Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake 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: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

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

that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

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

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it!

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will pour out on you at your going [to] Egypt, and you will become a curse, and a horror, and a curse [formula], and a disgrace, and you will no longer see this place." '

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

And I send unto you all my servants, the prophets, rising early and sending, saying: I pray you, do not this abomination that I have hated --

But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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 victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto 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 unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto 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 unto 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 unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, you dear poor people of Egypt. But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; there will be no healing for you.

Pack your bags for exile, you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. For Memphis will be laid waste. It will lie in ruins and be uninhabited.

Poor dear Egypt will be put to shame. She will be handed over to the people from the north."

I shall give them over to the power of those who are seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his officers. Afterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the Lord.

The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning. The people of Ashkelon will be struck dumb. How long will you gash yourselves to show your sorrow, you who remain of Philistia's power?

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him them that pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.

“Show sympathy for him, all you [nations] who are around him,
And all you [distant nations] who know his name;
Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter [of national power] been broken,
And the splendid staff [of glory]!’

Moab's might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the Lord, affirm it!

They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of exhaustion: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

Why do you brag about your great power? Your power is ebbing away, you rebellious people of Ammon, who trust in your riches and say, 'Who would dare to attack us?'

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

Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear is round about.

Rise ye, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.

And their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner of the beard, And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.

I will put the seat of my power in Elam, and in Elam I will put an end to kings and rulers, says the Lord.

And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey upon her shall be satisfied, saith Jehovah.

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

These things shall come upon her at the last: they shall break into her privy chambers, they shall leave her as bare as stones that be laid together upon heaps. They shall so destroy her that nothing shall be left.

A sword, is against his hopes and against his chariots and, against all the rabble that are in her midst And they shall become women, - A sword, is against her treasures And they shall be made a prey:

They bear bows and bucklers, cruel are they and unmerciful. Their voice roareth like the raging sea, they ride upon horses, and come weaponed to fight against thee, O Babylon.

Thus hath the LORD said, "Behold, I will raise up a perilous wind against Babylon and her citizens, that bear evil will against me.

I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.

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.

The Lord says, "Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.

The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight, they remain in the strongholds, their power has dried up, they have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire, her bars are broken.

“They (the Chaldean lords) will be roaring together [before their sudden capture] like young lions [roaring over their prey],
They (the princes) will be growling like lions’ cubs.

Though Babylon climbed up into heaven, and kept her power on high: yet shall I send her destroyers, sayeth the LORD.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly laid bare, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; so that the peoples will have laboured in vain, and the nations for the fire: and they shall be weary.

Then Nebuzaradan 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 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

And the pillars of brass that are to the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brasen sea that is in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken, and they bear away all the brass of them to Babylon;

How alone sits the city that was full of people! She has become like a widow, once great among the nations, a noblewoman among the nations, but now has become a tribute-payer.

{Vav} All the beauty of the daughter of Zion is away, her princes are become like harts that find no pasture. They are driven away before their enemy, so that they have no more power.

Jerusalem keeps in mind, in the days of her sorrow and of her wanderings, all the desired things which were hers in days gone by; when her people came into the power of her hater and she had no helper, her attackers saw their desire effected on her and made sport of her destruction.

Bound hath been the yoke of my transgressions by His hand, They are wrapped together, They have gone up on my neck, He hath caused my power to stumble, The Lord hath given me into hands, I am not able to rise.

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.

My eyes are worn out from crying, my insides are churning, My emotions pour out in grief because my people are destroyed Children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city; when they pour out their soul into their mothers' bosom.

The LORD did what he planned. He carried out his threat. Just as he commanded long ago, he has torn down without pity; He let the enemy boast about you and has exalted the power of your enemies.

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

(Tav) As if it were a feast day, you call enemies to terrify me on every side. On the day of the Lord's anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has finished off those healthy infants whom I bore and raised.

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

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

My tears pour down ceaselessly; I am far from relief

How is the gold become dim! how is the most pure gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.

ב BetZion’s precious people—
once worth their weight in pure gold—
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!

{Gimel} The Dragons give their young ones suck with bare breasts: but the daughter of my people is cruel, and dwelleth in the wilderness like the Ostriches.

Her consecrated ones were pure above snow, they were white above milk, they were red of body above pearls, their figure sapphire:

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup will pass, you will become drunk and strip yourself bare.

Our fathers have sinned, and they are not; and we bear their iniquities.

Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their power.

The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.

You, O Lord, are seated as King for ever; the seat of your power is eternal.

That's what their faces were like. Their wings spread out above and around them, one pair overlapping another, with one pair covering themselves.

Above over the heads of the beasts there was a firmament, which was fashioned as it had been of the most pure Crystal, and that was spread out above upon their heads:

And the spirit will come into me as he spake to me, and he will cause me to stand upon my feet, and I shall bear him speaking to me.

But the children of Israel will not give ear to you; for they have no mind to give ear to me: for all the children of Israel have a hard brow and a stiff heart.

See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your brow hard against their brows.

Like a diamond harder than rock I have made your brow: have no fear of them and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.

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.

Thus then unto the siege of Jerusalem, shalt thou direct thy face, with thine arm made bare, - so shalt thou prophesy against it.

“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

A third part in the fire, shalt thou burn in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled, - and thou shalt take a third part, thou shalt smite it with the cuting instrument round about it, and a third part, shalt thou scatter to the wind, and sword, will I, make bare after then;

The third part of thee by pestilence, shall die, and by famine, be consumed in thy midst And the third part by the sword, shall fall round about thee,- And the third part to every wind, will I scatter, and a sword, will I make bare after them.

Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.

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

The seller will certainly not return
to what was sold
as long as he and the buyer remain alive.
For the vision concerning all its people
will not be revoked,
and none of them will preserve
his life because of his iniquity.

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.

This similitude stretched out a hand, and took me by the hairy locks of my head, and the spirit lift me up betwixt heaven and earth: And God brought me in a vision to Jerusalem, into the court of the inward port that lieth toward the north. There stood an image, with whom he that hath all things in his power was very wroth.

And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes the way of the north.' And I lift up mine eyes the way of the north, and lo, on the north of the gate of the altar this figure of jealousy, at the entrance.

and He saith unto me, 'Son of man, dig, I pray thee, through the wall;' and I dig through the wall, and lo, an opening.

{And then} {as they were striking}, and I [was] left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! "[Will] you [be] destroying all of the remnant of Israel {while you pour out your rage} on Jerusalem?"

Thy gear that thou hast made ready to flit withal, shalt thou bear out by fair daylight, that they may see: and thou thyself shalt go forth also at even in their sight, as a man doth when he goeth forth to flight.

Dig through the wall, that they may see: and bear through it the same thing that thou tookest up in their sight.

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

And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.

And all who are round about him to hell him. and all his tops, will scatter to every wind, - and a sword, will I make bare after them.

Then say to the people of the land, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in fright, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it.

So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be made bare, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst of it: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

And I have torn your kerchiefs, And delivered My people out of your hand, And they are no more in your hand for a prey, And ye have known that I am Jehovah.

For this cause you will see no more foolish visions or make false use of secret arts: and I will make my people free from your power; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

"Thou son of man, these men bear their idols in their hearts, and go purposely upon the stumbling block of their own wickedness: how dare they then ask counsel at me?