We were ashamed for we heard reproach: shame covered our faces, for strangers came to the holy places of the house of Jehovah.

For he spoiling came upon her, upon Babel, and her strong ones were taken, their bow was broken: for the God of recompenses, Jehovah requiting will requite.

Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.

And in the fourth Month, the ninth day of the Month, there was so great hunger in the city that there were no more victuals for the people of the land.

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.

The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him.

and all the walls of Jerusalem round about, did all the force of the Chaldeans who were with the chief of the royal executioners, break down.

And seine of the poor of the people and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and the disheartened who had fallen away unto the king of Babylon and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners carry away captive.

And the pillars of brass that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of Jehovah, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried all the brass of them 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.

and the basins and the censers and the dashing bowls and the caldrons and the lamps and the spoons and the cups, which were of gold in gold, and which were of silver in silver, did the chief of the royal executioners, take away.

As for the two pillars the one sea, and the twelve oxen of bronze which were under the stands which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, without weight was the bronze of all these things.

and there was, a capital, upon it, of bronze, and the height of each capital, was five cubits, with lattice-work and pomegranates upon the capital round about - the whole was of bronze, - and like these, were the second pillar and the pomegranates.

And the pomegranates were ninety-six on a side, - all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the lattice-work round about.

and out of the city, took he one eunuch who was in charge over the men f war and seven men of them who used to watch the face of the king, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the prince of the host, who used to muster the people of the land, - and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.

In the three-and-twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners took away captive, of them of Judah, seven hundred and forty-five souls: All, the souls, were four thousand and six hundred.

and spake with him comfortable words, - and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon;

Weeping, she will weep in the night, and her tears upon her cheeks: no comfort to her from all loving her: all her friends dealt faithlessly with her, they were to her for enemies.

Her adversaries were for head, her enemies were secure; for Jehovah afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children went into captivity before the face of him pressing.

(Vav) All of Daughter Zion's splendor has departed. Her leaders became like deer; they found no pasture, so they were too exhausted to escape from the hunter.

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.

In her skirts were her unclean ways; she gave no thought to her end; and her fall has been a wonder; she has no comforter: see her sorrow, O Lord; for the attacker is lifted up.

The hand of her hater is stretched out over all her desired things; for she has seen that the nations have come into her holy place, about whom you gave orders that they were not to come into the meeting of your people.

“The yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit and woven together.
They have come upon my neck.
He has made my strength fail;
The Lord has put me into the hand
Of those against whom I cannot stand.

{Samekh} The LORD hath destroyed all the mighty men, that were in me. He hath proclaimed a feast, to slaughter all my best men. The LORD hath trodden down the daughter of Judah, like as it were in a wine press.

For these I weep; mine eye, mine eye will go down with water, for he comforting turning back my soul, removed far off from me: my sons were desolations, for the enemy prevailed.

{Pe} Zion casteth out her hands, and there is no man to comfort her. The LORD hath laid the enemies round about Jacob, and Jerusalem is as it were a menstruous woman in the midst of them.

I sent for my lovers, but they were false to me: my priests and my responsible men were breathing their last breath in the town, while they were looking for food to give them new life.

See, O Jehovah; for straits to me: my bowels were in a ferment; my heart turned in my midst; for embittering, I embittered: without, the sword bereaved; in the house, as death.

He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.

{He} The LORD is become like as it were an enemy: he hath cast down Israel and all his places. Yea, all his strongholds hath he destroyed, and filled the daughter of Judah with much sorrow and heaviness.

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

(Zayin) The Lord rejected his altar and abhorred his temple. He handed over to the enemy her palace walls; the enemy shouted in the Lord's temple as if it were a feast day.

(Tet) Her city gates have fallen to the ground; he smashed to bits the bars that lock her gates. Her king and princes were taken into exile; there is no more guidance available. As for her prophets, they no longer receive a vision from the Lord.

They sat upon the earth; the old men of the daughter of Zion were silent; they brought up the dust upon their head: they girded on sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem brought down their head to the earth.

Mine eyes failed with tears, my bowels were in a ferment, my liver was poured out to the earth, upon the breaking of the daughter of my people; in the fainting of the child and suckling in the wide places of the city.

