10 Hear ye the word, O house of Israel, That Jehovah hath spoken for you.

² Thus said Jehovah: Unto the way of the nations accustom not yourselves, And by the signs of the heavens be not affrighted, For the nations are affrighted by them.

³ For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe,

⁴ With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble.

⁵ As a palm they [are] stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them.

⁶ Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great [art] Thou, and great Thy name in might.

⁷ Who doth not fear Thee, king of the nations? For to Thee it is becoming, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom there is none like Thee.

⁸ And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself.

⁹ Spread-out silver from Tarshish is brought, And gold from Uphaz, Work of an artizan, and of the hands of a refiner, Blue and purple [is] their clothing, Work of the skilful -- all of them.

¹⁰ And Jehovah [is] a God of truth, He [is] a living God, and a king age-during, From His wrath shake doth the earth, And nations endure not His indignation.

¹¹ Thus do ye say to them, The gods Who the heavens and earth have not made, They do perish from the earth, And from under these heavens.

¹² The maker of the earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who, by His understanding, stretched forth the heavens,

¹³ At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters [is] in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And bringeth out wind from His treasures.

¹⁴ Brutish is every man by knowledge, Put to shame is every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image. And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵ Vanity [are] they, work of erring ones, In the time of their inspection they perish.

¹⁶ Not like these [is] the Portion of Jacob, For framer of all things [is] He, And Israel [is] the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

¹⁷ Gather from the land thy merchandise, O dweller in the bulwark,

¹⁸ For thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, And have been an adversary to them, So that they are found out.

¹⁹ Wo to me for my breaking, Grievious hath been my smiting, And I said, Only, this [is] my sickness, and I bear it.

²⁰ My tent hath been spoiled, And all my cords have been broken, My sons have gone out from me, and they are not, There is none stretching out any more my tent, And raising up my curtains.

²¹ For the shepherds have become brutish, And Jehovah they have not sought, Therefore they have not acted wisely, And all their flock is scattered.

²² A voice of a report, lo, it hath come, Even a great shaking from the north country, To make the cities of Judah a desolation, A habitation of dragons.

²³ I have known, O Jehovah, that not of man [is] his way, Not of man the going and establishing of his step.

²⁴ Chastise me, O Jehovah, only in judgment, Not in Thine anger, lest Thou make me small.

²⁵ Pour out Thy fury on the nations that have not known Thee, And on the families that have not called in Thy name, For they have eaten up Jacob, Yea, they have eaten him up, yea, they consume him, And his habitation they have made desolate!

11 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

² `Hear ye the words of this covenant, and ye have spoken unto the men of Judah, and unto the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

³ and thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah God of Israel: Cursed [is] the man who doth not obey the words of this covenant,

⁴ That I commanded your fathers, In the day of My bringing them out from the land of Egypt, Out of the iron furnace, saying, Hearken to My voice, and ye have done them, According to all that I command you, And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God,

⁵ In order to establish the oath that I have sworn to your fathers, To give to them a land flowing with milk and honey, as this day. And I answer and say, `Amen, O Jehovah.'

⁶ And Jehovah saith unto me, `Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of this covenant, And ye have done them.

⁷ For I certainly testified against your fathers, In the day of My bringing them up out of the land of Egypt -- till this day, Rising early and testifying, saying, Hearken to My voice,

⁸ And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they walk each in the stubbornness of their evil heart, And I bring on them all the words of this covenant, That I commanded to do, and they did not.'

⁹ And Jehovah saith unto me: `A conspiracy is found in the men of Judah, And in the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They have turned back to the iniquities of their first fathers, Who refused to hear My words, And they have gone after other gods to serve them, The house of Israel, and the house of Judah, Have made void My covenant, that I made with their fathers.

¹¹ Therefore thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am bringing in unto them evil, That they are not able to go out from, And they have cried unto Me, And I do not hearken unto them.

¹² And the cities of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem have gone, And they have cried unto the gods, To whom they are making perfume, And they give no deliverance at all to them, In the time of their vexation.

¹³ For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah, And -- the number of the streets of Jerusalem Ye have placed altars to a shameful thing, Altars to make perfume to Baal.

¹⁴ And thou, thou dost not pray for this people, Nor dost thou lift up for them cry and prayer, For I do not hearken in the time of their calling unto Me for their vexation.

