gift to the Lord with horses, and cha- and your name continue. 23 And it riots, in litters drawn by mules with shall come to pass from month to awnings, to the holy city Jerusalem, month, and from sabbath to sabbath, said the Lord, as though the children of Israel should bring their sacrifices to me with psalms into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will take of them priests and Levites, says the Lord. 22 For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make, remain before me says the Lord, so shall your seed that all flesh shall come to worship before me in Jerusalem, says the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth, and see the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh. JEREMIAS. CHAPTER I. VERSES 1—15. 1. THE word of God which came | stretched forth his hand to me, and to Jeremias the son of Chelcias, of the touched my mouth: and the Lord said priests, who dwelt in Anathoth in the to me, Behold, I have put my words land of Benjamin: 2 accordingly as the into thy mouth. 10 Behold, I have word of God came to him in the days appointed thee this day over nations of Josias son of Amos king of Juda, and over kingdoms, to root out, and in the thirteenth year of his reign. to pull down, and to destroy, and to 3 And it was in the days of Joakim rebuild, and to plant. son of Josias king of Juda, until the eleventh year of Sedekias king of Juda, even until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee; I appointed thee a prophet to the nations. And I said, O Lord, thou +See Hebrew. that art supreme Lord, behold, I know not how to speak, for I am a child. And the Lord said to me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all to whomsoever I shall send thee, and according to all the words that I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid before them: for I am with thee to deliver thee, says the Lord. And the Lord 6 9 11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, What seest thou? And I said, A rod of an almond + or, rather, tree. 12 And the Lord said nut-tree. to me, Thou hast well seen: for I have watched over my words to perform them. 13 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, A caldron on the fire; and the face of it is toward the north. 14 And the Lord said to me, From the north shall flame forth evils upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, behold, I call together all the kingdoms of the earth from the north, says the Lord; and they shall come, and shall set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls round about her, and against all the + + 19 + Qy. the image + Heb. & Alex. cities of Juda. 16 And I will speak to and the prophets prophesied by * Baal, them in judgment, concerning all their and went after that which + Gr. Note, iniquity, forasmuch as they have for-profited not. Therefore I fem. gender. saken me, and sacrificed to strange will yet plead with you, of Baal? gods, and worshipped the works of and will plead with your + says the their own hands. 17 And do thou gird children's children. 10 For Lord." up thy loins, and stand up, and speak go to the isles of the Chettians, and all the words that I shall command thee: see; and send to Kedar, and observe be not afraid of their face, neither be accurately, and see if such things have thou alarmed before them; for I am been done; 11*if the nations + or, will the with thee to deliver thee, says the will change their gods, nations, &c. + Gr. set. Lord. 18 Behold, I have made though they are not gods: but my thee this day as a strong city, and as people have changed their glory, for a brazen wall, strong against all the that from which they shall not be prokings of Juda, and the princes thereof, fited. 12 The heaven is amazed at this, and the people of the land. And and is very exceedingly horror-struck, they shall fight against thee; but they says the Lord. 13 For my people has shall by no means prevail against thee; committed two faults, and evil ones: because I am with thee, to deliver thee, they have forsaken me, the fountain of says the Lord. water of life, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water. 14 Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? why has he become a spoil? 15 The lions roared upon him, and uttered their voice, which have made his land a wilderness: and his cities are broken down, that they should not be in-habited. 16 Also the children of Memphis and Taphnas have known thee, and mocked thee. 17 Has not thy forsaking me brought these things upon thee? says the Lord thy God. 18 And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Geon? and what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of rivers? 19 Thine apostasy shall correct thee, and thy wickedness shall reprove thee: know then, and see, that thy forsaking me has been bitter to thee, says the Lord thy God; and I have taken no pleasure in thee, says the Lord thy God. 20 For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, and plucked asunder thy bands; and thou hast said, E.V. follows I will not serve thee, but will go upon every high with LXX. hill, and under every shady Lit. Bespread tree, there will I indulge live loosely. in my fornication. 