^37:1Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ^37:2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to Yahweh’s words, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. ^37:3Zedekiah 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.” ^37:4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. ^37:5Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem. ^37:6Then Yahweh’s word came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^37:7“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. ^37:8The Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city. They will take it and burn it with fire.”’ ^37:9“Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us;” for they will not depart. ^37:10For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes they would each rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’” ^37:11When the army of the Chaldeans had broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ^37:12then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the middle of the people. ^37:13When he was in Benjamin’s gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!” ^37:14Then Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he didn’t listen to him; so Irijah siezed Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. ^37:15The 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. ^37:16When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, ^37:17then Zedekiah the king sent, and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” He also said, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ^37:18Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? ^37:19Now where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land?’ ^37:20Now 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.” ^37:21Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

^38:1Shephatiah 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, ^38:2“Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and he will escape with his life, and he will live.’ ^38:3Yahweh says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’” ^38:4Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man 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 harm.” ^38:5Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.” ^38:6Then took they Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. ^38:7Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate), ^38:8Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, ^38:9“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. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.” ^38:10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.” ^38:11So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ^38:12Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.” Jeremiah did so. ^38:13So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. ^38:14Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in Yahweh’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.” ^38:15Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” ^38:16So 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.” ^38:17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house. ^38:18But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’” ^38:19Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.” ^38:20But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, Yahweh’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live. ^38:21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: ^38:22‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.” ^38:23They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. You won’t escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will cause this city to be burned with fire.’” ^38:24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you won’t die. ^38:25But 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 tell us what the king said to you;’ ^38:26then 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.’” ^38:27Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. ^38:28So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

^39:1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. ^39:2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. ^39:3All the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. ^39:4When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went 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. ^39:5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him. ^39:6Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. ^39:7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. ^39:8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ^39:9Then 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. ^39:10But 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. ^39:11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying, ^39:12“Take him, and take care of him. Do him no harm; but do to him even as he tells you.” ^39:13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, with Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; ^39:14they 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. ^39:15Now Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, ^39:16“Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they will be accomplished before you in that day. ^39:17But I will deliver you in that day,” says Yahweh; “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. ^39:18For I will surely save you, and you won’t fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life; because you have put your trust in me,” says Yahweh.’”

^40:1The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after 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. ^40:2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; ^40:3and 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 has come on you. ^40:4Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.” ^40:5Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “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 food and a present, and let him go. ^40:6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. ^40:7Now 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, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon; ^40:8then 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 came to Gedaliah to Mizpah. ^40:9Gedaliah 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 will be well with you. ^40:10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.” ^40:11Likewise 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; ^40:12then 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 very much wine and summer fruits. ^40:13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, ^40:14and 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. ^40:15Then 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 will 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?” ^40:16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”

^41:1Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring 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. ^41:2Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, 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. ^41:3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. ^41:4The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, ^41:5men came 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 Yahweh’s house. ^41:6Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” ^41:7It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. ^41:8But 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. ^41:9Now 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 that 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. ^41:10Then Ishmael carried away captive all the of the people who were left 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. ^41:11But 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, ^41:12then 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. ^41:13Now 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. ^41:14So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ^41:15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. ^41:16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, with the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ^41:17They departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt ^41:18because 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.

^42:1Then 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, ^42:2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let 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 see us; ^42:3that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.” ^42:4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing Yahweh answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.” ^42:5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God sends you to tell us. ^42:6Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, 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.” ^42:7After ten days, Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah. ^42:8Then he called 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, ^42:9and said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says: ^42:10‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. ^42:11Don’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. ^42:12I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land. ^42:13“‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land;” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice, ^42:14saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:”’ ^42:15now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there; ^42:16then it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there. ^42:17So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’ ^42:18For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ ^42:19“Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today. ^42:20For 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 says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ ^42:21I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you. ^42:22Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live there.”