¹⁵ What -- to My beloved in My house, Her doing wickedness with many, And the holy flesh do pass over from thee? When thou dost evil, then thou exultest.

¹⁶ `An olive, green, fair, of goodly fruit,' Hath Jehovah called thy name, At the noise of a great tumult He hath kindled fire against it, And broken have been its thin branches.

¹⁷ And Jehovah of Hosts, who is planting thee, Hath spoken evil concerning thee, For the evil of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, That they have done to themselves, To provoke Me to anger, to make perfume to Baal.

¹⁸ And, O Jehovah, cause me to know, and I know, Then Thou hast showed me their doings.

¹⁹ And I [am] as a trained lamb brought to slaughter, And I have not known That against me they have devised devices: We destroy the tree with its food, and cut him off From the land of the living, And his name is not remembered again.

²⁰ And O Jehovah of Hosts, judging righteousness, Trying reins and heart, I do see Thy vengeance against them, For unto Thee I have revealed my cause.'

²¹ Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, who are seeking thy life, saying: Do not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, And thou dost not die by our hands.

²² Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts: `Lo, I am seeing after them, The chosen ones die by sword, Their sons and their daughters die by famine,

²³ And they have no remnant, For I bring evil unto the men of Anathoth, The year of their inspection!'

12 Righteous [art] Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers.

² Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near [art] Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins.

³ And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter.

⁴ Till when doth the earth mourn, And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, Consumed have been beast and fowl, Because they said, `He doth not see our latter end.'

⁵ For -- with footmen thou hast run, And they weary thee, And how dost thou fret thyself with horses! Even in the land of peace, [In which] thou art confident -- And how dost thou in the rising of Jordan!

⁶ For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they dealt treacherously against thee, Even they -- they called after thee fully, Trust not in them, when they speak to thee good things.

⁷ I have forsaken My house, I have left Mine inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.

⁸ Mine inheritance hath been to Me as a lion in a forest, She gave forth against Me with her voice, Therefore I have hated her.

⁹ A speckled fowl [is] Mine inheritance to Me? Is the fowl round about against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come ye for food.

¹⁰ Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness -- a desolation.

¹¹ He hath made it become a desolation, The desolation hath mourned unto Me, Desolated hath been all the land, But there is no one laying it to heart.

¹² On all high places in the plain have spoilers come in, For the sword of Jehovah is consuming, From the end of the land even unto the end of the land, There is no peace to any flesh.

¹³ They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick -- they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.

¹⁴ Thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbours, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people -- Israel -- to inherit: `Lo, I am plucking them from off their ground, And the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst.

¹⁵ And it hath been, after My plucking them out, I turn back, and have pitied them, And I have brought them back, Each to his inheritance, and each to his land.

¹⁶ And it hath come to pass, If they learn well the ways of My people, To swear by My name, `Jehovah liveth,' As they taught My people to swear by Baal, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people.

¹⁷ And if they do not hearken, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying, An affirmation of Jehovah!'

13 Thus said Jehovah unto me, `Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:'

² and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place [it] on my loins.

³ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying,

⁴ `Take the girdle that thou hast got, that [is] on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock;

⁵ and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me.

⁶ And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, `Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;'

⁷ and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything.

⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Thus said Jehovah:

⁹ Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is -- as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.

¹¹ For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.

¹² And thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, `Every bottle is full of wine,' And they have said unto thee: `Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?'

¹³ And thou hast said unto them, `Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [With] drunkenness,

¹⁴ And have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them.

¹⁵ Hear, and give ear -- be not haughty, For Jehovah hath spoken.

¹⁶ Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed [it] for thick darkness.

¹⁷ And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive.

¹⁸ Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low -- sit still, For come down have your principalities, The crown of your beauty.

¹⁹ The cities of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed -- all of her, She hath been removed completely --

²⁰ Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, Where [is] the drove given to thee, thy beautiful flock?

²¹ What dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou -- thou hast taught them [to be] over thee -- leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?

²² And when thou dost say in thy heart, `Wherefore have these met me?' For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence.

²³ Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴ And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness.

²⁵ This [is] thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, And dost trust in falsehood.

²⁶ I also have made bare thy skirts before thy face, And thy shame hath been seen.

²⁷ Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, The wickedness of thy whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen thine abominations. Wo to thee, O Jerusalem, Thou art not cleansed, after when [is it] again?