I said to my master,
What if the woman will not follow me?
He said to me,
Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father’s house.
Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.
I came this day to the spring, and said,
Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go.
I came this day to the spring, and said,
Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go.
Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes forth to draw, to whom I will say, Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher to drink.
She will tell me,
Drink, and I will also draw for your camels.
Let the same be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master’s son.
Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her,
Please let me drink.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.
You shall tell him,
Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying,
Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:
and, behold, until now you haven’t listened.
You shall tell him,
Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying,
Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:
and, behold, until now you haven’t listened.
Thus says Yahweh,
In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.
Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron,
Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of
Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron,
Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of
Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of
Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God:
and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.
Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him,
This is what Yahweh says,
Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him,
This is what Yahweh says,
Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.
Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him,
This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says:
Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him,
This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says:
Let my people go, that they may serve me.
For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of
Moses said, This is what Yahweh says:
About midnight I will go out into the midst of
,
Moses said, This is what Yahweh says:
About midnight I will go out into the midst of
,
and all the firstborn in the land of
This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak to all the congregation of
On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household;
Speak to all the congregation of
On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household;
and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base,
the finely worked garments -- the holy garments for Aaron the priest -- the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office,
the finely worked garments — the holy garments for Aaron the priest — the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office,
the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak also to the children of Israel, saying,
Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
Speak also to the children of Israel, saying,
Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.
Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.
Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.
Yahweh said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
"Moreover let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season.
On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season-- according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances, you shall keep it."
On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season— according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances, you shall keep it."
Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.
Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah,
and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,
and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah--
and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah—
these mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers’ houses increased greatly.
They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for those who lived there before were of Ham.
Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your anger, Neither discipline me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am faint. Yahweh, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh -- how long?
My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh — how long?
Return, Yahweh. Deliver my soul, And save me for your lovingkindness’ sake.
For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
I am weary with my groaning; Every night I flood my bed; I drench my couch with my tears.
Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart; Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh, Righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek your face -- even Jacob. Selah.
This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek your face — even Jacob. Selah.
Lift up your heads, you gates; Be lifted up, you everlasting doors: The King of glory will come in.
Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates; Yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors: The King of glory will come in.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But Yahweh upholds the righteous.
Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish -- Vanish like smoke.
But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish — Vanish like smoke.
The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, But the righteous give generously.
For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.
A man’s goings are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way.
My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
Those who trust in their wealth, And boast in the multitude of their riches --
Those who trust in their wealth, And boast in the multitude of their riches —
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give God a ransom for him.
For the redemption of their life is costly, No payment is ever enough,
That he should live on forever, That he should not see corruption.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For he will receive me. Selah.
Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, When the glory of his house is increased.
For when he dies he shall carry nothing away. His glory shall not descend after him.
Though while he lived he blessed his soul -- And men praise you when you do well for yourself --
Though while he lived he blessed his soul — And men praise you when you do well for yourself —
He shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
A man who has riches without understanding, Is like the animals that perish.
My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress -- I will never be greatly shaken.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress — I will never be greatly shaken.
How long will you assault a man, Would all of you throw him down, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
My soul, wait in silence for God alone, For my expectation is from him.
Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise!
Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
All the earth will worship you, And will sing to you; They will sing to your name.” Selah.
Come, and see God’s deeds -- Awesome work on behalf of the children of men.
Come, and see God’s deeds — Awesome work on behalf of the children of men.
He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.
He rules by his might forever. His eyes watch the nations. Don’t let the rebellious rise up against him. Selah.
Praise our God, you peoples! Make the sound of his praise heard,
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation.
God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, But the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
God, when you went forth before your people, When you marched through the wilderness... Selah.
The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai -- At the presence of God, the God of Israel.
The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai — At the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance, when it was weary.
Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving hind and a pleasant doe -- Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
A loving hind and a pleasant doe — Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: Whoever hates reproof shall die.
Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh -- How much more then the hearts of the children of men!
Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh — How much more then the hearts of the children of men!
A scoffer doesn't love to be reproved; He will not go to the wise.
Commit your deeds to Yahweh, And your plans shall succeed.
Yahweh has made everything for its own end -- Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Yahweh has made everything for its own end — Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: They shall assuredly not be unpunished.
My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don't join those who are rebellious:
For their calamity will rise suddenly; The destruction from them both -- who knows?
For their calamity will rise suddenly; The destruction from them both — who knows?
These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.
He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" Peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him --
He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" Peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him —
But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, And a rich blessing will come on them.
I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
I made myself pools of water, to water from it the forest where trees were reared.
I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;
I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men -- musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men — musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness -- and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness — and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?
Then said I in my heart that this also is vanity.
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
For out of prison he came forth to be king; yes, even in his kingdom he was born poor.
I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.
There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was -- yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was — yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.
Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God.
Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor — this is the gift of God.
For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:
For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
Go your way -- eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
Go your way — eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
Let your garments be always white, and don’t let your head lack oil.
Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
If the men of my tent have not said,
Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?
(The sojourner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler);
If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart,
Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door--
Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown.
I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him.
If he set his heart on himself, If he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath;
All flesh would perish together, And man would turn again to dust.
If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words.
Shall even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty?--
Shall even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty?—
Who says to a king,
Vile!
Or to nobles, Wicked!
Who doesn’t respect the persons of princes, Nor regards the rich more than the poor; For they all are the work of his hands.
In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, The mighty are taken away without hand.
The word of Yahweh that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
-
"Say to your brothers, 'My people!' And to your sisters, 'My loved one!'
-
Yahweh said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."
-
Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; For Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, Nor goodness, Nor knowledge of God in the land.
-
"Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, And give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; For you have been a snare at Mizpah, And a net spread on Tabor.
-
"Come, and let us return to Yahweh; For he has torn us to pieces, And he will heal us; He has injured us, And he will bind up our wounds.
-
When I would heal Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, Also the wickedness of Samaria; For they commit falsehood, And the thief enters in, And the gang of robbers ravages outside.
-
"Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, Because they have broken my covenant, And rebelled against my law.
-
Don't rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; For you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
-
Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
-
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, And called my son out of Egypt.
-
Ephraim feeds on wind, And chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
-
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, But when he became guilty in Baal, he died.
-
Israel, return to Yahweh your God; For you have fallen because of your sin.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The word of Yahweh that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
When Yahweh spoke at the first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery against from Yahweh."
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.
Yahweh said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.
But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."
Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.
He said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people,
they will be called sons of the living God.
The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.
"Say to your brothers, My people!
And to your sisters, My loved one!
Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, Neither am I her husband; And let her put away her prostitution from her face, And her adulteries from between her breasts;
Lest I strip her naked, And make her bare as in the day that she was born, And make her like a wilderness, And set her like a dry land, And kill her with thirst.
Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; For they are children of unfaithfulness;
For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; For she said, I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, My oil and my drink.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her, That she can’t find her way.
She will follow after her lovers, But she won’t overtake them; And she will seek them, But won’t find them. Then she will say, I will go and return to my first husband; For then was it better with me than now.
For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, And my new wine in its season, And will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one will deliver her out of my hand.
I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.
I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, About which she has said, these are my wages that my lovers have given me; And I will make them a forest,
And the animals of the field shall eat them.
I will visit on her the days of the Baals, To which she burned incense, When she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, And went after her lovers, And forgot me," says Yahweh.
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, And bring her into the wilderness, And speak tenderly to her.
I will give her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope; And she will respond there, As in the days of her youth, And as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
It will be in that day," says Yahweh, "That you will call me my husband,
And no longer call me my master.
For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, And they will no more be mentioned by their name.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, And with the birds of the sky, And with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, And will make them lie down safely.
I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in lovingkindness, and in compassion.
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; And you shall know Yahweh.
It will happen in that day, I will respond," says Yahweh, I will respond to the heavens, And they will respond to the earth;
And the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; And they will respond to Jezreel.
I will sow her to me in the earth; And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; And I will tell those who were not my people, You are my people;
And they will say, My God!
"
Yahweh said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."
So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you."
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.
Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; For Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, Nor goodness, Nor knowledge of God in the land.
There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; They break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
Therefore the land will mourn, And everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, Even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; Yes, the fish of the sea also die.
"Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.
You will stumble in the day, And the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, That you may be no priest to me. Because you have your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.
They feed on the sin of my people, And set their heart on their iniquity.
It will be, like people, like priest; And I will punish them for their ways, And will repay them for their deeds.
They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; Because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh.
Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
My people consult with their wooded idol, And answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, And they have been unfaithful to their God.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, And burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, Because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, And your brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, Nor your brides when they commit adultery; Because the men consort with prostitutes, And they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; And the people that does not understand will come to ruin.
"Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, Yet don’t let Judah offend; And don’t come to Gilgal, Neither go up to Beth Aven, Nor swear, As Yahweh lives.
For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.
The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; And they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices.
"Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, And give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; For you have been a snare at Mizpah, And a net spread on Tabor.
The rebels are deep in slaughter; But I discipline all of them.
I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from me; For now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.
Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; For the spirit of prostitution is within them, And they don’t know Yahweh.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them.
They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; But they won’t find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.
They are unfaithful to Yahweh; For they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
"Blow the cornet in Gibeah, And the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.
The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water.
Ephraim is oppressed, He is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, And sent to king Jareb: But he is not able to heal you, Neither will he cure you of your wound.
For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, And seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."
"Come, and let us return to Yahweh; For he has torn us to pieces, And he will heal us; He has injured us, And he will bind up our wounds.
After two days will he revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, And we will live before him.
Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain that waters the earth."
"Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, And like the dew that disappears early.
Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.
Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; It is stained with blood.
As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, So the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, Committing shameful crimes.
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.
"Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of my people.
When I would heal Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, Also the wickedness of Samaria; For they commit falsehood, And the thief enters in, And the gang of robbers ravages outside.
They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face.
They make the king glad with their wickedness, And the princes with their lies.
They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, From the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.
On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers.
For they have made ready their heart like an oven, While they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.
They are all hot as an oven, And devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.
Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.
Strangers have devoured his strength, And he doesn’t realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, And he doesn’t realize it.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, Nor sought him, for all this.
"Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.
When they go, I will spread my net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.
Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, Yet they have spoken lies against me.
They haven’t cried to me with their heart, But they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me.
Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, Yet they plot evil against me.
They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.
"Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, Because they have broken my covenant, And rebelled against my law.
They cry to me, My God, we Israel acknowledge you!
Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him.
They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, That they may be cut off.
Let Samaria throw out his calf-idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be before the are capable of purity?
For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; Indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
For they sow the wind, And they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.
Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.
For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, They became for him altars for sinning.
I wrote for him the many things of my law; But they were regarded as a strange thing.
As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn’t accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, And punish their sins. They will return to Egypt.
For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send a fire on his cities, And it will devour its fortresses."
Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; For you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
The threshing floor and the winepress won’t feed them, And the new wine will fail her.
They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land; But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, Neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; All who eat of it will be polluted; For their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the house of Yahweh.
What will you do in the day of solemn assembly, And in the day of the feast of Yahweh?
For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.
The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, And the man who is inspired to be insane, Because of the abundance of your sins, And because your hostility is great.
A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths, And hostility in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; But they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, And became abominable like that which they loved.
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception.
Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
Ephraim, like I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place; But Ephraim will bring out his children to the killer.
Give them — Yahweh what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
"All their wickedness is in Gilgal; For there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.
Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb."
My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him; And they will be wanderers among the nations.
Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don’t fear Yahweh; And the king, what can he do for us?"
They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; For its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, For its glory, because it has departed from it.
It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.
Samaria and her king float away, Like a twig on the water.
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, "Cover us!" and the hills, "Fall on us!"
"Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.
When it is my desire, I will chastise them; And the nations will be gathered against them, When they are bound to their two transgressions.
Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; So I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; For it is time to seek Yahweh, Until he comes and rains righteousness on you.
You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, For you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.
Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, And called my son out of Egypt.
They called to them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to engraved images.
Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; But they didn’t know that I healed them.
I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; And I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; And I bent down to him and I fed him.
"They won’t return into the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian will be their king, Because they refused to repent.
The sword will fall on their cities, And will consume their gate bars, And will put an end to their plans.
My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, He certainly won’t exalt them.
"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, My compassion is aroused.
I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: For I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; And I will not come in wrath.
They will walk after Yahweh, Who will roar like a lion; For he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, And like a dove out of the land of Assyria; And I will settle them in their houses," says Yahweh.
Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, And the house of Israel with deceit; And Judah still us unruly with God, And is unfaithful to the Holy One.
Ephraim feeds on wind, And chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds he will repay him.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel; And in his manhood he had power with God.
Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
Even Yahweh, the God of hosts; Yahweh is his name of renown!
Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually.
A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin."
"But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you to dwell in tents, As in the days of the solemn feast.
I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have multiplied visions; And by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.
If Gilead is wicked, Surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.
Jacob fled into the country of Aram, And Israel served to get a wife, And for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet he was preserved.
Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly. Therefore his blood will be left on him, And his his Lord will repay his contempt.
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, But when he became guilty in Baal, he died.
Now they sin more and more, And have made themselves molten images of their silver, Even idols according to their own understanding, All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves."
Therefore they will be like the morning cloud, And like the dew that passes away early, Like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, And like the smoke out of the chimney.
"Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; And you will know no god but me, And besides me there is no savior.
I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought.
According to their pasture, so were they filled; They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
Therefore am I to them like a lion; Like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, And will tear the covering of their heart. And there I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.
You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, Against your help.
Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?
I have given you a king in my anger, And have taken him away in my wrath.
The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. His sin is stored up.
The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; For when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, The breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; And his spring will become dry, And his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.
Samaria will bear her guilt; For she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open."
Israel, return to Yahweh your God; For you have fallen because of your sin.
Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, "Forgive all our sins, And accept that which is good: So we offer like bulls our lips.
Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Our gods!
For in you the fatherless finds mercy."
"I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; For my anger is turned away from him.
I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, And send down his roots like Lebanon.
His branches will spread, And his beauty will be like the olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon.
Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, And blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; From me your fruit is found."
Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, And the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.
The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
-
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;
-
Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:
-
Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their lords, "Bring, and let us drink."
-
Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
-
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, And to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, The notable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel come!
-
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, behold, it was the latter growth after the king's harvest.
-
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
-
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
He said: Yahweh will roar from Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem; And the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, And the top of Carmel will.wither.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;
But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, And it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
I will break the bar of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, And him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; And the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,
says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they carried away captive the whole community, To deliver them up to Edom;
But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, And it will devour its palaces.
I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; And I will turn my hand against Ekron; And the remnant of the Philistines will perish,
says the Lord Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they delivered up the whole community to Edom, And didn’t remember the brotherly covenant;
But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, And it will devour its palaces.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity, And his anger raged continually, And he kept his wrath forever;
But I will send a fire on Teman, And it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, That they may enlarge their border.
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, And it will devour its palaces, With shouting in the day of battle, With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
And their king will go into captivity, He and his princes together,
says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;
But I will send a fire on Moab, And it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; And Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;
And I will cut off the judge from their midst, And will kill all its princes with him,
says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have rejected Yaweh’s law, And have not kept his statutes, And their lies have led them astray, After which their fathers walked;
But I will send a fire on Judah, And it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have sold the righteous for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes;
They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And deny justice to the oppressed; And a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
And they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, And led you forty years in the wilderness, To possess the land of the Amorite.
I raised up some of your sons for prophets, And some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, You children of Israel?
says Yahweh.
But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets, saying,
Don’t prophesy!
Behold, I will crush you in your place, As a cart crushes that is full of grain.
Flight will perish from the swift; And the strong won’t strengthen his force; Neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
Neither shall he stand who handles the bow; And he who is swift of foot won’t escape; Neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;
And he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked in that day,
says Yahweh.
Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:
You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.
Do two walk together, Unless they have agreed?
Will a lion roar in the thicket, When he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, If he has caught nothing?
Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, Where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, When there is nothing to catch?
Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, Without the people being afraid? Does evil befall a city, And Yahweh hasn’t done it?
Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, Unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, And say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, And see what unrest is in her, And what oppression is among them.
Indeed they don’t know to do right,
says Yahweh, Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: An adversary will overrun the land; And he will pull down your strongholds, And your fortresses will be plundered.
Thus says Yahweh: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, Or a piece of an ear, So shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, And on the silken cushions of a bed.
Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,
says the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.
For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; And the horns of the altar will be cut off, And fall to the ground.
I will strike the winter house with the summer house; And the houses of ivory will perish, And the great houses will have an end,
says Yahweh.
Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.
You will go out at the breaks in the wall, Everyone straight before her; And you will cast yourselves into Harmon,
says Yahweh.
Go to Bethel, and sin; To Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days,
Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, And proclaim free will offerings and brag about them: For this pleases you, you children of Israel,
says the Lord Yahweh.
I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in every town; Yet you haven’t returned to me,
says Yahweh.
I also have withheld the rain from you, When there were yet three months to the harvest; And I caused it to rain on one city, And caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, And the piece where it didn’t rain withered.
So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, And were not satisfied: Yet you haven’t returned to me,
says Yahweh.
I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; And your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: Yet you haven’t returned to me,
says Yahweh.
I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, And have carried away your horses; And I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp Yet you haven’t returned to me,
says Yahweh.
I have overthrown some of you, As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; Yet you haven’t returned to me,
says Yahweh.
Therefore thus will I do to you, Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, Israel.
For, behold, he who forms the mountains, And creates the wind, And declares to man what is his thought; Who makes the morning darkness, And treads on the high places of the Earth: Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name.
Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; There is no one to raise her up.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.
For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel: Seek me, and you will live;
But don’t seek Bethel, Nor enter into Gilgal, And don’t pass to Beersheba: For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing.
Seek Yahweh, and you will live; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
You who turn justice to wormwood, And cast down righteousness to the earth:
Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, And turns the shadow of death into the morning, And makes the day dark with night; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
Who brings sudden destruction on the strong, So that destruction comes on the fortress.
They hate him who reproves in the gate, And they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, And take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of hewn stone, But you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many your offenses, And how great are your sins— You who afflict the just, Who take a bribe, And who turn aside the needy in the courts.
Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; For it is an evil time.
Seek good, and not evil, That you may live; And so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, As you say.
Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing will be in all the broad ways; And they will say in all the streets,
Alas! Alas!
And they will call the farmer to mourning, And those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
In all vineyards there will be wailing; For I will pass through the midst of you,
says Yahweh.
Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, And not light.
As if a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, And a snake bit him.
Will the day of Yahweh not be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
I hate, I despise your feasts, And I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.
Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.
Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like rivers, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?
Yes, you have borne the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, And to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, The notable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel come!
Go to Calneh, and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their border greater than your border?
