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?

Hath a nation, changed gods, although they were No-gods? Yet my people have changed my glory for that which could not profit!

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.

In those days, shall the house of Judah go unto the house of Israel, - that they may enter together out of the land of the North, upon the land which I gave as an inheritance unto your fathers.

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.

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

Therefore, hear O ye nations, - And take knowledge O assembly, Of that which befalleth them:

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,

A den of robbers, hath this house on which my Name hath been called become in your own eyes? I, also, - lo! I have seen it Declareth Yahweh.

For go I pray you, unto my place which was in Shiloh, Where I made my Name to dwell, at first, - And see what I did to it, because of the wickedness of my people Israel!

Therefore will I do to the house Whereon my Name hath been called Wherein, ye, are trusting, Even to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, - Just as I did unto Shiloh;

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.

For the sons of Judah, have done, that which was wicked in mine eyes, Declareth Yahweh, - They have set their abominations in the house whereon my Name hath been called to defile it;

And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn up their sons and their daughters in the fire, - Which I commanded not, Neither came it up on my heart,

For behold me! sending among you serpents - vipers which there is no charming, - And they shall fatally bite you declareth Yahweh.

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

But have gone their way, After the stubbornness of their own heart, - And after the Baals which their fathers taught them,

And will scatter them among the nations, which neither they nor their fathers, have known, - And will send after them the sword, until I have consumed them.

Hear ye the word which Yahweh hath spoken unto you, O house of Israel: -

which I commanded your fathers - in the day when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt out of the smelting-pot of iron - saying, Hearken unto my voice and do them, According to all that I may command you, - So shall ye become my people, And, I, will become, your God:

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!

Howbeit they hearkened not neither inclined their ear, but walked severally in the stubbornness of their wicked heart, - so then I brought upon them all the words of this covenant which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.

They have turned back unto the iniquities of their first fathers who refused to hear my words, yea, they themselves, have walked after other gods to serve them, - the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I solemnised with their fathers.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! bringing upon them calamity, which they shall not be able to escape, - and though they make outcry unto me, yet will I not hearken unto them.

But, Yahweh of hosts, who planted thee hath pronounced against thee calamity, - on account of the wickedness of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah which they have wrought for themselves, provoking me to anger by burning incense to Baal.

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.

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.

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.

This wicked people who are refusing to hear my words, who are walking in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods, to serve them and to bow down to them, yea let them be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

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?

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.

By the life of Yahweh, who hath brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of the North, and out of all the lands whither he had driven them, - So will I bring them back upon their own soil, which I gave to their fathers.

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.

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.

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 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.

Then shalt thou go forth into the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is at the opening of the gate of potsherds; and proclaim there the words which I shall speak unto thee;

and shalt say, - Hear ye the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah And inhabitants of Jerusalem, - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - God of Israel Behold me! bringing in calamity upon this place, which shall cause the ears of every one that heareth it, to tingle:

Because they have forsaken me, And have treated this as a foreign place, And have burned incense therein to other gods, which neither they, nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah, have known; And have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

And have built the high places of Baal for burning up their sons in the fire as ascending-sacrifices to Baal, - Which I commanded not, Nor spake, Neither came it up on my heart,

and shalt say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - Thus and thus, will I break this people, and this city, As one breaketh the vessel of a potter, which cannot be made whole any more, - And in Topheth, shall they bury, for want of place to bury.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! brining in against this city, and upon all the cities thereof, The whole calamity which I have pronounced against her, - Because they stiffened their neck, that they might not hear my words.

then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, - and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh.

Accursed, be the day on which I was born, - The day when my mother bare me, let it not be blessed!

Making him very glad: Yea let that man be - as the cities which Yahweh overthrew and repented not, - And let him hear An outcry in the morning, and A war-shout at broad noon!

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:

An earthen vessel to be despised thrown about, is this man Coniah? Or an instrument, in which is no pleasure? Wherefore are they to be cast out, he and his seed, and to be thrown forth upon a land which they have not known?

Who lay a plot to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they relate every man to his neighbour, - Just as their fathers forgat, my name, for Baal.

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 will give unto you reproach age-abiding, - and disgrace age-abiding, which shall not be forgotten.

Yahweh shewed me, and lo! two baskets of figs, which had been set before the temple of Yahweh, - after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive, Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and the smiths out of Jerusalem, and had brought them into Babylon: -

the one basket, was of very good figs, like the first-ripe figs; and, the other basket, was of very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.

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.

And like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten for badness, Surely thus, saith Yahweh - so, will I deliver up Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes and the remnant of Jerusalem that remain in this land, and them who are dwelling in the land of Egypt;

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.

