring sea, and ride on horses, set in array, like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Baḇel.
43 “The sovereign of Baḇel has heard the report about them, and his hands became weak. Distress has taken hold of him, pain like that of a woman in labour.
44 “See, he comes up like a lion from the Yardĕn jungle, against the enduring pasture. But in an instant I shall make them run away from her. And who is the Chosen One whom I appoint against her? For who is like Me? Who summons Me? And who is that Shepherd who stands before Me?”
45 Therefore hear the counsel of יהוה which He has counselled concerning Baḇel, and His purposes He has purposed concerning the land of the Kasdim: the least of the flock shall drag them away! He shall make their pasture a waste before them!
46 At the sound of Baḇel’s capture the earth shall be shaken, and the outcry shall be heard among the nations.
1 Thus said יהוה, “See, I am stirring up the spirit of a destroyer against Baḇel, against those who dwell in Lĕb — My opponents.
2 And I shall send winnowers to Baḇel, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For they shall be against her all around, in the day of evil.
3 “Let the archer draw his bow, and let him stand ready in his armour. Do not spare her young men, put all her army under the ban.
4 “And the slain shall fall in the land of the Kasdim, and the pierced-through in her streets.
5 “For neither Yisra’ĕl nor Yehuḏah is widowed by his Elohim, יהוה of hosts, though their land has been filled with sin against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.”
6 Flee from the midst of Baḇel, and let each one save his life! Do not be cut off in her crookedness, for this is the time of the vengeance of יהוה, the recompense He is repaying her.
7 Baḇel was a golden cup in the hand of יהוה, making drunk all the earth. The nations drank her wine, that is why the nations went mad!
8 Baḇel shall suddenly fall and be broken. Howl for her! Take balm for her pain — if so be, she might be healed.
9 We would have healed Baḇel, but she is not healed. Let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the clouds.
10 יהוה has brought forth our righteousness. Come and let us relate in Tsiyon the work of יהוה our Elohim.
11 Polish the arrows! Put on the shields! יהוה has stirred up the spirit of the sovereigns of the Medes. For His plan is against Baḇel to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of יהוה, the vengeance for His Hĕḵal.
12 Lift up a banner on the walls of Baḇel, strengthen the watch, station the watchmen, prepare the ambush. For יהוה has both planned and done what He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Baḇel.
13 You who dwell upon many waters, great in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your greedy gain.
14 יהוה of hosts has sworn by Himself, “I shall certainly fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.”
15 He made the earth by His power, He established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
16 When He gives forth His voice the waters in the heavens roar, and He makes vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain, and He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
17 All mankind has become too brutish to know, every smith has been put to shame by the carved image, for his moulded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they perish.
19 The Portion of Ya‛aqoḇ is not like them, for He is the Maker of all, and Yisra’ĕl is the tribe of His inheritance. יהוה of hosts is His Name.
20 “You are My battle-axe, weapons of battle, and with you I shall break nations in pieces, and with you I shall destroy reigns.
21 “And with you I shall break in pieces the horse and its rider, and with you I shall break in pieces the chariot and its rider.
22 “And with you I shall break in pieces man and woman, and with you I shall break in pieces old and young, and with you I shall break in pieces the young man and the maiden.
23 “And with you I shall break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with you I shall break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen. And with you I shall break in pieces governors and rulers.
24 “And I shall repay Baḇel and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Tsiyon before your eyes,” declares יהוה.
25 “See, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth,” declares יהוה. “And I shall stretch out My hand against you. And I shall roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain.
26 “And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be a waste forever,” declares יהוה.
27 Lift up a banner in the land, blow a shophar among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, call the reigns together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her, bring up horses like hairy locusts.
28 Separate the nations against her, with the sovereigns of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his rule,
29 so that the land shakes and writhes in pain. For every plan of יהוה shall be established against Baḇel, to make the land of Baḇel a ruin, without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Baḇel have ceased to fight, they remained in their strongholds. Their might has failed, they became like women, they have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gate have been broken.
31 One runner runs to meet another, and one reporter to meet another, to report to the sovereign of Baḇel that his city is taken on all sides,
32 and the fords have been captured, and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the soldiers are startled.
33 For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “The daughter of Baḇel is like a threshing-floor at the time it is trodden. Yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come.”
34 “Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel has devoured us, he has crushed us, he has made us an empty vessel, he has swallowed us up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, he has driven us away.
35 “Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Baḇel,” says the inhabitant of Tsiyon. And, “Let my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Yerushalayim.
36 Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am pleading your case. And I shall take vengeance for you and dry up her sea and make her fountain dry.
37 “And Baḇel shall become a heap, a habitation of jackals, an astonishment and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38 “Together they roar like lions, they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
39 “In their heat I prepare their feasts. And I shall make them drunk, so that they rejoice, and sleep a neverending sleep and not awake,” declares יהוה.
40 “I shall bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41 “Oh, how Shĕshaḵ has been captured, the praise of all the earth been seized! How Baḇel has become a ruin among the nations!
42 “The sea has risen over Baḇel, she has been covered with the roaring of its waves.
43 “Her cities have become a ruin, a dry land and a desert, a land where no one dwells, neither does son of man pass by it.
44 “And I shall punish Bĕl in Baḇel. And I shall make him spew out what he has swallowed, and nations shall no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Baḇel shall fall.
45 “Come out of her midst, My people! And let everyone deliver his being from the burning displeasure of יהוה.
46 “And lest your heart grow faint, and you fear the report heard in the land — for a report shall come one year, and after that, in another year a report shall come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler —
47 therefore see, the days are coming that I shall bring punishment on the carved images of Baḇel, and all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain fall in her midst.
