Then said I - Ah! My Lord Yahweh! Lo! I know not how to speak, - For a child, am I!

Then said Yahweh unto me, Do not say, A child, am, I, - For against whomsoever I send thee, shalt thou go, And whatsoever I command thee, shalt thou speak:

Then Yahweh put forth his hand, and touched my mouth, - and Yahweh said unto me, Lo! I have put my words in thy mouth.

Moreover the Word of Yahweh came unto me saying, What canst thou see Jeremiah? And I said, A twig of an almond-tree, can I see.

Then said Yahweh unto me - Thou hast rightly seen, - for keeping watch, am I over my word to perform it.

And the word of Yahweh came unto me a second time saying, What canst thou see? And I said, A boiling caldron, Can I see, with, the front thereof lion the North.

Then said Yahweh unto me, - Out of the North, shall break forth calamity, against all the inhabitants of the land.

Neither said they, Where is Yahweh, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, - Who led us Through the desert, Through a land of wastes and clefts, Through a land of parched places and of death-shade, Through a land, Along which no man had passed, And in which no son of earth dwelt?

The priests, said not Where is Yahweh? And, they who handled the law, did not acknowledge me, And the shepherds transgressed against me, - And the prophets, prophesied by Baal, And so after things that could not profit, did they walk.

O generation see, ye, the word of Yahweh, A desert, became I unto Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore, have my people said, We have roved about, We will not come in any more unto thee?

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.

And Yahweh said unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what apostate Israel, did? She used to go upon every high mountain and beneath every green tree, and commit unchastity there.

And I said, after she had been doing all these things, Unto me, shall thou return? and she returned not, - and her treacherous sister Judah saw it!

Then said Yahweh unto me, - Apostate Israel, hath justified herself, - more than treacherous Judah.

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.

Then said I, - Ah! My Lord Yahweh! Surely, thou hast suffered this people and Jerusalem to be beguiled, saying, Peace, shall ye have, - whereas the sword shall reach unto the soul.

At that time, shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem, - The sharp wind of the bare heights in the desert, cometh towards the daughter of my people, - not to winnow nor to cleanse.

And, I, said, - Only, poor people, are they, - They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God!

They have acted deceptively against Yahweh, And have said, Not He! Neither shall there come upon us, calamity, Nor sword nor famine, shall we see;

Neither have they said in their heart, - Let us we pray you, revere Yahweh our God, Who giveth rain, even the early and the latter, in its season, - The appointed weeks of harvest, he reserveth for us.

Thus saith Yahweh - Stand ye at the ways - and see, And ask for the paths of age-past times, Where is the good way? And walk therein, And ye shall find rest to your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein !

Therefore will I raise up over you, watchmen, Give ye heed to the sound of a horn, - But they said, We will not give heed!

Then said Yahweh, - Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, - And have not hearkened to hay voice neither walked therein;

Woe to me! for my grievous injury, Severe, is my wound, - But, I, said, Verily, this, is an affliction and I must bear it:

That the oath may be established which I sware to your fathers, To give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then answered I and said, Amen, O Yahweh!

And Yahweh said unto me, - Proclaim thou all, these words, throughout the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem saying, - Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them,

Yahweh therefore said unto me, - There is found a conspiracy, among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

Thus, said Yahweh unto me, - Go and buy for thyself a linen girdle, and put upon thy loins, - but in water, shalt thou not place it.

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.

And Yahweh said unto me, - Do not pray for this people for blessing;

Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them - Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, - For prosperity in truth, will I give you, in this place.

So then Yahweh said unto me, Falsehood, are the prophets prophesying in my name, I have not sent them Neither have I commanded them, Neither have I spoken unto them, - A vision of falsehood, and A divination of worthlessness and A fraud of their own hearts, They, are prophesying unto you.

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.

Said Yahweh, - Verily, I will loose thee, for good! Verily, I will intercede for thee In the time of calamity, and In the time of distress with the enemy!

Therefore lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall be said no more By the life of Yahweh, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but -

Thus, said Yahweh unto me - Go and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter in, and through which they come out, - also in all the gates of Jerusalem.

and it commit wickedness in mine eyes, in not hearkening unto my voice, then will I repent concerning the good wherewith I had said I would do it good.

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!

Thus said Yahweh, Go and buy a potters earthen bottle, - and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

Then entered Jeremiah out of Topheth, whither Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, - and stood in the court of the house of Yahweh, and said unto all the people:

And it came to pass on the morrow, when Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks, - that Jeremiah said unto him - Not Pashhur, hath Yahweh called thy name, But Magor-missaviv.

Then said Jeremiah unto them, - Thus, shall ye say unto Zedekiah:

Thus, said Yahweh, Go thou down to the house of king of Judah, and speak thou there this word,

Therefore, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall not be said any more As Yahweh liveth, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

They keep on saying to them who despise me, Yahweh, hath spoken, saying, Prosperity, shall ye have! And to every one who is going on in the stubbornness of his own heart, have they said, There shall come on you, no calamity

I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy in my name falsely, saying, - I have dreamed! I have dreamed!

But, since ye keep on saying, The Oracle of Yahweh, therefore, Thus saith Yahweh, Because ye have said this word, The oracle of Yahweh, whereas I had sent unto you saying, Ye shall not say, The oracle of Yahweh

Then said Yahweh unto me, - What canst thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for badness.

For, thus, said Yahweh, God of Israel unto me, Take this cup of indignation wine out of my hand, - and cause all the nations unto whom I am sending thee, to drink it:

to wit said he - Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and her kings her princes, - making them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a contempt, as at this day;

Then said the princes, and all the people, unto the priests and unto the prophets, - There is nothing in this man worthy of death, for in the name of Yahweh our God, hath he spoken unto us.