The word which came upon Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, - the same, was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

which word Jeremiah the prophet spake concerning all the people of Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying: -

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;

So will I bring upon that land, All my words which I have spoken against it, - Even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.

Yea they shall drink and reel to and fro and act as madmen, because of the sword which I am sending between them.

And all the kings of the North, the near and the far every man with his brother, and all the kingdoms of the earth which are on the face of the ground; And the king of Sheshach, shall drink, after them.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, - Drink ye and be drunken, and vomit, and fall and rise not, - because of the sword which I am sending between you.

For lo! with the city on which my Name hath been called, am I making a beginning of sending calamity, And shall, ye, be held, guiltless? Ye shall not be held guiltless: For a sword, am I proclaiming against all the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.

Thus, saith Yahweh, - Stand thou in the court of the house of Yahweh, and speak unto all the cities of Judah who are entering in to yaw down in the house of Yahweh, all the words which I have commanded thee to speak unto them, - do not thou keep back a word:

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:

Therefore shalt thou say unto them Thus, saith Yahweh, - If ye will not hearken unto me, To walk in my law which I have set before you;

Now, therefore amend your ways, and your doings, and hearken unto the voice of Yahweh your God, - that Yahweh may repent him, as to the calamity which he hath spoken concerning you.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put, him to death? Did he not revere Yahweh, and appease the face of Yahweh? And did not Yahweh repent him, as to the calamity which he had spoken against them? We, therefore are doing a great wickedness against our own lives!

And it shall come to pass that, the nation or kingdom which will not serve him, even Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, - with sword and with famine, and with pestilence, will I bring punishment upon that nation, Declareth Yahweh, until I have consumed them by his hand.

But, if prophets, they are, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them intercede, I pray you, with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels which are left remaining in the house of Yahweh and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, come not into Babylon.

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.

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.

Nevertheless hear thou I pray thee, this word, which I am speaking in thine ears, - and in the ears of all the people:

Now these, are the, words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem, - unto the residue of the elders of the captivity, and unto the priests and unto the prophets and unto all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

For Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Let not your prophets that are in your midst nor your diviners beguile you, - Neither hearken ye unto your dreams which ye are dreaming;

For, I, know the plans which I am planning for you Declareth Yahweh, - Plans of welfare and not of calamity, To give you a future and a hope.

Because they hearkened not unto my words Declareth Yahweh, - which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, betimes, sending them yet hearkened they not Declareth Yahweh.

Because they have committed vileness in Israel And have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbours, And have spoken as a word in my name a falsehood, which I commanded them not, - And, I, am one who knoweth - and a witness Declareth Yahweh.

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

Thus, speaketh Yahweh, God of Israel, saying, - Write thee all the words which I have spoken unto thee in a scroll;

For lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, when I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, Saith Yahweh, - and will bring them back into the land which I gave to their fathers that they might possess it.

Now, these, are the words which Yahweh hath spoken against Israel and against Judah:

Erect thee waymarks Set thee up finger-posts, Apply thy heart to The highway - The road by which thou didst depart, - Return O virgin of Israel, Return unto these thy cities.

Not like the covenant which I solemnised with their fathers, In the day when I grasped their hand, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, - In that, they, brake my covenant Though, I, had become a husband unto them, Declareth Yahweh.

For, this, is the covenant which I will solemnize with the house of Israel after those days Declareth Yahweh, I will put my law within them, Yea, on their heart, will I write it, - So will I become their God, And they shall become my people.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, - the same, was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar;

and, then, the forces of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem, - and, Jeremiah the prophet, had been shut up in the guard-court, which was in the house of the king of Judah;

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.

Then took I the scroll of purchase, both that which was sealed - the title and the conditions - and that which was open;

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Take thou these scrolls, this scroll of purchase even that which is sealed, and this scroll that is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, - that they may remain many days,

And didst give unto them this land, which thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give unto them, - a land flowing with milk and honey;

because of all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

But have set their abominations in the house on which my name hath been called, to defile it;

And have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom, To cause their sons and their daughters to pass through unto Molech, Which I commanded them not Neither came it up on my heart, That they should do this horrible thing, - Causing, Judah, to sin!

Call unto me that I may answer thee, - and tell thee things great and inaccessible, which thou hast not known.

For, Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, - which are thrown down against the earthworks and against the sword:

So shall she become to me - A name of joy, A praise and An adorning, To all the nations of the earth, - Who will hear all the good which I am doing them, And will dread and be deeply moved over all the good and over all the prosperity which I am causing her.

Thus, saith Yahweh - Again, shall be heard in this place, as to which ye are saying, Deserted, it is without man or beast, In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, Which are desolate without man or inhabitant or beast