Jeremiah 21-24
Young's Literal Translation
21 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the king Zedekiah's sending unto him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 `Inquire, we pray thee, for us at Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath fought against us; perhaps Jehovah doth deal with us according to all His wonders, and doth cause him to go up from off us.'
3 And Jeremiah saith unto them, `Thus do ye say unto Zedekiah,
4 Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That [are] in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city,
5 And I -- I have fought against you, With a stretched-out hand, and with a strong arm, And in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath,
6 And I have smitten the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast, By a great pestilence do they die.
7 And after this -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those left in this city, From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy.
8 And unto this people thou dost say, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am setting before you the way of life, And the way of death!
9 Whoso is abiding in this city -- dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you -- liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil.
10 For I have set My face against this city for evil, And not for good -- an affirmation of Jehovah. Into the hand of the king of Babylon it is given, And he hath burned it with fire.
11 And as to the house of the king of Judah, Hear ye a word of Jehovah;
12 O house of David, thus said Jehovah: Decide ye judgment at morning, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth as fire, And hath burned, and none is quenching, Because of the evil of your doings.
13 Lo, I [am] against thee -- an affirmation of Jehovah, O inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain, Who are saying, Who cometh down against us? And who cometh into our habitations?
14 And I have laid a charge against you, According to the fruit of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have kindled a fire in its forest, And it hath consumed -- all its suburbs!
22 Thus said Jehovah, `Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah, and thou hast spoken there this word, and hast said,
2 Hear a word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting on the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who are coming in at these gates,
3 Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place.
4 For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people.
5 And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.
6 For thus said Jehovah, Concerning the house of the king of Judah: Gilead [art] thou to Me -- head of Lebanon, If not -- I make thee a wilderness, Cities not inhabited.
7 And I have separated for thee destroyers, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of thy cedars, And have cast them on the fire.
8 And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?
9 And they have said, `Because that they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.'
10 Ye do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, Weep ye sore for the traveller, For he doth not return again, Nor hath he seen the land of his birth.
11 For thus said Jehovah concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of Josiah his father, who hath gone forth from this place: He doth not turn back hither again;
12 For in the place whither they have removed him he dieth, And this land he doth not see again.
13 Wo to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, On his neighbour he layeth service for nought, And his wage he doth not give to him.
14 Who is saying, `I build for myself a large house, And airy upper chambers,' And he hath cut out for himself its windows, Ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermillion.
15 Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father -- did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then [it is] well with him.
16 He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then [it is] well -- is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.
18 Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: They do not lament for him, Ah, my brother, and Ah, sister, They do not lament for him, Ah, lord, and Ah, his honour.
19 The burial of an ass -- he is buried, Dragged and cast out thence to the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry, And in Bashan give forth thy voice, And cry from Abarim, For destroyed have been all loving thee.
21 I have spoken unto thee in thine ease, Thou hast said, `I do not hearken,' This [is] thy way from thy youth, For thou hast not hearkened to My voice.
22 All thy friends consume doth wind, And thy lovers into captivity do go, Surely then thou art ashamed, And hast blushed for all thy wickedness.
23 O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain -- as of a travailing woman.
24 I live -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah Were a seal on My right hand, Surely thence I draw thee away,
25 And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I have cast thee, And thy mother who bore thee, unto another country, Where ye were not born, and there do ye die.
27 And to the land whither they are lifting up their soul to return, Thither they do not return.
28 A grief -- a despised broken thing -- is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not?
29 Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of Jehovah,
30 Thus said Jehovah: Write ye this man childless, A man -- he doth not prosper in his days, For none of his seed doth prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling again in Judah!
23 Wo to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Jehovah.
2 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah.
3 And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.
4 And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
5 Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, `Our Righteousness.'
7 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they do not say any more, Jehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
8 But -- Jehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!
9 In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man -- a drunkard, And as a man -- wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words.
10 For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might -- not right.
11 For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah.
12 Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.
13 And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people -- Israel -- to err.
14 And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me -- all of them -- as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
16 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.
17 Saying diligently to those despising The word of Jehovah: Peace is for you, And [to] every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you.
18 For who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah, And seeth and heareth His word? Who hath regarded My word, and hearkeneth?
19 Lo, a whirlwind of Jehovah -- Fury hath gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth.
20 The anger of Jehovah doth not turn back Till His doing, and till His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days ye attend to it With understanding.
21 I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken unto them, and they have prophesied.
22 But -- if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings.
23 A God near [am] I -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And not a God afar off?
24 Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Jehovah.
25 I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, `I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'
26 Till when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, Yea, prophets of the deceit of their heart,
27 Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
28 The prophet with whom [is] a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom [is] My word, Let him truly speak My word. What -- to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.
29 Is it not thus? My word [is] as a fire, An affirmation of Jehovah. And as a hammer -- it breaketh in pieces a rock.
30 Therefore, lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Stealing My words each from his neighbour.
31 Lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm -- an affirmation.
32 Lo, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I -- I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Jehovah.
33 And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What [is] the burden of Jehovah? Then thou hast said unto them: Ye [are] the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Jehovah.
34 And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Jehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house.
35 Thus do ye say each unto his neighbour, And each unto his brother: What hath Jehovah answered? And what hath Jehovah spoken?
36 And the burden of Jehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is -- His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God.
37 Thus dost thou say unto the prophet What hath Jehovah answered thee? And what hath Jehovah spoken?
38 And if the burden of Jehovah ye say, Therefore thus said Jehovah: Because of your saying this word, The burden of Jehovah, And I do send unto you, saying, Ye do not say, The burden of Jehovah.
39 Therefore, lo, I -- I have taken you utterly away, And I have sent you out, And the city that I gave to you, And to your fathers, from before My face,
40 And I have put on you reproach age-during, And shame age-during that is not forgotten!
24 Jehovah hath shewed me, and lo, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of Jehovah, -- after the removing by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the heads of Judah, and the artizan, and the smith, from Jerusalem, when he bringeth them into Babylon --
2 In the one basket [are] figs very good, like the first-ripe figs, and in the other basket [are] figs very bad, that are not eaten for badness.
3 And Jehovah saith unto me, `What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' and I say, `Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten for badness.'
4 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:
5 Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Like these good figs so do I acknowledge The removed of Judah -- that I sent from this place, [To] the land of the Chaldeans -- for good.
6 And I have set Mine eyes on them for good, And have brought them back to this land, And built them up, and I throw not down, And have planted them, and pluck not up.
7 And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I [am] Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.
8 And like the bad figs, that are not eaten for badness, Surely thus said Jehovah: So do I make Zedekiah king of Judah, And his heads, and the remnant of Jerusalem, Who are left in this land, And who are dwelling in the land of Egypt,
9 And I have given them for a trembling, For evil -- to all kingdoms of the earth, For a reproach, and for a simile, For a byword, and for a reviling, In all the places whither I drive them.
10 And I have sent against them the sword, The famine and the pestilence, Till their consumption from off the ground, That I gave to them and to their fathers!
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