Concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah,

They shall not lament for him, [saying]

Ah my brother! or, Ah sister!

They shall not lament for him, [saying]

Ah lord! or, Ah her glory!

19 With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, dragged along,

20

And cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Go up to Lebanon, and cry,

And upon Bashan lift up thy voice,

And cry from the borders;

Surely all that favour thee are broken.

21 I spake unto thee in the times of thy tranquillity,

1

Thou saidst, I will not hearken;

Such hath been thy manner from thy youth.
Because thou hast not hearkened unto my voice,

22 A blast shall carry off all thy pastors,
And thy friends shall go into captivity;

Surely then shalt thou be ashamed,

And shalt be confounded because of all thy wickedness.

23 O inhabitant of Lebanon,

That makest thy nest in cedars,

How gracious wilt thou be made, when sorrows

come upon thee,

The pain as of a woman in travail !

24 As I live, saith JEHOVAH,

Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of

Judah were

A signet upon my right hand,

Yet from thence would I pluck thee;

25 And I will deliver thee into the hand of them

that seek thy life,

And into the hand of them of whom thou art

afraid,

Even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of

Babylon,

And into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will cast thee forth,

And thy mother that bare thee,

Into a foreign land,

Where ye were not born;

And there ye shall die.

27 But unto the land whither they set their mind

on returning,

Thither shall they not return.

28 A contemptible broken idol

Is this man Coniah?

Or a vessel in which none delighteth?

Wherefore are they cast forth, he and his seed, And are thrown upon a land which they knew not? 29 O Earth! earth! earth!

Hear the word of JEHOVAн.

30 Thus saith JEHOVAH,

Write ye this man childless,

A man that shall not prosper in his days,
For none of his seed shall prosper,
Sitting upon the throne of David,
And reigning any more over Judah.

CHAP. XXIII.

1 Ho to the shepherds that destroy

And scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith JE

HOVAH.

2 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of Israel;

With regard to the shepherds that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away,

3

And have not taken care of them;

Behold I am about to visit upon you
The evil of your doings, saith JEHOVAH.

But I will gather the remnant of my flock
From all the countries whither I have driven them;
And I will bring them back to their own fold,

And they shall be fruitful and shall multiply. 4 And I will raise up shepherds over them, who shall feed them,

So that they shall not fear any more, nor be dismayed,

Nor shall they be visited, saith JEHOVAH.

Behold the days are coming, saith JEHOVAH,
That I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch,
And a King shall reign and act wisely,

And shall execute judgment and justice in the
land.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved,

And Israel shall dwell in security;

And this is the name by which JEHOVAH shall call him, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7 After this, behold, the days shall come, saith JEHOVAH,

When they shall no more say, As JEHOVAH liveth, Who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:

8 But, As JEHOVAH liveth, who brought up,

And who conducted the seed of the house of
Israel from the north country,

And from all countries whither I had driven
them,

That they might dwell in their own soil.

9

CONCERNING THE PROPHETS.

My heart is broken within me,
All my bones are shaken,

I am become like a drunken man,

And as a man whom wine hath overcome,
Because of JEHOVAH,

And because of his sacred words.

10 Surely the land is filled with adulterers;
Surely because of these the land mourneth;
The pastures of the waste are dried up;
Their will also hath been wickedness,
And their might without right.

11 Yea both the prophet and the priest have acted perversely,

Even in my house have I found their wickedness, saith JEHOVAH.

12 Therefore shall their way become as slippery plaees,

Into darkness shall they be thrust, and shall fall therein:

Surely I will bring upon them evil,

The year of their visitation, saith JEHOVAH.

13 As in the prophets of Samaria I beheld that which was disgusting;

They prophesied in the name of Baal, and caused my people Israel to err:

14 So in the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen a horrible thing;

Committing adultery and walking in falsehood;
They will also strengthen the hands of wicked
doers,

So that none will turn from his wickedness;
They are become to me all of them as Sodom,

N

And her inhabitants as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts concerning the prophets;

16

Behold I will feed them with wormwood,

And I will give them water of hemlock to drink:
Because from the prophets of Jerusalem

Perverseness is gone forth into the whole land.
Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts,

Hearken not unto the words of the prophets,
Who, instilling vain notions into you,

Utter a vision of their own heart,

Not speaking after the mouth of JEHOVAH;

17 Saying unto those that make light of the word of JEHOVAH,

Peace shall be unto you;

And whilst every one goeth after the lusts of his own heart, they have said,

Evil shall not come upon you.

18 For who hath stood in the privy council of JE

HOVAH,

And hath seen and heard the matter?

Or who hath listened to and heard his words? 19 Behold the whirlwind of JEHOVAI, it goeth forth hot,

Even a settling whirlwind, upon the head of the wicked it shall settle.

20 The anger of JEHOVAH shall not turn back, Until he hath wrought, and until he hath completed the purpose of his heart:

In the latter days ye shall understand it clearly. 21 I sent not these prophets, but they ran of themselves;

I spake not to them, but of themselves they prophesied.