נ NunYour prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;
they did not reveal your guilt
and so restore your fortunes.
They saw oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.

The Lord has done that which was his purpose; he has put into force the orders which he gave in the days which are past; pulling down without pity, he has made your hater glad over you, lifting up the horn of those who were against you.

See, O Lord, and look!
With whom have You dealt thus?
Should women eat their offspring,
The little ones who were born healthy?
Should priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

(Sin/Shin) The young boys and old men lie dead on the ground in the streets. My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them when you were angry; you slaughtered them without mercy.

As in the day of a holy meeting you have made fears come round me on every side, and no one got away or was kept safe in the day of the Lord's wrath: those who were folded in my arms, whom I took care of, have been sent to their destruction by my hater.

He hath bent his bow, and made me as it were a mark to shoot at.

The mercies of Jehovah are that we were not consumed, for his compassions were not finished.

Fear and a snare were to us, desolation and breaking

Without cause my enemies
Hunted me down like a bird;

Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.

The precious sons of Zion, they who were weighed against pure gold, How are they accounted as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

They that fed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom; it was overthrown in a moment and no hands were laid on her.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

Their form dark above blackness; they were not known in the streets: their skin adhered to their bones; it was dried up, it was as 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 the pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their food 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.

Away! unclean! they were crying out to them, Away! away! let there be no touching: when they went away in flight and wandering, men said among the nations, There is no further resting-place for them.

ע AyinAll the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;
we watched from our towers
for a nation that refused to help.

צ TsadeOur steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our time ran out.
Our end had 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.

We were orphans, no father; our mothers as widows.

Upon our necks were we pursued: we labored and no rest to us.

Our fathers were sinners and are dead; and the weight of their evil-doing is on us.

Women - in Zion, were ravished, virgins, in the cities of Judah!

Princes were hanged by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored.

The young men were crushing the grain, and the boys were falling under the wood.

For this our heart was languid; for this our eyes were darkened.

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Kebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire infolding itself, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst thereof as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.

And in the heart of it were the forms of four living beings. And this was what they were like; they had the form of a man.

And four faces were to each, and four wings to each.

And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.

and the hands of a man! were under their wings, on their four sides, - and their faces and their wings belonged to the four of them:

Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

Upon the right side of these four, their faces were like the face of a man, and the face of a Lion: But upon the left side, they had the face of an ox and the face of an eagle.

Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

And between the living beings it was like burning coals of fire, as if flames were going one after the other between the living beings; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went thunder-flames.

And the living creatures {were speeding to and fro} like the appearance of lightning.

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like the color of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Whenever they moved, they went in any [one] of their four directions without turning as they moved.

As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes around them four.

And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one towards the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.

And when they went forth I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as it had been the voice of the great God, and a rushing together as it were of a host of men. And when they stood still, they let down their wings.

And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire around within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness on all sides.

and he spread it out before me, and, it was written on the front and the back, - and there were written thereon, lamentation and sighing, and wailing.

But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

I heard also the noise of the wings of the beasts, that rushed one against another; yea, and the rattling of the wheels that were by them - which rushing and noise was very great.

Thus came I unto them of the captivity, at Tel-abib. who were dwelling towards he river Chebar and I dwelt where They were dwelling; yea I dwelt there seven days, stunned in their midst,

And when the seven days were expired, the LORD said unto me,

So that they shall want bread and water, and they were astonished, a man and his brother, and they were melted in their iniquity.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor kept My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’

In that I have sent the malignant arrows of famine among them which were for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, - and famine, will I increase upon you, and will break for you the staff of bread.

And your altars were laid waste, and your images were broken: and I caused your wounded to fall before your blocks.

In all your dwellings the cities shalt be laid waste, and the heights shall be made desolate; so that your altars shall be laid waste and destroyed, and your blocks were broken and ceased, and your images were cut down, and your works were wiped away.

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.

They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.'

Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every oak with thick branches, the places where they offered sweet incense and a soothing aroma to all their idols.

For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is concerning the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

And they escaping, escaped, and they were on the mountains as doves of the valleys, all of them slain, a man for his iniquity.