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:

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.

Thou, therefore, shalt gird thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them, all that, I, command thee, - be not dismayed because of them, lest I dismay thee before their face.

Is not this what thou wast certain to do for thyself, - in that thou didst forsake Yahweh thy God, when he was leading thee by the way?

Now, therefore what hast thou to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Let thy wickedness correct thee And thine apostasies, rebuke thee, Know therefore and see That it is a wicked thing and a bitter, that thou shouldest have forsaken Yahweh thy God, And that the dread of me should not have pertained to thee, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

For, in age-past time, I brake thy yoke, I tare off thy fetters, And thou saidst, I will not transgress, - Nevertheless, on every high hill, and under every green tree, wast thou lying down as an unchaste woman.

Yet, I, planted thee a precious vine, a wholly true seed, - How then didst thou change thyself towards me, into the degenerate plantings of the alien vine?

For though thou wash thee with nitre, And take thee much soap, Yet is thine iniquity inscribed before me Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

How canst thou say, I have not defiled myself, After the Baalim, have I not gone? See thy way, in the valley, Own what thou hast done, - A nimble young she-camel, crossing her own ways;

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.

Saying, to a tree, My father, art thou! And to a stone, Thou, didst give us birth, For they have turned unto me the back and not the face, - But in the time of their calamity, they will say, Arise, and save us!

Where then are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy calamity, - For according to the number of thy cities, have become thy gods O Judah.

How thou dost make winsome thy way, to seek love! Therefore, even unto wicked women, hast thou taught thy ways.

Even in thy skirts, is there found, The blood of the lives of the helpless innocents, - Not in the act of breaking in, didst thou find them, yet the blood is on all these.

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!

How vigorously, thou goest about changing thy way! Even of Egypt, shalt thou be ashamed, just as thou wast ashamed of Assyria:

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.

Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights and see - where thou hast not been unchastely embraced! beside the ways, hast thou sat to them, like the Arabian m the desert, - and hast defiled the land with thine unchastities, and with thy wickedness.

Therefore have been withholden the showers, And, the latter rain, hath not come, - Yet the forehead of an unchaste woman, hast thou, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.

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

Will he maintain his anger to times age-abiding? Will he keep it perpetually? Lo! thou hast spoken thus but hast done wicked things and had thy way!

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!

Go, and proclaim these words, towards the North and say - Return! thou apostate - Israel, Urgeth Yahweh, I will not lower my face against you, - for full of lovingkindness, I am, Declareth Yahweh, I will not maintain mine anger unto times age-abiding.

Only, acknowledge thine iniquity, that against Yahweh thy God, hast thou transgressed, - and hast gone hither and thither unto foreigners under every green tree, and unto my voice, ye have not hearkened Declareth Yahweh.

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.

Return ye apostate sons, I will heal your apostasies! Behold us! we have come unto thee, For thou, art 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.

If thou wilt swear, By the life of Yahweh! in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness, Then shall the nations bless themselves in him, And, in him, shall they glory.

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.

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

My bowels! My bowels! I am pained in the walls of my heart My heart beateth aloud to me I cannot be still! For the sound of a horn, hast thou heard O my soul, The loud shout of war!

And when, thou, art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson Though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold Though thou enlarge with antimony thine eyes, In vain, shalt thou make thyself fair, - Paramours have rejected thee, Thy life, will they seek!

O Yahweh! thine own eyes, are they not directed to fidelity? Thou hast smitten them Yet have they not grieved, Thou hast consumed them - They have refused to receive correction, - They have made their faces bolder than a cliff, They have refused to return.

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:

Then shall it eat thy harvest and thy bread which thy sons and thy daughters should eat, - It shall eat thy flock and thy herd, It shall eat thy vine and thy fig-tree, - It shall destroy thy defenced cities wherein thou, art trusting, with the sword.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, For what cause hath Yahweh our God done to us all these things? Then shalt thou say unto them, - As ye forsook me, and served the gods of the foreigner in your own land, So, shall ye serve aliens in a land not your own.

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

Hear thou - O earth, Lo! I, am bringing in Calamity against this people the fruit of their own devices, - For unto my words, have they not given heed, And as for my law, they have rejected it.

O daughter of my people Gird thee with sackcloth and roll thyself in ashes, - The mourning for an only son, make thou for thyself, Most bitter lamentation! For suddenly, shall the destroyer come upon us.

An assayer, have I set thee amongst my people, of gold-ore, - That thou mayest note and try their way:

Stand thou in the gate of the house of Yahweh, and thou shalt proclaim there this word, - and shalt say - Hear ye the word of Yahweh all Judah ye who are entering in at these gates, to bow down unto Yahweh:

Thou, therefore - Do not pray for this people Neither lift up for them cry or prayer Neither intercede with me, - For I am not going to heat thee.

Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, - and In the streets of Jerusalem?

Therefore shalt thou speak unto them all these words, Though they do not hearken unto thee, - And thou shalt cry aloud unto them Though they do not answer thee; -

But thou shalt say unto them, - This, is the nation that hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh its God, Neither accepted they correction, - Perished is fidelity, And is cut off out of their mouth.

Cut thou off thy crown of hair O Jerusalem , and cast it away, And lift thou up on the bare heights, a dirge, - For Yahweh hath rejected and cast out the generation with which he was wroth.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh, Will men fall and not arise? Will one turn away, and not come back?

Speak thou, Thus, declareth Yahweh, So shall fall the dead bodies of men, Like dung heaps on the face of the field, - And like swaths after the harvestman, With none to gather.

None, there is, like unto thee, O Yahweh, - Great, art, thou, And, great, is thy Name, for might.

