Thoughtfulness doth watch over thee, Understanding doth keep thee,

Which hath not captain, overseer, and ruler,

O the happiness of the man hearkening to me, To watch at my doors day by day, To watch at the door-posts of my entrance.

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which is before thee,

Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

What is that which hath been? it is that which is, and what is that which hath been done? it is that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.

There is a thing of which one saith: 'See this, it is new!' already it hath been in the ages that were before us!

I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where is this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.

And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what is the man who cometh after the king? that which is already -- they have done it!

That there is no remembrance to the wise -- with the fool -- to the age, for that which is already, in the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dieth the wise? with the fool!

What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?

The whole He hath made beautiful in its season; also, that knowledge He hath put in their heart without which man findeth not out the work that God hath done from the beginning even unto the end.

What is that which hath been? already it is, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is pursued.

And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it is his portion; for who doth bring him in to look on that which is after him?

When thou vowest a vow to God, delay not to complete it, for there is no pleasure in fools; that which thou vowest -- complete.

Lo, that which I have seen: It is good, because beautiful, to eat, and to drink, and to see good in all one's labour that he laboureth at under the sun, the number of the days of his life that God hath given to him, for it is his portion.

What is that which hath been? already is its name called, and it is known that it is man, and he is not able to contend with him who is stronger than he.

See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?

Far off is that which hath been, and deep, deep, who doth find it?

For he knoweth not that which shall be, for when it shall be who declareth to him?

And the fool multiplieth words: 'Man knoweth not that which is, And that which is after him, who doth declare to him?'

In the morning sow thy seed, And at even withdraw not thy hand, For thou knowest not which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike are good.

Also of that which is high they are afraid, And of the low places in the way, And the almond-tree is despised, And the grasshopper is become a burden, And want is increased, For man is going unto his home age-during, And the mourners have gone round through the street.

Go forth, and look, ye daughters of Zion, On king Solomon, with the crown, With which his mother crowned him, In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the joy of his heart!

Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down -- they tread upon it.

Wash ye, make ye pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good.

And its land is full of idols, To the work of its hands it boweth itself, To that which its fingers have made,

And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place.

And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! -- Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

-- Doth the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Doth the saw magnify itself Against him who is shaking it? As a rod waving those lifting it up! As a staff lifting up that which is not wood!

And he looketh not unto the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made He seeth not -- the shrines and the images.

Arrange the table, watch in the watch-tower, Eat, drink, rise, ye heads, anoint the shield,

For thus said the Lord unto me: 'Go, station the watchman, That which he seeth let him declare.'

And he crieth -- a lion, 'On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights.

O my threshing, and the son of my floor, That which I heard from Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, I have declared to you!'

Lo, the land of the Chaldeans -- this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, -- He hath appointed her for a ruin!

And He hath given rain for thy seed, With which thou dost sow the ground, And bread, the increase of the ground, And it hath been fat and plenteous, Enjoy do thy cattle in that day an enlarged pasture.

Surely the palace hath been left, The multitude of the city forsaken, Fort and watch-tower hath been for dens unto the age, A joy of wild asses -- a pasture of herds;

Hear, ye far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, My might.

And Rabshakeh saith unto them, 'Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, 'Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What is this confidence in which thou hast confided?

Lo, thou hast trusted on the staff of this broken reed -- on Egypt -- which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it -- so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

'It may be Jehovah thy God doth hear the words of Rabshakeh with which the king of Asshur his lord hath sent him to reproach the living God, and hath decided concerning the words that Jehovah thy God hath heard, and thou hast lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.'

and Isaiah saith unto them, 'Thus do ye say unto your lord, Thus said Jehovah, Be not afraid because of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.

Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands -- to devote them -- and thou art delivered!

And Isaiah son of Amoz sendeth unto Hezekiah, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur --

Because of thy anger towards Me, And thy noise -- it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I have caused thee to turn back In the way in which thou camest.

and saith, 'I pray thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which is good in thine eyes I have done;' and Hezekiah weepeth -- a great weeping.

They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things -- what they are declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear.

Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth it for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish it.

Declaring from the beginning the latter end, And from of old that which hath not been done, Saying, 'My counsel doth stand, And all My delight I do.'

Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify!

Thus said Jehovah: 'Where is this -- the bill of your mother's divorce, Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away.

So doth he sprinkle many nations. Concerning him kings shut their mouth, For that which was not recounted to them they have seen, And that which they had not heard they have understood!

Who hath given credence to that which we heard? And the arm of Jehovah, On whom hath it been revealed?

Why do ye weigh money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which is not for satiety? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat good, And your soul doth delight itself in fatness.

So is My word that goeth out of My mouth, It turneth not back unto Me empty, But hath done that which I desired, And prosperously effected that for which I sent it.