Those who put far away the evil day, And cause the seat of violence to come near;
Who lie on beds of ivory, And stretch themselves on their couches, And eat the lambs out of the flock, And the calves out of the midst of the stall;
Who strum on the strings of a harp; Who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
Who drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the best oils; But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; And the feasting and lounging will end.
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,
says Yahweh, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, And detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, That they shall die.
When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house,
Is there yet any with you?
And he says, No;
then he will say, Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh.
For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, And the little house into bits.
Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
You who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say,
Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?
For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel,
Says Yahweh, the God of hosts; And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s harvest.
It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.
Yahweh relented concerning this. It shall not be,
says Yahweh.
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and, behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.
Then I said, Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.
Yahweh relented concerning this. This also shall not be,
says the Lord Yahweh.
Thus he showed me and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
Yahweh said to me, Amos, what do you see?
I said, A plumb line.
Then the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
Then Amaziah the priest of Beth El sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
For Amos says,
Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
Amaziah also said to Amos, You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!
Then Amos answered Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore trees;
and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me,
Go, prophesy to my people Israel.
Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh:
You say, Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.
Therefore thus says Yahweh:
Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
He said, Amos, what do you see?
I said, A basket of summer fruit.
Then Yahweh said to me, The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day,
says the Lord Yahweh. The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.
Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, And cause the poor of the land to fail,
Saying,
When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, Making the ephah small, and the shekel large, And dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes, And sell the sweepings with the wheat?
Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Won’t the land tremble for this, And everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; And it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
It will happen in that day,
says the Lord Yahweh, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in the clear day.
I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; And I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, And baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, And the end of it like a bitter day.
Behold, the days come,
says the Lord Yahweh, That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of Yahweh.
They will wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, And will not find it.
In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint for thirst.
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, And say,
As your god, Dan, lives;
And, As the way of Beersheba lives;
They will fall, and never rise up again.
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.
Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.
For the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.
It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.
Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?
says Yahweh. Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
says Yahweh.
For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.
In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;
that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,
says Yahweh who does this.
Behold, the days come,
says Yahweh, That the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the one treading grapes him who sows seed; And sweet wine will drip from the mountains, And flow from the hills.
I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, And eat the fruit of them.
I will plant them on their land, And they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,
says Yahweh your God.
The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
-
Woe to those who devise iniquity And work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.
-
I said, "Please listen, you heads of Jacob, And rulers of the house of Israel: Isn't it for you to know justice?
-
But in the latter days, It will happen that the mountain of Yahweh's temple will be established on the top of the mountains, And it will be exalted above the hills; And peoples will stream to it.
-
Now you shall gather yourself in troops, Daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us; They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
-
Listen now to what Yahweh says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear what you have to say.
-
Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vinyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: And let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, The Lord from his holy temple.
For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place, And will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
The mountains melt under him, And the valleys split apart, Like wax before the fire, Like waters that are poured down a steep place.
All this is for the disobedience of Jacob, And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?
Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, Like places for planting vineyards; And I will pour down its stones into the valley, And I will uncover its foundations.
All her idols will be beaten to pieces, And all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, And all her images I will destroy; For of the hire of a prostitute has she gathered them, And to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.
For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, And moan like the daughters of owls.
For her wounds are incurable; For it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.
Don’t tell it in Gath, Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good, Because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath. The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
I will yet bring to you, inhabitant of Mareshah, He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
Shave your heads, And cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture; For they have gone into captivity from you!
Woe to those who devise iniquity And work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.
They covet fields, and seize them; And houses, and take them away: And they oppress a man and his house, Even a man and his heritage.
Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, From which you will not remove your necks, Neither will you walk haughtily; For it is an evil time.
In that day they will take up a parable against you, And lament with a doleful lamentation, saying,
We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!
Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.
Don’t you prophesy!
They prophesy. Don’t prophesy about these things. Disgrace won’t overtake us.
Shall it be said, O house of Jacob: Is the Spirit of Yahweh angry? Are these his doings? Don’t my words do good to him who walks blamelessly?
But lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.
You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses; From their young children you take away my blessing forever.
Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, Because of uncleanness that destroys, Even with a grievous destruction.
If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies: I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink;
He would be the prophet of this people.
I will surely assemble, Jacob, all of you; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, As a flock in the midst of their pasture; They will throng with people.
He who breaks open the way goes up before them. They break through the gate, and go out. And their king passes on before them, With Yahweh at their head.
I said, Please listen, you heads of Jacob, And rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
You who hate the good, And love the evil; Who tear off their skin, And their flesh from off their bones;
Who also eat the flesh of my people, And flay their skin from off them, And break their bones, And chop them in pieces, as for the pot, And as flesh within the caldron.
Then they will cry to Yahweh, But he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, Because they made their deeds evil.
Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, Peace!
and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:
Therefore night is over you, with no vision, And it is dark to you, that you may not divine; And the sun will go down on the prophets, And the day will be black over them.
The seers shall be put to shame, And the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God
But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh, And of judgment, and of might, To declare to Jacob his disobedience, And to Israel his sin.
Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice, And pervert all equity.
They build up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.
Her leaders judge for bribes, And her priests teach for a price, And her prophets of it tell forturnes for money: Yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, Isn’t Yahweh in the midst of us? No disaster will come on us.
Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, And the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
But in the latter days, It will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, And it will be exalted above the hills; And peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, And to the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths.
For out of Zion will go forth the law, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem;
And he will judge between many peoples, And will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, Neither will they learn war any more.
But they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; And no one will make them afraid: For the mouth of Yahweh of Hosts has spoken.
Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their gods; But we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.
In that day,
says Yahweh, I will assemble that which is lame, And I will gather that which is driven away, And that which I have afflicted;
And I will make that which was lame a remnant, And that which was cast far off a strong nation: And Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.
You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come, Yes, the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
Now why do you cry out aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, That pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in travail?
Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, daughter of Zion, Like a woman in travail; For now you will go forth out of the city, And will dwell in the field, And will come even to Babylon. There you will be rescued. There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, Let her be defiled, And let our eye gloat over Zion.
But they don’t know the thoughts of Yahweh, Neither do they understand his counsel; For he has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; For I will make your horn iron, And I will make your hoofs brass; And you will beat in pieces many peoples: And I will devote their gain to Yahweh, And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
Now you shall gather yourself in troops, Daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us; They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Being small among the clans of Judah, Out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.
He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, In the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: And they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, And when he marches through our fortresses, Then we will raise against him seven shepherds, And eight leaders of men.
They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, And the land of Nimrod in its gates. He will deliver us from the Assyrian, When he invades our land, And when he marches within our border.
The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, Like dew from Yahweh, Like showers on the grass, That don’t wait for man, Nor wait for the sons of men.
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, In the midst of many peoples, Like a lion among the animals of the forest, Like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; Who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, And there is no one to deliver.
Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, And let all of your enemies be cut off.
It will happen in that day,
says Yahweh, That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, And will destroy your chariots.
I will cut off the cities of your land, And will tear down all your strongholds.
I will destroy witchcraft from your hand; And you shall have no soothsayers.
I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; And you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst; And I will destroy your cities.
I will execute vengeance in anger, And wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.
Listen now to what Yahweh says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear what you have to say.
Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, And you enduring foundations of the earth; For Yahweh has a controversy with his people, And he will contend with Israel.
My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me!
For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, And redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, That you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.
How shall I come before Yahweh, And bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?
Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, And wisdom sees your name: Listen to the rod, And he who appointed it.
Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, And a short ephah that is accursed?
Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, And with a bag of deceitful weights?
Her rich men are full of violence, Her inhabitants speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their speech.
Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins.
You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be in your midst. You will store up, but not save; And that which you save I will give up to the sword.
You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; And crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.
For the statutes of Omri are kept, And all the works of the house of Ahab. You walk in their counsels, That I may make you a ruin, And her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people.
Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vinyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.
The godly man has perished out of the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.
Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; And the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.
The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, Even your visitation, has come; Now is the time of their confusion.
Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, Be careful of the words of your mouth!
For the son dishonors the father, The daughter rises up against her mother, The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, Because I have sinned against him, Until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see his righteousness.
Then my enemy will see it, And shame will cover her who said to me, Where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
A day to build your walls — In that day, he will extend your boundary.
In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, And from Egypt even to the River, And from sea to sea, And mountain to mountain.
Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein, For the fruit of their doings.
Shepherd your people with your staff, The flock of your heritage, Who dwell by themselves in a forest, In the midst of fertile pasture land, let them feed; In Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
As in the days of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.
The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.
They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, And will be afraid because of you.
Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, And passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, Because he delights in lovingkindness.
He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
The Word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
-
Blow you the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Yahweh comes, For it is close at hand:
-
"For, behold, in those days, And in that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The Word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, Or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children about it, And have your children tell their children, And their children, another generation.
What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; For it is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a lioness.
He has laid my vine waste, And stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!
The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.
The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, And the oil languishes.
Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; For the wheat and for the barley; For the harvest of the field has perished.
The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, Even all of the trees of the field are withered; For joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, For the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, And all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, And cry to Yahweh.
Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes; Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, For the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Blow you the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Yahweh comes, For it is close at hand:
A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, A great and strong people; There has never been the like, Neither will there be any more after them, Even to the years of many generations.
A fire devours before them, And behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, And behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, And as horsemen, so do they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, Like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, As a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
Neither does one jostle another; They march everyone in his path, And they burst through the defenses, And don’t break ranks.
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining.
Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; For his forces are very great; For he is strong who obeys his command; For the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, And who can endure it?
"Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
Tear your heart, and not your garments, And turn to Yahweh, your God; For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, And relents from sending calamity.
Who knows? He may turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind him, Even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, And the bride out of her chamber.
Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, And don’t give your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?
"
Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied with them; And I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
But I will remove the northern army far away from you, And will drive it into a barren and desolate land, Its front into the eastern sea, And its back into the western sea; And its stench will come up, And its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.
Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; For the pastures of the wilderness spring up, For the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
"Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in Yahweh, your God; For he gives you the former rain in just measure, And he causes the rain to come down for you, The former rain and the latter rain, As before.
The threshing floors will be full of wheat, And the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, My great army, which I sent among you.
You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, And will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And my people will never again be put to shame.
You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; And my people will never again be put to shame.
"It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, And among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
"For, behold, in those days, And in that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations, And will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will execute judgment on them there for my people, And for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,
And have cast lots for my people, And have given a boy for a prostitute, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
"Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, And all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
Because you have taken my silver and my gold, And have carried my finest treasures into your temples,
And have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their border.
Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, And will return your repayment on your own head;
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, And they will sell them to the men of Sheba, To a faraway nation, For Yahweh has spoken it."
Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war. Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, "I am strong."
Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
"Let the nations arouse themselves, And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle; For the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great."
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining."
Yahweh will roar from Zion, And thunder from Jerusalem; And the heavens and the earth will shake; But Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, And a stronghold to the children of Israel.
"So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, Dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, And no strangers will pass through her any more.
It will happen in that day, That the mountains will drop down sweet wine, The hills will flow with milk, All the brooks of Judah will flow with waters; And a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh, And will water the valley of Shittim.
Egypt will be a desolation, And Edom will be a desolate wilderness, For the violence done to the children of Judah, Because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
But Judah will be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
I will cleanse their blood, That I have not cleansed: For Yahweh dwells in Zion."
The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let's rise up against her in battle.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle.
Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised.
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart,
Who will bring me down to the ground?
Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.
If thieves came to you, if robbers by night — oh, what disaster awaits you — wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes?
How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out!
All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.
Won’t I in that day,
says Yahweh, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau?
Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever.
In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress.
Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity.
Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress.
For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head.
For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been.
But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them, and devour them. There will not be any remaining to the house of Esau.
Indeed, Yahweh has spoken.
Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead.
The captives of this host of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev.
Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh’s.
Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
-
Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish's belly.
-
The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying,
-
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep.
So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your gods! Maybe the gods will notice us, so that we won’t perish.
They all said to each other, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us.
So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they asked him, Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?
He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that you have done?
For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.
Then said they to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?
For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
He said to them, Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great tempest is on you.
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, let us not perish for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.
So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.
He said, I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
For you threw me into the depths, In the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
I said,
I have been banished from your sight; Yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
The waters surrounded me, Even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: Yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.
Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.
So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across.
Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!
The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God repented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
He prayed to Yahweh, and said, Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and you repent of the evil.
Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
Yahweh said, Is it right for you to be angry?
Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.
But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.
It happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
God said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?
He said, I am right to be angry, even to death.
Yahweh said, You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night.
Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
An oracle about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
-
He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Fortify your power mightily!
-
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn't depart.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+An oracle about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.
Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.
Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.
But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time.
For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble.
There is one gone forth out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness.
Thus says Yahweh: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
Now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.
Yahweh has commanded concerning you: No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.
Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Fortify your power mightily!
For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.
The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.
The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.
He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.
But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. Stop! Stop!
they cry, but no one looks back.
Take the spoil of silver. Take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.
She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?
The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.
Behold, I am against you,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart.
The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,
because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.
Behold, I am against you,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.
It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say,
Nineveh is laid waste Who will mourn for her?
Where will I seek comforters for you?
Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers.
Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy.
All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, your troops in your midst are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.
Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.
There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.
You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.
Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?
The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
-
I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
-
A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you Violence!
and will you not save?
Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.
Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.
For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.
Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.
Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.
Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Yahweh answered me, Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.
Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say,
Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?
Won’t your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who make you tremble, and you will be their victim?
Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.
Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.
For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it.
Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!
Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!
You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.
What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
Woe to him who says to the wood,
Awake!
or to the mute stone, Arise!
Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!
A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
Yahweh, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, Yahweh. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, you remember mercy.
God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And his praise filled the earth.
His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.
Plague went before him, And pestilence followed his feet.
He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.
Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, Or your wrath against the sea, That you rode on your horses, On your chariots of salvation?
You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.
The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The tempest of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
The sun and moon stood still in the sky, At the light of your arrows as they went, At the shining of your glittering spear.
You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.
You went forth for the salvation of your people, For the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.
You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, Gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
You trampled the sea with your horses, Churning mighty waters.
I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people who invade us.
For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, Nor fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive fails, The fields yield no food; The flocks are cut off from the fold, And there is no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
-
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,
-
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
I will utterly sweep away everything off of the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.
I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.
I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,
those who worship the host of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,
those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.
It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who as are clothed with foreign clothing.
In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were laden with silver are cut off.
It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Their wealth will become a spoil, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine.
The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.
I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,
before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.
Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger.
For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.
The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.
The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them, and restore them.
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.
This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Hosts.
Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.
He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.
Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me.
How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists.
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!
She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.
Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.
Yahweh, in the midst of her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.
I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
I said, Just fear me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her.
But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
Therefore wait for me,
says Yahweh, until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on the name of Yahweh, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed people, will bring my offering.
In that day you will not be put to shame for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out of the midst of you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be haughty in my holy mountain.
But I will leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.
The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in the midst of you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.
In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be slack.
Yahweh, your God, is in the midst of you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
Those who are sad for the appointed feasts, I will remove from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you.
Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth.
At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, says Yahweh.
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
-
In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
This is what Yahweh of Hosts says: These people say,
The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.
Then the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, saying,
Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste?
Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Hosts says: Consider your ways.
You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.
This is what Yahweh of Hosts says: Consider your ways.
Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,
says Yahweh.
You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?
says Yahweh of Hosts, Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.
Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings forth, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of the hands.
Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.
Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke in Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, I am with you,
says Yahweh.
Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Hosts, their God,
in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn’t it in your eyes as nothing?
Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,
says Yahweh. Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,
says Yahweh, and work, for I am with you,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit lived among you. Don’t be afraid.
For this is what Yahweh of Hosts says:
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;
and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,
says Yahweh of Hosts; and in this place will I give peace,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
The priests answered, If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with his fold touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it become holy?
No.
Then Haggai said, If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?
The priests answered, It will be unclean.
Then Haggai answered, So is this people, and so is this nation before me,
says Yahweh; and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.
Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in the temple of Yahweh.
Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.
I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn’t turn to me,
says Yahweh.
Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t brought forth. From this day will I bless you.
The Word of Yahweh came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying,
I will shake the heavens and the earth.
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.
In that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, will I take you, Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,
says Yahweh, and will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
-
I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
-
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
-
The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
-
Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, a flying scroll.
-
Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
-
It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
-
The word of Yahweh of Hosts came to me.
-
An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, And will rest upon Damascus; For the eye of man And of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;
-
Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, And he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
-
Open your doors, Lebanon, That the fire may devour your cedars.
-
An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
-
"In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
-
Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.
Therefore tell them: Thus says Yahweh of Hosts:
Return to me,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and I will return to you,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;
but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.
Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers?
Then they repented and said,
Just as Yahweh of Hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
I had a vision in the night, and, behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
Then I asked, My lord, what are these?
The angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are.
The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.
They reported to the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked back and forth through the earth, and, behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.
Then the angel of Yahweh replied, O Yahweh of Hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?
Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts:
I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.
Therefore thus says Yahweh:
I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.
Proclaim further, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts:
My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.
I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns.
I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these?
He answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
Then I asked, What are these coming to do?
He said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Then I asked, Where are you going?
He said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length.
Behold, the angel who talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,
and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying,
Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in it.
For I,
says Yahweh, will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,
says Yahweh; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,
says Yahweh.
Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.
For thus says Yahweh of hosts: For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a spoil to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Hosts has sent me.
Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you,
says Yahweh.
Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Hosts has sent me to you.
Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
Yahweh said to Satan, Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.
He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments off of him.
To him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.
I said, Let them set a clean turban on his head.
So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the angel of Yahweh was standing by.
The angel of Yahweh protested to Joshua, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge, then you also shall judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.
Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Branch.
For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the engraving of it,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In that day,
says Yahweh of hosts, you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.
The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
He said to me, What do you see?
I said, I have seen, and, behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it;
and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.
I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Then the angel who talked with me answered me, Don’t you know what these are?
I said, No, my lord.
Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Who are you, great mountain? before Zerubbabel [you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of
Grace, grace, to it!
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Hosts has sent me to you.
Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth through the whole earth.
Then I asked him, What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?
I asked him the second time, What are these two olive-branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?
He answered me, Don’t you know what these are?
I said, No, my lord.
Then he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, a flying scroll.
He said to me, What do you see?
I answered, I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits.
Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
I will cause it to go out,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.
Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing.
I said, What is it?
He said, This is the ephah basket that is appearing.
He said moreover, This is their appearance in all the land
(and, behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket.
He said, This is Wickedness;
and he threw her down into the midst of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.
Then said I to the angel who talked with me, Where are these carrying the ephah basket?
He said to me, To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.
Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses;
in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.
Then I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord?
The angel answered me, These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went forth toward the south country.
The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, Go around and through the earth!
So they walked back and forth through the earth.
Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.
Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;
and speak to him, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts,
Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Yahweh;
even he shall build the temple of Yahweh; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Yahweh.