Thus, said Yahweh unto me, Make thee, bonds and bars, and put them upon thine own neck.

Then said Jeremiah the prophet, unto Hananiah the prophet, in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people, who were standing in the house of Yahweh,

then said Jeremiah the prophet, - Amen! So, may Yahweh do! Yahweh establish thy words which thou hast prophesied by bringing back the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all them of the captivity, from Babylon unto this place.

Then said Jeremiah the prophet unto Hananiah the prophet, - Hear I pray thee, Hananiah: Yahweh hath not sent thee, Thou, therefore hast caused this people to trust in falsehood!

Because ye have said, - Yahweh hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.

And Jeremiah said, - The word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

So Hanameel son of mine uncle, came unto me, according to the word of Yahweh into the guard-court, and said unto me, Buy, I pray thee my field that is in Anathoth which is in the land of Benjamin, for, thine, is the right of inheritance, and, thine, the redemption, - buy it for thyself. So I knew, that the word of Yahweh, it was.

and I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, - and said unto them Drink ye wine.

Then said they, - We will not drink wine, - for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, laid command upon us, saying, Ye shall not drink wine, ye, nor your sons, unto times age-abiding;

And so it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, - Let us even enter, Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans and because of the force of the Syrians: So have we dwelt in Jerusalem.

But to the house of the Rechabites, said Jeremiah: Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Because ye have hearkened unto the commandment of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and dune according to all that he commanded you

Then said they unto him, Sit down we pray thee and read it in our ears, So Baruch read it in their ears.

And it came to pass when they heard all the words, that they turned with fear one to another, - and said unto Baruch, We must, surely tell, the king, all these words!

So Baruch said unto them, With his own mouth, used he to proclaim unto me all these words, - and I kept on writing in the book, with ink.

Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go hide thee, thou and Jeremiah, and let no man, know where ye, are!

Then said Jeremiah, False! I am not falling away unto the Chaldeans! Howbeit he hearkened not unto him, - so Irijah seized Jeremiah, and brought him in unto the princes.

then sent King Zedekiah - and fetched him, and the king asked him, in his own house secretly, and said, - Is there a word from Yahweh? And Jeremiah said, - There is, for (said he), Into the hand of the king of Babylon, shalt thou be delivered!

And Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, - What sin have I committed against thee, or against thy servants or against this people, that ye have delivered me up into prison?

Then King Zedekiah gave command and they committed Jeremiah into the guard-court, and said that there should be given him a cake of bread daily, out of the bakers street, until all the bread out of the city should be spent, So Jeremiah remained in the guard-court.

Then said the princes unto the king, - Let this man we pray thee, be put to death, for in this way, is he weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this, city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them such words as these; for, this man, is not seeking prosperity for this people but misfortune.

Then said King Zedekiah, - Lo! he is in your hand; for the king is not one who is able to do anything against you.

Then said Ebed-melech the Ethiopian unto Jeremiah, - Put, I pray thee the pieces of cast-off clothes and the old rags under thine arm-joints, under the ropes, And Jeremiah did so,

Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched Jeremiah the prophet unto him, in the third entrance, which is in the house of Yahweh, - and the king said unto Jeremiah - I am going to ask thee a thing, do not hide anything from me.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, When I tell thee, wilt thou not, surely put me to death? And when I counsel thee, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah - Thus, saith Yahweh God of hosts, God of Israel - If thou wilt, indeed go forth, unto the princes of the king of Babylon, then shall thine own soul live, and, this city, shall not be burned with fire, - but thou shalt live, thou and thy house.

Then said King Zedekiah unto Jeremiah: I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen away unto the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me, into their hand, and they maltreat me.

But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver! - Hearken I pray thee unto the voice of Yahweh in what I am speaking unto thee, that it may be well with thee and thy soul live.

Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah - Do not let, any man, know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

So then the, chief of the royal executioners took Jeremiah, - and said unto him, Yahweh thy God had threatened this calamity against this place;

and said unto him - Dost thou at all know, that, Baalis, king of the sons of Ammon, hath sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah, to smite thee to death? But Gedaliah son of Ahikam, believed them not.

Then said Gedaliah son of Ahikam unto Johanan son of Kareah, Thou mayest not do this thing, - for, falsely, art thou speaking against Ishmael.

Then went forth Ishmael son of Nethaniah to meet them out of Mizpah, weeping all along as he went, - and it came to pass when he fell in with them, that he said unto them, Come ye in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam.

But, ten men, were found among them, who said unto Ishmael - Do not put us to death, for we have secret treasures in the field, wheat and barley and oil and honey, So he forbare and put them not to death in the midst of their brethren.

and said unto Jeremiah the prophet - Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, - for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us:

And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words, - and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.

They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful, - if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform:

and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel - unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him: -

And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and unto all the women, - Hear ye the word of Yahweh, all Judah, who are in the land of Egypt, -

Egypt was like the Nile when it riseth, And like rivers, when the waters are tossed: So he said - I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city, and the dwellers therein.

Hath made many a one to be stumbling, Yea fallen is every one against his neighbour, So they have said - Arise and let us return to our own people, And unto the land of our birth, From the face of the sword of the oppressor.

And the spoiler shall enter into every city, And not, a city, shall escape, Then shall perish the vale Then be destroyed the table-land, - As Yahweh hath said.

All who found them, devoured them, And, their adversaries, said - We shall not be, guilty, - Because they have sinned, Against, Yahweh the pasturage of righteousness, Yea the hope of their fathers - Yahweh.

Then said Jeremiah unto Seraiah, - When thou comest into Babylon, then shalt thou look out and read all these words;