21 Yet I planted tion. 2. And he said, Thus says the Lord, + Gr. mercy. I remember the kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine +q.d. dedica- espousals, 3 in following the Holy One of Israel, says the Lord. Israel was the holy people to the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase: all that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, says the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord, What trespass have your fathers found in me, that they have revolted far from me, and gone after vanities, and become vain? 6 And they said not, Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land † Gr. οὐθὲν. which no man at all went through, and no man dwelt there? And I brought you to Carmel, that ye should eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof; and ye went in, and defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held by the law knew me not: the shepherds also sinned against me, אעבור,the Keri See margin which agrees abroad, q. d. gender. + See chap. 19. 2; also Ezek. 39. 11. Heb. valley, that of Hin nom. a man, vid. ceedingly thee a fruitful vine, 'entirely of the right | wilderness or a dry land to Israel? + Gr. all true. sort: how art thou a strange wherefore has my people said, We vine turned into bitterness! 22 Though will not be ruled over, and we will not thou shouldest wash thyself with nitre, come to thee any more? 32 Will a and multiply to thyself soap, still thou bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin art stained by thine iniquities before her girdle? but my people Gr.the girdle me, says the Lord. 23 How wilt thou has forgotten me days with- of her bosom. say, I am not polluted, and have not out number. 33 What fair device wilt + Note fem. gone after 'Baal? behold thou yet employ in thy ways, so as to thy ways in the burial- seek love? it shall not be so; moreover ground and know what thou thou hast done wickedly in corrupting hast done: her voice has thy ways; 34 and in thine hands has i. e. probably howled in the evening: 24 she been found the blood of innocent souls; has extended her ways over I have not found them in holes, but the waters of the desert; she was hur- on every oak. 35 Yet thou + q.d. by diliried along by the lusts of her soul; saidst, I am innocent, only gent search. she is given up to them, who will turn let his wrath be turned away from me. her back? none that seek her shall be 36 Behold, I will plead with thee, weary; at the time of her humiliation whereas thou sayest, I have not sinned. they shall find her. 25 Withdraw thy 37 For thou hast been so ex- + Or, more lit. foot from a rough way, and thy throat ceedingly contemptuous as thou hast ex+Gr. act like from thirst: but she said, 'I to repeat thy ways; but scorned to rechap. 18. 12. will strengthen myself: for thou shalt be ashamed of peat.' she loved strangers, and went after Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assur. them. 26 As is the shame of a thief For thou shalt go forth thence also, when he is caught, so shall the children with thine hands upon thine head; for of Israel be ashamed; they, and their the Lord has rejected thine hope, and kings, and their princes, and their thou shalt not prosper in it. priests, and their prophets. 27 They said to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast begotten me: and they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: yet in the time of their afflictions they will say, Arise, and save us. 28 And where are thy gods, which thou madest for thyself? will they arise and save in the time of thine affliction? for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal. 29 Wherefore do ye speak to me? ye all have been ungodly, and ye all have transgressed against me, says the Lord. 30 In vain have I smitten your children; ye have not received correction: a sword has devoured your prophets as a destroying lion; yet ye feared not. 31 Hear ye the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Have I been a 3. If a man put away his wife, and she depart from him, and become another man's, shall she return to him any more at all? shall not that woman be utterly defiled? yet thou hast gone a-whoring with many shepherds, and hast returned to me, says the Lord. 2 Lift up thine eyes to look +Gr.eis evbeîav. straight forward, and see where thou hast not been utterly defiled. Thou hast sat for them by the wayside as a deserted crow, and hast defiled the land with thy fornications and thy wickedness. And thou didst retain many shepherds for a stumbling-block to thyself: thou hadst a whore's face, thou didst become shameless towards all. Hast thou not called me as it were a home, and the father and guide of thy virgin-time? See Heb. also Will God's anger continue for ever, or be preserved to the end? 4 + other similar passages. 4. α. ἔτλης. Behold, thou hast spoken and done these | One of Israel: it shall not come to +Or, the heart, bad things, and 'hadst power mind; it shall not be named; neither 6 to do them. And the Lord shall it be visited; nor shall such a said to me in the days of Josias the thing be done 17 In those any more. king, Hast thou seen what things the days, and at that time they shall call house of Israel has done to me? they Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and have gone on every high mountain, all the nations shall be gathered to it: and under every shady tree, and have and they shall not walk any more after committed fornication there. And I the imaginations of their evil heart. said after she had committed all these 18 In those days the house of Juda acts of fornication, Turn again to me. shall come together to the house of Yet she returned not. And faithless Israel, and they shall come, together, Juda saw her faithlessness. 