Those who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Yahweh; and you shall know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God.
It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh’s favor,
and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
Then the word of Yahweh of Hosts came to me, saying,
Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying,
When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
When you eat, and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
Aren’t these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?
The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,
Thus has Yahweh of Hosts spoken, saying,
Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Hosts.
It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,
said Yahweh of Hosts;
but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.
The word of Yahweh of Hosts came to me.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.
Thus says Yahweh: I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called
The City of Truth;
and the mountain of Yahweh of Hosts, The Holy Mountain.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.
But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.
For thus says Yahweh of hosts: As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath,
says Yahweh of Hosts, and I didn’t repent;
so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.
These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate,
says Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh of Hosts came to me.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: The fasts of the fourth fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;
and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying,
Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Hosts. I will go also.
Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying,
We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, And will rest upon Damascus; For the eye of man And of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;
And Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.
Tyre built herself a stronghold, And heaped up silver like the dust, And fine gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, And he will strike her power in the sea; And she will be devoured with fire.
Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; As will Ekron, for her expectation will be put to shame; And the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
Foriegners will dwell in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
I will take away his blood out of his mouth, And his abominations from between his teeth; And he also will be a remnant for our God; And he will be as a chieftain in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite.
I will encamp around my house against the army, That none pass through or return; And no oppressor will pass through them any more: For now I have seen with my eyes.
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem; And the battle bow will be cut off; And he will speak peace to the nations: And his dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; And I will stir up your sons, Zion, Against your sons, Greece, And will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
Yahweh will be seen over them; And his arrow will go flash like lightning; And the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, And will go with whirlwinds of the south.
Yahweh of Hosts will defend them; And they will destroy and overcome with sling-stones; And they will drink, and roar as through wine; And they will be filled like bowls, Like the corners of the altar.
Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; For they are like the jewels of a crown, Lifted on high over his land.
For how great is his goodness, And how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, And new wine the virgins.
Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, And he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; And they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.
My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, And will make them as his horse in the battle that he is proud of.
From him will come forth the corner-stone, From him the nail, From him the battle bow, From him every ruler together.
They shall be as mighty men, Treading down muddy streets in the battle; And they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; And the riders on horses will be confounded.
I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back; For I have mercy on them; And they will be as though I had not cast them off: For I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them.
Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will rejoice as through wine; Yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in Yahweh.
I will signal for them, and gather them; For I have redeemed them; And they will increase as they have increased.
I will sow them among the peoples; And they will remember me in far countries; And they will live with their children, and will return.
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, And gather them out of Assyria; And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; And there won’t be room enough for them.
He will pass through the sea of affliction, And will strike the waves in the sea, And all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down, And the scepter of Egypt will depart.
I will strengthen them in Yahweh; And they will walk up and down in his name,
says Yahweh.
Open your doors, Lebanon, That the fire may devour your cedars.
Wail, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, Because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, For the strong forest has come down.
A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
Thus says Yahweh my God: Feed the flock of slaughter.
Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say,
Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;
and their own shepherds don’t pity them.
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,
says Yahweh; but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called Favor,
and the other I called Union,
and I fed the flock.
I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
Then I said, I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.
I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.
I said to them, If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.
So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
Yahweh said to me, Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!
I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh.
Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Yahweh said to me, Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!
An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.
It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
In that day,
says Yahweh, I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart,
The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Hosts their God.
In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.
In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.
It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him,
You must die, because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;
and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:
but he will say,
I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.
One will say to him,
What are these wounds between your arms?
Then he will answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Awake, sword, against my shepherd, And against the man who is close to me," says Yahweh of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; And I will turn my hand against the little ones.
It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, Two parts in it will be cut off and die; But the third will be left in it.
I will bring the third part into the fire, And will refine them as silver is refined, And will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say,
It is my people;
And they will say, Yahweh is my God.
Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold, or frost.
It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.
It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine-presses.
Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.
This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.
So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those camps, as that plague.
It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tents.
It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts, on them there will be no rain.
If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of tents.
This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of tents.
In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, HOLY TO YAHWEH;
and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.
Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Hosts; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Hosts.
An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.
-
"Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
-
"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says Yahweh of hosts.
-
"For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up," says Yahweh of Hosts, "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.
I have loved you,
says Yahweh. Yet you say, How have you loved us?
Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?
says Yahweh, Yet I loved Jacob;
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
Whereas Edom says, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places;
thus says Yahweh of Hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them
The Wicked Land,
even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever.
Your eyes will see, and you will say, Yahweh is great — even beyond the border of Israel!
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Hosts to you, priests, who despise my name. You say,
How have we despised your name?
You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say,
How have we polluted you?
In that you say, Yahweh’s table contemptible.
When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,
says Yahweh of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name is be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
But you profane it, in that you say,
Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.
You say also,
says Yahweh of Hosts; Behold, what a weariness it is!
and you have sniffed at it,and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?
says Yahweh.
But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King,
says Yahweh of hosts, and my name is awesome among the nations.
Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,
says Yahweh of Hosts, then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him who he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Hosts.
But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.
Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Yahweh will cut off, to the man who does this, him who wakes and him who answers, out of the tents of Jacob, and him who offers an offering to Yahweh of Hosts.
This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn’t regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.
Yet you say,
Why?
Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
For I hate divorce,
says Yahweh, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with violence!
says Yahweh of Hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you don’t deal treacherously.
You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say,
How have we wearied him?
In that you say, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and he delights in them;
or Where is the God of justice?
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!
says Yahweh of hosts.
But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,
says Yahweh of Hosts. But you say,
How shall we return?
Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say,
How have we robbed you?
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,
says Yahweh of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.
I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Your words have been stout against me,
says Yahweh. Yet you say,
What have we spoken against you?
You have said,
It is vain to serve God;
and What profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Hosts?
Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.
Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
They shall be mine,
says Yahweh of Hosts, my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,
says Yahweh of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.
You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,
says Yahweh of Hosts.
Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
-
This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
-
For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, The whole supply of bread, And the whole supply of water;
-
Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach."
-
Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
-
In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
-
It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
-
Yahweh said to me, Take a great tablet, and write on it with the pen of a man, For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;
-
But there shall be no gloom to her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time has he made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
-
Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness;
-
There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.
-
In that day you will say, "I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.
-
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
-
For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
-
The burden of Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing.
-
Send you the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
-
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
-
Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
-
The burden of Egypt. Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
-
In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;
-
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
-
The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops?
-
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
-
Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants of it.
-
Yahweh, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, [even] counsels of old, in faithfulness [and] truth.
-
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks.
-
In that day Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will kill the monster that is in the sea.
-
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome with wine!
-
Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add you year to year; let the feasts come round:
-
Woe to the rebellious children, says Yahweh, who take counsel, but not of me; and who make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
-
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don't look to the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Yahweh!
-
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
-
Woe to you who destroy, and you weren't destroyed; and deal treacherously, and they didn't deal treacherously with you! When you have ceased to destroy, you shall be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you.
-
Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples: let the earth hear, and the fullness of it; the world, and all things that come forth from it.
-
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
-
Now it happened in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
-
It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh.
-
In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.
-
At that time Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
-
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God.
-
Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.
-
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
-
But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.
-
Yet now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen:
-
Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
-
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [animal].
-
Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
-
Hear you this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
-
Listen, isles, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:
-
Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
-
Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock whence you were hewn, and to the hold of the pit whence you were dug.
-
Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
-
Who has believed our message? and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
-
Sing, barren, you who didn't bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh.
-
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
-
Thus says Yahweh, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
-
The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come].
-
Cry aloud, don't spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
-
Behold, Yahweh's hand is not shortened, that it can't save; neither his ear heavy, that it can't hear:
-
Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Yahweh is risen on you.
-
The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to those who are bound;
-
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
-
Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
-
Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence,
-
I am inquired of by those who didn't ask; I am found by those who didn't seek me: I said, See me, see me, to a nation that was not called by my name.
-
Thus says Yahweh, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you build to me? and what place shall be my rest?
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear, heavens, And listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows his owner, And the donkey his master’s crib; But Israel doesn’t know, My people don’t consider.
Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.
Why should you be beaten more, That you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: Wounds, welts, and open sores. They haven’t been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil.
Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, And it is desolate, As overthrown by strangers.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a hut in a field of melons, Like a besieged city.
Unless Yahweh of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, We would have been as Sodom; We would have been like Gomorrah.
Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?
says Yahweh. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs, Or of male goats.
When you come to appear before me, Who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t bear with evil assemblies.
My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts; They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; Cease to do evil.
Learn to do well. Seek justice, Relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together,
says Yahweh: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross, Your wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They don’t judge the fatherless, Neither does the cause of the widow come to them.
Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, says: Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, And avenge myself of my enemies;
And I will turn my hand on you, Thoroughly purge away your dross, And will take away all your tin.
I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called
the city of righteousness, A faithful town.
Zion shall be redeemed with justice, And her converts with righteousness.
But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, And those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, And you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.
For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, And as a garden that has no water.
The strong will be like tinder, And his work like a spark. They will both burn together, And no one will quench them.
This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be raised above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.
Many peoples shall go and say, Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, To the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths.
For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations, And will decide concerning many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.
House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.
For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled from the east, With those who practice divination like the Philistines, And they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is full of silver and gold, Neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is full of horses, Neither is there any end of their chariots.
Their land also is full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.
Man is brought low, And mankind is humbled; Therefore don’t forgive them.
Enter into the rock, And hide in the dust, From before the terror of Yahweh, And from the glory of his majesty.
The lofty looks of man will be brought low, The haughtiness of men will be bowed down, And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
For there will be a day of Yahweh of Hosts for all that is proud and haughty, And for all that is lifted up; And it shall be brought low:
For all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, For all the oaks of Bashan,
For all the high mountains, For all the hills that are lifted up,
For every lofty tower, For every fortified wall,
For all the ships of Tarshish, And for all pleasant imagery.
The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; And Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.
The idols shall utterly pass away.
Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, And into the holes of the earth, From before the terror of Yahweh, And from the glory of his majesty, When he arises to shake the earth mightily.
In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver, And their idols of gold, Which have been made for themselves to worship, To the moles and to the bats;
To go into the caverns of the rocks, And into the clefts of the ragged rocks, From before the terror of Yahweh, And from the glory of his majesty, When he arises to shake the earth mightily.
Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?
For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, The whole supply of bread, And the whole supply of water;
The mighty man, The man of war, The judge, The prophet, The diviner, The elder,
The captain of fifty, The honorable man, The counselor, The skilled craftsman, And the clever enchanter.
I will give boys to be their princes, And children shall rule over them.
The people will be oppressed, Everyone by another, And everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, And the base against the honorable.
Indeed a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, you be our ruler, And let this ruin be under your hand.
In that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer; For in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people.
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; Because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, To provoke the eyes of his glory.
The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.
Tell the righteous Good!
For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; For the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
As for my people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.
Yahweh stands up to contend, And stands to judge the peoples.
Yahweh will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, And their leaders: It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean that you crush my people, And grind the face of the poor?
says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
Moreover Yahweh said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, Walking to trip as they go, Jingling ornaments on their feet;
Therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, And Yahweh will make their scalps bald.
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces,
the earrings, the bracelets, the veils,
the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the charms,
the signet rings, the nose rings,
the fine robes, the capes, the cloaks, the purses,
the hand-mirrors, the fine linen garments, the tiaras, and the shawls.
It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well set hair, baldness; Instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.
Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war.
Her gates shall lament and mourn; And she shall be desolate and sit on the ground.
Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach.
In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;
when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.
Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.
There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.
Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
He dug it up, Gathered out its stones, Planted it with the choicest vine, Built a tower in its midst, And also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, But it yielded wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Please judge between me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.
I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned nor hoed, But it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.
For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; For righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
Woe to those who join house to house, Who lay field to field, until there is no room, And you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
In my ears, Yahweh of Hosts says: Surely many houses will be desolate, Even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, And a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.
Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; Who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; But they don’t regard the work of Yahweh, Neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
Therefore my people have go into captivity for lack of knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitudes are parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, And opened its mouth without measure; And their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.
So man is brought low, Mankind is humbled, And the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;
But Yahweh of Hosts is exalted in justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, And wickedness as with cart rope;
Who say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it!
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, And light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, And sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, And champions at mixing strong drink;
Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, But deny justice for the innocent!
Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, And as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust; Because they have rejected Yaweh’s law of Hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, And he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, And their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, But his hand is still stretched out.
He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.
None shall be weary nor stumble among them; None shall slumber nor sleep; Neither shall the belt of their loins be loosed, Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.
Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, And seize their prey and carry it off, And there will be no one to deliver.
They will roar against thsem in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.
In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
One called to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Hosts!
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.
I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Then I said, Here I am. Send me!
He said, Go, and tell this people,
You hear indeed, But don’t understand; And you see indeed, But don’t perceive.
Make the heart of this people fat; Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And turn again, and be healed.
Then I said, Lord, how long?
He answered, Until cities are waste without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the land becomes utterly waste,
And Yahweh has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
If there are yet a tenth in it, It also shall in turn be eaten up: As a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains, when they are felled; So the holy seed is its stock.
It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
It was told the house of David, saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim.
His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.
Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field;
and say to him, take heed, and be quiet; don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have purposed evil against you, saying,
Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel;
thus says the Lord Yahweh,
It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people:
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.
Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.
He said, Listen now, house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that you will weary my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
Yahweh will bring on you, and on your people, and on your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah [even] the king of Assyria.
It shall happen in that day, that Yahweh will hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
They shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all thorn-hedges, and on all pastures.
In that day will the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, [even] with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
It shall happen in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land.
It shall happen in that day, that every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.
With arrows and with bow shall one come there, because all the land shall be briers and thorns.
All the hills that were dug with the mattock, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.
Yahweh said to me, Take a great tablet, and write on it with the pen of a man, For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;
and I will take to me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
I went to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said Yahweh to me, Call his name Maher Shalal Hash Baz.
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.
Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up on them the waters of the River, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria and all his glory: and it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks;
and it shall sweep onward into Judah; it shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.
Make an uproar, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! And give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces! Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces!
Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
Don’t you say, A conspiracy!
concerning all whereof this people shall say, A conspiracy!
neither fear their fear, nor be in dread [of it].
Yahweh of hosts, him shall you sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
When they shall tell you, Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:
shouldn’t a people consult with their God? on behalf of the living [should they consult] with the dead?
To the law and to the testimony! if they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
They shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it shall happen that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward:
and they shall look to the earth, and see, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.
But there shall be no gloom to her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time has he made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light: those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined.
You have multiplied the nation, you have increased their joy: they joy before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.
For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Hosts will perform this.
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has lighted on Israel.
All the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart,
The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone; the sycamores are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.
Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,
the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Hosts.
Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day.
The elder and the honorable man, he is the head; and the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
For those who lead this people cause them to err; and those who are led of them are destroyed.
Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
For wickedness burns as the fire; it devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts is the land burnt up; and the people are as the fuel of fire: no man spares his brother.
One shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness;
to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory?
They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.
For he says, Aren’t my princes all of them kings?
Isn’t Calno as Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath as Arpad? Isn’t Samaria as Damascus?
As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
Therefore it shall happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit [on thrones]:
and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.
Shall the ax boast itself against him who hews therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? as if a rod should wield those who lift it up, [or] as if a staff should lift up [him who is] not wood.
Therefore will the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire.
The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.
He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.
The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.
It shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
A remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
For though your people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of them shall return: a destruction [is] determined, overflowing with righteousness.
For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.
Therefore thus says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, my people who dwell in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt.
For yet a very little while, and the indignation [against you] shall be accomplished, and my anger [shall be directed] to his destruction.
Yahweh of Hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
It shall happen in that day, that his burden shall depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.
He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmash he lays up his baggage;
they are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!
Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
This very day shall he halt at Nob: he shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low.
He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.
The Spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
His delight shall be in the fear of Yahweh; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
It shall happen in that day, that the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the peoples, to him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.
It shall happen in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, who shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
He will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and those who vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
They shall fly down on the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand on Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will strike it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, who shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
In that day you will say, I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.
Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation.
In that day you will say, Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!
Sing to Yahweh, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth!
Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel!
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Set up an ensign on the bare mountain, lift up the voice to them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Wail; for the day of Yahweh is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold [of them]; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces [shall be] faces of flame.
Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners of it out of it.
For the stars of the sky and the constellations of it shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
It shall happen, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathers, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
Everyone who is found shall be thrust through; and everyone who is taken shall fall by the sword.
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
[Their] bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild animals of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
Wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
The peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Yahweh for servants and for handmaids: and they shall take them captive whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
It shall happen in the day that Yahweh shall give you rest from your sorrow, and from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve,
that you shall take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers;
who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
The whole earth is at rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Yes, the fir trees rejoice at you, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since you are laid low, no lumberjack is come up against us.
Sheol from beneath is moved for you to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
All they shall answer and tell you, Are you also become weak as we? are you become like us?
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, [and] the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and worms cover you.
How you are fallen from heaven, day-star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit.
Those who see you shall gaze at you, they shall consider you, [saying], Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;
who made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities of it; who didn’t let loose his prisoners to their home?
All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
But you are cast forth away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.
You shall not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named forever.
Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up, and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities.
I will rise up against them, says Yahweh of Hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son, says Yahweh.
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Yahweh of Hosts.
Yahweh of Hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder.
This is the purpose that is purposed on the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out on all the nations.
For Yahweh of Hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
The firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant shall be killed.
Howl, gate; cry, city; you are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for there comes a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.
The burden of Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing.
They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off.
In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, everyone wails, weeping abundantly.
Heshbon cries out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles within him.
My heart cries out for Moab; her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction.
For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the grass is withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.
Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away over the brook of the willows.
For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the wailing of it to Eglaim, and the wailing of it to Beer-elim.
For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on them of Moab that escape, and on the remnant of the land.
Send you the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
For it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.
Give counsel, execute justice; make your shade as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; don’t betray the fugitive.
Let my outcasts dwell with you; as for Moab, be a covert to him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to nothing, destruction ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
A throne shall be established in lovingkindness; and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.
We have heard of the pride of Moab, [that] he is very proud; even of his arrogance, and his pride, and his wrath; his boastings are nothing.
Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, everyone shall wail: for the raisin-cakes of Kir Hareseth shall you mourn, utterly stricken.
For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down the choice branches of it, which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness; its shoots were spread abroad, they passed over the sea.
Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the [battle] shout is fallen.
Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither joyful noise: nobody shall tread out wine in the presses; I have made the [vintage] shout to cease.
Why my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres.
It shall happen, when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and shall come to his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail.
This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in time past.
But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and of no account.
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, says Yahweh of Hosts.
It shall happen in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
It shall be as when the harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the ears; yes, it shall be as when one gleans ears in the valley of Rephaim.
Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, says Yahweh, the God of Israel.
In that day shall men look to their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
They shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
In that day shall their strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it shall be a desolation.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the rock of your strength; therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set it with strange slips.
In the day of your planting you hedge it in, and in the morning you make your seed to blossom; but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.
At evening, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are no more. This is the portion of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who rob us.
Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, [saying], Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!
All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, look; and when the trumpet is blown, listen.
For thus has Yahweh said to me, I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the spreading branches will he take away [and] cut down.
They shall be left together to the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the animals of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer on them, and all the animals of the earth shall winter on them.
In that time shall a present be brought to Yahweh of Hosts [from] a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Yahweh of Hosts, Mount Zion.
The burden of Egypt. Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.
The spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel of it: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to those who have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
The rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
The fishermen shall lament, and all those who cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters shall languish.
Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, shall be confounded.
The pillars [of Egypt] shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire [shall be] grieved in soul.
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Where then are your wise men? and let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt.
The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the corner-stone of her tribes.
Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work of it, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
In that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Hosts, which he shakes over them.
The land of Judah shall become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom mention is made of it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Yahweh of Hosts, which he purposes against it.
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.
In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border of it to Yahweh.
It shall be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior, and a defender, and he will deliver them.
Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day; yes, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Yahweh, and shall perform it.
Yahweh will strike Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians.
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
because Yahweh of Hosts has blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;
at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off your loins, and put your shoe from off your foot. He did so, walking naked and barefoot.
Yahweh said, Like as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia;
so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
They shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
The inhabitant of this coast-land shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and we, how shall we escape?
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.
A grievous vision is declared to me; the treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; besiege, Media; all the sighing of it have I made to cease.
Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold on me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am pained so that I can’t hear; I am dismayed so that I can’t see.
My heart flutters, horror has frightened me; the twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling to me.
They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, you princes, anoint the shield.
For thus has the Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman: let him declare what he sees:
and when he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with much heed.
He cried as a lion: Lord, I stand continually on the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights;
and, behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs. He answered, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
You my threshing, and the grain of my floor! that which I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared to you.
The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.
The burden on Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall you lodge, you caravans of Dedanites.
To him who was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
For thus has the Lord said to me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail;
and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.
The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops?
You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
All your rulers fled away together, they were bound by the archers; all who were found of you were bound together; they fled afar off.
Therefore said I, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.
Elam bore the quiver, with chariots of men [and] horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
It happened that your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
He took away the covering of Judah; and you did look in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.
You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
and you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall;
you made also a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.
In that day did the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.
Yahweh of Hosts revealed himself in my ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
Thus says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, [and say],
What are you doing here? and who has you here, that you have hewed out a tomb here? Cutting him out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!
Behold, Yahweh, like a [strong] man, will hurl you away violently; yes, he will wrap you up closely.
He will surely wind you round and round, [and toss you] like a ball into a large country; there shall you die, and there shall be the chariots of your glory, you shame of your lord’s house.
I will thrust you from your office; and from your station shall you be pulled down.
It shall happen in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
and I will cloth him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt, and I will commit your government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
The key of the house of David will I lay on his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father’s house.
They shall hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.
In that day, says Yahweh of hosts, shall the nail that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall; and the burden that was on it shall be cut off; for Yahweh has spoken it.
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
On great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of nations.
Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.
When the report comes to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
Pass over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coast.
Is this your joyous [city], whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn?
Who has purposed this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth?
Yahweh of hosts has purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Pass through your land as the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint any more.
He has stretched out his hand over the sea, he has shaken the kingdoms: Yahweh has given commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds of it.
He said, You shall no more rejoice, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shall you have no rest.
Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: this people was not; the Assyrian founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness; they set up their towers; they overthrew the palaces of it; they made it a ruin.
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.
It shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it shall be to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute.
Take a harp, go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
It shall happen after the end of seventy years, that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.
Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Yahweh: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants of it.
It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.
The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly laid waste; for Yahweh has spoken this word.
The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the lofty people of the earth do languish.
The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants of it; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted do sigh.
The mirth of tambourines ceases, the noise of those who rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases.
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to those who drink it.
The waste city is broken down; every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
In the city is left desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.
For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of Yahweh they cry aloud from the sea.
Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea!
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous. But I said, I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, O inhabitant of the earth.
It shall happen, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn apart, the earth is shaken violently.
The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway back and forth like a hammock; and the disobedience of it shall be heavy on it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.
It shall happen in that day, that Yahweh will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited.
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory.
Yahweh, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, [even] counsels of old, in faithfulness [and] truth.
For you have made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
Therefore shall a strong people glorify you; a city of awesome nations shall fear you.
For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the awesome ones is as a storm against the wall.
As the heat in a dry place will you bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the awesome ones shall be brought low.
In this mountain will Yahweh of Hosts make to all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
He has swallowed up death forever; and the Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for Yahweh has spoken it.
It shall be said in that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is Yahweh; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
For in this mountain will the hand of Yahweh rest; and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, even as straw is trodden down in the water of the dung-hill.
He shall spread forth his hands in the midst of it, as he who swims spreads forth [his hands] to swim; but [Yahweh] will lay low his pride together with the craft of his hands.
The high fortress of your walls has he brought down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in.
You will keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on you]; because he trusts in you.
Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city: he lays it low, he lays it low even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down; even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
The way of the just is uprightness: you that are upright do direct the path of the just.
Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you; to your name, even to your memorial [name], is the desire of our soul.
With my soul have I desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly: for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not see the majesty of Yahweh.
Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see: but they shall see [your] zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yes, fire shall devour your adversaries.
Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us; for you have also worked all our works for us.
Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us; but by you only will we make mention of your name.
[They are] dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all memory of them to perish.
You have increased the nation, O Yahweh, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
Yahweh, in trouble have they visited you; they poured out a prayer [when] your chastening was on them.
Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, Yahweh.
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is [as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.
Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation be past.
For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
In that day Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will kill the monster that is in the sea.
In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing you to it.
I Yahweh am its keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Wrath is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march on them, I would burn them together.
Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; [yes], let him make peace with me.
In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the surface of the world with fruit.
Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? or are they slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by them?
In measure, when you send them away, you do contend with them; he has removed [them] with his rough blast in the day of the east wind.
Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in sunder, [so that] the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches of it.
When the boughs of it are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
It shall happen in that day, that Yahweh will beat off [his fruit] from the flood of the River to the brook of Egypt; and you shall be gathered one by one, you children of Israel.
It shall happen in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters overflowing, will he cast down to the earth with the hand.
The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot:
and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer; which when he who looks on it sees, while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.
In that day will Yahweh of Hosts become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the residue of his people;
and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
Even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
For all tables are full of vomit [and] filthiness, [so that there is] no place [clean].
Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little.
No, but by [men of] strange lips and with another language will he speak to this people;
to whom he said, This is the rest, give you rest to him who is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Therefore shall the word of Yahweh be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Why hear the word of Yahweh, you scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:
Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner -[stone] of sure foundation: he who believes shall not be in haste.
I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
As often as it passes though, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nothing but terror to understand the message.
For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Now therefore don’t you be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, on the whole earth.
Give you ear, and hear my voice; listen, and hear my speech.
Does he who plows to sow plow continually? does he [continually] open and harrow his ground?
When he has leveled the surface of it, doesn’t he cast abroad the dill, and scatter the cumin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border of it?
For his God does instruct him aright, [and] does teach him.
For the dill are not threshed with a sharp [threshing] instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about on the cumin; but the dill are beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod.
Bread [grain] is ground; for he will not be always threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he does not grind it.
This also comes forth from Yahweh of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add you year to year; let the feasts come round:
then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; and she shall be to me as Ariel.
I will encamp against you round about, and will lay siege against you with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against you.
You shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust; and your voice shall be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the awesome ones as chaff that passes away: yes, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
She shall be visited of Yahweh of Hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.
It shall be as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreams, and, behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul has appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against Mount Zion.
Stay you and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
For Yahweh has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, has he covered.
All vision is become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is learned, saying, Read this, I pray you; and he says, I can’t, for it is sealed:
and the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray you; and he says, I am not learned.
The Lord said, Because this people draw near [to me], and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught [them];
therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Woe to those who hide deep their counsel from Yahweh, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and who knows us?
You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him who made it, He didn’t make me; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
The humble also shall increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who watch for iniquity are cut off;
that make a man an offender in [his] cause, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nothing.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yes, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
They also who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmur shall receive instruction.
Woe to the rebellious children, says Yahweh, who take counsel, but not of me; and who make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can’t profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit [them].
For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still.
Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.
For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh;
who tell the seers, Don’t see;
and to the prophets, Don’t prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits,
get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Why thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon;
therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
He shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces of it a broken piece with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.
For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. You would not:
but you said, No, for we will flee on horses; therefore shall you flee: and, We will ride on the swift; therefore shall those who pursue you be swift.
One thousand [shall flee] at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall you flee: until you be left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
Therefore will Yahweh wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy on you: for Yahweh is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; he will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when he shall hear, he will answer you.
Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not your teachers be hidden anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers;
and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it; when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.
You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold: you shall cast them away as an unclean thing; you shall tell it, Get you hence.
He will give the rain for your seed, with which you shall sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall your cattle feed in large pastures;
the oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
There shall be on every lofty mountain, and on every high hill, brooks [and] streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the hurt of his people, and heals the stroke of their wound.
Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire;
and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causes to err [shall be] in the jaws of the peoples.
You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a pipe to come to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.
Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of [his] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones.
For through the voice of Yahweh shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he strike [him].
Every stroke of the appointed staff, which Yahweh shall lay on him, shall be with [the sound of] tambourines and harps; and in battles with the brandishing [of his arm] will he fight with them.
For a Topheth is prepared of old; yes, for the king it is made ready; he has made it deep and large; the pile of it is fire and much wood; the breath of Yahweh, like a stream of sulfur, does kindle it.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Yahweh!
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of those who work iniquity.
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Yahweh shall stretch out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
For thus says Yahweh to me, As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds are called forth against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will Yahweh of Hosts come down to fight on Mount Zion, and on the hill of it.
As birds hovering, so will Yahweh of Hosts protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver [it], he will pass over and preserve [it].
Turn you to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel.
For in that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made to you for a sin.
The Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become subject to forced labor.
His rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
A man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
The eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen.
The heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
The instruments of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
But the noble devises noble things; and in noble things shall he continue.
Rise up, you women who are at ease, [and] hear my voice; you careless daughters, give ear to my speech.
For days beyond a year shall you be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the harvest shall not come.
Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones; strip yourselves, and make yourselves naked, and gird [sackcloth] on your loins.
They shall strike on the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
On the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
until the Spirit be poured on us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.
Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.
The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
My people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low.
Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.
Woe to you who destroy, and you weren’t destroyed; and deal treacherously, and they didn’t deal treacherously with you! When you have ceased to destroy, you shall be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you.
Yahweh, be gracious to us; we have waited for you: be our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
At the noise of the thunder the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of yourself the nations are scattered.
Your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathers: as locusts leap shall men leap on it.
Yahweh is exalted; for he dwells on high: he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
There shall be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Yahweh is your treasure.
Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceases: [the enemy] has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, he doesn’t regard man.
The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off [their leaves].
Now will I arise, says Yahweh; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted.
You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you.
The peoples shall be as the burning of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.
Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burning?
He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands from taking a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking on evil:
He shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given [him]; his waters shall be sure.
Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall see a land that reaches afar.
Your heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed [the tribute]? where is he who counted the towers?
You shall not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can not comprehend, of a strange language that you can not understand.
Look on Zion, the city of our solemnities: your eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords of it be broken.
But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us.
Your rigging is loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey.
The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people who dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples: let the earth hear, and the fullness of it; the world, and all things that come forth from it.
For Yahweh has indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he has utterly destroyed them, he has delivered them to the slaughter.
Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
All the host of the sky shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fades from off the vine, and as a fading [leaf] from the fig tree.
For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky: behold, it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, to judgment.
The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
The wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bulls with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
The streams of [Edom] shall be turned into pitch, and the dust of it into sulfur, and the land of it shall become burning pitch.
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke of it shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.
But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
They shall call the nobles of it to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
Thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses of it; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
The wild animals of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yes, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest.
There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yes, there shall the kites be gathered, everyone with her mate.
Seek you out of the book of Yahweh, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it has commanded, and his Spirit, it has gathered them.
He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them by line: they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Yahweh, the excellency of our God.
Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Tell those who are of a fearful heart, Be strong, don’t be afraid: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [with] the recompense of God; he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the mute shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
The glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but is shall be for for him who walks in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there.
No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous animal go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]:
and the ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Now it happened in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a great army. He stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Then came forth to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
Rabshakeh said to them, Say you now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which you trust?
I say, [your] counsel and strength for the war are but vain words: now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?
Behold, you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, even on Egypt, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.
But if you tell me, We trust in Yahweh our God: isn’t that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar?
Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.
How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Am I now come up without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, Please speak, to your servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people who are on the wall.
But Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? [has he] not [sent me] to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear you the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Thus says the king, Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you:
neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, Yahweh will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Don’t listen to Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat you everyone of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and drink you everyone the waters of his own cistern;
until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Yahweh will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, saying, Don’t answer him.
Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh.
He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
They said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.
It may be Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
Isaiah said to them, Thus shall you tell your master, Thus says Yahweh, Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear news, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come out to fight against you. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of Yahweh, and spread it before Yahweh.
Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying,
Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, who sits [above] the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
Turn your ear, Yahweh, and hear; open your eyes, Yahweh, and behold; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.
Of a truth, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,
and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Whereas you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,
this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
Whom have you defied and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? [even] against the Holy One of Israel.
By your servants have you defied the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice fir trees of it; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field;
I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be your to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field [of grain] before it is grown up.
But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me.
Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
This shall be the sign to you: you shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow you, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of it.
The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of Yahweh of Hosts will perform this.
Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to this city, says Yahweh.
For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
The angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh.
It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh,
and said, Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. Hezekiah wept sore.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Isaiah, saying,
Go, and tell Hezekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will add to your days fifteen years.
I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.
This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken:
behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.
The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
I said, I shall not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living: I shall see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night will you make an end of me.
I quieted [myself] until morning; as a lion, so he breaks all my bones: From day even to night will you make an end of me.
Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; my eyes fail [with looking] upward: Lord, I am oppressed, be my collateral.
What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live.
Behold, [it was] for [my] peace [that] I had great bitterness: But you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; For you have cast all my sins behind your back.
For Sheol can’t praise you, death can’t celebrate you: Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.
The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known your truth.
Yahweh is [ready] to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Yahweh.
Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover.
Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh?
At that time Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
Hezekiah was glad of them, and shown them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
Then came Isaiah the prophet to king Hezekiah, and said to him, What said these men? and from whence came they to you? Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country to me, even from Babylon.
Then said he, What have they seen in your house? Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.
Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Yahweh of Hosts:
Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, says Yahweh.
Of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall father, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of Yahweh which you have spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God.
Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry to her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one who cries, Prepare you in the wilderness the way of Yahweh; make level in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain:
and the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
The voice of one saying, Cry. One said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it is as the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of Yahweh blows on it; surely the people is grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand forever.
You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain; you who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, don’t be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!
Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, [and] will gently lead those who have their young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the sky with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or being his counselor has taught him?
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shown to him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing.
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the animals of it sufficient for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
The image, a workman has cast [it], and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts [for it] silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for [such] an offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks to him a skillful workman to set up an engraved image, that shall not be moved.
Have you not known? have yet not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
[It is] he who sits above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants of it are as grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
Yes, they have not been planted; yes, they have not been sown; yes, their stock has not taken root in the earth: moreover he blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
To whom then will you liken me, that I should be equal [to him]? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their host by number; he calls them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
Why say you, Jacob, and speak, Israel, My way is hid from Yahweh, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God?
Have you not known? have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.
He gives power to the faint; and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
but those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.
Who has raised up one from the east, whom he calls in righteousness to his foot? he gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.
He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.
Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am he.
The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.
They help everyone his neighbor; and [every one] says to his brother, Be of good courage.
So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, [and] he who smoothes with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fastens it with nails, that is should not be moved.
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners of it, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;
Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you; don’t be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
Behold, all those who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded: those who strive with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even those who contend with you: those who war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing.
For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Don’t be afraid; I will help you.
Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says Yahweh, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Behold, I have made you [to be] a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and you shall rejoice in Yahweh, you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst; I, Yahweh, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together:
that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Produce your cause, says Yahweh; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
Let them bring forth, and declare to us what shall happen: declare you the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods: yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together.
Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun one who calls on my name: and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.
Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and before, that we may say, [He is] right? yes, there is none who declares, yes, there is none who shows, yes, there is none who hears your words.
[I am the] first [who says] to Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good news.
When I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.
Behold, all of them, their works are vanity [and] nothing; their molten images are wind and confusion.
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.
Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk therein:
I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
I am Yahweh, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.
Behold, the former things have happened, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants of it.
Let the wilderness and the cities of it lift up [their voice], the villages that Kedar does inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands.
Yahweh will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up [his] zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yes, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies.
I have long time held my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: [now] will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together.
I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know; in paths that they don’t know will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them.
They shall be turned back, they shall be utterly put to shame, who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, You are our gods.
Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace, and blind as Yahweh’s servant?
You see many things, but don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t hear.
It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivers; for a spoil, and none says, Restore.
Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will listen and hear for the time to come?
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Didn’t Yahweh? he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to his law.
Therefore he poured on him the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he didn’t know; and it burned him, yet he didn’t lay it to heart.
But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle on you.
For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you have been precious in my sight, [and] honorable, and I have loved you; therefore will I give men in your place, and peoples instead of your life.
Don’t be afraid; for I am with you: I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west;
I will tell the north, Give up; and to the south, Don’t keep back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;
everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.
Bring forth the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
You are my witnesses, says Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
I, even I, am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior.
I have declared, and I have saved, and I have shown; and there was no strange [god] among you: therefore you are my witnesses, says Yahweh, and I am God.
Yes, since the day was I am he; and there is none who can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who can hinder it?
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick):
Don’t remember the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
The animals of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.
Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
You have not brought me of your sheep for burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.
You have bought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened me with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
Put me in remembrance; let us plead together: set you forth [your cause], that you may be justified.
Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.
Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling.
Yet now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen:
Thus says Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you: Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring:
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
One shall say, I am Yahweh’s; and another shall call [himself] by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand to Yahweh, and surname [himself] by the name of Israel.
Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
Who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall happen, let them declare.
Don’t fear, neither be afraid: haven’t I declared to you of old, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any Rock.