48 “And the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall shout for joy over Baḇel, for the ravagers shall come to her from the north,” declares יהוה.
49 As Baḇel is to fall for the slain of Yisra’ĕl, so for Baḇel the slain of all the earth shall fall.
50 You who have escaped the sword, go away! Do not stand still! Remember יהוה from afar, and let Yerushalayim come to your heart.
51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the set-apart places of the House of יהוה.
52 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that I shall bring punishment on her carved images, while the wounded groan throughout all her land.
53 “Though Baḇel should mount up to the heavens, and though she should make the height of her strength inaccessible, ravagers shall come to her from Me,” declares יהוה.
54 Listen! A cry from Baḇel, and great destruction from the land of the Kasdim,
55 because יהוה is ravaging Baḇel, and shall silence her loud voice. And her waves shall roar like great waters, the noise of their voice shall resound,
56 because the ravager shall come against her, against Baḇel, and her mighty men shall be captured. Every one of their bows shall be broken, for יהוה is the Ěl of recompense, He shall certainly repay.
57 “And I shall make her rulers drunk, and her wise men, her governors, and her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a lasting sleep, and not awake,” declares the Sovereign, whose Name is יהוה of hosts.
58 Thus said יהוה of hosts, “The broad walls of Baḇel are completely demolished, and her high gates are burned with fire, and peoples labour in vain, and the nations weary themselves for fire.”
59 The word that Yirmeyahu the prophet commanded Serayah son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, when he went with Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah to Baḇel in the fourth year of his reign. And Serayah was a quartermaster.
60 So Yirmeyahu wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Baḇel, all these words which have been written concerning Baḇel.
61 And Yirmeyahu said to Serayah, “When you come to Baḇel and see it, and read all these words,
62 then you shall say, ‘O יהוה, You have spoken concerning this place to cut it off, so that none shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, for it is a ruin forever.’
63 “And it shall be, when you have ended reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the midst of the Euphrates,
64 and shall say, ‘So does Baḇel sink and not rise from the evil that I am bringing upon her, and they shall weary themselves.’ ” Thus far are the words of Yirmeyahu.
1 Tsiḏqiyahu was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu of Liḇnah.
2 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that Yehoyaqim had done.
3 For through the displeasure of יהוה this came to be against Yerushalayim and Yehuḏah, until He had cast them out from His presence. And Tsiḏqiyahu rebelled against the sovereign of Baḇel.
4 And it came to be in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth new moon, on the tenth of the new moon, that Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel and all his army came against Yerushalayim and encamped against it. And they built a siege wall against it all around.
5 And the city was under siege until the eleventh year of Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu.
6 On the ninth of the fourth new moon the scarcity of food was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
7 Then the city wall was breached, and all the men of battle fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the sovereign’s garden, while the Kasdim were near the city all around. And they went by way of the desert plain.
8 But the army of the Kasdim pursued the sovereign, and they overtook Tsiḏqiyahu in the desert plains of Yeriḥo, and his entire army was scattered from him.
9 Then they captured the sovereign and brought him up to the sovereign of Baḇel at Riḇlah in the land of Ḥamath, and he pronounced judgments on him.
10 And the sovereign of Baḇel slew the sons of Tsiḏqiyahu before his eyes, and he also slew all the heads of Yehuḏah in Riḇlah.
11 And he put out the eyes of Tsiḏqiyahu. And the sovereign of Baḇel bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Baḇel, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
12 And on the tenth of the fifth new moon, which was the nineteenth year of sovereign Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, who served the sovereign of Baḇel, came to Yerushalayim,
13 and he burned the House of יהוה, and the sovereign’s house, and all the houses of Yerushalayim, and all the houses of the great men, he burned with fire.
14 And all the army of the Kasdim who were with the chief of the guard broke down all the walls of Yerushalayim all around.
15 And Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, exiled some of the poor people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the defectors who had gone over to the sovereign of Baḇel, and the rest of the craftsmen.
16 But Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
17 And the Kasdim broke the bronze columns that were in the House of יהוה, and the stands and the bronze Sea that were in the House of יהוה, and brought all their bronze to Baḇel.
18 They also took away the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the ladles, and all the bronze utensils with which they served,
19 and the basins, and the fire holders, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the ladles, and the cups, whatever was of solid gold and whatever was of solid silver, the chief of the guard took.
20 The two columns, one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the stands, which Sovereign Shelomoh had made for the House of יהוה — the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing.
21 As for the columns, the height of one column was eighteen cubits, and its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, hollow.
22 And a capital of bronze was on it. And the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. And the second column, with pomegranates was the same.
23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides. All the pomegranates on the network were one hundred, all around.
24 And the chief of the guard took Serayah the chief priest, and Tsephanyah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
25 And from the city he took one eunuch who was in charge of the men of battle, and seven men who saw the sovereign’s face, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.
26 And Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, took these and brought them to the sovereign of Baḇel at Riḇlah,
27 and the sovereign of Baḇel struck them and put them to death at Riḇlah in the land of Ḥamath. Thus Yehuḏah was exiled from its own land.
28 These are the people whom Neḇuḵaḏretstsar exiled: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Yehuḏim;
29 in the eighteenth year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar he exiled from Yerushalayim eight hundred and thirty-two beings;
30 in the twenty-third year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar, Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, exiled of the Yehuḏim seven hundred and forty-five beings. All the beings were four thousand six hundred.
31 And it came to be in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the twelfth new moon, on the twenty-fifth of the new moon, that Ewil-Meroḏaḵ sovereign of Baḇel, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah and brought him out of prison,
32 and spoke kindly to him and set his throne above those of the sovereigns who were with him in Baḇel.
33 So he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread continually before the sovereign all the days of his life.
34 And as for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the sovereign of Baḇel, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.