Thus, saith Yahweh, - What did your fathers find in me by way of perversity, that they removed far from me, - and went after vanity, and became vain?

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst! But thou saidst Hopeless! No! for I love foreigners and after them, will I go.

Although thou saidst, Because I am innocent, surely hath his anger turned back from me, - Behold me! entering into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned!

Even from this one, shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head, - For Yahweh hath rejected those in whom thou confidest, and thou shalt not prosper with them.

He hath said, If a man send away his wife, and she go from him and become another man's, will he return unto her, again? would not that land be, utterly defiled? And, thou, hast been unchaste with many neighbours, and yet thinkest to return unto me! Declareth Yahweh.

Hast thou not from this time, cried unto me, My father! the friend of my youth, art, thou?

Though, I myself, had said, - How can I put thee among the sons, And give thee a land to be coveted, An inheritance of beauty, of the hosts of nations? Yet I said, My father, shalt thou call me, And away from me, shalt thou not turn.

But indeed as a wife goeth treacherously from her husband, so, have ye acted treacherously with me, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh.

But, the Shameful thing, hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth: Their flocks, and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

We must lie down in our shame And our reproach, be our covering, For, against Yahweh our God, have we sinned, We and our fathers, from our youth even until this day, - Neither have we hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh our God.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, Declareth Yahweh, Unto me, mayst thou return, - And if thou wilt remove thine abominations from before me, Then shalt thou not become a wanderer.

Lift up an ensign - Zion-ward, Bring into safety, do not tarry, - For, calamity, am, I, bringing in from the North, Even, a great destruction:

On this account, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, - Because the glow of the anger of Yahweh hath not turned from us.

Wash from wickedness thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, - How long, shall lodge within thee thy wicked devices?

For a voice, declareth from Dan, - And publisheth trouble from the hill country of Ephraim.

Put ye in mind the nations Lo! publish ye against Jerusalem, Blockaders! are coming in from a land afar off, - And have uttered against the cities of Judah their voice:

For this cause, hath the lion out of the forest smitten them, The wolf of the waste plains, preyeth upon them, The leopard, is keeping watch over their cities, Every one that goeth out from thence, is torn in pieces, - For they have multiplied their transgressions, Numerous are their apostasies.

Behold me! bringing upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, - A nation invincible, it is, A nation from age-past times, hath it been, A nation whose tongue thou shalt not know, Neither shalt thou understand what it speaketh:

Your iniquities, have thrust away these things, Yea, your sins, have withholden that which is good from you.

Take your goods into safety, ye sons of Benjamin out of the midst of Jerusalem, And in Tekoa, blow ye a horn, And on Beth-haccherem, raise a fire-signal, - For calamity, hath looked out from the North, Even a great destruction.

Receive thou correction O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be torn from thee, - Lest I make thee A desolation, A land not habitable.

For, from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, Every one, graspeth with greed, - And from the prophet even unto the priest, Every one, dealeth, falsely;

What then is it to me that - Frankincense from Shebah come in, or Sweet cane from a land afar off? Your own ascending-offerings, are not acceptable, Nor are, your sacrifices, pleasing to me.

Thus, saith Yahweh, Lo! a people coming in from the land of the North, - Yea a great nation, shall be stirred up out of the remote parts of the earth:

The word that came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh saying: -

Then will I cause you to dwell In this place, In the land which I gave to your fathers, - From one age even unto another,

And will cast you out from before me, - Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the seed of Ephraim.

So will I cause to cease, From the cities of Judah, and, From the streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and The voice of the bride, - For, a desolation, shall the land become.

Therefore, will I give - Their wives to others, Their fields to such as shall take possession of them, For from the least, even unto the greatest, Every one, is, wholly given to extortion: From the prophet even unto the priest, Every one, dealeth, falsely.

I will, surely remove, them, declareth Yahweh: There shall be no grapes on the vine Nor figs on the fig-tree, Even the leaf, hath faded, Though I have given them these things, they shall pass away from them.

From Dan, was heard the snorting of his horses At the sound of the neighing of his chargers, the whole land trembled, - Yea they came in and did sat up The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and them who were dwelling therein.

Lo! the voice of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from a land far away, Is, Yahweh, not in Zion? Is, her King, not within her? Why, have they provoked me with their carved images, with their foreign vanities?

Oh that I had in the wilderness, a wayfarers lodge, That I might leave my people, and go from them, - For they all, are Adulterers, An assemblage of traitors;

Who have prepared e their tongue as their bow of falsehood, And, not by faithfulness, have they become mighty in the land, - For from wickedness unto wickedness, have they gone forth, But me, have they not known, Declareth Yahweh.