Those who fashion an engraved image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don’t see, nor know: that they may be put to shame.
Who has fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?
Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.
The smith [makes] an ax, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.
He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.
The residue of it he makes a god, even his engraved image; he falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god.
They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
None calls to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread on the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you; you are my servant: Israel, you shall not be forgotten by me.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to me; for I have redeemed you.
Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it; shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?);
who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places of it;
who says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers;
Who says of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.
Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;
and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.
I am Yahweh, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known me;
that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, Yahweh, have created it.
Woe to him who strives with his Maker — a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, What are you making?
or your work, He has no hands?
Woe to him who says to a father, What have you become the father of?
or to a woman, With what do you travail?
Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command you me.
I have made the earth, and created man on it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded.
I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says Yahweh of Hosts.
Thus says Yahweh: The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They shall go after you. In chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down to you. They shall make supplication to you:
surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no other god.
Most assuredly you are a God who hid yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.
They shall be put to shame, yes, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together who are makers of idols.
[But] Israel shall be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.
For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is no one else.
I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain: I, Yahweh, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations: they have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
Declare you, and bring [it] forth; yes, let them take counsel together: who has shown this from ancient time? who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.
Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.
By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Only in Yahweh, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be put to shame.
In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [animal].
They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;
and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down — yes, they worship.
They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; [I am] God, and there is none like me;
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not [yet] done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.
Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness:
I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
Our Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you did show them no mercy; on the aged have you very heavily laid your yoke.
You said, I shall be mistress forever; so that you did not lay these things to your heart, neither did remember the latter end of it.
Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, None sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
Therefore shall evil come on you; you shall not know the dawning of it: and mischief shall fall on you; you shall not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don’t know.
Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail.
You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you.
Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.
Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.
Hear you this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Hosts is his name):
I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I shown them: suddenly I did them, and they happened.
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;
therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I shown it you; lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.
You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.
They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you didn’t hear them; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them.
Yes, you didn’t hear; yes, you didn’t know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you did deal very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.
For my name’s sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should [my name] be profaned? and my glory I will not give to another.
Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.
Assemble yourselves, all you, and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Come you near to me, hear you this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, and his Spirit.
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
Oh that you had listened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:
your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your loins like the grains of it: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Go you forth from Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say you, Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.
They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
There is no peace, says Yahweh, to the wicked.
Listen, isles, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:
and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close:
and he said to me, You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice [due] to me is with Yahweh, and my recompense with my God.
Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God is become my strength);
yes, he says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.
Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, [even] the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
Thus says Yahweh, In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:
saying to those who are bound, Go forth; to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he guide them.
I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Behold, these shall come from far; and, behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
But Zion said, Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Your children make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go forth from you.
Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says Yahweh, you shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride.
For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now shall you be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
Then shall you say in your heart, Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
But thus says Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.
I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk you in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. This shall you have of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.
Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock whence you were hewn, and to the hold of the pit whence you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.
My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; don’t you fear the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed at their insults.
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation to all generations.
Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who did cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;
and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves of it roar: Yahweh of Hosts is his name.
I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, You are my people.
Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that have drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.
These two things are befallen you, who shall bemoan you? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?
Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.
Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine:
Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again:
and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who go over.
Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit [on your throne], Jerusalem: loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion.
For thus says Yahweh, You were sold for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.
Now therefore, what do I here, says Yahweh, seeing that my people is taken away for nothing? those who rule over them do howl, says Yahweh, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that day that I am he who does speak; behold, it is I.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!
The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Yahweh returns to Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Depart you, depart you, go you out from there, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Yahweh.
For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.
Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Like as many were astonished at you (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men),
so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.
Who has believed our message? and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn’t respect him.
Surely he has borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; yet we esteemed him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn’t open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who [among them] considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke [was due]?
They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Sing, barren, you who didn’t bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh.
Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
For you shall spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
Don’t be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood shall you remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your God.
For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.
In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on you, says Yahweh your Redeemer.
For this is [as] the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from you, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh who has mercy on you.
you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of emeralds, and all your border of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught of Yahweh; and great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.
Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of me, says Yahweh.
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.
Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Thus says Yahweh, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, Yahweh will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
For thus says Yahweh of the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
To them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;
even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, Yet will I gather [others] to him, besides his own who are gathered.
All you animals of the field, come to devour, [yes], all you animals in the forest.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can’t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
Come you, [say they], I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, [a day] great beyond measure.
The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come].
He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.
But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.
Against whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make you a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,
you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
Among the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; even to them have you poured a drink-offering, you have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?
On a high and lofty mountain have you set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice.
Behind the doors and the posts have you set up your memorial: for you have uncovered [yourself] to another than me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.
You went to the king with oil, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your ambassadors far off, and did debase yourself even to Sheol.
You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn’t say, It is in vain: you found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint.
Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace even of long time, and you don’t fear me?
I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.
When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
He will say, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.
For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made.
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid [my face] and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will heal him.
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.
Cry aloud, don’t spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
Why have we fasted, [say they], and you don’t see? [why] have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find [your own] pleasure, and exact all your labors.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don’t fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
Isn’t it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall by your rearward.
Then shall you call, and Yahweh will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;
and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;
and Yahweh will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don’t fail.
Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking [your own] words:
then shall you delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; neither his ear heavy, that it can’t hear:
but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.
None sues in righteousness, and none pleads in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch adders’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.
The way of peace they don’t know; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace.
Therefore is justice far from us, neither does righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
We grope for the wall like the blind; yes, we grope as those who have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among those who are lusty we are as dead men.
We roar all like bears, and moan sore like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him who there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness, it upheld him.
He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.
According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.
So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives.
A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob, says Yahweh.
As for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed’s seed, says Yahweh, from henceforth and forever.
Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Yahweh is risen on you.
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.
Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Lift up your eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar; and I will glorify the house of my glory.
Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.
Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you: for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you.
Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.
For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The city of Yahweh, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
You shall also suck the milk of the nations, and shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. I will also make your officers peace, and righteousness your ruler.
Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light to you: but Yahweh will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.
Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation; I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time.
The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers.
But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men shall call you the ministers of our God: you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
Instead of your shame [you shall have] double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them.
For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Yahweh has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name.
You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
and give him no rest, until he establish, and until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored:
but those who have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Yahweh; and those who have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.
Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples.
Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say you to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of Yahweh: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Why are you red in your clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my wrath, it upheld me.
I trod down the peoples in my anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh, [and] the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
For he said, Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely: so he was their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] himself fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses [and] his people, [saying], Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?
who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble?
As the cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Yahweh caused them to rest; so did you lead your people, to make yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where are your zeal and your mighty acts? the yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: you, Yahweh, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
O Yahweh, why do you make us to err from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
Your holy people possessed [it] but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
We are become as they over whom you never bear rule, as those who were not called by your name.
Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence,
as when fire kindles the brushwood, [and] the fire causes the waters to boil; to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
When you did terrible things which we didn’t look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.
You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways: behold, you were angry, and we sinned: in them [have we been] of long time; and shall we be saved?
For we are all become as one who is unclean, and all our righteousness are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is none who calls on your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of you; for you have hid your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
But now, Yahweh, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.
Don’t be angry very sore, Yahweh, neither remember iniquity forever: see, look, we beg you, we are all your people.
Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste.
Will you refrain yourself for these things, Yahweh? will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?
I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask; I am found by those who didn’t seek me: I said, See me, see me, to a nation that was not called by my name.
I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
who say, Stand by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.
Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,
your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Yahweh, who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom.
Thus says Yahweh, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.
But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;
behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.
You shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you; and he will call his servants by another name:
so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.
There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with them.
It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you build to me? and what place shall be my rest?
For all these things has my hand made, and [so] all these things came to be, says Yahweh: but to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, [as he who offers] pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.
Hear the word of Yahweh, you who tremble at his word: Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name’s sake, have said, Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is those who shall be put to shame.
A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that renders recompense to his enemies.
Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.
Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says Yahweh: shall I who cause to bring forth shut [the womb]? says your God.
Rejoice you with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her;
that you may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that you may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and you shall suck [of it]; you shall be borne on the side, and shall be dandled on the knees.
As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see [it], and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hand of Yahweh shall be known toward his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.
For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire will Yahweh execute judgment, and by his sword, on all flesh; and the slain of Yahweh shall be many.
Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves [to go] to the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, says Yahweh.
For I [know] their works and their thoughts: [the time] comes, that I will gather all nations and languages; and they shall come, and shall see my glory.
I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to Yahweh, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says Yahweh, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the house of Yahweh.
Of them also will I take for priests [and] for Levites, says Yahweh.
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says Yahweh, so shall your seed and your name remain.
It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says Yahweh.
They shall go forth, and look on the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh.
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return to her again? Won't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says Yahweh.
-
If you will return, Israel, says Yahweh, if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed;
-
Run you back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
-
Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.
-
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
At that time, says Yahweh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
-
Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
-
Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel:
-
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
Righteous are you, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet would I reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously?
-
Thus says Yahweh to me, Go, and buy you a linen belt, and put it on your loins, and don't put it in water.
-
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.
-
Then said Yahweh to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
-
The word of Yahweh came also to me, saying,
-
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars;
-
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
Thus said Yahweh, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and [take] of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
-
Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
-
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
-
Thus said Yahweh: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
-
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says Yahweh.
-
Yahweh shown me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Yahweh, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
-
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)
-
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Yahweh, saying,
-
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
-
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,
-
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
-
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
-
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
-
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:
-
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
-
It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
-
Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
-
Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,
-
It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;
-
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.
-
Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and [one of] the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
-
Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,
-
It happened that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
-
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
-
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these word in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
-
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza.
-
Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down.
-
Of the children of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people well in the cities of it?
-
The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
-
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
-
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! behold, I don't know how to speak; for I am a child.
But Yahweh said to me, Don't say, I am a child; for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.
Don't be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you, says Yahweh.
Then Yahweh put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth:
behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what see you? I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Then said Yahweh to me, You have well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.
The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, What see you? I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face of it is from the north.
Then Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Yahweh; and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls of it round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you: don't be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.
For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes of it, against the priests of it, and against the people of the land.
They shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you, says Yahweh, to deliver you.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh, I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Israel [was] holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of his increase: all who devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come on them, says Yahweh.
Hear you the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
thus says Yahweh, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Neither said they, Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man lived?
I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests didn't say, Where is Yahweh? and those who handle the law didn't know me: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Therefore I will yet contend with you, says Yahweh, and with your children's children will I contend.
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.
Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says Yahweh.
For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born [slave]? why is he become a prey?
The young lions have roared on him, and yelled; and they have made his land waste: his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.
Haven't you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?
Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, I will not serve; for on every high hill and under every green tree you did bow yourself, playing the prostitute.
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then are you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord Yahweh.
How can you say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, know what you have done: [you are] a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;
who tell a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
But where are your gods that you have made you? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.
Why will you contend with me? you all have transgressed against me, says Yahweh.
In vain have I struck your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Generation, see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? or a land of thick darkness? why say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more to you?
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
How trimmest you your way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women have you taught your ways.
Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: you did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.
Yet you said, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with you, because you say, I have not sinned.
Why go you about so much to change your way? you shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria.
From there also shall you go forth, with your hands on your head: for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return to her again? Won't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says Yahweh.
Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see; where have you not been lain with? By the ways have you sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute's forehead, you refused to be ashamed.
Will you not from this time cry to me, My Father, you are the guide of my youth?
Will he retain [his anger] forever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.
Moreover Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute.
I said after she had done all these things, She will return to me; but she didn't return: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, didn't fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
It happened through the lightness of her prostitution, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says Yahweh.
Yahweh said to me, Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says Yahweh; I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful, says Yahweh, I will not keep [anger] forever.
Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says Yahweh.
Return, backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
and I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
It shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Yahweh, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Yahweh; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
But I said, How I will put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, You shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.
Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel, says Yahweh.
A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping [and] the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding. Behold, we are come to you; for you are Yahweh our God.
Truly in vain is [the help that is looked for] from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel.
But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.
If you will return, Israel, says Yahweh, if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed;
and you shall swear, As Yahweh lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and don't sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, don't stay; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn't turned back from us.
It shall happen at that day, says Yahweh, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the life.
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
a full wind from these shall come for me: now will I also utter judgments against them.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are ruined.
Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:
make you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she has been rebellious against me, says Yahweh.
Your way and your doings have procured these things to you; this is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.
My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, [and] my curtains in a moment.
How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
For my people are foolish, they don't know me; they are foolish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
I saw the mountains, and, behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
I saw, and, behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were fled.
I saw, and, behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities of it were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, [and] before his fierce anger.
For thus says Yahweh, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.
You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself beautiful; [your] lovers despise you, they seek your life.
For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, [saying], Woe is me now! for my soul faints before the murderers.
Run you back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
Though they say, As Yahweh lives; surely they swear falsely.
O Yahweh, don't your eyes look on truth? you have stricken them, but they were not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they don't know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God:
I will get me to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, [and] their backsliding is increased.
How can I pardon you? your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.
They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.
Shall I not visit for these things? says Yahweh; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don't make a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh's.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says Yahweh.
They have denied Yahweh, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel, says Yahweh: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know, neither understand what they say.
Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men.
They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, [which] your sons and your daughters should eat; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; they shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
But even in those days, says Yahweh, I will not make a full end with you.
It shall happen, when you shall say, Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us? then shall you say to them, Like as you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
Declare you this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don't see; who have ears, and don't hear:
Don't you fear me? says Yahweh: won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? and though the waves of it toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.
But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and grew rich.
They are grew fat, they shine: yes, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy they don't judge.
Shall I not visit for these things? says Yahweh; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
A wonderful and horrible thing is happen in the land:
the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end of it?
Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.
The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.
Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed everyone in his place.
Prepare you war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! for the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
For thus has Yahweh of Hosts said, Hew you down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.
Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again your hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets.
To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can't listen: behold, the word of Yahweh is become to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Therefore I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary with holding in: pour it out on the children in the street, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is full of days.
Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh.
For from the least of them even to the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh, Stand you in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk [therein].
I set watchmen over you, [saying], Listen to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not listen.
Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.
Hear, earth: behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
Thus says Yahweh, Behold, a people comes from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.
We have heard the report of it; our hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of us, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.
Don't go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy, [and] terror, are on every side.
Daughter of my people, gird you with sackcloth, and wallow yourself in ashes: make you mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us.
I have made you a tester of metals [and] a fortress among my people; that you may know and try their way.
They are all grievous rebels, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.
Refuse silver shall men them, because Yahweh has rejected them.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Don't you trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, are these.
For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;
if you don't oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forevermore.
Behold, you trust in lying words, that can't profit.
Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,
and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that you may do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says Yahweh.
But go you now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Now, because you have done all these works, says Yahweh, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn't hear; and I called you, but you didn't answer:
therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Therefore don't you pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.
Don't you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Do they provoke me to anger? says Yahweh; [do they] not [provoke] themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat you flesh.
For I didn't speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
but this thing I commanded them, saying, Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk you in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.
But they didn't listen nor turn their ear, but walked in [their own] counsels [and] in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
yet they didn't listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.
You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you.
You shall tell them, This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of Yahweh their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Cut off your hair, [Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, says Yahweh: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn't command, neither came it into my mind.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there be no place [to bury].
The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.
At that time, says Yahweh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth.
Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Yahweh of Hosts.
Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?
Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.
Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don't know Yaweh's law.
How do you say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.
The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.
They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
I will utterly consume them, says Yahweh: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given them shall pass away from them.
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
We looked for peace, but no good came; [and] for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.
For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Yahweh.
Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.
Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: isn't Yahweh in Zion? Isn't her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign vanities?
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me.
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
They bend their tongue, [as it were] their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don't know me, says Yahweh.
Take you heed everyone of his neighbor, and don't you trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
They will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Your habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, says Yahweh.
Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how [else] should I do, because of the daughter of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lays wait for him.
Shall I not visit them for these things? says Yahweh; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the sky and the animals are fled, they are gone.
I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and [who is] he to whom the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?
Yahweh says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,
but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them;
therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, Consider you, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skillful women, that they may come:
and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.
Yet hear the word of Yahweh, you women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbor lamentation.
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, [and] the young men from the streets.
Speak, Thus says Yahweh, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester; and none shall gather [them].
Thus says Yahweh, Don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, don't let the rich man glory in his riches;
but let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am Yahweh who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says Yahweh.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will punish all those who are circumcised in [their] uncircumcision:
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners [of their hair] cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel:
thus says Yahweh, "Don't learn the way of the nations, and don't be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move.
They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don't speak: they must be carried, because they can't go. Don't be afraid of them; for they can't do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
There is none like you, Yahweh; you are great, and your name is great in might.
Who should not fear you, King of the nations? for to you does it appertain; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.
But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.
But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.
Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Hosts is his name.
Gather up your wares out of the land, you who abide in the siege.
For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel [it].
Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Yahweh: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you, and on the families that don't call on your name: for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Hear you the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and say you to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who doesn't hear the words of this covenant,
which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall you be my people, and I will be your God;
that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then answered I, and said, Amen, Yahweh.
Yahweh said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear you the words of this covenant, and do them.
For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
Yet they didn't obey, nor turn their ear, but walked everyone in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they didn't do them.
Yahweh said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to me, but I will not listen to them.
Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.
Therefore don't you pray for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble.
What has my beloved to do in my house, seeing she has worked lewdness [with] many, and the holy flesh is passed from you? when you do evil, then you rejoice.
Yahweh called your name, A green olive tree, beautiful with goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he has kindled fire on it, and the branches of it are broken.
For Yahweh of Hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have worked for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal.
Yahweh gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it: then you shown me their doings.
But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn't know that they had devised devices against me, [saying], Let us destroy the tree with the fruit of it, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
But, Yahweh of Hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, I shall see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.
Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, You shall not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, that you not die by our hand;
therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;
and there shall be no remnant to them: for I will bring evil on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Righteous are you, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet would I reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously?
You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.
But you, Yahweh, know me; you see me, and try my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? for the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter end.
If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan?
For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you: don't believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you.
I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
My heritage is become to me as a lion in the forest: she has uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.
Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go you, assemble all the animals of the field, bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
They have made it a desolation; it mourns to me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart.
Destroyers are come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh has peace.
They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh against all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
It shall happen, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
It shall happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Yahweh lives; even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my people.
But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh to me, Go, and buy you a linen belt, and put it on your loins, and don't put it in water.
So I bought a belt according to the word of Yahweh, and put it on my loins.
The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying,
Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh commanded me.
It happened after many days, that Yahweh said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there.
Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the belt was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing.
For as the belt cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says Yahweh; that they may be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall tell you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Then shall you tell them, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Yahweh: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
Hear you, and give ear; don't be proud; for Yahweh has spoken.
Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for [your] pride; and my eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Yahweh's flock is taken captive.
Say you to the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses are come down, even the crown of your glory.
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?
What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?
If you say in your heart, Why are these things come on me? for the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts uncovered, and your heels suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness.
This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me, says Yahweh; because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Therefore will I also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame shall appear.
I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! you will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.
Judah mourns, and the gates of it languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.
Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
Yes, the hind also in the field calves, and forsakes [her young], because there is no grass.
The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
Though our iniquities testify against us, work you for your name's sake, Yahweh; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.
You hope of Israel, the Savior of it in the time of trouble, why should you be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?
Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can't save? yet you, Yahweh, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; don't leave us.
Thus says Yahweh to this people, Even so have they loved to wander; they have not refrained their feet: therefore Yahweh does not accept them; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Yahweh said to me, Don't pray for this people for [their] good.
When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! behold, the prophets tell them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Then Yahweh said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I didn't send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.
Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I didn't send them, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
The people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them-them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness on them.
You shall say this word to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! for both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.
Have you utterly rejected Judah? has your soul loathed Zion? why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
We acknowledge, Yahweh, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you.
Do not abhor [us], for your name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of your glory: remember, don't break your covenant with us.
Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the sky give showers? Aren't you he, Yahweh our God? therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
Then said Yahweh to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
It shall happen, when they tell you, Where shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
I will appoint over them four kinds, says Yahweh: the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? or who will bemoan you? or who will turn aside to ask of your welfare?
You have rejected me, says Yahweh, you are gone backward: therefore have I stretched out my hand against you, and destroyed you; I am weary with repenting.
I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have bereaved [them] of children, I have destroyed my people; they didn't return from their ways.
Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas; I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
She who has borne seven languishes; she has given up the spirit; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she has been put to shame and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, says Yahweh.
Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; [yet] everyone of them does curse me.
Yahweh said, Most assuredly I will strengthen you for good; most assuredly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
Your substance and your treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
I will make [them] to pass with your enemies into a land which you don't know; for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn on you.
Yahweh, you know; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; don't take me away in your longsuffering: know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them; and your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of hosts.
I didn't sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand; for you have filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? will you indeed be to me as a deceitful [brook], as waters that fail?
Therefore thus says Yahweh, If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.
I will make you to this people a fortified brazen wall; and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says Yahweh.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.
The word of Yahweh came also to me, saying,
You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters, in this place.
For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who became the father of them in this land:
They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
For thus says Yahweh, Don't enter into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, says Yahweh, even lovingkindness and tender mercies.
Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;
neither shall men break [bread] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink.
For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
It shall happen, when you shall show this people all these words, and they shall tell you, Why has Yahweh pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against Yahweh our God?
Then shall you tell them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, says Yahweh, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
and you have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don't listen to me:
therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there shall you serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be said, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them. I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.
Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says Yahweh, and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, [even] vanity and things in which there is no profit.
Shall a man make to himself gods, which yet are no gods?
Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Yahweh.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars;
while their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees on the high hills.
My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a spoil, [and] your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.
You, even of yourself, shall discontinue from your heritage that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don't know: for you have kindled a fire in my anger which shall burn forever.
Thus says Yahweh: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose trust Yahweh is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
As the partridge that sits on [eggs] which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
A glorious throne, [set] on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
Heal me, O Yahweh, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for you are my praise.
Behold, they tell me, Where is the word of Yahweh? let it come now.
As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know: that which came out of my lips was before your face.
Don't be a terror to me: you are my refuge in the day of evil.
Let them be put to shame who persecute me, but let not me be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but don't let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
Thus said Yahweh to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
and tell them, Hear you the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
Thus says Yahweh, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day holy, neither do any work: but make the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
But they didn't listen, neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
It shall happen, if you diligently listen to me, says Yahweh, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;
then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.
They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing [sacrifices of] thanksgiving, to the house of Yahweh.
But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
House of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter? says Yahweh. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.
Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
Therefore thus says Yahweh: Ask you now among the nations, who has heard such things; the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.
Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?
For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false [gods]; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;
to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men struck of the sword in battle.
Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me; don't forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight; but let them be overthrown before you; deal you with them in the time of your anger.
Thus said Yahweh, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and [take] of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
and go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you;
and say, Hear you the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.
Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they didn't know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I didn't command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:
therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues of it.
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them.
Then shall you break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,
and shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there be no place to bury.
Thus will I do to this place, says Yahweh, and to the inhabitants of it, even making this city as Topheth:
and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of the sky, and have poured out drink-offerings to other gods.
Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Yahweh's house, and said to all the people:
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh.
It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah to him, Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.
For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.
Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all the gains of it, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there shall you be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.
Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocks me.
For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Yahweh is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day.
If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I can't [contain].
For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, [say] all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly put to shame, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
But, Yahweh of Hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.
Sing to Yahweh, praise you Yahweh; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
Cursed be the day in which I was born: don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed be the man who brought news to my father, saying, A man-child is born to you; making him very glad.
Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn't repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;
because he didn't kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Why came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
Then said Jeremiah to them, Thus shall you tell Zedekiah:
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Afterward, says Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
To this people you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey.
For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good, says Yahweh: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Touching the house of the king of Judah, hear you the word of Yahweh:
House of David, thus says Yahweh, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, [and] of the rock of the plain, says Yahweh; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says Yahweh; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.
Thus said Yahweh: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Say, Hear the word of Yahweh, king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.
Thus says Yahweh: Execute you justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says Yahweh, that this house shall become a desolation.
For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah: You are Gilead to me, [and] the head of Lebanon; [yet] surely I will make you a wilderness, [and] cities which are not inhabited.
I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons; and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
Many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city?
Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.
Don't you weep for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him who goes away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
For thus says Yahweh touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, [and] who went forth out of this place: He shall not return there any more.
But in the place where they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.
Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; who uses his neighbor's service without wages, and doesn't give him his hire;
who says, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn't your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn't this to know me? says Yahweh.
But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, [saying] Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers are destroyed.
I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your manner from your youth, that you didn't obey my voice.
The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shall you be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!
As I live, says Yahweh, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you there;
and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die.
But to the land whereunto their soul longs to return, there shall they not return.
Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel in which none delights? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they don't know?
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh, Write you this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says Yahweh.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, says Yahweh.
I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, says Yahweh.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that they shall no more say, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them. They shall dwell in their own land.
Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of Yahweh, and because of his holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right;
for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness, says Yahweh.
Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation, says Yahweh.
I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants of it as Gomorrah.
Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, Don't listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Yahweh.
They say continually to those who despise me, Yahweh has said, You shall have peace; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come on you.
For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word? who has marked my word, and heard it?
Behold, the tempest of Yahweh, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, yes, a whirling tempest: it shall burst on the head of the wicked.
The anger of Yahweh shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly.
I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I didn't speak to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
Am I a God at hand, says Yahweh, and not a God afar off?
Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Yahweh. Don't I fill heaven and earth? says Yahweh.
I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? says Yahweh.
Isn't my word like fire? says Yahweh; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says Yahweh, who steal my words everyone from his neighbor.
Behold, I am against the prophets, says Yahweh, who use their tongues, and say, He says.
Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says Yahweh, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I didn't send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, says Yahweh.
When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Yahweh? then shall you tell them, What burden! I will cast you off, says Yahweh.
As for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, The burden of Yahweh, I will even punish that man and his house.
Thus shall you say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, What has Yahweh answered? and, What has Yahweh spoken?
The burden of Yahweh shall you mention no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of Yahweh of Hosts our God.
Thus shall you say to the prophet, What has Yahweh answered you? and, What has Yahweh spoken?
But if you say, The burden of Yahweh; therefore thus says Yahweh: Because you say this word, The burden of Yahweh, and I have sent to you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of Yahweh;
therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence:
and I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Yahweh shown me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Yahweh, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Then said Yahweh to me, What see you, Jeremiah? I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says Yahweh, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,
I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)
which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.
Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear,)
saying, Return you now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forevermore;
and don't go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and don't provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm.
Yet you have not listened to me, says Yahweh; that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.
Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Because you have not heard my words,
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says Yahweh, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.
I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
For many nations and great kings shall make bondservants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.
For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.
They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Then took I the cup at Yahweh's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me:
[to wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings of it, and the princes of it, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;
and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;
Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off;
and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness;
and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
You shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Drink you, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then shall you tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: You shall surely drink.
For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Hosts.
Therefore prophesy you against them all these words, and tell them, Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as those who tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.
A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
The slain of Yahweh shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow [in ashes], you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.
The shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! for Yahweh lays waste their pasture.
The peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.
He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing [sword], and because of his fierce anger.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Yahweh, saying,
Thus says Yahweh: Stand in the court of Yahweh's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Yahweh's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; don't diminish a word.
It may be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.
You shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened;
then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Yahweh.
It happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, You shall surely die.
Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? All the people were gathered to Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh.
When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of Yahweh; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Yahweh's [house].
Then spoke the priests and the prophets to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.
Then spoke Jeremiah to all the princes and to all the people, saying, Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.
Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will repent him of the evil that he has pronounced against you.
But as for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as is good and right in your eyes.
Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on the inhabitants of it; for of a truth Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.
Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the prophets: This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn't he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.
There was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty-men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt:
and Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, [namely], Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt;
and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Thus says Yahweh to me: Make you bonds and bars, and put them on your neck;
and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah;
and give them a charge to their masters, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall you tell your masters:
I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.
Now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the animals of the field also have I given him to serve him.
All the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondservant.
It shall happen, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says Yahweh, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
But as for you, don't you listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon:
for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.
But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that [nation] will I let remain in their own land, says Yahweh; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
Don't listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.
For I have not sent them, says Yahweh, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.
Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Don't listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Yahweh's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.
Don't listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: why should this city become a desolation?
But if they be prophets, and if the word of Yahweh be with them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don't go to Babylon.
For thus says Yahweh of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,
which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
yes, thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:
They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them, says Yahweh; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Thus speaks Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Yahweh's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon:
and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon, says Yahweh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Yahweh,
even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Yahweh do so; Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.
Nevertheless hear you now this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:
The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him.
Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.
Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. The prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh: You have broken the bars of wood; but you have made in their place bars of iron.
For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may served Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also.
Then said the prophet Jeremiah to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah: Yahweh has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie.
Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.
So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,
(after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, [and] the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem,)
by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,) saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply you there, and don't be diminished.
Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in the peace of it shall you have peace.
For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Don't let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen you to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh.
For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.
You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.
I will be found of you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places wither I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;
thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth with you into captivity;
thus says Yahweh of Hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;
because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh.
Hear you therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes;
and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.
Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,
Thus speaks Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Yahweh, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.
Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,
because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, [The captivity] is long: build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them?
Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying,
Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn't send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;
therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Thus speaks Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.
For, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says Yahweh; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
These are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
For thus says Yahweh: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Ask now, and see whether a man does travail with child: why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
It shall come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondservant;
but they shall serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
Therefore don't you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
For thus says Yahweh, Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous.
There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines.
All your lovers have forgotten you; they don't seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
Why cry you for your hurt? your pain is incurable: for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.
Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.
For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says Yahweh; because they have called you an outcast, [saying], It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner.
Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them.
Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me: for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me? says Yahweh.
You shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Behold, the tempest of Yahweh, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst on the head of the wicked.
The fierce anger of Yahweh shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it.
At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
Thus says Yahweh, The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
Yahweh appeared of old to me, [saying], Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.
Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again shall you be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.
Again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy [the fruit of it].
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise you, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.
For thus says Yahweh, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish you, praise you, and say, Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.
They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Hear the word of Yahweh, you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off; and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock.
For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
There is hope for your latter end, says Yahweh; and [your] children shall come again to their own border.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus], You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke]: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.
Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Yahweh.
Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.
How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? for Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities of it, when I shall bring again their captivity: Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.
Judah and all the cities of it shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.
For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished.
On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.
It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh.
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves of it roar; Yahweh of hosts is his name:
If these ordinances depart from before me, says Yahweh, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
Thus says Yahweh: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Yahweh.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.
The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.
For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why do you prophesy, and say, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes;
and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, says Yahweh: though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper?
Jeremiah said, The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, Buy you my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.
So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh, and said to me, Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.
I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open;
and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.
I charged Baruch before them, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days.
For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land.
Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying,
Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
who show lovingkindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, Yahweh of Hosts is his name;
great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
who did set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among [other] men; and mad you a name, as at this day;
and did bring forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;
and gave them this land, which you did swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
and they came in, and possessed it, but they didn't obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them.
Behold, the mounds, they are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and, behold, you see it.
You have said to me, Lord Yahweh, Buy you the field for money, and call witnesses; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying,
Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh.
For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] to Molech; which I didn't command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Now therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence:
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
For thus says Yahweh: Like as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them.
Fields shall be bought in this land, whereof you say, It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return, says Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
Thus says Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is his name:
Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know.
For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down [to make a defense] against the mounds and against the sword;
while [men] come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:
Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.
[This city] shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.
Thus says Yahweh: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof you say, It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his lovingkindness endures forever; [and of them] who bring [sacrifices of] thanksgiving into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all the cities of it, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them, says Yahweh.
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] by which she shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness.
For thus says Yahweh: David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,
Thus says Yahweh: If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
As the host of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.
The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,
Don't you consider what this people has spoken, saying, The two families which Yahweh did choose, he has cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
Thus says Yahweh: If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.
Yet hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says Yahweh concerning you, You shall not die by the sword;
you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, [saying], Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, says Yahweh.
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these [alone] remained of the cities of Judah [as] fortified cities.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondservants of them, [to wit], of a Jew his brother.
All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his man-servant, and everyone his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:
but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you: but your fathers didn't listen to me, neither inclined their ear.
You were now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore thus says Yahweh: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it;
the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.
Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have gone away from you.
Behold, I will command, says Yahweh, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.
I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, Drink you wine.
But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:
neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you sojourn.
We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;
nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
But it happened, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we dwell at Jerusalem.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words? says Yahweh.
The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.
I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return you now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and don't go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.
Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me;
therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.
Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;
therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.
It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.
Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I can't go into the house of Yahweh:
therefore go you, and read in the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in Yahweh's house on the fast-day; and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.
It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will return everyone from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Yahweh has pronounced against this people.
Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in Yahweh's house.
Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh.
Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh's house, in the ears of all the people.
When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Yahweh,
he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, behold, all the princes were sitting there, [to wit], Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.
They said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
They asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth?
Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
Then said the princes to Baruch, Go, hide you, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you are.
They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king.
So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.
Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month: and [there was a fire in] the brazier burning before him.
It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that [the king] cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.
Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not hear them.
The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them.
Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.
Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and animal?
Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn't listen.
Then took Jeremiah another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides to them many like words.
Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did listen to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.
Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us.
Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.
Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.
Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Thus shall you tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire.
Thus says Yahweh, Don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart.
For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people.
When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling away to the Chaldeans.
Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn't listen to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.
Thus says Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn't seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,)
Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying,
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.
Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords. Jeremiah did so.
So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of Yahweh: and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a thing; hide nothing from me.
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? and if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.
So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.
Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.
But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.
Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.
But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me:
behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you: [now that] your feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.
They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.
Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.
But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don't hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you:
then you shall tell them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.
Then came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.
So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;
in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city,)
that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, [to wit], Nergal Sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.
It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.
Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah.
Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
The Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained.
But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall tell you.
So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon;
they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.
Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day.
But I will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.
For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in me, says Yahweh.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.
The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place;
and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come on you.
Now, behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well to you; but if it seem ill to you to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.
Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then, [said he], to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go.
Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.
Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;
then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, [to wit], Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather you wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.
Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;
then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
and said to him, Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn't believe them.
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.
Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and [one of] the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, [to wit], with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
It happened the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh.
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it happened, as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.
But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, Don't kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped, and didn't kill them among their brothers.
Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel,) Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.
Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.
So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [to wit], the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
and they departed, and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,
and said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray you, our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us:
that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Then they said to Jeremiah, Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don't do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God shall send you to us.
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.
It happened after ten days, that the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.
Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
and said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him:
If you will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done to you.
Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; don't be afraid of him, says Yahweh: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
But if you say, We will not dwell in this land; so that you don't obey the voice of Yahweh your God,
saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
now therefore hear you the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah: Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.
So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.
For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.
Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, Don't you go into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified to you this day.
For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it:
and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.
Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to sojourn there.
It happened that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely: Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, You shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there;
but Baruch the son of Neriah sets you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.
So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn't obey the voice of Yahweh, to dwell in the land of Judah.
But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah;
the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah;
and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn't obey the voice of Yahweh: and they came to Tahpanhes.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
and tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death [shall be given] to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he shall go forth from there in peace.
He shall also break the pillars of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,
because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods, that they didn't know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.
However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, don't do this abominable thing that I hate.
But they didn't listen, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.
Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.
Therefore now thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why commit you [this] great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining;
in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are gone to sojourn; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.
I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an object of horror, [and] an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape.
Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you.
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to 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 burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink-offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him who answer, saying,
The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn't Yahweh remember them, and didn't it come into his mind?
so that Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore is your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened to you, as it is this day.
Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.
Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says Yahweh, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Yahweh lives.
Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.
This shall be the sign to you, says Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these word in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch:
You did say, Woe is me now! for Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.
Thus shall you tell him, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.
Seek you great things for yourself? Don't seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Yahweh; but your life will I give to you for a prey in all places where you go.
The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
Prepare you the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and don't look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh.
Don't let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants of it.
Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.
The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.
The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.
Declare you in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say you, Stand forth, and prepare you; for the sword has devoured round about you.
Why are your strong ones swept away? they didn't stand, because Yahweh did drive them.
He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.
They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.
As I live, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
You daughter who dwell in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.
Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn't stand: for the day of their calamity is come on them, the time of their visitation.
The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:
and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yahweh.
But don't be afraid you, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Don't be afraid you, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza.
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.
At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don't look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains: for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
Baldness is come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself?
You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you be quiet? put up yourself into your scabbard; rest, and be still.
How can you be quiet, seeing Yahweh has given you a charge? Against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore, there has he appointed it.
Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down.
The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.
The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!
Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken.
Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.
Cursed be he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.
Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.
Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
How say you, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?
Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts.
The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.
All you who are round about him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!
You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab is come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.
Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, What has been done?
Moab is put to shame; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell you it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
Judgment is come on the plain country, on Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath,
and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth Diblathaim,
and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth Gamul, and on Beth Meon,
and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Yahweh.
Make you him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
For wasn't Israel a derision to you? was he found among thieves? for as often as you speak of him, you wag the head.
You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
We have heard of the pride of Moab, [that] he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
I know his wrath, says Yahweh, that it is nothing; his boastings have worked nothing.
Therefore will I wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir Heres shall they mourn.
With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.
Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.
From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.
Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Yahweh, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.
Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.
For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.
On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets of it there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights, says Yahweh.
How is it broken down! [how] do they wail! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are round about him.
For thus says Yahweh: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.
Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, inhabitant of Moab, says Yahweh.
He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, says Yahweh.
Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
Woe to you, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.
Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Of the children of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people well in the cities of it?
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who did possess him, says Yahweh.
Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
Why glory you in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? who trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come to me?
Behold, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, from all who are round about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.
But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh.
Of Edom. Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
Flee you, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.
If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.
Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.
For thus says Yahweh: Behold, they to whom it didn't pertain to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.
For I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities of it shall be perpetual wastes.
I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.
As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.
Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues of it.
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who will stand before me?
Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea.
Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.
Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.
How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts.
I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh: Arise you, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.
Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Terror on every side!
Flee you, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.
Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.
Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.
Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;
and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes, says Yahweh.
But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh.
The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.
For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.
In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God.
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, [saying], Come you, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting-place.
All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.
For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.
Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh.
Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses;
your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.
Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.
Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.
Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against Yahweh.
Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, has a work [to do] in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh.
Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts; for your day is come, the time that I will visit you.
The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.
A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.
Behold, [the enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me?
Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Against [him who] bends let the archer bend his bow, and against [him who] lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don't you spare her young men; destroy you utterly all her host.
They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.
Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, the measure of your covetousness.
Yahweh of Hosts has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and [Israel] is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Hosts is his name.
You are my battle-ax and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke [of oxen]; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.
I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh.
Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroy all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh.
Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm.
Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors of it, and all the deputies of it, and all the land of their dominion.
The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to met another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:
and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.
The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' whelps.
When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh.
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
The sea is come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves of it.
Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
My people, go you out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh.
Don't let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year [shall come] news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
You who have escaped the sword, go you, don't stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.
The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:
for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.
I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain.
Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,
and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.
It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:
and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
For through the anger of Yahweh did it happen in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about;) and they went toward the Arabah.
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.
The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
He put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.
Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem:
and he burned the house of Yahweh, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire.
All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.
But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers.
The pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
The pots also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, took they away.
The cups, and the fire pans, and the basins, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the bowls-that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver,-the captain of the guard took away.
The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh. The brass of all these vessels was without weight.
As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness of it was four fingers: it was hollow.
A capital of brass was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital round about, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like these, and pomegranates.
There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network round about.
The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand twenty-three Jews;
in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons;
in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the [first] year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
and changed his prison garments. [Jehoiachin] ate bread before him continually all the days of his life:
and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She has become as a widow, who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
-
How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, And hasn't remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
-
I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
-
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.
-
Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: Look, and see our reproach.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She has become as a widow, who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; She dwells among the nations, she finds no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh: Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper; For Yahweh has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
From the daughter of Zion all her majesty is departed: Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, They are gone without strength before the pursuer.
Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her, The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All who honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yes, she sighs, and turns backward.
Her filthiness was in her skirts; she didn't remember her latter end; Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she has no comforter: See, Yahweh, my affliction; for the enemy has magnified himself.
The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things: For she has seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, Concerning whom you did command that they should not enter into your assembly.
All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: Look, Yahweh, and see; for I am become abject.
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow, which is brought on me, With which Yahweh has afflicted [me] in the day of his fierce anger.
From on high has he sent fire into my bones, and it prevails against them; He has spread a net for my feet, he has turned me back: He has made me desolate and faint all the day.
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; They are knit together, they are come up on my neck; he has made my strength to fail: The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men in the midst of me; He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men: The Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water; Because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.
Zion spreads forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; Yahweh has commanded concerning Jacob, that those who are round about him should be his adversaries: Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.
Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow: My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
I called for my lovers, [but] they deceived me: My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, While they sought them food to refresh their souls.
See, Yahweh; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaves, at home there is as death.
They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me; All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it: You will bring the day that you have proclaimed, and they shall be like me.
Let all their wickedness come before you; Do to them, as you have done to me for all my transgressions: For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, And hasn't remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
The Lord has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and has not pitied: He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; he has profaned the kingdom and the princes of it.
He has cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy: He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours round about.
He has bent his bow like an enemy, he has stood with his right hand as an adversary, Has killed all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he has poured out his wrath like fire.
The Lord is become as an enemy, he has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all her palaces, he has destroyed his strongholds; He has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
He has violently taken away his tent, as if it were of a garden; he has destroyed his place of assembly: Yahweh has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, Has despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
The Lord has cast off his altar, he has abhorred his sanctuary; He has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces: They have made a noise in the house of Yahweh, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
Yahweh has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He has stretched out the line, he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; He has made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars: Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; Yes, her prophets find no vision from Yahweh.
The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they keep silence; They have cast up dust on their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
My eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
They tell their mothers, Where is grain and wine? When they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, When their soul is poured out into their mothers' bosom.
What shall I testify to you? what shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is great like the sea: who can heal you?
Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captivity, But have seen for you false oracles and causes of banishment.
All that pass by clap their hands at you; They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, [saying], Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you; They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up; Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
Yahweh has done that which he purposed; he has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He has thrown down, and has not pitied: He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; he has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don't let the apple of your eye cease.
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord: Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets; My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword: You have killed them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered, [and] not pitied.
You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side; There was none that escaped or remained in the day of Yahweh's anger: Those that I have dandled and brought up has my enemy consumed.
I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day.
My flesh and my skin has he made old; he has broken my bones.
He has built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
He has made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
He has walled me about, that I can't go forth; he has made my chain heavy.
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
He has walled up my ways with hewn stone; he has made my paths crooked.
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he has made me desolate.
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he has covered me with ashes.
You have removed my soul far off from peace; I forgot prosperity.
I said, My strength is perished, and my expectation from Yahweh.
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me.
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
[It is of] Yahweh's lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn't fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Yahweh is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn't approve.
Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn't command it?
Doesn't evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
We have transgressed and have rebelled; you have not pardoned.
You have covered with anger and pursued us; you have killed, you have not pitied.
You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
Fear and the pit are come on us, devastation and destruction.
My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
My eye pours down, and doesn't cease, without any intermission,
Until Yahweh look down, and see from heaven.
My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
They have chased me sore like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon.
You heard my voice; don't hide your ear at my breathing, at my cry.
You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, Don't be afraid.
Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul; you have redeemed my life.
Yahweh, you have seen my wrong; judge you my cause.
You have seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.
You have heard their reproach, Yahweh, and all their devices against me,
The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
See you their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.
You will render to them a recompense, Yahweh, according to the work of their hands.
You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them.
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.
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.
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
The tongue of the sucking child cleaves to the roof of his mouth for thirst: The young children ask bread, and no man breaks it to them.
Those who did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: Those who were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid on her.
Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.
Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: Their skin cleaves to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the 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.
Yahweh has accomplished his wrath, he has poured out his fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured the foundations of it.
The kings of the earth didn't believe, neither all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
[It is] because of the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood, So that men can't touch their garments.
Depart you, they cried to them, Unclean! depart, depart, don't touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn [here].
The anger of Yahweh has scattered them; he will no more regard them: They didn't respect the persons of the priests, they didn't favor the elders.
Our eyes do yet fail [in looking] for our vain help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
They hunt our steps, so that we can't go in our streets: Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky: They chased us on the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwell in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through to you also; you shall be drunken, and shall make yourself naked.
The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion; he will no more carry you away into captivity: He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.
Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: Look, and see our reproach.
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, Our houses to aliens.
We are orphans and fatherless; Our mothers are as widows.
We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold to us.
Our pursuers are on our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, To the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; We have borne their iniquities.
Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
The young men bare the mill; The children stumbled under the wood.
The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
The crown is fallen from our head: Woe to us! for we have sinned.
For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;
For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk on it.
You, Yahweh, abide forever; Your throne is from generation to generation.
Why do you forget us forever, [And] forsake us so long time?
Turn you us to you, Yahweh, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
But you have utterly rejected us; You are very angry against us.
Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
-
He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
-
He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
-
You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:
-
You, son of man, take a sharp sword; [as] a barber's razor shall you take it to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me.
-
Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause you them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
-
Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
-
Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
-
The word of Yahweh also came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
-
Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
-
It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], the tenth [day] of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
-
Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
-
In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], in the twelfth [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
-
It happened in the eleventh year, in the third [month], in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh.
-
The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
-
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
-
You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
-
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth [day] of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, the hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me there.
-
He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.
-
Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north.
-
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east.
-
Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut.
-
Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand [reeds], and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border of it round about.
-
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
-
He brought me back to the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.
-
Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east [and] west,) Dan, one [portion].
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
In the fifth [day] of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was there on him.
I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst of it as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.
Out of the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
Everyone had four faces, and everyone of them had four wings.
Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass.
They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings [thus]:
their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; they went everyone straight forward.
As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
Their faces and their wings were separate above; two [wings] of everyone were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
They went everyone straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn't turn when they went.
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: [the fire] went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn when they went.
As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and they four had their rims full of eyes round about.
When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside 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 beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above.
Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: everyone had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.
When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.
Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above.
I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.
He said to me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.
The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I do sent you to them; and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh.
They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
You, son of man, don't be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don't be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don't be you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.
When I looked, behold, a hand was put forth to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein;
He spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll.
He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
He said to me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them.
For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.
As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don't be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
Go, get you to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, [saying], Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place.
[I heard] the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me.
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn't turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.
Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.
The hand of Yahweh was there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you.
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut yourself within your house.
But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:
and I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house.
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem:
and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about.
Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Moreover lie you on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; [according to] the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you.
You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it.
Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.
Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make you bread of it; [according to] the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, shall you eat of it.
Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall you eat it.
You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shall you drink.
You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.
Yahweh said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.
Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Then he said to me, Behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon.
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:
that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
You, son of man, take a sharp sword; [as] a barber's razor shall you take it to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
A third part shall you burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword round about it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts.
Of these again shall you take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her.
She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you;
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.
I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations.
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish [you]; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.
A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.
Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about you, in the sight of all that pass by.
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are round about you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)
when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread;
and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them,
and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
Your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished.
The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries.
Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with they eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Smite with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them.
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols.
I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end is come on the four corners of the land.
Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes.
An end is come, the end is come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes.
Your doom is come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is near, [a day of] tumult, and not [of] joyful shouting, on the mountains.
Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike.
Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.
Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them [shall remain], nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither shall there be eminency among them.
The time is come, the day draws near: don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all the multitude of it.
For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all the multitude of it.
The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.
All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations [and] their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.
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 profane it.
My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret [place]; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.
Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.
Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumor shall be on rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me.
Then I saw, and, behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.
He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner [court] that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.
Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
He said to me, Son of man, see you what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but you shall again see yet other great abominations.
He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
Then said he to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.
He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.
So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed on the wall round about.
There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.
Then said he to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn't see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.
He said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Then said he to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? you shall again see yet greater abominations than these.
He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.
Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, behold, they put the branch to their nose.
Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause you them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.
Yahweh said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst of it.
To the others he said in my hearing, Go you through the city after him, and strike: don't let your eye spare, neither have you pity;
kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don't come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house.
He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go you forth. They went forth, and struck in the city.
It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?
Then said he to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of wrestling [of judgment]: for they say, Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn't see.
As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.
Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me.
Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling [wheels], even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched.
Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, [and stood] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory.
The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel.
The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took [of it], and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.
I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.
As for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel have been within a wheel.
When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn't turn as they went.
Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, [even] the wheels that they four had.
As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling [wheels].
Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.
When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them.
When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.
Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;
who say, [The time] is not near to build houses: this [city] is the caldron, and we are the flesh.
Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.
The Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, Thus says Yahweh: Thus have you said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.
You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled the streets of it with the slain.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this [city] is the caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of the midst of it.
You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
This [city] shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the flesh in the midst of it; I will judge you in the border of Israel;
and you shall know that I am Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.
It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, [are they] to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Yahweh; to us is this land given for a possession.
Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come.
Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all the abominations of it from there.
I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.
Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.
Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.
The word of Yahweh also came to me, saying,
Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don't see, who have ears to hear, and don't hear; for they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, you son of man, prepare you stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and you shall remove from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.
You shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing; and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.
Dig you through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
In their sight shall you bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you don't see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.
I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.
In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me, saying,
Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, What do you?
Say you to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This burden [concerns] the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.
Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.
The prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.
My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
I will scatter toward every wind all who are round about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.
But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness;
and tell the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, [and despoiled] of all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.
The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?
Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but tell them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.
For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
For I am Yahweh; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, says the Lord Yahweh.
Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.
Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say you to those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear you the word of Yahweh:
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.
You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh.
They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, Yahweh says; but Yahweh has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.
Haven't you seen a false vision, and haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, Yahweh says; but I have not spoken?
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord Yahweh.
My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and when one builds up a wall, behold, they daub it with whitewash:
tell those who daub it with whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it.
Behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said to you, Where is the daubing with which you have daubed it?
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.
So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation of it shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have daubed it with whitewash; and I will tell you, The wall is no more, neither those who daubed it;
[to wit], the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord Yahweh.
You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy you against them,
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of [persons of] every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?
You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make [them] fly.
Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive:
Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?
Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;
that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Return you, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself:
and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
If the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks [to him];
that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of the bread of it, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;
though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh.
If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;
though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.
Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;
though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.
Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;
though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!
Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.
They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned: is it profitable for any work?
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.
Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.
As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.
When I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live.
I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you did increase and wax great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.
Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.
Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.
I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.
I put a ring on your nose, and ear-rings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
Thus was you decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper to royal estate.
Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
But you did trust in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.
You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].
You did also take your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and mad for you images of men, and did play the prostitute with them;
and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them.
My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you did even set it before them for a sweet savor; and [thus] it was, says the Lord Yahweh.
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter,
that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through [the fire] to them?
In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and was weltering in your blood.
It is happen after all your wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh,)
that you have built to you a vaulted place, and have made you a lofty place in every street.
You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.
You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.
See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary [food], and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.
You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.
You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.
How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn hire.
A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!
They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.
You are different from [other] women in your prostitution, in that none follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.
Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh:
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;
therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.
They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.
They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.
So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.
Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use [this] proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].
Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.
You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.
I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them;
that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.
Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.
For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,
before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you round about.
You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.
Then shall you remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder [sisters] and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.
I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh;
that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.
It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots of it were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.
It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
Say you, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots of it, and cut off the fruit of it, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots of it.
Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Say now to the rebellious house, Don't you know what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king of it, and the princes of it, and brought them to him to Babylon:
and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;
that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.
For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.
I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.
All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:
in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches of it shall they dwell.
All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have [occasion] any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.
But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,
and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,
and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,
has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.
If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,
and who does not any of those [duties], but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,
has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,
has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.
Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;
who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,
neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.
Yet say you, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? when the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.
The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.
But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?
When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.
Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?
For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
and say, What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.
She brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness of it, because of the noise of his roaring.
Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.
But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.
Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], the tenth [day] of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.
Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;
and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God;
in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
I said to them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.
But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
I gave them my statutes, and shown them my ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live in them.
Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't you walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;
and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.
But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.
Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;
because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;
and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through [the fire] all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.
Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink-offerings.
Then I said to them, What means the high place whereunto you go? So the name of it is called Bamah to this day.
Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play you the prostitute after their abominations?
and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you;
and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:
and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go you, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name shall you no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.
As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.
There shall you remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop [your word] toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;
and tell the forest of the South, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.
All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn't he a speaker of parables?
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop [your word] toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;
and tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.
Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your loins and with bitterness shall you sigh before their eyes.
It shall be, when they tell you, Why do you sigh? that you shall say, Because of the news, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Yahweh: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;
it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? the rod of my son, it condemns every tree.
It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer.
Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.
For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more? says the Lord Yahweh.
You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their chambers.
I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.
Gather you together, go to the right, set yourself in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.
I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.
You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.
In his right hand was the divination [for] Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.
It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand.
You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,
thus says the Lord Yahweh: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this [shall be] no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [him].
You, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say you, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;
while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day is come in the time of the iniquity of the end.
Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you.
I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.
You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered: for I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.
You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!
You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one [and] full of tumult.
Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.
In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.
In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.
One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.
Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.
Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.
I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.
Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst of it.
Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Her princes in the midst of it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
Her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.
The names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.
Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians [her] neighbors,
who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
Neither has she left her prostitution since [the days of] Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.
Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.
These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.
Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.
She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, [her] neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.
She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
girded with girdles on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.
As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.
The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.
Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt.
She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.
Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:
the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, [and] all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.
I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.
They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels.
Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution [brought] from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;
and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.
These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.
You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You shall drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you shall be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it contains much.
You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore bear you also your lewdness and your prostitution.
Yahweh said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to them their abominations.
For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through [the fire] to them to be devoured.
Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and, behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and deck yourself with ornaments,
and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you did set my incense and my oil.
The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of them [twain], and beautiful crowns on their heads.
Then said I of her who was old in adulteries, Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she [with them].
They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.
The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, write you the name of the day, [even] of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day.
Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:
gather the pieces of it into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile [of wood] for the bones under [the caldron]; make it boil well; yes, let the bones of it be boiled in the midst of it.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it.
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.
Then set it empty on the coals of it, that it may be hot, and the brass of it may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed.
She has wearied [herself] with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't [go forth] by fire.
In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.
I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh.
Also the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips, and don't eat men's bread.
So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
The people said to me, Won't you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?
Then I said to them, The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.
You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
Your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.
Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done shall you do: when this comes, then shall you know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,
that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?
In that day shall your mouth be opened to him who is escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so shall you be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them:
and tell the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity:
therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.
I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel;
therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Moab and Seir say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;
therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim,
to the children of the east, [to go] against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations.
and I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them;
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity;
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.
It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.
Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people.
He shall kill with the sword your daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you.
He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.
With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground.
They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.
I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?
Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How are you destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!
Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you;
then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:
I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet shall you never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;
and tell Tyre, you who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many isles, thus says the Lord Yahweh: You, Tyre, have said, I am perfect in beauty.
Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.
They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim.
Of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was your awning.
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: your wise men, Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots.
The old men of Gebal and the wise men of it were in you your repairers of ship seams: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise.
Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in you; they set forth your comeliness.
The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls round about, and valorous men were in your towers; they hanged their shields on your walls round about; they have perfected your beauty.
Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise.
They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses and war-horses and mules.
The men of Dedan were your traffickers; many isles were the market of your hand: they brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.
Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, and honey, and oil, and balm.
Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among your merchandise.
Dedan was your trafficker in precious cloths for riding.
Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they your merchants.
The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers; they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur [and] Chilmad, were your traffickers.
These were your traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise.
The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
Your rowers have brought you into great waters: the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas.
Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.
At the sound of the cry of your pilots the suburbs shall shake.
All who handled the oar, the mariners, [and] all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand on the land,
and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
and they shall make themselves bald for you, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
In their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, [saying], Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?
When your wares went forth out of the seas, you filled many peoples; you did enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise.
In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company did fall in the midst of you.
All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face.
The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being.
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you did set your heart as the heart of God;-
behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you;
by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten you riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures;
by your great wisdom [and] by your traffic have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches;-
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.
They shall bring you down to the pit; and you shall die the death of those who are slain, in the heart of the seas.
Will you yet say before him who kills you, I am God? but you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers: and I set you, [so that] you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your traffic they filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword on her on every side; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are round about them, that did despite to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.
They shall dwell securely therein; yes, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgments on all those who do them despite round about them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh their God.
In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], in the twelfth [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt;
speak, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.
I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.
I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers: you shall fall on the open field; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
All the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
When they took hold of you by your hand, you did break, and did tear all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and mad all their loins to be at a stand.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off from you man and animal.
The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, The river is mine, and I have made it;
therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.
No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered;
and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh.
In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day!
For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.
They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.
In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No.
I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis [shall have] adversaries in the day-time.
The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these [cities] shall go into captivity.
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [month], in the seventh [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound up, to apply [healing] medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong [arm], and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt.
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
It happened in the eleventh year, in the third [month], in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom are you like in your greatness?
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: the rivers of it ran round about its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot [them] forth.
All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the animals of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow lived all great nations.
Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty.
I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.
Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.
Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches;
to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, [even] all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the rivers of it; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.
They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, [that] lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.
To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shall you be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet are you as a monster in the seas; and you did break forth with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.
I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.
I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.
I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.
When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars of it dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.
Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you.
By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude of it shall be destroyed.
I will destroy also all the animals of it from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.
Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh.
When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh.
This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh.
It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.
They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.
The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.
They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.
There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.
They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.
There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.
There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.
For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;
if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn't take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn't take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.
But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn't blow the trumpet, and the people aren't warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don't speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.
Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn't turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?
Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?
You, son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.
When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.
Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein.
When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge you everyone after his ways.
It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck.
Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?
You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and you defile everyone his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?
Thus shall you tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.
I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.
Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.
As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh.
They come to you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don't do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don't do them.
When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes,) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?
You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don't feed the sheep.
You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have you ruled over them.
They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep;
therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
Seems it a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?
As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.
The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.
They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.
You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
and tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.
I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;
therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will prepare you to blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.
Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.
I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.
I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there:
therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.
You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour.
You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
As you did rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession;
therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;
therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about;
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.
Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:
therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I have sworn, [saying], Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.
But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.
For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;
and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;
and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better [to you] than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, You [land] are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;
therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more, says the Lord Yahweh;
neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh.
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;
and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land.
But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.
Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don't do [this] for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.
I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
Then shall you remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Nor for your sake do I [this], says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.
The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.
They shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.
Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.
As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, behold, they were very dry.
He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know.
Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceeding great army.
Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.
I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:
and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?
tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.
The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.
Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.
After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
and you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;
to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are [now] inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Are you come to take the spoil? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?
Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?
You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army;
and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for [many] years that I would bring you against them?
It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.
For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord Yahweh: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.
I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
and I will turn you about, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel;
and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.
You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.
You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel.
Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;
so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh.
It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog.
Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.
Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh.
They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
Those who pass through the land shall pass through; and when any sees a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog.
Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.
So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward.
The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them.
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name.
They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;
when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.
They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;
neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth [day] of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, the hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me there.
In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.
He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
The man said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for, to the intent that I may show them to you, are you brought here: declare all that you see to the house of Israel.
Behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up the steps of it: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad.
Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and [the space] between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.
He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed.
Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts of it, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.
The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;
and a border before the lodges, one cubit [on this side], and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door.
He made also posts, sixty cubits; and the court [reached] to the posts, round about the gate.
[From] the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.
There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches; and windows were round about inward; and on [each] post were palm trees.
Then brought he me into the outer court; and, behold, there were chambers and a pavement, made for the court round about: thirty chambers were on the pavement.
The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.
Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, [both] on the east and on the north.
The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured the length of it and the breadth of it.
The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts of it and the arches of it were after the measure of the first gate: the length of it was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
The windows of it, and the arches of it, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and the arches of it were before them.
There was a gate to the inner court over against the [other] gate, [both] on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.
He led me toward the south; and, behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts of it and the arches of it according to these measures.
There were windows in it and in the arches of it round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
There were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches of it were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on the posts of it.
There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.
Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
and the lodges of it, and the posts of it, and the arches of it, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches of it round about; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.
There were arches round about, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits broad.
The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on the posts of it: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures;
and the lodges of it, and the posts of it, and the arches of it, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches of it round about; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.
The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on the posts of it, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
He brought me to the north gate: and he measured [it] according to these measures;
the lodges of it, the posts of it, and the arches of it: and there were windows therein round about; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on the posts of it, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
A chamber with the door of it was by the posts at the gates; there they washed the burnt offering.
In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin-offering and the trespass-offering.
On the [one] side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.
Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed [the sacrifices].
There were four tables for the burnt offering, of hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within round about: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.
Outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.
He said to me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house;
and the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to him.
He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.
Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.
He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.
The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length of it, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.
Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
He measured the length of it, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, This is the most holy place.
Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
The side-chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold [therein], and not have hold in the wall of the house.
The side-chambers were broader as they encompassed [the house] higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [continued] upward; and so one went up [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the middle [chamber].
I saw also that the house had a raised base round about: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.
Between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
The doors of the side-chambers were toward [the place] that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length of it ninety cubits.
So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls of it, one hundred cubits long;
also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.
He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back of it, and the galleries of it on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings round about, and [from] the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),
to [the space] above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall round about inside and outside, by measure.
It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. [thus was it] made through all the house round about:
from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.
As for the temple, the door-posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance [of it] was as the appearance [of the temple].
The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and the length of it two cubits; and the corners of it, and the length of it, and the walls of it, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before Yahweh.
The temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
The doors had two leaves [apiece], two turning leaves: two [leaves] for the one door, and two leaves for the other.
There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.
There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side-chambers of the house, and the thresholds.
Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north.
Before the length of one hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.
Over against the twenty [cubits] which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story.
Before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits' breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north.
Now the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building.
For they were in three stories, and they didn't have pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore [the uppermost] was straitened more than the lowest and the middle from the ground.
The wall that was outside by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court before the chambers, the length of it was fifty cubits.
For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and, behold, before the temple were one hundred cubits.
From under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.
In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were chambers.
The way before them was like the appearance of [the way of] the chambers which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.
According to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.
Then said he to me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they are the holy chambers, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; for the place is holy.
When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to that which pertains to the people.
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.
He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.
He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall round about, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east.
Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory.
It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
The glory of Yahweh came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house.
I heard one speaking to me out of the house; and a man stood by me.
He said to me, Son of man, [this is] the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings [in] their high places;
in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, and their door-post beside my door-post, and there was [but] the wall between me and them; and they have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in my anger.
Now let them put away their prostitution, and the dead bodies of their kings, far from me; and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.
You, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.
If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and the fashion of it, and the exits of it, and the entrances of it, and all the forms of it, and all the ordinances of it, and all the forms of it, and all the laws of it; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all the ordinances of it, and do them.
This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit of it round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
These are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border of it by the edge of it round about a span; and this shall be the base of the altar.
From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit.
The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns.
The altar hearth shall be twelve [cubits] long by twelve broad, square in the four sides of it.
The ledge shall be fourteen [cubits] long by fourteen broad in the four sides of it; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom of it shall be a cubit round about; and the steps of it shall look toward the east.
He said to me, Son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin-offering.
You shall take of the blood of it, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border round about: thus shall you cleanse it and make atonement for it.
You shall also take the bull of the sin-offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary.
On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin-offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bull.
When you have made an end of cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
You shall bring them near before Yahweh, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
Seven days shall you prepare every day a goat for a sin-offering: they shall also prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.
Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.
When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord Yahweh.
Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut.
Yahweh said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.
As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh: and I fell on my face.
Yahweh said to me, Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the house of Yahweh, and all the laws of it; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.
You shall tell the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,
in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, [to add] to all your abominations.
You have not kept the charge of my holy things; but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.
But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity.
They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service of it, and for all that shall be done therein.
But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh:
they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.
It shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
They shall have linen tires on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with [anything that causes] sweat.
When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments.
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths holy.
They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.
After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.
In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, says the Lord Yahweh.
They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
They shall eat the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or animal.
Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand [reeds], and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border of it round about.
Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred [in length] by five hundred [in breadth], square round about; and fifty cubits for the suburbs of it round about.
Of this measure shall you measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy.
It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to Yahweh; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.
Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, [for] twenty chambers.
You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
[Whatever is] for the prince [shall be] on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.
In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; dispossessing my people, says the Lord Yahweh.
You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: the measure of it shall be after the homer.
The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley;
and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, [which is] ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer;)
and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel; -for a meal-offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh.
All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.
It shall be the prince's part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.
The priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it on the door-posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
So you shall do on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple: so shall you make atonement for the house.
In the first [month], in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
On that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin-offering.
The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin-offering.
He shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah.
In the seventh [month], in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meal-offering, and according to the oil.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.
The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;
and the meal-offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal-offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.
On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish:
and he shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah.
When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way of it.
But when the people of the land shall come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go forth straight before him.
The prince, when they go in, shall go in with of them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
In the feasts and in the solemnities the meal-offering shall be an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.
When the prince shall prepare a freewill-offering, a burnt offering or peace-offerings as a freewill-offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace-offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.
You shall prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily: morning by morning shall you prepare it.
You shall prepare a meal-offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal-offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance.
Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.
But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.
Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not be scattered every man from his possession.
Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward.
He said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, [and] where they shall bake the meal-offering; that they not bring them forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people.
Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.
In the four corners of the court there were courts enclosed, forty [cubits] long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure.
There was a wall round about in them, round about the four, and boiling-places were made under the walls round about.
Then said he to me, These are the boiling-houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.
He brought me back to the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.
Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of [the gate] that looks toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.
Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through [the waters], waters that were to the loins.
Afterward he measured one thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
He said to me, Son of man, have you seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.
Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
Then said he to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea [shall the waters go] which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.
It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come there, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes.
It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
But the miry places of it, and the marshes of it, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
By the river on the bank of it, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit of it fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters of it issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit of it shall be for food, and the leaf of it for healing.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions.
You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.
This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;
Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.
The border from the sea, shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the [north] border to the east sea shall you measure. This is the east side.
The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook [of Egypt], to the great sea. This is the south side southward.
The west side shall be the great sea, from the [south] border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.
So shall you divide this land to you according to the tribes of Israel.
It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the strangers who sojourn among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
It shall happen, that in what tribe the stranger sojourns, there shall you give him his inheritance, says the Lord Yahweh.
Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east [and] west,) Dan, one [portion].
By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one [portion].
By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one [portion].
By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one [portion].
By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one [portion].
By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one [portion].
By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one [portion].
By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand [reeds] in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
The offering that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand [reeds] in length, and ten thousand in breadth.
For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand [in length], and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in the midst of it.
[It shall be] for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my charge, who didn't go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.
Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to Yahweh.
The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst of it.
These shall be the measures of it: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty.
The remainder in the length, answerable to the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable to the holy offering; and the increase of it shall be for food to those who labor in the city.
Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall until it.
All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering four-square, with the possession of the city.
The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst of it.
Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.
As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one [portion].
By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one [portion].
By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one [portion].
By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one [portion].
By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one [portion].
By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook [of Egypt], to the great sea.
This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord Yahweh.
These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure;
and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.
At the east side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.
At the south side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.
At the west side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.
It shall be eighteen thousand [reeds] round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.
-
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
-
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
-
Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
-
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
-
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom;
-
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.
-
In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.
-
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,
-
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
-
"As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
-
"At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.
-
This pointer pattern extracts chapter and verse.
+This pointer pattern extracts chapter.
+In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.
The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.
The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in [certain] of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles;
youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.
The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end of it they should stand before the king.
Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach; and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abednego.
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? so would you endanger my head with the king.
Then said Daniel to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Prove your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Then let our faces be looked on before you, and the face of the youths who eat of the king's dainties; and as you see, deal with your servants.
So he listened to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king's dainties.
So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.
Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
The king talked with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.
In every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.
Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
The king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you don't make known to me the dream and the interpretation of it, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
But if you show the dream and the interpretation of it, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation of it.
They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me.
But if you don't make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation of it.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king's matter, because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon;
he answered Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should nor perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
I thank you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king's matter.
Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: Don't destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.
The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation of it?
Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king;
but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
as for you, O king, your thoughts came [into your mind] on your bed, what should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall happen.
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
You, O king, saw, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the aspect of it was awesome.
As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.
You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.
After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.
As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.
In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty of it be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation of it sure.
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him.
The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this secret.
Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;
and whoever doesn't fall down and worships shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews.
They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever.
You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
and whoever doesn't fall down and worships, shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded you: they don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar answered them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to you fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, True, O king.
He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire.
The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me.
How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace.
I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known to me the interpretation of it.
But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, [saying],
Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation of it.
Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height of it was great.
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height of it reached to the sky, and the sight of it to the end of all the earth.
The leaves of it were beautiful, and the fruit of it much, and in it was food for all: the animals of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the sky lived in the branches of it, and all flesh was fed from it.
I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the sky.
He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the animals get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches.
Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth:
let his heart be changed from man's, and let a animal's heart be given to him; and let seven times pass over him.
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.
This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.
Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken mute for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered, Belteshazzar, don't let the dream, or the interpretation, trouble you. Belteshazzar answered, My lord, the dream be to those who hate you, and the interpretation of it to your adversaries.
The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to the sky, and the sight of it to all the earth;
whose leaves were beautiful, and the fruit of it much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation:
it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots of it in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him;
this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come on my lord the king:
that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will.
Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you shall have known that the heavens do rule.
Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of your tranquillity.
All this came on the king Nebuchadnezzar.
At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon.
The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from the sky, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from you:
and you shall be driven from men; and they dwelling shall be with the animals of the field; you shall be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until his hair was grown like eagles' [feathers], and his nails like birds' [claws].
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or tell him, What do you?
At the same time my understanding returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned to me; and my counselors and my lords sought to me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added to me.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from it.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Then the king's face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees struck one against another.
The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation of it, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation.
Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his face was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed.
[Now] the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever; don't let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your face be changed.
There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar your father, the king, [I say], your father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?
I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.
But I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations, and dissolve doubts; now if you can read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Then Daniel answered before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
You king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:
and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.
But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals', and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whoever he will.
You his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,
but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don't see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.
Then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.
This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end;
TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.
PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom;
and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one; that these satraps might give account to them, and that the king should have no damage.
Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, because he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus to him, King Darius, live forever.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.
Therefore king Darius signed the writing and the interdict.
When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.
Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.
Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's interdict: Haven't you signed an interdict, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, save to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn't alter.
Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn't regard you, O king, nor the interdict that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.
Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. [Now] the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.
A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions.
When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spoke and said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?
Then said Daniel to the king, O king, live forever.
My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; because as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.
Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the end.
He delivers and rescues, and he works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the sky broke forth on the great sea.
Four great animals came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I saw until the wings of it were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it.
Behold, another animal, a second, like a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh.
After this I saw, and, behold, another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the animal had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth animal, awesome and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the animals that were before it; and it had ten horns.
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
I saw until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, [and] the wheels of it burning fire.
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
I saw at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I saw even until the animal was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.
As for the rest of the animals, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who shall arise out of the earth.
But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.
Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was diverse from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;
and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other [horn] which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.
I saw, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Thus he said, The fourth animal shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.
He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.
The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole the sky, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my face was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.
I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn't touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.
I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand.
The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of the sky.
Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [land].
It grew great, even to the host of the sky; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.
Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual [burnt offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
The host was given over [to it] together with the continual [burnt offering] through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered.
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt-offering], and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
It happened, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
I heard a man's voice between [the banks of] the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end.
Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.
He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
As for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.
In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days [to come].
I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,
we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;
neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;
neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, even turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore has the curse been poured out on us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God; for we have sinned against him.
He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky has not been done as has been done on Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.
Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all who are round about us.
Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.
Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don't defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;
yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.
He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.
At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.
Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall [wrath] be poured out on the desolate.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks.
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
In the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,
I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz:
his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me didn't see the vision; but a great quaking fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves.
So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
Yet heard I the voice of his words; and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.
Behold, a hand touched me, which set me on my knees and on the palms of my hands.
He said to me, Daniel, you man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for to you am I now sent. When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.
Then said he to me, Don't be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard: and I am come for your words' sake.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Now I am come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for [many] days:
and when he had spoken to me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was mute.
Behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spoke and said to him who stood before me, my lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned on me, and I retain no strength.
For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, immediately there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.
Then there touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.
He said, "Greatly beloved man, don't be afraid: peace be to you, be strong, yes, be strong." When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me."
Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go forth, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.
But I will tell you that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none who holds with me against these, but Michael your prince."
"As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
Now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
A mighty king shall stand up, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these.
The king of the south shall be strong, and [one] of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.
But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.
Also their gods, with their molten images, [and] with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall refrain some years from the king of the north.
He shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return into his own land.
His sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress.
The king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.
The multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.
The king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; and he shall come on at the end of the times, [even of] years, with a great army and with much substance.
In those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among your people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city: and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand.
But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.
He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions; and he shall perform them: and he shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him.
After this shall he turn his face to the isles, and shall take many: but a prince shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; yes, moreover, he shall cause his reproach to turn on him.
Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
In his place shall stand up a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken; yes, also the prince of the covenant.
After the league made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up, and shall become strong, with a small people.
In time of security shall he come even on the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance: yes, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.
He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.
Yes, they who eat of his dainties shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain.
As for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
Then shall he return into his land with great substance; and his heart [shall be] against the holy covenant; and he shall do [his pleasure], and return to his own land.
At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.
For ships of Kittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do [his pleasure]: he shall even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual [burnt offering], and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits].
Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, [many] days.
Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with flatteries.
Some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.
The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.
Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.
But in his place shall he honor the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn't know shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god: whoever acknowledges [him] he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.
At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.
He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
He shall stretch forth his hand also on the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many.
He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
"At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run back and forth, and knowledge shall be increased."
Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on the brink of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side.
One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
I heard, but I didn't understand: then said I, my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
He said, Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.
Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.
From the time that the continual [burnt offering] shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days.
Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days.
But go you your way until the end be; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.