And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, {saying}, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Look, I [am] going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of [their] bad quality.

And a curse will be taken [up] because of them by all the exiles of Judah who [are] in Babylon, {saying}, "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,"

Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why [do] I see every strong man [with] his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And [why] are all [their] faces changed to paleness?

Alas! For that day [is] great, {there is none like it}. And it [is] a time of distress for Jacob, yet from it he will be delivered.

And they will come, and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh, over [the] grain, and over [the] wine, and over [the] olive oil, and over [the] young ones of [the] flock, and over [the] cattle. And their life will become like a well-watered garden, and they will never languish again."

Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves, 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like a calf that is not trained. Bring me back and let me return, for you [are] Yahweh my God.

not like the covenant that I {made} with their ancestors on the day of my grasping [them] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," {declares} Yahweh.

And I will make the men who transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant that they {made} {before me}, [like] the calf which they cut in two and they passed between its parts--

Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the secretary, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and furthermore was added to them many words like these.

Then the officials said to the king, "Please, this man must be killed, {because} he [is] making slack the hands of {the soldiers} who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man [is] not seeking for welfare to this people, {but only} for harm."

And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the {conversation} was not heard.

Who [is] this that rises like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters surge?

Egypt rises like the Nile, even like the rivers [whose] waters surge. And he says, "Let me rise, let me cover [the] earth, let me destroy cities, and the inhabitants in them."

{As I live}," {declares} the king, Yahweh of hosts [is] his name, "one will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

Even her mercenaries in her midst [are] like calves of fattening, for they also have turned away, they have fled together. They stand not, for the day of their calamity has come, the time of their punishment.

Her sound [is] like a snake [that] glides away, for they march in force. And with axes they come to her like those who chop trees.

Flee! Save your life! {For} you must not be like the juniper tree in the desert.

Leave [the] towns and dwell on the rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like [the] dove, it nests on [the] sides of [the] mouth of a ravine.

{Therefore} my heart moans for Moab like the flute. It moans for the people of Kir-heres like the flute. {Therefore} [the] wealth they gained has perished.

On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares, [there is] wailing everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel, there is no delight in it," {declares} Yahweh.

For thus says Yahweh, "Look, like an eagle he will swoop down, and he will spread out his wings against Moab.

Kerioth will be taken, and the strongholds will be conquered, and the hearts of the warriors of Moab will be on that day like [the] heart of a woman [who] is in labor.

Your terror has deceived you, the pride of your heart, [O you who] dwell in the clefts of the rock, [you who] seize [the] height of [the] hill. Though you make your nest high like the eagle, from there I will bring you down," {declares} Yahweh.

Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan to {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}. So {I will chase him away hurriedly} from it. And whoever [is] chosen I will appoint over it. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me? And who [is] this, [the] shepherd who can stand {before me}?"

Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down, and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah. And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day like [the] heart of a woman [who] is in labor.

Damascus has grown slack. She has turned away to flee and panic. Anxiety has seized [her], and labor pains have grasped her, like a woman in labor.

Flee from the midst of Babylon, and from the land of [the] Chaldeans. Go out and be like he-goats {before} [the] flock.

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.

"Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my inheritance, though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass, and you neigh like the powerful stallions,

Come against her from [the] end, open her granaries. Pile her up like heaps and destroy her. Let there be no remnant for her.

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.

The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the [woman who] gives birth.

Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan against {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}, so {I will chase them away quickly} from her, and I will appoint whoever [is] chosen over her. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me, and who [is] this shepherd who can stand {before me}?

Babylon [was] a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh, making drunk all the earth. [The] nations drank of her wine. {Therefore} [the] nations acted like madmen.

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."

The portion of Jacob [is] not like these, for he [is] the creator of {everything}, and the tribe of his inheritance. Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.

Raise a banner in the land; blow a horn among the nations; prepare for holy war against her; summon [the] nations against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her an official; bring up horses like bristling creeping locusts.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "The daughter of Babylon [is] like a threshing floor [at the] time it [is] trodden down, {just a little while} and the time of the harvest will come for her."

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.

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

"I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter, like rams and goats.

For Yahweh [is] devastating Babylon, and he obliterates [her] loud noise from her. Their waves roar like mighty waters, the roar of their voices resounds.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done.

And a capital upon it [was] bronze and the height of the one capital [was] five cubits, and latticework and pomegranates [were] on the capital on all sides, all [of] bronze. And like these [was] the second pillar with pomegranates.

How desolate the city sits [that] was full of people! She has become like a widow, [once] great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer.

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.

Is it nothing to you, {all who pass by}? Look and see if there is sorrow like my sorrow, which was dealt to me, which Yahweh inflicted on the {day of his wrath}.

