If grape-gatherers come to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves in the night, they destroy [only] {enough for them}.

{Therefore} hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom, and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman. {Surely} they will drag them away, the little [ones] of the flock. {Surely} he will cause to be desolated over them their grazing place.

Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are ashamed, for they have heard bad news; they melt. [There is] concern in the sea. It is not able to keep quiet.

They will take their tents, and their flocks, their tent curtains, and all their equipment, and their camels they will carry away for themselves, and they will call to them, 'Terror [is] from all around.'

Rise up, go up against a nation [which is] at ease, living {securely}," {declares} Yahweh. "[There are] no gates and [there are] no bars for them, they dwell alone.

For a nation will come up against her from [the] north. It will make her land as a horror, and an inhabitant will not be in her. From humans to animals they [all] will wander [off]. They will go [away].

In those days and in that time,'" {declares} Yahweh, "the people of Israel will come, they and the people of Judah together. {Weeping as they go}, they will go, and Yahweh their God they will seek.

They will ask [the] way [to] Zion, [turning] their faces there. They will come and join themselves to Yahweh [by] {an everlasting covenant} [that] will not be forgotten.

My people have become lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They led them away [to the] mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their resting place.

All [those who] found them have devoured them. And their foes have said, 'We are not guilty, {because} they have sinned against Yahweh, the {true pasture}, even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.'

For look, I [am] going to stir up, and I [am] going to bring against Babylon a contingent of great nations from [the] land of [the] north. And they will draw up a battle formation against her, from there she will be captured. Their arrows [are] like a warrior [who has] achieved success, he does not return without success.

In those days and at that time," {declares} Yahweh, "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there [is] none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "The people of Israel [are] oppressed, and the people of Judah likewise, {for} all their captors have seized them, they refuse to let them go free.

A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become foolish. A sword against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.

A sword against his horses, and against his chariots, and against all the foreign troops who [are] in the midst of her, so that they may become as women. A sword against her treasures, so that they may be plundered.

A drought [will come] against her waters, and they will dry up, for it [is] a land of images, and because of the frightful [objects], they act like madmen.

They keep hold of bow and short sword. They [are] cruel and they have no mercy. Their sound [is] like the sea, it roars, and upon horses they ride. Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon.

{Therefore} hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Babylon, and his plans that he has planned against the land of [the] Chaldeans. {Surely} they will drag them away, the little [ones] of the flock. {Surely} he will cause [their] grazing place to be desolate over them.

And I will send winnowers to Babylon, and they will winnow her, and they will lay waste her land, for they will be against her from all sides on [the] day of disaster.

And they will fall slain in the land of [the] Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets.

Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you [with] troops like the creeping locusts, and they will sing over you a war cry."

They [are] worthless, a work of mockery. At the time of their punishment, they will perish.

And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," {declares} Yahweh.

They will not take from you a stone for a corner, and a stone for a foundation, for you will be {an everlasting desolation}," {declares} Yahweh.

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 will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions.

At their becoming hot I will set their banquets, and I will make them drunk, so that they will fall into a swoon, and they will sleep {an everlasting sleep}, and they will not wake up," {declares} Yahweh.

"And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men, her governors, and her officials, and her warriors, and they will sleep {an everlasting sleep}, and they will not wake up," {declares} the King, Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished, and her high gates will burn with fire, and [the] peoples will labor {for nothing}, and [the] nations {for fire}, and they will grow weary."

And you must say, 'Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, {because of} the face of the disasters that I [am] bringing on her, and they will grow weary.'" {Thus far} the words of Jeremiah.

{And then} in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works against it all around.

Then the city was breached, and all {the soldiers} fled and went out from the city [by] night [by the] way of [the] gate between the two walls that [are] at the garden of the king, though [the] Chaldeans [were] all around the city. And they went [in] the direction of the Jordan Valley.

But the army of [the] Chaldeans pursued after the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon [at] Riblah in the land of Hamath, and {he passed sentence on him}.

Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him [to] Babylon. And he put him in {prison} until the day of his death.

And [the] Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that [were] in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the kettle stands and the sea of bronze that [were] in the {temple} of Yahweh, and they carried all their bronze [to] Babylon.

And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which [were used in temple] service.

She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears [are] on her cheeks; she has no comforter among all her lovers. All her friends have been unfaithful to her; they have become her enemies.

All her majesty has gone away from the daughter of Zion; her princes have become like young stags that have not found pasture; they have gone away without strength, before the pursuer.

Jerusalem remembers the days of her misery and wanderings, all her treasures that were from the days of long ago. When her people fell into [the] hand of the enemy, there was no one helping her; the enemies saw her, they mocked at her destruction.

Jerusalem sinned grievously, thus she became an objection of derision; all those who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away.

The enemy has stretched out his hand over all her treasures; for she has seen the nations, they entered her sanctuary, those whom you commanded not to enter in your assembly.

All her people groan, they are searching for bread. They give their treasures for food, to bring back life. See, O Yahweh, and look, [how] I am despised.

I have called to my lovers, they themselves deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city when they sought food for themselves to revive their life.

They hear that I was groaning; [there is] no comforter for me. All my enemies have heard my misery, they are pleased that you have done it. Bring [that] day that you have proclaimed, And let them be like me.

