They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as a man for the battle, against thee, daughter of Zion.

We have heard the report thereof: our hands are grown feeble; anguish hath taken hold of us, pain as of a woman that travaileth.

They are all the most rebellious of rebels, going about with slander: they are bronze and iron; they are all corrupters.

The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed by the fire; they have melted, and melted in vain; and the bad are not plucked away.

then ye come and stand before me, in this house which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, in order to do all these abominations!

Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, when it shall no more be said, Topheth, and Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place.

How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? Behold, certainly the lying pen of the scribes hath made it falsehood.

The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected Jehovah's word; and what wisdom is in them?

Are they ashamed that they have committed abomination? Nay, they are not at all ashamed, and they know not how to blush. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, saith Jehovah.

I will utterly take them away, saith Jehovah: there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree; and the leaf is faded: and I will give them up to those that shall pass over them.

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Oh that I had in the wilderness a traveller's lodging-place, that I might leave my people, and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood, and not for fidelity are they valiant in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

For the mountains will I take up weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness, a lamentation; for they are burnt up, so that none passeth through them; and the voice of the cattle is not heard. Both the fowl of the heavens and the beasts are fled; they are gone.

For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled, sorely put to shame! For we have forsaken the land, for they have cast down our dwellings.

Behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, when I will visit all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their beard cut off, that dwell in the wilderness: for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

Thus saith Jehovah: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.

For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for it is a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;

They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock.

Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artizan and of the hands of the founder; blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of skilful men.

They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth from me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered.

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

For as the number of thy cities, are thy gods, O Judah; and as the number of the streets of Jerusalem, have ye set up altars to the Shame, altars to burn incense unto Baal.

Jehovah had called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair, of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and its branches are broken.

Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?

My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird of prey; the birds of prey round about are against her. Go, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.

Spoilers are come upon all heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace.

The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them; all Judah is carried away captive: it is wholly carried away captive.

And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels have suffered violence.

Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.

Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem goeth up.

And their nobles send their little ones for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed, they are confounded, and have covered their heads.

Because the ground is chapt, for there hath been no rain on the earth, the ploughmen are ashamed, they cover their heads.

Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou act for thy name's sake; for our backslidings are many we have sinned against thee.

Why wilt thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name: leave us not.

Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou HE, Jehovah, our God? And we wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these things.

And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.

Their widows are increased to me more than the sand of the seas; I have brought upon them, against the mother of the young men, a spoiler at noonday; I have caused anguish and terror to fall upon her suddenly.

For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bear them, and concerning their fathers that beget them in this land:

and you, ye have done still worse than your fathers; and there ye are walking every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not to hearken unto me:

Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not concealed from my face, neither is their iniquity hidden from before mine eyes.

Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no-gods?

House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, house of Israel.

For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side: Report, and we will report it. All my familiars are watching for my stumbling: Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him; and we shall take our revenge on him.

Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, outside the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

And afterwards, saith Jehovah, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life, and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword: he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

But thine eyes and thy heart are only on thine extortion, and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and on violence, to do it.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and give forth thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the heights of Abarim: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

Is this man Coniah a despised broken vase? a vessel wherein is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

Therefore behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

For the land is full of adulterers; for because of execration the land mourneth. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up; for their course is evil, and their force is not right.

For both prophet and priest are profane: even in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah.

And in the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in falsehood, and strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard for good them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans;

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will visit on the king of Babylon and on that nation, saith Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it perpetual desolations.

and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea;

and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the dust, noble ones of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are accomplished, and I will disperse you; and ye shall fall like a precious vessel.

I have made the earth, man and beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give them unto whom it seemeth right in mine eyes.

But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

For thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

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

For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in your midst, nor your diviners deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams, which ye like to dream.

yea, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

And these are the words that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Israel and concerning Judah;

Ask ye now, and see, whether a male doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail; and all faces are turned into paleness?

All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not. For I have smitten thee with the stroke of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity: thy sins are manifold.

Why criest thou because of thy bruise? thy sorrow is incurable; for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins are manifold, I have done these things unto thee.

Thus saith Jehovah: A voice hath been heard in Ramah, the wail of very bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are not.

Is Ephraim a dear son unto me? is he a child of delights? For whilst I have been speaking against him, I do constantly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will certainly have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.

In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge:

great in counsel and mighty in work, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

Behold the mounds, they are come unto the city for taking it; and the city is given over into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, by the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and behold, thou seest it.

and they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause to pass through the fire their sons and their daughters unto Molech: which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down because of the mounds and because of the sword:

Thus saith Jehovah: In this place of which ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast! in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they have drunk none, for they have obeyed their father's commandment. But I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto me.

And the princes said unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; that none may know where ye are.

Thus saith Jehovah: Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans are certainly gone away from us; for they are not gone.

And where are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes; and they shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.

And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains that are upon thy hand. If it seem good in thy sight to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will keep mine eye upon thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me to Babylon, forbear. See, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and right in thy sight to go, thither go.

And Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will smite Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and no man shall know it: why should he take thy life, and all they of Judah who are gathered unto thee be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?

and they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are at Gibeon.

came near and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication come before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant (for we are left a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us);

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid: be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah; for I will be with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

then it shall come to pass, that the sword which ye fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt: such as are for death to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold they are, this day, a waste, and no man dwelleth therein,

And my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are become a waste, a desolation, as at this day.