That death Hath come up through our windows, Hath entered our palaces, - Cutting off The boy from the street, The young men from the broadways.

Silver spread into plates, from Tarshish is brought, And gold, from Uphaz, Work for the craftsman and for the hands of the smith, - Blue and purple, is their clothing, Work for the skilled, are they all.

Thus, shall ye say unto them, The gods that made not the heavens, And the earth, Shall perish out of the earth, And from under these heavens!

At the voice that he uttered, there was a tumult of waters in the heavens, And he caused vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, - The lightnings for rain, he made, And brought forth wind out of his treasuries.

Fold up, from the ground thy travelling carpet, - O inhabitress of the fortress;

My tent, is laid waste, And all my tent-cords, are broken, - My children, are gone forth from me and they, are not. There is none, To stretch out any more my tent, Or to set up my curtains.

The word that came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh saying:

Why hath the beloved in mine own house, done an abomination? Shall, vows and holy flesh, take away from thee thy wickednesses, or shalt thou by these, escape?

Thou didst plant them, yea they took root, They have gone on yea they have borne fruit, - Near, art thou, in their mouth, But far off from their affections,

On all the bare heights in the wilderness, have come despoilers, For the sword of Yahweh hath devoured from one end of the land unto the other, - There is peace for no flesh!

Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning all my wicked neighbours, who have been touching the inheritance which I gave as an inheritance unto my people Israel, - Behold me! uprooting them from off their own soil, Whereas the house of Judah, will I uproot out of their midst.

And it came to pass, at the end of many days, - that Yahweh said unto me, - Arise go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there.

Lift up your eyes and see Them who are coming in from the North, - Where is The flock that was given thee, Thy beautiful flock?

This is thy lot Thy measured portion from me, Declareth Yahweh; For that thou didst forget me, And confide in falsehood:

Then said Yahweh unto me, Though Moses and Samuel should stand before me, My soul could not be toward this people, - Send them away from before me And let them go forth.

Therefore have I winnowed them with a winnowing shovel in the gates of the land, - I have bereaved - I have destroyed my people, From their own ways, have they not returned.

Shall iron crush the iron from the North and the bronze?

Wherefore Thus, saith Yahweh - If thou wouldst return, I will cause thee to return Before me, shalt thou stand, Yea if thou wilt bring out the precious from among the vile, As mine own mouth shalt thou be, - Let them return unto thee, But thou, shalt not return unto them;

Of deaths from diseases, shall they die, They shall not be lamented, Neither shall they be buried, As heaps of dung on the face of the ground, shall riley serve, - Yea by sword and by famine, shall they be consumed, And, their dead bodies shall become, food - To the bird of the heavens, and To the beast of the earth.

For, Thus, saith Yahweh - Do not thou enter into the house of crying, Neither do thou go to lament, nor do thou bemoan for them, - For I have withdrawn my blessing from this people, Declareth Yahweh, Both lovingkindness and compassion.

Therefore will I hurl you forth, from off this land, unto a land which ye have not known, ye, nor your fathers, - and ye can serve there other gods day and night, in that I will grant you no favour.

Behold me! sending for many fishers Declareth Yahweh, And they shall catch them, - and thereafter will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from off every mountain and from off every hill, and out of the clefts of the crags.

For mine own eyes are upon all their ways, they have not been hid from my face - neither hath their iniquity been concealed from being straight before mine eyes.

Thus, saith Yahweh Accursed is the man - Who trusteth in a son of earth, And hath made flesh his arm, - And whose heart from Yahweh, turneth aside:

For he shall become like a tree planted by waters, And, by a stream, shall he send out his roots, Neither shall he perceive when heat cometh, But, his leaf shall continue green: Even in a year of dearth, shall he not be anxious, Neither shall he cease from hearing fruit.

A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, hath been the place of our sanctuary.

Thou hope of Israel Yahweh, All who forsake thee, shall turn pale, - Yea, all who depart from me, in the ground, shall be written, For they have forsaken a fountain of living water, even Yahweh.

But as for me, I have neither forced myself away from tending the flock after thee, Nor yet for the woeful day, have I longed - thou, knowest, - That which came out of my lips, before thy face, was uttered.

The word that came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:

and that nation return from its wickedness against whom I have spoken, then will I repent concerning the calamity which I had devised to bring upon it.

Now, therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the men of Judah and concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, - Lo! I am fashioning against you calamity, and devising against you, a device, - Return I pray you every man from his wicked way, And amend your ways and your doings.

Shall the snow of Lebanon, fall from the rock of the field? Or shall waters from afar, deep, overflowing, be dried up?

