19

20

Hast thou altogether rejected Judah?

Hath thy soul abhorred Sion?

Wherefore hast thou smitten us, and we have no remedy?

We look for peace, and there is no good,

For a time of healing, and behold terror?
We acknowledge, O JEHOVAH, our wickedness,
And the iniquity of our fathers;

For we have sinned against thee.

21 Spurn us not for thy name's sake,

Dishonour not the throne of thy glory;

Call to mind, annul not thy covenant with us. 22 Are there among the vanities of the heathen any that can cause rain?

1

Or can the heavens give showers?

Art not thou He, O JEHOVAH our God?
And we have looked up to thee,

Because thou hast done all these things.

CHAP. XV.

THEN said JEHOVAH unto me;

Though Moses or Samuel should stand before me, My soul would not be moved in favour of this people;

Send them away from before me, and let them depart.

2 And it shall be, when they shall say unto thee, Whither shall we depart?

Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith JEHO

VAH;

They that are for death, unto death;

And they that are for the sword, unto the sword;
And they that are for famine, unto famine;
And they that are for captivity, unto captivity.

3 And I will commission against them four species, saith JEHOVAH;

The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag about, And the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth,

To devour and to destroy.

4 And I will give them up to vexation in all kingdoms of the earth,

On account of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah,

Because of all that he did in Jerusalem.

5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? Or who shall condole with thee?

Or who shall turn aside to solicit for thy welfare? 6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith JEHOVAH,

Thou wilt go backward:

Therefore have I stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee.

7 I am weary of forbearing them; therefore I have scattered them with a van;

With my whirlwind have I rendered the land childless;

I have destroyed my people;

From their ways have they not returned.

8 Their widows have been multiplied by me beyond the sand of the sea,

I have brought against their mother a chosen one, spoiling at noonday;

I have caused to fall upon her suddenly an enemy and terrors.

9 She that hath born seven is become feeble,

She hath given up the ghost;

Her sun is gone down while it is yet day;
She is ashamed and confounded;

10.

11

And their remnant will I give to the sword
Before the face of their enemies, saith JEHOVAH,

Wo unto me, O my mother!

For thou hast born me a man of strife,

And a man of contention throughout the whole
land;

Yet have I neither lent on usury, nor have they
taken usury
of me.

They have reviled me all of them, said JEнO

VAH;

Have I not brought thee off advantageously?

Have I not stood by thee in time of evil, And in time of distress against the enemy? 12 Shall he break iron in pieces,

Iron from the north, and brass?

13 Thy substance, and thy treasures, will I give for spoil,

Not for price, but for all thy sins, even in all thy borders:

14 And I will cause [them] to pass with thine enemies into a land thou hast not known;

15

Because a fire is kindled in mine anger that shall burn upon you.

THOU hast known, O JEHOVAH, remember me, And visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; Within the length of thine anger comprehend me not;

Know that for thy sake I have undergone reproach, 16 Thy words were found, and I entertained them; And thy commission was joy to me, and the delight of my heart:

Because I was called by thy name,

O JEHOVAH, God of hosts.

17 I have not sat in the assembly of those that make

merry;

Neither have I rejoiced because of thy hand;
I sat solitary, because thou filledst me with indig-

nation.

18 Wherefore hath my grief been unremitting? And my wound mortal, refusing to be healed? Wilt thou be altogether unto me

19

As the lying of waters that are not sure?

Whereupon thus said JEHOVAH,

If thou wilt turn when I turn thee, thou shalt stand before me;

And if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth;

These shall turn to thee,

And thou shalt not turn to them.

20 And I will make thee against this people a strong wall of brass;

When they shall war against thee, they shall not prevail over thee;

For I will be with thee to save thee,

And to deliver thee, saith JEHOVAH.

21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of wick

2

ed men,

And I will rescue thee out of the grasp of formidable ones.

CHAP. XVI.

THE WORD Or Jehovah CAME ALSO UNTO ME, SAYING,

Thou shalt not take unto thee a wife,

Neither shall there be unto thee sons and daughters in this place.

3 For thus saith JEHOVAH;

As concerning the sons and concerning the daughters,

Those that are born in this place;

And concerning their mothers that bare them, And concerning their fathers that beget them, in this land;

4 They shall die of mortal diseases,

5

They shall not be lamented nor buried,

They shall be for dung upon the face of the ground;

By sword also and by famine shall they be consumed;

And their carcases shall be for meat

Unto the fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

Surely thus said JEHOVAH;

Enter not into the house of mourning,

Neither go to one that lamenteth,

Nor condole with them;

For I have withdrawn my peace from this people, saith JEHOVAH,

Loving-kindness and tender mercies.

6 And they shall die, great and small, in this land, They shall not be buried nor lamented,

No one shall cut himself for them,

Nor shall any one make himself bald for them. 7 Neither shall men break bread among them,

8

On account of a mourner, to comfort him over a deceased [friend];

Nor shall men make them drink of the cup of
consolations,

Because of one's father, or because of one's mother.
Also enter not into the house of feasting,

To sit down with them to eat and to drink.

9 For thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of

Israel;