8 And I from the land of the north, and from saw that (for all the sins of which she all the countries, to the land, which I was convicted, wherein the house of caused their fathers to inherit. 19 And Israel committed adultery, and I put I said, So be it, Lord, for thou saidst, her away, and gave into her hands a I will set thee among children, and bill of divorcement,) yet faithless Juda will give thee a choice land, the infeared not, but went and herself also heritance of the Almighty God of the committed fornication. And her for- Gentiles: and I said, Ye shall call me nication was nothing accounted of; and Father; and ye shall not turn away she committed adultery with wood and from me. 20 But as a wife acts treachstone. 10 And for all these things faith-erously against her husband, so has the less Juda turned not to me with all her house of Israel dealt treacherously heart, but falsely. 11 And the Lord against me, says the Lord. 21 A voice said to me, Israel has justified himself more than faithless Juda. 14 12 Go and read these words toward the north, and thou shalt say, Return to me, O house of Israel, says the Lord; and I will not set my face against you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not be angry with you for ever. 13 Nevertheless, know thine iniquity, that thou hast sinned against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every shady tree, but thou didst not hearken to my voice, says the Lord. Turn, ye children that have revolted, says the Lord; for +Examine Heb. I will rule over you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you in to Sion: 15 and I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they shall certainly tend you with knowledge. 16 And it shall come to pass that 'when + Gr. if. ye are multiplied and increased upon the land, says the Lord, in those days they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Holy from the lips was heard, even of weep- 4. If Israel will return to me, says the Lord, he shall return: and if he will remove his abominations out of 16 shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots his mouth, and fear before me, and swear, 2 the Lord lives, with truth, in judgment and righteousness, then shall + Gr. in him. nations bless by him, and by him they shall praise God in Jerusalem. For thus says the Lord to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Break up fresh ground for yourselves, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise your hardness of heart, ye men of Juda, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my wrath go forth as fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your devices. 5 Declare ye in Juda, and let it be heard in Jerusalem: say ye, Sound the trumpet in the land; cry ye aloud: say ye, Gather yourselves together, and let us enter into the fortified cities. Gather up your wares and flee to Sion: hasten, stay not: for I will bring evils from the north, and 19 I am pained in my bowels, my great destruction. The lion is gone bowels, and the sensitive powers of my up from his lair, he has roused himself heart; my soul is in great commotion, to the destruction of the nations, and my heart is torn: I will not be silent, has gone forth out of his place, to make for my soul has heard the sound of a the land desolate; and the cities shall trumpet, the cry of war, and of deep be destroyed, so as to be without in- distress: it calls on destruction; 20 for habitant. For these things gird your- all the land is distressed: suddenly my selves with sackclothes, and lament, tabernacle is distressed, my curtains and howl: for the anger of the Lord have been rent asunder. 21 How long is not turned away from you. And shall I see fugitives, and hear the sound. it shall come to pass in that day, says of the trumpet? 22 For the princes of the Lord, that the heart of the king my people have not known me, they are shall perish, and the heart of the foolish and unwise children: they are princes; and the priests shall be amazed, wise to do evil, but how to do good they and the prophets shall wonder. 10 And have not known. 23I looked upon the I said, O sovereign Lord, verily thou earth, and, behold, it was not; and to hast greatly deceived this people and the sky and there was no light in it. Jerusalem, saying, There shall be peace; 24 I beheld the mountains, and they whereas behold, the sword has reached trembled, and I saw all the hills in even to their soul. 11 At that time commotion. 25 I looked, and, behold, they shall say to this people and to there was no man, and all the birds of Jerusalem, There is a spirit of error in the sky were scared. 26 I saw, and, the wilderness: the way of the daughter behold, Carmel was desert, and all the of my people is not to purity, nor to cities were burnt with fire at the presence + Gr. fulness, holiness. 12 But a spirit of 'full of the Lord, and at the presence of his fierce anger they were utterly devengeance shall come upon me; and now will I declare my judg-stroyed. 27 Thus says the Lord, The ments against them. Behold, he whole land shall be desolate; but I will or,accomplish ment. 13 |