For thus said Jehovah of the eunuchs, Who do keep My sabbaths, And have fixed on that which I desired, And are keeping hold on My covenant:

Sworn hath Jehovah by His right hand, Even by the arm of His strength: 'I give not thy corn any more as food for thine enemies, Nor do sons of a stranger drink thy new wine, For which thou hast laboured.

And I have numbered you for the sword, And all of you for slaughter bow down, Because I called, and ye have not answered, I have spoken, and ye have not hearkened, And ye do the evil thing in Mine eyes, And on that which I desired not -- fixed.

I also -- I fix on their vexations, And their fears I bring in to them, Because I have called, and there is none answering, I spake, and they have not hearkened, And they do the evil things in Mine eyes, And on that which I desired not -- fixed.

Hath a nation changed gods? (And they are no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.

But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

Doth He keep to the age? watch for ever?' Lo, these things thou hast spoken, And thou dost the evil things, and prevailest.

And Jehovah saith unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is going on every high mountain, and unto the place of every green tree, and committeth fornication there.

Go, and thou hast proclaimed these words toward the north, and hast said, Turn back, O backsliding Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah! I cause not Mine anger to fall upon you, For I am kind, an affirmation of Jehovah, I watch not to the age.

Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?

For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.

And it hath consumed thy harvest and thy bread, They consume thy sons, and thy daughters, It consumeth thy flock, and thy herd, It consumeth thy vine, and thy fig-tree, It maketh poor thy fenced cities, In which thou art trusting -- by the sword.

Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O company, That which is upon them.

A watch-tower I have given thee, Among My people a fortress, And thou knowest, and hast tried their way.

And ye have come in and stood before Me, In this house on which My name is called, And have said, 'We have been delivered,' In order to do all these abominations.

A den of burglars hath this house, On which My name is called, been in your eyes? Even I, lo, I have seen, an affirmation of Jehovah.

But go ye, I pray you, Unto My place that is in Shiloh, Where I caused My name to dwell at first, And see that which I have done to it, For the wickedness of My people Israel.

I also to the house on which My name is called, In which ye are trusting, And to the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, Have done, as I have done to Shiloh.

For the sons of Judah Have done the evil thing in Mine eyes, An affirmation of Jehovah, They have set their abominations in the house On which My name is called -- to defile it,

And have built the high places of Tophet, That are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn their sons and their daughters with fire, Which I did not command, Nor did it come up on My heart.

And have spread them to sun, and to moon, And to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, And that they have served, And that they have walked after, And that they have sought, And to which they have bowed themselves, They are not gathered, nor buried, They are for dung on the face of the ground.

And I have scattered them among nations Which they knew not, they and their fathers, And have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them.

For -- with footmen thou hast run, And they weary thee, And how dost thou fret thyself with horses! Even in the land of peace, In which thou art confident -- And how dost thou in the rising of Jordan!

That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths:

And I have given them for a trembling To all kingdoms of the earth, Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For that which he did in Jerusalem.

Thus said Jehovah unto me: 'Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem,

and hast said, Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: 'Lo, I am bringing in evil on this place, at which the ears of every one who is hearing it do tingle,

And I have caused them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and each the flesh of his friend they do eat, in the siege and in the straitness with which straiten them do their enemies, and those seeking their life.

Cursed is the day in which I was born, The day that my mother bare me, Let it not be blessed!

Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That are in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city,

And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.

A grief -- a despised broken thing -- is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not?

I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'

Which Jeremiah the prophet hath spoken concerning all the people of Judah, even unto all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

For lo, in the city over which My name is called, I am beginning to do evil, And ye -- ye are entirely acquitted! Ye are not acquitted, for a sword I am proclaiming, For all inhabitants of the land, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

And it hath come to pass, the nation and the kingdom that do not serve him -- Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon -- and that which putteth not its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, I lay a charge on that nation -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- till I consume them by his hand.

And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And they come in, and possess it, and they have not hearkened to Thy voice, and in Thy law have not walked, all that which Thou didst lay a charge on them to do they have not done, and Thou dost proclaim to them all this evil.

Lo, the mounts -- they have come in to the city to capture it, and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence; and that which Thou hast spoken hath come to pass, and lo, Thou art seeing;

'And they set their abominations in the house over which My name is called, so as to defile it;

And they build the high places of Baal, that are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come up on my heart to do this abomination, so as to cause Judah to sin.

'And now, therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, concerning this city, of which ye are saying, It hath been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence,

and bought hath been the field in this land of which ye are saying, A desolation it is, without man and beast, it hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Thus said Jehovah: Again heard in this place of which ye are saying, Waste it is, without man and without beast, In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, That are desolated, without man, And without inhabitant, and without beast,