For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip ye, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst on thy part set riders upon them.

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jew's language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house-tops, and as corn blasted before it is grown up.

And the remnant that hath escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

But this is a people robbed and pillaged; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses; they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

Who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring:

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that have escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god that cannot save.

And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoary hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yes, one shall cry to him, yet he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish becometh putrid, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide to him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou shouldst bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou shouldst cover him; and that thou shouldst not hide thyself from thy own flesh?

Yes, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

We are thine: thou never didst bear rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

For all these things hath my hand made, and all these things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.

Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time when they cry to me for their trouble.

And if thou shalt say in thy heart, Why come these things upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels made bare.

Then said the LORD to me, Pray not for this people for their good.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine, and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

But if ye will not hearken to me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

Therefore deliver their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

Sing to the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.

Cursed be the day in which I was born: let not the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.

Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; it may be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.

He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.

And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bore thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very poor figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my out-stretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed meet to me.

Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray to me, and I will hearken to you.

Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thy adversaries, every one of them shall go into captivity; and they that plunder thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.

So Hanameel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and out-stretched arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to the LORD our God for us.

Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.

But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey to thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he slay thee, that all the Jews who are gathered to thee should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?

And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech thee, let our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us:)

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.

For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.

But we will certainly do whatever thing proceedeth from our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then we had plenty of provisions, and were well, and saw no evil.

But since we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make for her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our men?

So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.

And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give to thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not.

Your mother shall be greatly confounded; she that bore you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vine-dressers and for husbandmen.

The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands towards him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.

He was to me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish my anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thy abominations.

The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou mayest not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign to the house of Israel.