Jeremiah 21–52

¹The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the king Zedekiah’s sending unto him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, ²‘Inquire, we pray thee, for us at Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath fought against us; perhaps Jehovah doth deal with us according to all His wonders, and doth cause him to go up from off us.’ ³And Jeremiah saith unto them, ‘Thus do ye say unto Zedekiah, ⁴Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That are in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city, ⁵And I—I have fought against you, With a stretched-out hand, and with a strong arm, And in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, ⁶And I have smitten the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast, By a great pestilence do they die. ⁷And after this—an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those 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 seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy.

⁸And unto this people thou dost say, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am setting before you the way of life, And the way of death! ⁹Whoso is abiding in this city—dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you—liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil. ¹⁰For I have set My face against this city for evil, And not for good—an affirmation of Jehovah. Into the hand of the king of Babylon it is given, And he hath burned it with fire. ¹¹And as to the house of the king of Judah, Hear ye a word of Jehovah; ¹²O house of David, thus said Jehovah: Decide ye judgment at morning, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth as fire, And hath burned, and none is quenching, Because of the evil of your doings. ¹³Lo, I am against thee—an affirmation of Jehovah, O inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain, Who are saying, Who cometh down against us? And who cometh into our habitations? ¹⁴And I have laid a charge against you, According to the fruit of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have kindled a fire in its forest, And it hath consumed—all its suburbs!

Chapter 22

¹Thus said Jehovah, ‘Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and thou hast spoken there this word, and hast said, ²Hear a word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting on the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who are coming in at these gates, ³Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place. ⁴For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people. ⁵And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn—an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation. ⁶For thus said Jehovah, Concerning the house of the king of Judah: Gilead art thou to Me—head of Lebanon, If not—I make thee a wilderness, Cities not inhabited. ⁷And I have separated for thee destroyers, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of thy cedars, And have cast them on the fire. ⁸And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city? ⁹And they have said, ‘Because that they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.’

¹⁰Ye do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, Weep ye sore for the traveller, For he doth not return again, Nor hath he seen the land of his birth. ¹¹For thus said Jehovah concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of Josiah his father, who hath gone forth from this place: He doth not turn back hither again; ¹²For in the place whither they have removed him he dieth, And this land he doth not see again. ¹³Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, On his neighbour he layeth service for nought, And his wage he doth not give to him. ¹⁴Who is saying, ‘I build for myself a large house, And airy upper chambers,’ And he hath cut out for himself its windows, Ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. ¹⁵Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father—did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then it is well with him. ¹⁶He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then it is well—is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah. ¹⁷But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence. ¹⁸Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: They do not lament for him, Ah, my brother, and Ah, sister, They do not lament for him, Ah, lord, and Ah, his honour. ¹⁹The burial of an ass—he is buried, Dragged and cast out thence to the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰Go up to Lebanon, and cry, And in Bashan give forth thy voice, And cry from Abarim, For destroyed have been all loving thee. ²¹I have spoken unto thee in thine ease, Thou hast said, ‘I do not hearken,’ This is thy way from thy youth, For thou hast not hearkened to My voice. ²²All thy friends consume doth wind, And thy lovers into captivity do go, Surely then thou art ashamed, And hast blushed for all thy wickedness. ²³O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain—as of a travailing woman. ²⁴I live—an affirmation of Jehovah, Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah Were a seal on My right hand, Surely thence I draw thee away, ²⁵And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶And I have cast thee, And thy mother who bore thee, unto another country, Where ye were not born, and there do ye die. ²⁷And to the land whither they are lifting up their soul to return, Thither they do not return. ²⁸A grief—a despised broken thing—is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not? ²⁹Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of Jehovah, ³⁰Thus said Jehovah: Write ye this man childless, A man—he doth not prosper in his days, For none of his seed doth prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling again in Judah!

Chapter 23

¹Woe to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Jehovah. ²Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah. ³And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied. ⁴And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking—an affirmation of Jehovah. ⁵Lo, days are coming—an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth. ⁶In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, ‘Our Righteousness.’ ⁷Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they do not say any more, Jehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, ⁸But—Jehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!

⁹In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man—a drunkard, And as a man—wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words. ¹⁰For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might—not right. ¹¹For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah. ¹²Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah. ¹³And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people—Israel—to err. ¹⁴And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me—all of them—as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah. ¹⁵Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land. ¹⁶Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.…