for we were ashamed to hear the blasphemies; our faces were covered with shame, because the strange aliens came into the Sanctuary of the LORD.

For he spoiling came upon her, upon Babel, and her strong ones were taken, their bow was broken: for the God of recompenses, Jehovah requiting will requite.

Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.

And in the fourth Month, the ninth day of the Month, there was so great hunger in the city that there were no more victuals for the people of the land.

Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.

The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him.

And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.

Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which [were used in temple] service.

and the basins and the censers and the dashing bowls and the caldrons and the lamps and the spoons and the cups, which were of gold in gold, and which were of silver in silver, did the chief of the royal executioners, take away.

The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

Weeping, she will weep in the night, and her tears upon her cheeks: no comfort to her from all loving her: all her friends dealt faithlessly with her, they were to her for enemies.

Her adversaries were for head, her enemies were secure; for Jehovah afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children went into captivity before the face of him pressing.

Fled from cherished Zion are all that were her splendor. Her princes have become like deer that cannot find their feeding grounds. They flee with strength exhausted from their pursuers.

Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her, The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.

In her skirts were her unclean ways; she gave no thought to her end; and her fall has been a wonder; she has no comforter: see her sorrow, O Lord; for the attacker is lifted up.

The hand of her hater is stretched out over all her desired things; for she has seen that the nations have come into her holy place, about whom you gave orders that they were not to come into the meeting of your people.

“The yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit and woven together.
They have come upon my neck.
He has made my strength fail;
The Lord has put me into the hand
Of those against whom I cannot stand.

{Samekh} The LORD hath destroyed all the mighty men, that were in me. He hath proclaimed a feast, to slaughter all my best men. The LORD hath trodden down the daughter of Judah, like as it were in a wine press.

For these I weep; mine eye, mine eye will go down with water, for he comforting turning back my soul, removed far off from me: my sons were desolations, for the enemy prevailed.

{Pe} Zion casteth out her hands, and there is no man to comfort her. The LORD hath laid the enemies round about Jacob, and Jerusalem is as it were a menstruous woman in the midst of them.

I sent for my lovers, but they were false to me: my priests and my responsible men were breathing their last breath in the town, while they were looking for food to give them new life.

See, O Jehovah; for straits to me: my bowels were in a ferment; my heart turned in my midst; for embittering, I embittered: without, the sword bereaved; in the house, as death.

He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

{He} The LORD is become like as it were an enemy: he hath cast down Israel and all his places. Yea, all his strongholds hath he destroyed, and filled the daughter of Judah with much sorrow and heaviness.

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

The Lord rejected his altar, disavowing his sanctuary. He gave up her palace walls to the control of the enemy. They shouted in the LORD's Temple, as though they were attending a day of celebration.

(Tet) Her city gates have fallen to the ground; he smashed to bits the bars that lock her gates. Her king and princes were taken into exile; there is no more guidance available. As for her prophets, they no longer receive a vision from the Lord.

They sat upon the earth; the old men of the daughter of Zion were silent; they brought up the dust upon their head: they girded on sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem brought down their head to the earth.

Mine eyes failed with tears, my bowels were in a ferment, my liver was poured out to the earth, upon the breaking of the daughter of my people; in the fainting of the child and suckling in the wide places of the city.

נ NunYour prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;
they did not reveal your guilt
and so restore your fortunes.
They saw oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.

The Lord has done that which was his purpose; he has put into force the orders which he gave in the days which are past; pulling down without pity, he has made your hater glad over you, lifting up the horn of those who were against you.

See, O Lord, and look!
With whom have You dealt thus?
Should women eat their offspring,
The little ones who were born healthy?
Should priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

(Sin/Shin) The young boys and old men lie dead on the ground in the streets. My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them when you were angry; you slaughtered them without mercy.

As in the day of a holy meeting you have made fears come round me on every side, and no one got away or was kept safe in the day of the Lord's wrath: those who were folded in my arms, whom I took care of, have been sent to their destruction by my hater.

He hath bent his bow, and made me as it were a mark to shoot at.

The mercies of Jehovah are that we were not consumed, for his compassions were not finished.

Fear and a snare were to us, desolation and breaking

Without cause my enemies
Hunted me down like a bird;

Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.

The precious sons of Zion, they who were weighed against pure gold, How are they accounted as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

Their form dark above blackness; they were not known in the streets: their skin adhered to their bones; it was dried up, it was as wood.

Happier were [the] victims of [the] sword than the victims of famine; they have pined away, very hungry for the crops of my field.

The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

They wandered about blind in the streets; they were polluted with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

Away! unclean! they were crying out to them, Away! away! let there be no touching: when they went away in flight and wandering, men said among the nations, There is no further resting-place for them.

ע AyinAll the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;
we watched from our towers
for a nation that refused to help.

צ TsadeOur steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our time ran out.
Our end had come!

Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens: They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

We were orphans, no father; our mothers as widows.

Upon our necks were we pursued: we labored and no rest to us.

Our fathers were sinners and are dead; and the weight of their evil-doing is on us.

Women - in Zion, were ravished, virgins, in the cities of Judah!

Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

The young men were crushing the grain, and the boys were falling under the wood.

For this our heart was languid; for this our eyes were darkened.

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire infolding itself, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst thereof as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.

And in the heart of it were the forms of four living beings. And this was what they were like; they had the form of a man.

And four faces were to each, and four wings to each.

And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

And under their wings [were] {human hands} on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them [were as follows]:

Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

Upon the right side of these four, their faces were like the face of a man, and the face of a Lion: But upon the left side, they had the face of an ox and the face of an eagle.

Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

And between the living beings it was like burning coals of fire, as if flames were going one after the other between the living beings; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went thunder-flames.

And the living creatures {were speeding to and fro} like the appearance of lightning.

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Whenever they moved, they went in any [one] of their four directions without turning as they moved.

As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.

And when they went forth I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as it had been the voice of the great God, and a rushing together as it were of a host of men. And when they stood still, they let down their wings.

And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

And he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

I heard also the noise of the wings of the beasts, that rushed one against another; yea, and the rattling of the wheels that were by them - which rushing and noise was very great.

And I went to the exiles [at] Tel Abib, who [were] dwelling near the {Kebar River}, and I sat [where] they [were] dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned.

And when the seven days were expired, the LORD said unto me,

So that they shall want bread and water, and they were astonished, a man and his brother, and they were melted in their iniquity.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor kept My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’

In that I have sent the malignant arrows of famine among them which were for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, - and famine, will I increase upon you, and will break for you the staff of bread.

And your altars were laid waste, and your images were broken: and I caused your wounded to fall before your blocks.

In all your dwellings the cities shalt be laid waste, and the heights shall be made desolate; so that your altars shall be laid waste and destroyed, and your blocks were broken and ceased, and your images were cut down, and your works were wiped away.

And your fugitives will remember me among the nations [to] which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by {their adulterous heart} which departed from me, and by {their adulterous eyes} which [went] after their idols, and they will feel loathing {for themselves}, for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things.

They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.'

Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every oak with thick branches, the places where they offered sweet incense and a soothing aroma to all their idols.

For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

And they escaping, escaped, and they were on the mountains as doves of the valleys, all of them slain, a man for his iniquity.