The Lord has rejected his altar; he has rejected his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hands of the enemy the walls of its citadel fortresses. They have cried out in the house of Yahweh like a day of an appointed feast.

Yahweh has planned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He measured [with] a line; he has not restrained his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to mourn; together they have languished away.

They sit on the ground, the elders of the daughter of Zion are silent. They cast dust on their head, they have put on sackcloth; the young women of Jerusalem have bowed their head down to the ground.

To their mothers they say, "Where is the bread and wine?" as they faint like the wounded in [the] public squares of a city, as their life is being poured out onto the bosom of their mothers.

Your prophets had a vision for you, false and worthless; they have not exposed your sin, to restore your fortune; they have seen oracles for you, false and misleading.

They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?"

They have opened their mouths against you, all your enemies. They hiss and gnash a tooth, and they say, "We have destroyed [her]! Surely this [is] the day we have hoped for; we have found [it], we have seen [it]!"

They lie in [the] soil of [the] streets, young and old; my young women and young men, they have fallen by the sword; you have slain on the day of {your anger}, you have slaughtered and not shown mercy.

[They] are new in the morning, great is your faithfulness.

{They have silenced me in a pit}, they have thrown a stone at me.

The precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold, how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay, the work of the potter's hands.

The ones who eat delicacies, they are ruined in the streets; the ones nurtured in purple lie [on] piles of trash.

Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; [their] bodies were more ruddy than rubies, sapphire their appearance.

[Now] their appearance is blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones, it has become dry like wood.

Happier were [the] victims of [the] sword than the victims of famine; they have pined away, very hungry for the crops of my field.

[The] hands of compassionate women, have cooked their children; they became as something to eat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

They wander blindly in the streets; they were defiled with the blood, their clothes could not be touched.

"Go away! Defiled!" they shout to them. "Go away! Go away! Do not touch!" so they left, they left; it was said among the nations, "{They will no longer dwell with us}."

The presence of Yahweh has scattered them, he will no longer watch over them; {they did not honor the priests}, they did not show mercy [to] elders.

They hunted our steps, from walking in our streets; our end has come near, {our days are finished}, our end has come.

Our pursuers were swifter than [the] eagles of [the] heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they have set an ambush for us in the desert.

Our fathers have sinned, they are no more; we bear their iniquity.

They raped women in Zion, young women in the cities of Judah.

They hang princes by their hand; they do not show respect before elders.

And their legs [were] straight legs, and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of [the] foot of a calf, and [they] were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze.

And each {went straight forward}; {wherever the spirit went} they went, [and] {they did not turn as they went}.

The appearance of the wheels and their construction [was] like [the] appearance of beryl, and {they all looked alike}, and their appearance and their construction [was] {like a wheel within a wheel}.

When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not {veer at all as they went}.

{Wherever} the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in the wheels.

At their going, they go, and at their standing, they stood, and at their being lifted up from on the earth, the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures [was] in the wheels.

And I heard the sound of their wings like [the] sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai, [and] {when they moved} [there was] a sound of tumult like [the] sound of an army; {when they stood still} they lowered their wings.

And there was a sound from above the expanse that [was] above their heads, {and when they stood} they lowered their wings.

And he said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the {Israelites}, to nations [who are] rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors, they transgressed against me {until this very day}.

And they, whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen], for they [are] a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst.

And you, son of man, you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because briers and thorns [are] with you, and you [are] sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their {looks}, for they [are] a rebellious house.

And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen], for they [are] rebellious.

[and] not to many nations {of obscure speech} and {a difficult language} {whose words} you do not understand, [for] if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you.

And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they [are] not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they [are] hard of heart.

Like a diamond {harder than flint} I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed {on account of them}, for they {are a rebellious house}.

And come, go to the exiles, to the children of your people, and you must speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen]."

And I went to the exiles [at] Tel Abib, who [were] dwelling near the {Kebar River}, and I sat [where] they [were] dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned.

and you, son of man, look, they will place cords on you, and they will tie you up with them. Then you will not go out into the midst of them.

And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silenced, and you will not be a reproving man for them, for they {are a rebellious house}.

And when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The [one] hearing him, let him hear, and the [one] failing [to hear], let him fail," ' for they {are a rebellious house}.

And he said to me, "Son of man, look, I [am] going to break the {supply} of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight, {anxiously}, and {rationed water}, and they will drink with horror,

so that they will lack food and water, and they will be appalled {with one another}, and they will waste away because of their guilt.

But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that [are] around her; for they rejected my regulations, and [as for] my statutes, they did not walk in them.

A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw [the] sword behind them.

And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion {when I fully vent my rage against them}.

And I will send against you famine and fierce animals, and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring [the] sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!"

And your fugitives will remember me among the nations [to] which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by {their adulterous heart} which departed from me, and by {their adulterous eyes} which [went] after their idols, and they will feel loathing {for themselves}, for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things.

And they will know that I [am] Yahweh; not {in vain} I spoke to bring to them this evil." '

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, {because of which} they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.

And you will know that I [am] Yahweh {when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols} around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak--the place [at] which they gave pleasing scent for all of their idols.

And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh." '"