For this is what the Lord says:

Look, I am slinging out
the land’s residents at this time
and bringing them such distress
that they will feel it.

For the shepherds have become stupid, they do not seek Yahweh. {Therefore} they do not have insight, and all of their flock are scattered.

But I, as a meek lamb, was carried away to be slain: not knowing, that they had devised such a counsel against me saying, "We will destroy his meat with wood, and drive him out of the land of the living: that his name shall never be thought upon."

Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:

Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. Why are wicked people successful? Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick -- they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.

But if you will not listen to it,
My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.

Then I said, "Look up, Jerusalem, and see the enemy that is coming from the north. Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? Where now are the 'sheep' that you take such pride in?

What will you say when the Lord appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

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

If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

Then I said, "Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Do you despise the city of Zion? Why have you struck us with such force that we are beyond recovery? We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it. We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror.

Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the sky give showers? Aren't you he, Yahweh our God? therefore we will wait for you; for you have 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 the LORD; 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 the captivity, to the captivity.

“I will ordain four kinds of judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land to devour and destroy.

O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?"

Because of this, the Lord said, "You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless, I will again allow you to be my spokesman. They must become as you have been. You must not become like them.

They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth. They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

"When you tell these people about all this, they will undoubtedly ask you, 'Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?'

“Can a man make gods for himself?
Such [things] are not gods!

“The heart is deceitful above all things
And it is extremely sick;
Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?

Thus says the Lord, “Pay attention for your own good, [and for the sake of your future] do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].

They have built places here for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.

For why? I heard so many derisions and blasphemies, yea even of my own companions, and such as were conversant with me: which went about, to make me afraid, saying, "Upon him; let us go upon him, to fear him, and make him hold his tongue: that we may overcome him, and be avenged of him."

Seek now: Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel is warring against us; perhaps Jehovah will do with us his wonders, and he shall go up from us.

And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver 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 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.

For I will visit you, sayeth the LORD, because of the wickedness of your inventions, and will kindle such a fire in your wood, as shall consume all that is about you.'"

“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’

And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Behold me! against such as prophesy the dreams of falsehood, Declareth Yahweh, who have related them and led astray my people, with their falsehoods and with their recklessness, - whereas, I, had not sent them nor commanded them, so that they could be of no, profit, to this people, Declareth Yahweh.

And will bring you to an everlasting confusion, and into such a shame, as shall never be forgotten.

I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them.

I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case!

How dare you claim the Lord's authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!" Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.

"Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone in Judah kill him? Didn't he fear the LORD and seek the LORD's favor, and so the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he had spoken to them about. We're bringing great disaster on ourselves.

And king Jehoiakim will hear, and all the great ones, and all the chiefs, his words, and the king will seek to kill him: and Urijah will hear and be afraid, and he will flee and go to Egypt

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

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be an overseer in the house of the Lord for every man who is off his head and is acting as a prophet, to put such men in prison and in chains.

All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

Behold, I will bring them again from out of the north land, and gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and lame that are among them, with the women that be great with child, and such as be also delivered: and the company of them that come again, shall be great.

“From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,

They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.'

As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.

You will come to your end in peace; and such burnings as they made for your fathers, the earlier kings before you, will be made for you; and they will be weeping for you and saying, Ah lord! for I have said the word, says the Lord.

I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

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.

'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt,

Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

As for the remnant of the people that were in the city, and such as were come to help them, whatsoever was left of the common sort, Nebuzaradan the chief captain carried them to Babylon.

As for me, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand [for you] before the Chaldeans who come to us [ministering to them and looking after the king’s interests]; but as for you, gather in wine, summer fruit and oil and store them in your utensils [designed for such purposes], and live in your cities that you have taken over.”

Such will be the fate of all the men whose minds are fixed on going into Egypt and stopping there; they will come to their end by the sword, by being short of food, and by disease: not one of them will keep his life or get away from the evil which I will send on them.

And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver 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.

Howbeit, I sent unto them my servants all the prophets: I rose up early, I sent unto them, and gave them warning. 'O do no such abominable things, and things that I hate.'

“So now, this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? You are cutting off man and woman, child and infant from Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant.

So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, 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 had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying,

Did not all this happen unto you, because ye made such sacrifice, and sinned against the LORD? Ye have not followed his voice, to walk in his law, in his ordinances and statutes. Yea, this is the cause that all misfortune happened unto you, as it is come to pass this day."

Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

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 unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

Therefore shall their mourning be made for Moab, and every man shall cry for Moab's sake: a lamentation shall be made to the men that stand upon the wall.

Wherefore my heart mourneth for Moab, like a crowd playing a heavy song: and for the men's sake of the brick wall my heart mourneth also, even as a pipe that pipeth a doleful song. For they shall be very few, and destroyed.

All heads shall be shaven, and all beards clipped off: all hands bound, and all loins girded about with sack cloth.

On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.

In those days and in that time, says Jehovah, he will seek the iniquity of Israel, and not any; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I shall forgive to whom I shall leave.

The voice Of them who are in flight and Of such as are escaping, out of the land of Babylon, - To tell in Zion The avenging of Yahweh our God, The avenging of his temple.

Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Ethan, so will I drive them forth, and make them run against her. But whom shall I choose out, and ordain to such a thing? For who is like me, or who will strive with me? Or what shepherd may stand against me?

We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.

"Nevertheless, the portion of Jacob is none such: but he that made all things, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, he is the rod of his inheritance.

through thee have I scattered horse and horseman; yea, the chariots, and such as sat upon them;

Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.

As for the poor people and such folk as yet was left in the city, which also were fallen to the king of Babylon, yea, and what people as yet remained: Nebuzaradan the chief Captain carried them away prisoners.

Uncleanness has soiled her skirts, and she gave no thought to what would follow. She fell in such a startling way, with no one to comfort her. Look, LORD, upon my affliction, because my enemy is boasting.

All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.

From above He hath sent fire into my bone, And it subdueth it, He hath spread a net for my feet, He hath turned me backward, He hath made me desolate -- all the day sick.

Come in doth all their evil before Thee, And one is doing to them as Thou hast done to me, For all my transgressions, For many are my sighs, and my heart is sick!

The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].

to defraud a person in a lawsuit -- the Lord does not approve of such things!

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

{Tet} They that be slain with the sword, are happier than such as die of hunger, and perish away famishing for the fruits of the field.

Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They pursued us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

{Tav} Thy sin is well punished, O thou daughter Zion: he shall not suffer thee to be carried away anymore. But thy wickedness, O daughter Edom, shall he visit, and for thy sins' sake, he shall lead thee into captivity.

For this hath our heart been sick, For these have our eyes been dim.

As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north -- an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire.

Such were their faces. Their wings were stretched out upward; two [wings] of each one were touching another [the wings of the beings on either side of it], and [the remaining] two [wings of each being] were covering their bodies.