ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply; and Yahweh thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whither thou goest over Jordan to possess it.

I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love Yahweh thy God, that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him. For He is thy life and the length of thy days. That thou mayest dwell in the land which Yahweh sware unto thy fathers, unto Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them.

APPENDIX BY A LATER WRITER, OR POSSIBLY BY D. HIMSELF AS EDITOR OF THE ORATION

(Ch. xxxi, 9-13.)

[And Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi which bare the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying: At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel is come to appear before Yahweh thy God in the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and children, and the stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, which have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over to possess it.]

SECOND APPENDIX, MUCH LATER
(Ch. xxxi, 1-8.)

[And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel, and said unto them: I am an hundred and twenty years old this day. I can no more go out and come in; also Yahweh hath said unto me: Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. Yahweh thy God, He will go over before thee; He will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them. And Joshua shall go over before thee, as Yahweh hath said. And Yahweh shall do unto them as He did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them whom He destroyed. And Yahweh shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. Be strong and of a good courage; fear not, nor be affrighted by them, for Yahweh thy God is He that goeth with thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel: Be strong and of a good courage; for thou shalt go with this people into the land which Yahweh hath promised unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And Yahweh, He it is that goeth before thee. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed.]

A.

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

FIRST BOOKLET

THE CALL OF JEREMIAH (c. 627 B.C.)
(Jer. i, 4-14)1

The word of Yahweh came unto me, saying:

Before I found thee in the belly, I knew thee;

Before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee;

I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Then said I: Ah, God Yahweh, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But Yahweh said: Say not unto Me, I am a child; for thou shalt go to all to whom I shall send thee; and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee. Then Yahweh put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And Yahweh said unto me:

Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and kingdoms
To root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down,

To build and to plant.

Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a twig of an almond-tree. Then said Yahweh unto me: Thou hast well seen; for I will hasten My word to perform it.

And the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a seething pot, and the face of it is from the north. Then Yahweh said unto me:

Evil breaketh forth from the north on all who dwell upon earth;
For lo, I call upon all peoples of the kingdoms of the north.
They shall come, and each shall set up his throne
Before the gates of Jerusalem,

Against all her walls round about, and all the cities of Judah.
I will utter My judgments against them for all their offenses,
In that they have forsaken Me and burned incense to alien gods,
And have bowed themselves down to worship

The works of their own hands.

Now gird up thy loins and arise
And say to them all that I bid thee.
Be not dismayed before them,

Lest I confound thee before them,

For lo, I make thee this day a fortress, an iron pillar

And brazen walls against all the land, the kings of Judah

1 Native editor's preface (Ch. i, 1-3.) "The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin; to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, unto the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away captive of Jerusalem in the fifth month."

And the princes thereof, and against the priests thereof
And her common people.

And they shall fight against thee, but shall not overcome thee,
For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith Yahweh.

B. JEREMIAH'S FIRST DISCOURSE (c. 625 B.C.)
(Ch. ii, 2-13, 20-37; iii, 1-5)

Thus saith Yahweh:

I remember the piety of thy youth,
Thy following Me in the wilderness,
Israel was dedicated to Yahweh,

the love of thine espousals,
the uncultivated land.
the first-fruits of His care.

All that molest him shall be held guilty;
Evil shall come upon them, saith Yahweh.

Hear the word of Yahweh, O House of Jacob,
All the families of the House of Israel!

What iniquities have your fathers found in Me
That they removed themselves far from Me?

And have not said: Where is Yahweh that brought us up
Out of the land of Egypt,

Our Leader through the wilderness, the land of deserts and pits,
The land of drought and of terror, a land traversed by none,
And no man dwelt therein?

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and goodness,
But when ye entered, ye defiled My land

And made Mine heritage an abomination.

The priests said not: Where is Yahweh?
They that handle the law knew Me not; the rulers
Transgressed against Me;

The prophets prophesied by Baal, and bowed to gods that help not.
Therefore, I will yet plead with you, with your sons' sons will I plead.
For, pass over the Isles of Chittim, and see!

Send now to Kedar, and closely consider

Whether ever a thing like this hath been.

Hath any nation changed its gods, though no gods they were?
But My people have changed its glory for what profiteth not!
Be astonished at this, ye heavens! Yea, shudder and be amazed!

For My people have committed two evils;

Me have they forsaken, the fountain of living waters,

And hewed them out wells, broken wells, which hold no water.

In the old days I broke thy yoke, I pulled off thy fetters.
And thou saidst: I will not transgress;

Yet upon every high hill and under every leafy tree
Thou hast bowed down, playing the harlot.

Yet I planted thee a noble vine, altogether of noble seed;
How art thou changed!—to a degenerate plant to Me unknown;
For though thou wash thee with potash, and use much soap,
Still thine iniquity is recorded before Me, saith Yahweh.

How canst thou say: I am not defiled,
After Baalim have I not gone!

See thy path in the valley; know what thou hast done.
Thou art a swift young camel, traversing her ways,
A wild ass of the wilderness in the flush of her craving;

She snuffeth up the scent of her desire;

Who shall restrain her?

Let not those that seek her weary themselves;

In her month they shall find her.

Save thy foot from being unshod, thy throat from thirst.
But thou saidest: There is no hope, for I have loved aliens
And after them will I go.

As a thief is ashamed when he is caught, so is the House of Israel.
They, their kings, their nobles, their priests and prophets;
Who say to a tree: Thou art my father!

To a stone: Thou hast brought me forth.

For their back they have turned to Me, and not their faces.
Yet, in the time of trouble, they will say:

Arise, and save me!

Now, where are thy gods, that thou madest for thyself?
Let them arise in the time of thy trouble

If they can save thee;

For, as the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah!

Why do ye strive against Me?

Ye have all transgressed against Me.

In vain do I smite your children, they accept no correction.
Your own sword hath slain your prophets, like a ravening lion.
And ye were not afraid!

Hear, now, the words of Yahweh!

Have I been a desert to Israel? a land of utter darkness?
Then why say My people: We will rule ourselves;
We will come no more to Thee?

Will a maiden forget her adornments,
Yet My people have forgotten Me,

How hath it profited, thy way of
Whereby thou hast taught thyself
Yea, on thy hands is found

or a bride her girdle? days without number. seeking love?

the ways of wickedness. the blood of the guiltless;

Not only on law-breakers is it found,
But upon all these people.

Yet sayest thou: Surely His anger is turned away from me;
I am innocent.

Behold I condemn thee, because thou hast said:
I have not sinned.

How greatly dost thou cheapen thyself,-to change thy way!
Through Egypt shalt thou be shamed, as thou wast by Ashur.
From this one, too, shalt thou go forth,

Thy hands upon thy head.

For Yahweh hath rejected those thou dost trust in,
Nor shalt thou thrive by them.

If a man put away his wife,

and she have belonged to another, Shall he turn to her again? Is she not greatly polluted? Yet thou hast played the harlot with many lovers,

And wouldst thou return unto Me?

Lift thine eyes to the high places, and see!
Where hast thou not embraced them?

On the roads hast thou embraced them

As an Arab in the wilderness.

Thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotry and thy crimes.
Thine is the forehead of an abandoned woman,

Thou hast refused to be ashamed.

Dost thou not, even now, call Me, Father? saying:
"The guide of my youth art Thou!"
Behold, thus thou speakest,

And doest wicked deeds when thou canst.

C. A PROPHECY OF A SCYTHIAN INVASION (C 625 B.C.)
(Ch. iv, 3-31; v, 1-31; vi, 1-30)

Thus saith Yahweh to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

Break up your fallow ground, Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh;

and sow not among thorns.
put away uncleanness

From among you.

Lest My wrath go forth like a fire and burn,
And there be no quenching it,
Because of the wickedness of your deeds.

Declare in Judah, announce in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet in the land! Cry aloud, help each other, Get together; say: Let us go to the fortified cities; Raise the standard towards Zion, flee in haste, stay not! For calamity cometh from the north and a great destruction.

A lion hath risen from his lair, a destroyer of nations
Hath broken camp, gone forth from his place to make
Thy land desolate.

To lay thy cities waste,

For this, gird you with sackcloth,

without an inhabitant.
lament and wail,

For the fierce anger of Yahweh is not turned from us.

In that day, the heart of the king shall fail,

And the heart of the princes,

And the priests shall be appalled, the prophets struck with awe.
Then shall they say: Alas, O God Yahweh,

Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying:
Ye shall have peace.

Whereas the sword pierceth to our soul.

At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem:

(My anguish! my anguish! I writhe; the walls of my heart are racked,' "Having heretofore spoken as the mouthpiece of Yahweh, the young prophet is here overcome by the purport of his message, and pours forth his own anguish over the coming

woe.