^43:1When Jeremiah had finished 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, ^43:2then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’ ^43:3but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you 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.” ^43:4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice, to dwell in the land of Judah. ^43:5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah; ^43:6the 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; ^43:7and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice: and they came to Tahpanhes. ^43:8Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ^43:9“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; ^43:10and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ^43:11He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword. ^43:12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace. ^43:13He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”

^44:1The 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, ^44:2“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, ^44:3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ^44:4However 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.” ^44:5But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods. ^44:6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’ ^44:7“Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining; ^44:8in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ^44:9Have 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? ^44:10They 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.’ ^44:11“Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. ^44:12I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. ^44:13For 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; ^44:14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’” ^44:15Then 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, ^44:16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. ^44:17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone 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 food, and were well, and saw no evil. ^44:18But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. ^44:19“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?” ^44:20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, ^44:21“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? ^44:22Thus Yahweh could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today. ^44:23Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.” ^44:24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! ^44:25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘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.’ ^44:26“Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.” ^44:27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. ^44:28Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. ^44:29“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ ^44:30Yahweh says, ‘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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.’”

^45:1The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ^45:2“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: ^45:3‘You said, “Woe is me now! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain! I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.”’ ^45:4“You shall tell him, Yahweh says: ‘Behold, that which I have built, I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land. ^45:5Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh,’ says Yahweh; ‘but I will let you escape with your life wherever you go.’”

^46:1Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. ^46:2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. ^46:3“Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle! ^46:4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail. ^46:5Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says Yahweh. ^46:6“Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. ^46:7“Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? ^46:8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers. He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’ ^46:9Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow. ^46:10For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satiated, and will drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. ^46:11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you. ^46:12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.” ^46:13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt. ^46:14“Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, ‘Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.’ ^46:15Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them. ^46:16He made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’ ^46:17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’ ^46:18“As I live,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies, “surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come. ^46:19You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis will become a desolation, and will be burned up, without inhabitant. ^46:20“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come. ^46:21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation. ^46:22It’s sound will go like the serpent; for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters. ^46:23They will cut down her forest,” says Yahweh, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. ^46:24The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed; she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.” ^46:25Yahweh of Armies, 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. ^46:26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh. ^46:27“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid. ^46:28Don’t be afraid, 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.”

^47:1Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. ^47:2Yahweh says: “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and will become an overflowing stream, and will overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein. The men will cry, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail. ^47:3At 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; ^47:4because 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. ^47:5Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself? ^47:6“‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’ ^47:7“How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.”

^48:1Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down. ^48:2The 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, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you. ^48:3The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! ^48:4Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. ^48:5For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping. For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. ^48:6Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness. ^48:7For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also will be taken. Chemosh will go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ^48:8The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken. ^48:9Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away: and her cities will become a desolation, without anyone to dwell in them. ^48:10“Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. ^48:11“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. ^48:12Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces. ^48:13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. ^48:14“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?’ ^48:15Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. ^48:16“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. ^48:17All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’ ^48:18“You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you. He has destroyed your strongholds. ^48:19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’ ^48:20Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ^48:21Judgment has come on the plain country, on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath, ^48:22on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, ^48:23on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon, ^48:24on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. ^48:25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says Yahweh. ^48:26“Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision. ^48:27For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. ^48:28You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock. Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. ^48:29“We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. ^48:30I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing. ^48:31Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. ^48:32With 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. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage. ^48:33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting. ^48:34From 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 will also become desolate. ^48:35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says Yahweh, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. ^48:36Therefore 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 has perished. ^48:37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist. ^48:38On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says Yahweh. ^48:39“How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So will Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.” ^48:40For Yahweh says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle, and will spread out his wings against Moab. ^48:41Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized. The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ^48:42Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. ^48:43Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh. ^48:44“He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh. ^48:45“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. ^48:46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. ^48:47“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

