Jeremiah and Lamentations

CHAP.

JEREMIAH.

THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH THE SON OF HILKIAH,

ONE OF THE PRIESTS WHO DWELT AT ANATHOTH IN

THE LAND OF BENJAMIN ; TO WHOM THE WORD OF
JEHOVAH CAME IN THE DAYS OF JOSIAH THE SON OF
AMON KING OF JUDAH, IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR
OF HIS REIGN; AND CAME IN THE DAYS OF JEHOIAKIM
THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF JUDAH, UNTIL THE

COMPLETION OF THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF ZEDEKIAH

THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF JUDAH, UNTIL THE
CARRYING AWAY OF JERUSALEM INTO CAPTIVITY IN
THE FIFTH MONTH.

EVEN the word of JEHOVAH came unto me, faying: Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the birth, I feparated thee; a prophet 6 unto the nations have I constituted thee. Then faid 1, Alas! O Lord JEHOVAH, behold, I know not how to speak; fór I am a child. And JEHOVAH faid unto me, Say not, I am a child but unto whomfoever I shall fend thee, thou shalt go; and whatsoever I shall give thee in charge, thou shalt speak. Be not thou afraid because of them; for I will be with thee to protect thee, faid JEHOVAH. And JEHOVAH put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And JEHOVAH faid unto me, 10 Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have given thee power this day over nations and over kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to overthrow; and to build, and to plant.

And the word of JEHOVAH came unto me, faying, What feeft thou, Jeremiah? And I faid, I fee a rod of an almondtree. And JEHOVAH faid unto me, Thou haft rightly feen: for I am intent upon my word to perform it. And the word of JEHOVAH came unto me a fecond time, faying, What seest thou? And I faid, I fee a pot that sendeth forth steam; and the face thereof is turned from the north. And JEHOVAH faid unto me, From the north fhall the evil iffue forth upon 15 all the inhabitants of the land. For behold I will call for all the families of the kingdoms of the north, faid JEHOVAH; and they fhall come, and fhall fet every one his throne at the entering in of the gates of Jerufalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and over all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will pronounce my judgments against them for all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incenfe unto other gods, and worshipped the work of their own hands. And as for thee, thou shalt gird up thy loins, and shalt arise, and fhalt fpeak unto them all that I shall command thee; be not thou afraid of them, left I fhould 18 fuffer thee to be crushed before them. For I, behold, I have made thee this day like a fortified city, and like a pillar of iron, and like a wall of brafs, against all this land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land: and they shall make war against thee, but they fhall not prevail against thee: for I will be with thee, faid JEHOVAH, to protect thee.

THE word of JEHOVAH came alfo unto me, faying; Go and cry in the ears of Jerufalem, faying;

THUS faith JEHOVAH, I have called to mind in thy behalf

The kindness fhewn thee in thy youth, the love of thy efpoufals,

When thou wenteft under my conduct through the wil

derness,

Through

CHAP.

II.

Through a land that was not cultivated.
Ifrael is a hallowed thing unto JEHOVAH,
The firft-fruits of his increase:

All that devour him fhall be guilty of a trefpafs,
Evil fhall come unto them, faid JEHOVAH.

Hear ye the word of JEHOVAH, O house of Jacob,
And all the families of the house of Ifrael.

Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

Who led us through the wilderness,

Through a land of wide waste, and a pit,

Through a land of drought, and of the fhadow of death,
Through a land which no man passed through,

And where no human being dwelt ?

I brought you also unto a land of fruitful field,
To eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof;
But when ye were come in, ye defiled my land,
And mine heritage ye made an abomination.
The priests said not, Where is JEHOVAH?

And they that were verfed in the law knew me not;
The pastors also rebelled against me;

And the prophets prophesied in the name of Baal,
And walked after things that could not profit.

Therefore I will yet plead with you, faith JEHOVAH,
And with your childrens children will I plead.

For pass over unto the countries of Chittim, and fee;
And send ye to Kedar, and inform yourselves well;
And take notice, if there hath been fuch a thing as this.
Hath a nation changed Gods, even those that were no Gods?
But my people hath changed their glory for that which can-
not profit.

The heavens are astonished at this, and horribly afraid,
They are shocked exceedingly, faith JEHOVAH.

For my people have done two wicked things:

Me they have forfaken, a fountain of living waters;

And they have hewed out for themselves broken cifterns,
Which will not hold water.

Is Ifrael a flave? Or if a child of the household,
Wherefore is he exposed to spoil?

Against him lions shall roar;

They have lifted up the voice,

And have made his land a defolation;

His cities are burned fo as to be without an inhabitant.

The fons also of Noph and Tahpanhes shall bruise the crown of thy head.

Shall not this be done unto thee,

Because thou haft forfaken JEHOVAH thy God,

At the time that he led thee in the way?

And now what haft thou to do in the way of Egypt,

To drink the waters of Sihor?

Or what haft thou to do in the way of Affyria,

To drink the waters of the river [Euphrates]?

Thine adverfity shall chaften thee, and bring thee to a sense

of thy backflidings;

Know alfo and perceive, that it is a thing evil and bitter,
That thou haft forfaken JEHOVAH thy God,

And that the fear of me is not with thee,

Saith the Lord JEHOVAH of hofts.

Surely of a long time thou haft broken thy yoke,

Thou hast burst thy bands, and haft faid, I will not be in fubjection:

For upon every high hill,

And under every green tree,

Will I prostitute myself, playing the harlot.

And though I had planted thee a vine of Sorek,
Altogether a feed of a genuine quality;

Yet

Yet how do I find thee changed!
Depart, O vine of spurious growth.
For though thou wash thee with nitre,
And take unto thee much fope,

Thine iniquity is marked with a blot before me,
Saith the Lord JEHOVAH.

How canft thou fay, I am not polluted,

After Baalim have I not gone?

Behold thy ways in the valley;

Acknowledge what thou haft done.

A fleet dromedary, that hath taken to company with her
A wild afs accustomed to the wilderness,

In the defire of her foul fnuffeth up the wind;

In her occafion who can turn her afide?

None will weary themfelves in seeking her;
When her heat is over, they will find her.
Keep back thy foot from being unshod,
And thy throat from thirst.

But thou haft faid, It is paft remedy. No;
For I have loved ftrangers,

And after them will I go.

As a thief is ashamed when he is taken :

So have the house of Ifrael been put to shame,

They, their kings,' and their princes,

And their priests, and their prophets :

Who fay to a piece of wood, Thou art my father;

And to a ftone, Thou haft brought me forth;

Surely they have turned unto me the back, and not the face;

But in the time of their trouble they will fay, Arise, and

fave us.

But where are thy gods, whom thou haft made for thyself? Let them arife, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble:

For according to the number of thy cities

Have been thy gods, O Judah.

To what end will ye enter into controversy with me?

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Jeremiah and Lamentations: A New Translation; with Notes Critical ...