Chastise me, O Yahweh But yet in measure, - Not in thine anger, lest thou make me few.

and say thou unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, - Accursed, is the man who will not hear the words of this covenant;

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,

Thou, therefore do not pray for this people, Neither lift thou up for them cry or prayer, - For I am not going to hear in the time that they cry unto me concerning their calamity.

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?

Now when Yahweh, let me know and I did know, then, didst thou shew me their doings.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh Concerning the men of Anathoth, who are seeking thy life, saying, - Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, So shalt thou not die by our hand:

Righteous, art thou O Yahweh, when I present my pleading unto thee, - Yet, concerning the things that are right, let me speak with thee, - Wherefore hath, the way of the lawless, prospered? Wherefore have all, utter traitors, been at ease?

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,

But thou O Yahweh, knowest me, Wilt thou observe me and try my heart towards thee? Drag them away, as sheep for slaughter, And hallow them for the day when they are to be slain.

If, with the footmen, thou hast run and they have wearied thee, How then wilt thou hotly contend with horses? Though in a safe land thou art confident, Yet how wilt thou deal with the proud banks of the Jordan?

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.

Take the girdle which thou hast bought which is upon thy loins, - and arise go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the cliff.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word - Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Every jar, is to be filled with wine; and they will say unto thee, Do we not, know well, that every jar, is to be filled with wine?

Then shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh - Behold me! filling all the inhabitants of this land Even the kings that are sitting for David upon his throne and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem - with drunkenness;

Say thou to the king and to the queen-mother, Abase yourselves - Sit down, - For descended have your Head-tires, your Crown of adornment.

What wilt thou say when he shall bring punishment upon thee, Since, thou thyself, hast accustomed them to be over thee as friends in chief? Shall not, pangs, seize thee, as of a woman in childbirth?

But if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore have these things befallen me? For the greatness of thine iniquity have Thy skirts been turned aside Thy heels suffered violence!

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

Thine adulteries and thy neighings, thine unchaste wickedness, Upon the hills in the field, I have seen thine abominations! Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, Wilt thou not become pure? After how long yet?

Though, our iniquities, have testified against us, O Yahweh, effectually work thou for the sake of thy Name, - For our apostasies have abounded Against thee, have we sinned.

Thou Hope of Israel, His Saviour in the time of distress, - Wherefore shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the and? Or as a wayfarer, who hath turned aside to lodge for the night?

Wherefore, shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, thou, art in our midst - O Yahweh And, thy Name, on us, hath been called Do not abandon us!

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Let mine eyes, run down with tears night and day, And let them not rest, - For with a grievous injury, hath been injured the virgin the daughter of my people, With a wound, severe indeed!

Hast thou, utterly rejected, Judah? Zion itself, hath thy soul loathed? Why, hast thou smitten us so that there is for us no healing? A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, and For a time of healing, but lo! terror!

Are there, among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can, the heavens themselves, give myriad drops? Art not, thou, he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For, thou, hast made all these.

And it shall come to pass when they say unto thee Whither shall we go? Then shalt, thou say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh - Such as are for death, to death, and Such as are for t he sword, to the sword, and Such as are for famine, to the famine, and Such as are for captivity, to captivity.

Thou, hast abandoned, me, Declareth Yahweh, Backward, thou wilt go, Therefore have I stretched forth my hand against thee and laid thee waste, - I am weary of having compassion.

Woe to me! my mother, That thou didst bear me, A man of litigation and a man of contention to all the land, - I have not lent on interest Nor have they lent on interest to me, Every one, hath treated me with contempt.

Therefore will I make thee pass, with thine enemies into a land thou knowest not, - For, a fire, hath been kindled in mine anger Upon you, shall it burn.

Thou knowest - O Yahweh Remember me and visit me and avenge me upon my persecutors, Do not of thy longsuffering, take me away, - Know - I have borne for thy sake, reproach.

I sat not in the circle of mockers, Nor became I uproarious, - Because of thy hand, by myself did I sit, For with indignation, hadst thou filled me.

Wherefore hath my pain become perpetual? And my wound, incurable? Refuseth to be healed? Wilt thou, indeed be, to me As a brook that disappointeth, Waters that cannot be trusted?

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;

Thou shall not take to thee a wife, - Neither shalt thou have sons or daughters, in this place.

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.

And the house of banqueting, shall thou not enter To sit with them, To eat and to drink.

And it shall be when thou shalt declare to this people, all these words, - and they shall say unto thee - For what reason, hath Yahweh pronounced against us all this great calamity? Or what is our iniquity, or what our sin, which we have sinned against Yahweh our God?

Then shalt thou say unto them, - For that your fathers forsook, me, Declareth Yahweh, And walked after other gods, and served them, and bowed down to them, - Whereas me, they forsook And my law, kept they not;

So shalt thou even of thyself, suffer to rest the inheritance which I gave thee, Seeing that I will cause thee to serve thine enemies, in the land which thou knowest not; For, a fire, have ye kindled in mine anger, Unto times age-abiding, shall it burn.

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.

Heal thou me O Yahweh, that I may be healed, Save me that I may be saved, - For, my praise, thou art!

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.

Do not thou become to me a terror, - My refuge, art thou, in the day of calamity.

Let my persecutors, turn pale, hut let not me, turn pale, Let, them, be terrified, but let not, me, be terrified, - Bring thou upon them a day of calamity, And with a double fracture, destroy them.

Then shalt thou say unto them - Hear ye the word of Yahweh Ye kings of Judah and all Judah, And all ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, - who enter in through these gates: