by Septuagint
[11] And now say to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold, I prepare evils against you, and devise a device against you: let every one turn now from his evil way, and amend your practices. [12] And they said, We will quit ourselves like men, for we will pursue our perverse ways, and we will perform each the lusts of his evil heart.
[13] Therefore thus saith the Lord; Enquire now among the nations, who has heard such very horrible things as the virgin of Israel has done? [14] Will fertilising streams fail to flow from a rock, or snow fail from Libanus? will water violently impelled by the wind turn aside? [15] For my people have forgotten me, they have offered incense in vain, and they fail in their ways, leaving the ancient tracks, to enter upon impassable paths; [16] to make their land a desolation, and a perpetual hissing; all that go through it shall be amazed, and shall shake their heads. [17] I will scatter them before their enemies like an east wind; I will shew them the day of their destruction.
[18] Then they said, Come, and let us devise a device 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 smite him with the tongue, and we will hear all his words.
[19] Hear me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my pleading. [20] Forasmuch as evil is rewarded for good; for they have spoken words against my soul, and they have hidden the punishment they meant for me; remember that I stood before thy face, to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. [21] Therefore do thou deliver their sons to famine, and gather them to the power of the sword: let their women be childless and widows; and let their men be cut off by death, and their young men fall by the sword in war. [22] Let there be a cry in their houses: thou shalt bring upon them robbers suddenly: for they have formed a plan to take me, and have hidden snares for me.
[23] And thou, Lord, knowest all their deadly counsel against me: account not their iniquities guiltless, and blot not out their sins from before thee: let their weakness come before thee; deal with them in the time of thy wrath.
Chapter 19
[1] Then said the Lord to me, Go and get an earthen bottle, the work of the potter, and thou shalt bring some of the elders of the people, and of the priests; [2] and thou shalt go forth to the burial-place of the sons of their children, which is at the entrance of the gate of Charsith; and do thou read there all these words which I shall speak to thee: [3] and thou shalt say to them,
Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem, and they that enter in by these gates; thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, so that the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle. [4] Because they forsook me, and profaned this place, and burnt incense in it to strange gods, which they and their fathers knew not; and the kings of Juda have filled this place with innocent blood, [5] and built high places for Baal, to burn their children in the fire, which things I commanded not, neither did I design them in my heart:
[6] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when this place shall no more be called, The fall and burial-place of the son of Ennom, but, The burial-place of slaughter. [7] And I will destroy the counsel of Juda and the counsel of Jerusalem in this place; and I will cast them down with the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the sky and to the wild beasts of the earth. [8] And I will bring this city to desolation and make it a hissing; every one that passes by it shall scowl, and hiss because of all her plague. [9] And they shall eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his neighbour in the blockade, and in the siege wherewith their enemies shall besiege them.
[10] And thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men that go forth with thee, [11] and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Thus will I break in pieces this people, and this city, even as an earthen vessel is broken in pieces which cannot be mended again. [12] Thus will I do, saith the Lord, to this place, and to the inhabitants of it, that this city may be given up, as one that is falling to ruin. [13] And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Juda shall be as a ruinous place, because of their uncleannesses in all the houses, wherein they burnt incense upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to strange gods.
[14] And Jeremiah came from the place of the Fall, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house: and said to all the people, Thus saith the Lord; [15] Behold I bring upon this city, and upon all the cities belonging to it, and upon the villages of it, all the evils which I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their neck, that they might not hearken to my commands.
Chapter 20
[1] Now Paschor the son of Emmer, the priest, who also had been appointed chief of the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words. [2] And he smote him, and cast him into the dungeon which was by the gate of the upper house that was set apart, which was by the house of the Lord.
[3] And Paschor brought Jeremiah out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah said to him, The Lord has not called thy name Paschor, but Exile. [4] For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give thee up to captivity with all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall see it: and I will give thee and all Juda into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall carry them captives, and cut them in pieces with swords. [5] And I will give all the strength of this city, and all the labours of it, and all the treasures of the king of Juda, into the hands of his enemies, and they shall bring them to Babylon. [6] And thou and all the dwellers in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt die in Babylon, and there thou and all thy friends shall be buried, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
[7] Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I have been deceived: thou hast been strong, and has prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock, I am continually mocked every day. [8] For I will laugh with my bitter speech, I will call upon rebellion and misery: for the word of the Lord is become a reproach to me and a mockery all my days. [9] Then I said, I will by no means name the name of the Lord, and I will no more at all speak in his name. But it was a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am utterly weakened on all sides, and cannot bear up. [10] For I have heard the reproach of many gathering round, saying, Conspire ye, and let us conspire together against him, even all his friends: watch his intentions, if perhaps he shall be deceived, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall be avenged on him.
[11] But the Lord was with me as a mighty man of war: therefore they persecuted me, but could not perceive anything against me; they were greatly confounded, for they perceived not their disgrace, which shall never be forgotten.
[12] O Lord, that provest just deeds, understanding the reins and hearts, let me see thy vengeance upon them: for to thee I have revealed my cause. [13] Sing ye to the Lord, sing praise to him: for he has rescued the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.
[14] Cursed be the day wherein I was born: the day wherein my mother brought me forth, let it not be blessed. [15] Cursed be the man who brought the glad tidings to my father, saying, A male child is born to thee. [16] Let that man rejoice as the cities which the Lord overthrew in wrath, and repented not: let him hear crying in the morning, and loud lamentation at noon; [17] because he slew me not in the womb, and my mother became not my tomb, and her womb always great with me. [18] Why is it that I came forth of the womb to see troubles and distresses, and my days are spent in shame?
Chapter 21
[1] THE WORD THAT CAME FROM THE LORD TO JEREMIAS, WHEN KING SEDEKIAS SENT TO HIM PASCHOR THE SON OF MELCHIAS, AND SOPHONIAS SON OF BASAEAS, THE PRIEST, SAYING,
[2] Enquire of the Lord for us; for the king of Babylon has risen up against us; if the Lord will do according to all his wonderful works, and the king shall depart from us.
[3] And Jeremiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to
Sedekias king of Juda, [4] Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war wherewith ye fight against the Chaldeans that have besieged you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the midst of this city. [5] And I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, with wrath and great anger. [6] And I will smite all the dwellers in this city, both men and cattle, with grievous pestilence: and they shall die. [7] And after this, thus saith the Lord; I will give Sedekias king of Juda, and his servants, and the people that is left in this city from the pestilence, and from the famine, and from the sword, into the hands of their enemies, that seek their lives: and they shall cut them in pieces with the edge of the sword: I will not spare them, and I will not have compassion upon them.
[8] And thou shalt say to this people, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I have set before you the way of life, and the way of death. [9] He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine: but he that goes forth to advance to the Chaldeans that have besieged you, shall live, and his life shall be to him for a spoil, and he shall live. [10] For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good: it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall consume it with fire.
[11] O house of the king of Juda, hear ye the word of the Lord. [12] O house of David, thus saith the Lord; Judge judgment in the morning, and act rightly, and rescue the spoiled one from the hand of him that wrongs him, lest mine anger be kindled like fire, and it burn, and there be none to quench it. [13] Behold, I am against thee that dwellest in the valley of Sor; in the plain country, even against them that say, Who shall alarm us? or who shall enter into our habitation? [14] And I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
Chapter 22
[1] Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word, [2] and thou shalt say,
Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest on the throne of David, thou, and thy house, and thy people, and they that go in at these gates: [3] thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place. [4] For if ye will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people. [5] But if ye will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that this house shall be brought to desolation.
[6] For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; Thou art Galaad to me, and the head of Libanus: yet surely I will make thee a desert, even cities that shall not be inhabited: [7] and I will bring upon thee a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. [8] And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city? [9] And they shall say Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.
[10] Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land. [11] For thus saith the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: [12] but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.
[13] He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward. [14] Thou hast built for thyself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion. [15] Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice. [16] They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord. [17] Behold, thine eyes are not good, nor thine heart, but they go after thy covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.
[18] Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, saying, Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, saying, Alas Lord. [19] He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.
[20] Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter thy voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all thy lovers are destroyed. [21] I spoke to thee on occasion of thy trespass, but thou saidst, I will not hearken. This has been thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice. [22] The wind shall tend all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; for then shalt thou be ashamed and disgraced because of all thy lovers. [23] O thou that dwellest in Libanus, making thy nest in the cedars, thou shalt groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon thee.
[24] As I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck thee; [25] and I will deliver thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, before whom thou art afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans. [26] And I will cast forth thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a land where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die. [27] But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls. [28] Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.
[29] Land, land, hear the word of the Lord. [30] Write ye this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, or as a prince yet in Juda.
Chapter 23
[1] Woe to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of their pasture! [2] Therefore thus saith the Lord against them that tend my people; Ye have scattered my sheep, and driven them out, and ye have not visited them: behold, I will take vengeance upon you according to your evil practices. [3] And I will gather in the remnant of my people in every land, whither I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied. [4] And I will raise up shepherds to them, who shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be alarmed, saith the Lord.
[5] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth. [6] In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets. [7] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel out of the land of Egypt; [8] but The Lord lives, who has gathered the whole seed of Israel from the north land, and from all the countries whither he had driven them out, and has restored them into their own land.
[9] My heart is broken within me; all my bones are shaken: I am become as a broken-down man, and as a man overcome with wine, because of the Lord, and because of the excellence of his glory. [10] For because of these things the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is become evil, and so also their strength. [11] For priest and prophet are defiled; and I have seen their iniquities in my house. [12] Therefore let their way be to them slippery and dark: and they shall be tripped up and fall in it: for I will bring evils upon them, in the year of their visitation.
[13] And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen lawless deeds; they prophesied by Baal, and led my people Israel astray. [14] Also in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things: as they committed adultery, and walked in lies, and strengthened the hands of many, that they should not return each from his evil wa
y: they are all become to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.
[15] Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will feed them with pain, and give them bitter water to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem has defilement gone forth into all the land.
[16] Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Hearken not to the words of the prophets: for they frame a vain vision for themselves; they speak from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord. [17] They say to them that reject the word of the Lord, There shall be peace to you; and to all that walk after their own lusts, and to everyone that walks in the error of his heart, they have said, No evil shall come upon thee. [18] For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and seen his word? who has hearkened, and heard? [19] Behold, there is an earthquake from the Lord, and anger proceeds to a convulsion, it shall come violently upon the ungodly. [20] And the Lord’s wrath shall return no more, until he have accomplished it, and until he have established it, according to the purpose of his heart: at the end of the days they shall understand it.
[21] I sent not the prophets, yet they ran: neither spoke I to them, yet they prophesied. [22] But if they had stood in my counsel, and if they had hearkened to my words, then would they have turned my people from their evil practices.
[23] I am a God nigh at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off. [24] Shall any one hide himself in secret places, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
[25] I have heard what the prophets say, what they prophesy in my name, saying falsely, I have seen a night vision. [26] How long shall these things be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, when they prophesy the purposes of their own heart? [27] who devise that men may forget my law by their dreams, which they have told every one to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name in the worship of Baal. [28] The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream; and he in whom is my word spoken to him, let him tell my word truly: what is the chaff to the corn? so are my words, saith the Lord. [29] Behold, are not my words as fire? saith the Lord; and as an axe cutting the rock?