The Lord has rejected all my mighty ones in my midst. He called an assembly against me, to crush my young men; [like in] a wine press, the Lord has trodden [on] the virgin daughter of Judah.

See, O Yahweh, that {I am in distress}; {my stomach} is in torment, my heart has turned inside me because I have certainly rebelled. From outside a sword brings bereavement, inside the house [it is] like death.

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.

He has cut down {in fierce anger} all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn his right hand from the faces of [the] enemy, and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, it has consumed all around.

He has bent his bow like an enemy; he has set his right hand like a foe, and he has slain all [the] treasures of [the] eye; in the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his anger like fire.

The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel; he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses; he has ruined all its fortifications and multiplied lamentation and mourning in the daughter of Judah.

He has broken down {his dwelling} place like the garden; he has ruined his appointed feasts; Yahweh has made [them] forget in Zion {festival} and Sabbath, and he has despised in his anger king and priest.

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.

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.

What can I say for you? What can I compare to you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your destruction [is] as vast as the sea; who can heal you?

Their heart cried to the Lord, "O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a river; day and night, do not give yourself relief, do not give your eyes rest.

"Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches; pour out your heart like water, before the face of the Lord. Lift to him your hands, for the life of your children, who faint in starvation, at the head of all streets."

In darkness he has let me dwell like [the] dead of long ago.

To me he [is] like a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding.

My enemies hunt me without cause, like a bird.

Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.

[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.

We have become orphans, fatherless, our mothers are like widows.

Our skin is hot like an oven because of the scorching famine.

And I looked, and look! A storm wind [was] coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around [and] {within it}, and from its midst [it was] like [the] outward appearance of amber stone from the midst of the fire.

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.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It [was] moving to and fro between the living creatures, and {the fire was very bright} and lightning [was] going out from the fire.

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

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}.

Now [the] likeness above the heads of the living creatures [was] an expanse like the outward appearance of {awesome} {ice} spread out above their heads {upward}.

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 from above the expanse that [was] above their heads [there was] the likeness of a throne, {looking like a sapphire}, and above the likeness of the throne [was] a likeness similar to [the] appearance of a human on it, [but] {above it}.

And I saw [something] like [the] outward appearance of amber, [something] like [the] appearance of fire, [with] a covering around [it], from the likeness of his loins and {upward}. And from the likeness of his loins and {downward} I saw [something] like [the] appearance of fire, and {it was radiant all around}.

Like the appearance of a bow that is in the cloud on {a rainy day}, such [was] the radiance around it; [thus was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

And you, son of man, hear what I [am] speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like [the] house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I [am] giving to you."

and he said to me, "Son of man, you must give your stomach [this] to eat, and you must fill your belly [with] this scroll that I [am] giving to you." And I ate, and it became {like sweet honey} in my mouth.

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 I rose up, and I went to the valley, and, look, there the glory of Yahweh [was] standing, like the glory that I saw near the {Kebar River}, and I fell on my face.

And [if] their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt.

and I saw, and look! A figure like [the] appearance of a man; from the appearance of his waist and below [was] fire, and from his waist and {upward} [was] like [the] appearance of brightness, like the {outward appearance of} amber.

And look! There [was] the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley.

And I looked, and look! On the expanse that [was] above the head of the cherubim [something] like a stone of sapphire, [and] like [the] appearance of [the] shape of a throne it appeared above them.

And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard {as far as} the outer courtyard; [it was] like the voice of God Shaddai {when he speaks}.

And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, {one wheel beside each cherub}, and the appearance of the wheels [was] like [the] outward appearance of {turquoise stone}.

And you must bring out your baggage like [the] baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like {those who go into exile}.

And I did {just as} I was commanded; my baggage, like [the] baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself into the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought [the baggage] on [my] shoulder; I carried [it] before their eyes.

Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.

And they will bear their guilt, like the guilt of the inquirer so the guilt of the prophet will be,

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: {Just like} the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Grow up; I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and {reached full womanhood}. [Your] breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you [were] naked and bare.

{when you built} your mound at [the] head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet you were not like a prostitute, [as you were] scorning [your] harlot's wages.

Look! Everyone quoting a proverb against you, he will quote, {saying}, 'Like her mother [is] her daughter!'

{before} your evil was uncovered? [It was] like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all [those] around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who [are] despising you.

and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in {fertile soil} on many waters; [like] a willow he planted it.

Your mother [was] like the vine in your vineyard; planted {fruitfully} beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters.

And {what you are planning}, surely it will not be--that you are saying, 'Let us be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, {serving wood and stone}!'