^49:1Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities? ^49:2Therefore 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 will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burned with fire: then Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says Yahweh. ^49:3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourself in sackcloth. Lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam will go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ^49:4Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’ ^49:5Behold, I will bring a terror on you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, “from all who are around you. All of you will be driven completely out, and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives. ^49:6“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says Yahweh. ^49:7Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? ^49:8Flee! Turn back! Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him. ^49:9If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough? ^49:10But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring is destroyed, with his brothers and his neighbors; and he is no more. ^49:11Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. Let your widows trust in me.” ^49:12For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. ^49:13For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.” ^49:14I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together! Come against her! Rise up to the battle!” ^49:15“For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. ^49:16As 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. ^49:17“Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues. ^49:18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. ^49:19“Behold, he will 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, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?” ^49:20Therefore 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 will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. ^49:21The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea. ^49:22Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ^49:23Of Damascus: “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t be quiet. ^49:24Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. ^49:25How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy? ^49:26Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says Yahweh of Armies. ^49:27“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.” ^49:28Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Yahweh says: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east. ^49:29They will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’ ^49:30Flee! Wander far off! Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says Yahweh; “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. ^49:31Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care,” says Yahweh; “that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells alone. ^49:32Their camels will be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a plunder. I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,” says Yahweh. ^49:33Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.” ^49:34Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, ^49:35“Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. ^49:36I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds. There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come. ^49:37I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. 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. ^49:38I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says Yahweh. ^49:39‘But it will happen in the latter days that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”

^50:1The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. ^50:2“Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.’ ^50:3For a nation comes up out of the north against her, which will make her land desolate, and no one will dwell in it. They have fled. They are gone, both man and animal. ^50:4“In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping, and will seek Yahweh their God. ^50:5They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’ ^50:6My 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. ^50:7All who found them have devoured them. Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’ ^50:8“Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. ^50:9For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in vain. ^50:10Chaldea will be a prey. All who prey on her will be satisfied,” says Yahweh. ^50:11“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; ^50:12your mother will be utterly disappointed. She who bore you will be confounded. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ^50:13Because of Yahweh’s wrath she won’t be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. ^50:14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her. Spare no arrows; for she has sinned against Yahweh. ^50:15Shout against her all around. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls have been thrown down, for it is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her. ^50:16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they will each return to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. ^50:17“Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” ^50:18Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. ^50:19I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. ^50:20In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. ^50:21“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. ^50:22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. ^50:23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ^50:24I 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 fought against Yahweh. ^50:25Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. ^50:26Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. ^50:27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. ^50:28Listen to 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. ^50:29“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Pay her back 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. ^50:30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says Yahweh. ^50:31“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; “for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. ^50:32The proud one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all who are around him.” ^50:33Yahweh of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go. ^50:34Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. ^50:35“A sword is on the Chaldeans,” says Yahweh, “and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes, and on her wise men. ^50:36A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. ^50:37A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed. ^50:38A drought is on her waters, and they will be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols. ^50:39Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein; and it will be inhabited no more forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. ^50:40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. ^50:41“Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. ^50:42They take up bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. They ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. ^50:43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor. ^50:44Behold, the enemy will 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. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it; for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?” ^50:45Therefore 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 will drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. ^50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard among the nations.

^51:1Yahweh says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind. ^51:2I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her. They will empty her land; for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around. ^51:3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all her army! ^51:4They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. ^51:5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. ^51:6“Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Everyone save his own 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. ^51:7Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad. ^51:8Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed. ^51:9“We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us each go into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. ^51:10‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’ ^51:11“Make the arrows sharp! Hold the shields firmly! 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. ^51:12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ^51:13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. ^51:14Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they will lift up a shout against you.’ ^51:15“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens. ^51:16When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries. ^51:17“Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. ^51:18They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation, they will perish. ^51:19The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things; including the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name. ^51:20“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms. ^51:21With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider. ^51:22With you I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein. With you I will break in pieces man and woman. With you I will break in pieces the old man and the youth. With you I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin. ^51:23With you I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke. With you will I break in pieces governors and deputies. ^51:24“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. ^51:25“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says Yahweh, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain. ^51:26They won’t take a cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate for ever,” says Yahweh. ^51:27“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! ^51:28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion! ^51:29The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. ^51:30The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting, they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken. ^51:31One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter. ^51:32So the passages are seized. They have burned the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.” ^51:33For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “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 comes for her.” ^51:34“Nebuchadnezzar 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 mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out. ^51:35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!” the inhabitant of Zion will say; and, “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!” will Jerusalem say. ^51:36Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. ^51:37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ^51:38They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs. ^51:39When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says Yahweh. ^51:40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. ^51:41“How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ^51:42The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves. ^51:43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells. No son of man passes by it. ^51:44I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. The nations will not flow any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall. ^51:45“My people, go away from the middle of her, and each of you save yourselves from Yahweh’s fierce anger. ^51:46Don’t let your heart faint. Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land. For news will come one year, and after that in another year news will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. ^51:47Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land will be confounded. All her slain will fall in the middle of her. ^51:48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says Yahweh. ^51:49“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon. ^51:50You who have escaped the sword, go! Don’t stand still! Remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.” ^51:51“We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house.” ^51:52“Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded will groan. ^51:53Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet destroyers will come to her from me,” says Yahweh. ^51:54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! ^51:55For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice! Their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered. ^51:56For the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon. Her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces, for Yahweh is a God of retribution. He will surely repay. ^51:57I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. ^51:58Yahweh of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire. The peoples will labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they will be weary.” ^51:59The 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 quartermaster. ^51:60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ^51:61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, ^51:62and say, ‘Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ ^51:63It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates. ^51:64Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

^52:1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ^52:2He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ^52:3For through Yahweh’s anger this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ^52:4In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. ^52:5So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ^52:6In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ^52:7Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went 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 all around. The men of war went toward the Arabah, ^52:8but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ^52:9Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him. ^52:10The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He also killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. ^52:11He 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. ^52:12Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem. ^52:13He burned Yahweh’s house, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire. ^52:14All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. ^52:15Then 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. ^52:16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers. ^52:17The Chaldeans broke the pillars of brass that were in Yahweh’s house, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house in pieces, and carried all of their brass to Babylon. ^52:18They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered. ^52:19The captain of the guard took away the cups, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the spoons, and the bowls; that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver. ^52:20They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house. The brass of all these vessels was without weight. ^52:21As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow. ^52:22A capital of brass was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like these, and pomegranates. ^52:23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around. ^52:24The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold: ^52:25and 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 army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the middle of the city. ^52:26Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ^52:27The 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. ^52:28This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Jews; ^52:29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; ^52:30in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five people: all the people were four thousand six hundred. ^52:31In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and released him from prison. ^52:32He spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, ^52:33and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life. ^52:34For 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.

Lamentations

^1:1How the city sits 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 has become a slave! ^1:2She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. ^1:3Judah has 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. ^1:4The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to the solemn assembly. All her gates are desolate. Her priests sigh. Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness. ^1:5Her adversaries have become the head. Her enemies prosper; for Yahweh has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Her young children have gone into captivity before the adversary. ^1:6All majesty has departed from the daughter of Zion. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture. They have gone without strength before the pursuer. ^1:7Jerusalem 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 no one helped her. The adversaries saw her. They mocked at her desolations. ^1:8Jerusalem has grievously sinned. Therefore she has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, she sighs, and turns backward. ^1:9Her filthiness was in her skirts. She didn’t remember her latter end. Therefore she has come down astoundingly. She has no comforter. “See, Yahweh, my affliction; for the enemy has magnified himself.” ^1:10The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things; for she has seen that the nations have entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom you commanded that they should not enter into your assembly. ^1:11All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh their soul. “Look, Yahweh, and see; for I have become despised.” ^1:12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which is brought on me, with which Yahweh has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. ^1:13“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 I faint all day long. ^1:14“The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. They are knit together. They have come up on my neck. He made my strength fail. The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand. ^1:15“The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah as in a wine press. ^1:16“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.” ^1:17Zion spreads out her hands. There is no one to comfort her. Yahweh has commanded concerning Jacob, that those who are around him should be his adversaries. Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing. ^1:18“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 have gone into captivity. ^1:19“I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, while they sought food for themselves to refresh their souls. ^1:20“Look, Yahweh; for I am in distress. My heart is troubled. My heart turns over within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad, the sword bereaves. At home, it is like death. ^1:21“They have heard that I sigh. There is no one 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 will be like me. ^1:22“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.

^2:1How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth, and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. ^2:2The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. 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 its princes. ^2:3He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around. ^2:4He 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. ^2:5The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah. ^2:6He has violently taken away his tabernacle, 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. In the indignation of his anger, he has despised the king and the priest. ^2:7The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in Yahweh’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly. ^2:8Yahweh 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 lament. They languish together. ^2:9Her gates have 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. ^2:10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground. They keep silence. They have cast up dust on their heads. They have clothed themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. ^2:11My eyes 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. ^2:12They ask 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. ^2:13What 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 as big as the sea. Who can heal you? ^2:14Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to reverse your captivity, but have seen for you false revelations and causes of banishment. ^2:15All 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’?” ^2:16All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.” ^2:17Yahweh has done that which he planned. 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. ^2:18Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief. Don’t let the your eyes rest. ^2:19Arise, 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, who faint for hunger at the head of every street. ^2:20“Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? ^2:21“The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger. You have slaughtered, and not pitied. ^2:22“You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of Yahweh’s anger. My enemy has consumed those whom I have cared for and brought up.

^3:1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. ^3:2He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light. ^3:3Surely he turns his hand against me again and again all day long. ^3:4He has made my flesh and my skin old. He has broken my bones. ^3:5He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. ^3:6He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead. ^3:7He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out. He has made my chain heavy. ^3:8Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. ^3:9He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked. ^3:10He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places. ^3:11He has turned away my ways, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate. ^3:12He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. ^3:13He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys. ^3:14I have become a derision to all my people, and their song all day long. ^3:15He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood. ^3:16He has also broken my teeth with gravel. He has covered me with ashes. ^3:17You have removed my soul far away from peace. I forgot prosperity. ^3:18I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from Yahweh.” ^3:19Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness. ^3:20My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me. ^3:21This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. ^3:22It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. ^3:23They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. ^3:24“Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.” ^3:25Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. ^3:26It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh. ^3:27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. ^3:28Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him. ^3:29Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope. ^3:30Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full of reproach. ^3:31For the Lord will not cast off forever. ^3:32For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. ^3:33For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. ^3:34To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, ^3:35to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High, ^3:36to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve. ^3:37Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it? ^3:38Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High? ^3:39Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? ^3:40Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh. ^3:41Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens. ^3:42“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned. ^3:43“You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied. ^3:44You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through. ^3:45You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples. ^3:46“All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us. ^3:47Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.” ^3:48My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. ^3:49My eye pours down and doesn’t cease, without any intermission, ^3:50until Yahweh looks down, and sees from heaven. ^3:51My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city. ^3:52They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause. ^3:53They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me. ^3:54Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.” ^3:55I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon. ^3:56You heard my voice: “Don’t hide your ear from my sighing, and my cry.” ^3:57You came near in the day that I called on you. You said, “Don’t be afraid.” ^3:58Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul. You have redeemed my life. ^3:59Yahweh, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause. ^3:60You have seen all their vengeance and all their plans against me. ^3:61You have heard their reproach, Yahweh, and all their plans against me, ^3:62the lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long. ^3:63You see their sitting down and their rising up. I am their song. ^3:64You will pay them back, Yahweh, according to the work of their hands. ^3:65You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them. ^3:66You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.