Then said they, - Come ye and let us devise against Jeremiah devices, For the law shall not perish from the priest, Nor, counsel, from the wise, Nor, the word from the prophet: Come and let as smite him with the tongue, And let us not give ear to any of his words!

Shall, evil, be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my life, - Remember how I stood before thee To speak in their behalf what was good! To turn back thine indignation from them.

But, thou, O Yahweh, knowest all their counsels against me to pat me to death, Put thou no propitiatory-covering over their iniquity, And their sin from before thee, do not thou blot out, - But let them be overthrown before thee, In the time of thine anger, deal thou effectively with them.

Thou didst persuade me, O Yahweh and I was persuaded, Thou didst lay firm hold on me and didst prevail, - I am become a mockery, all the day, Every one, is laughing at me.

Because I was not slain from the womb, - Nor did my mother become my grave, Nor was her womb great for ever!

Wherefore was it - That from the womb, I came forth, to see labour and pain; and That in shame should my days be consumed!

The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, - when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur, son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying:

Enquire for us I pray thee of Yahweh, in that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, maketh war against us, - Peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wonders, as that he go up from us.

And after that, Declareth Yahweh - Will I deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants, and the people - even such as are left in this city from the pestilence from the sword and from the famine, - into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, even into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them who are seeking their life, - and he will smite them with the edge of the sword, he will not have pity on them nor will he spare nor will he have compassion.

Ascend the Lebanon and make outcry, And in Bashan, put forth thy voice, - And make outcry from Abarim, For all thy lovers are torn in pieces.

I spake unto thee, in thy carelessness, - Thou saidst I will not hearken! This hath been thy way from thy youth, That thou hast not hearkened to my voice.

As I live, Declareth Yahweh, - Even though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet-ring upon my right hand, yet, from thence, would I pull thee off;

and I would give thee into the hand of them who seek thy life and into the hand of them from the face of whom, thou dost shrink in fear, - even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans;

But among the prophets of Jerusalem, have I seen a horrible thing, - Committing adultery, And walking in falsehood, And so strengthening the hands of doers of wickedness, not to return any man from his wickedness: They have all of them become to me as Sodom, And her inhabitants as Gomorrah.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts Concerning the prophets, - Behold me! Feeding them with wormwood, And I will cause them to drink poisoned water, - For from the prophets of Jerusalem, hath there gone forth profanity unto all the land.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, - Do not hearken unto the words of the prophets who are prophesying unto you, They are filling you, with vain hopes, - The vision of their own hearts, do they speak, Not from the mouth of Yahweh!

But if they had stood in my council, Then might they have announced my words unto my people, And have turned them from their wicked way and from the wickedness of their doings.

Therefore! behold me! against the prophets, Declareth Yahweh, - who steal my words, every man from his neighbour:

therefore, behold me! I will lift you up, - and carry you away, and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers from before my face;

and I will send among them, sword famine and pestilence, - until they are consumed from off the soil which I gave to them and to their fathers.

From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amen king of Judah even until this day, the which is the twenty-third year, hath the word of Yahweh come unto me; and I have spoken unto you, betimes, speaking, yet have ye not hearkened.

saying, - Return I pray you every one from his wicked way and from the wickedness of your doings, So shall ye remain on the soil which Yahweh hath given to you and to your fathers, - even from age to age;

And I will banish from among them - The voice of joy, 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:

Thou, therefore, shalt prophesy against them all these words, - and shalt say unto them - Yahweh, from on high, will roar Yea from his holy habitation, will utter his voice, He will, roar mightily over his home, With a shout as of them who tread the winepress, will he answer unto all the inhabitants of the earth.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Lo calamity! going forth from nation to nation, - And a great tempest, shall bestirred up, out of the remote parts of the earth.

Then shall the slain of Yahweh in that day, be from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth, - They shall not be lamented, nor gathered together nor buried, As dung, on the face of the ground, shall they serve.

Then shall place of refuge vanish from the shepherds, And escape from the illustrious of the flock.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word from Yahweh saying:

Peradventure they will hear, and return every man from his wicked way, - and I shall repent as to the calamity which I am devising to execute upon them because of the wickedness of their doings:

Then rose up men from among the elders of the land, and spake unto all the convocation of the people saying:

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh, saying:

for falsehood, are they prophesying unto you, that ye may be far removed from off your own soil, and I drive you out, and ye be destroyed

which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not when he carried away captive Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, - with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem,

within the space of two years, I am bringing back into this place, all the vessels of the house of Yahweh, - which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, hath taken away from this place, and carried into Babylon.