Canon of Truth
Hebrew Sixth Order Memories
Fractured Paradise: A Novel In Progress
by
Oliver Smith
OliverSmith@CyberPoet.com
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Sixth Order Recitation -
Isaiah
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath
spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have
rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel
doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers,
children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away
backward.
5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the
whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in
it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been
closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your
land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as
overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a
lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we
should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law
of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of
your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the
blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear
before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the
new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with;
it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your
appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary
to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine
eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your
hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of
your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well;
seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for
the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment;
righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one
loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the
fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of
Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine
enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross,
and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors
as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of
righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with
righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be
together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye
shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that
hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and
they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Isaiah 2
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the
LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because
they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the
Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end
of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there
any end of their chariots:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own
hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself:
therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the
LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men
shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is
proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be
brought low:
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and
upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are
lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of
men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of
the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when
he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of
gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and
to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged
rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is
he to be accounted of?
Isaiah 3
1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from
Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of
bread, and the whole stay of water,
2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and
the prudent, and the ancient,
3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and
the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule
over them.
5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every
one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against
the ancient, and the base against the honourable.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father,
saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be
under thy hand:
7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in
my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the
people.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue
and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his
glory.
9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they
declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for
they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they
shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his
hands shall be given him.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over
them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy
the way of thy paths.
13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people,
and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil
of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces
of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and
mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of
the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling
ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like
the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and
the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples,
and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall
be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair
baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and
burning instead of beauty.
25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall
sit upon the ground.
Isaiah 4
1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We
will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called
by thy name, to take away our reproach.
2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that
are escaped of Israel.
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is
written among the living in Jerusalem:
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of
Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst
thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and
upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a
flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the
heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from
rain.
Isaiah 5
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his
vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it
with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also
made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray
you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done
in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes,
brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but
there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the
men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold
oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till
there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the
earth!
9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be
desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an
homer shall yield an ephah.
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may
follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in
their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither
consider the operation of his hands.
13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no
knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude
dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without
measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he
that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be
humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is
holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places
of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it
were with a cart rope:
19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see
it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come,
that we may know it!
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their
own sight!
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to
mingle strong drink:
23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness
of the righteous from him!
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth
the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom
shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of
hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and
he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them:
and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of
the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still.
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss
unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with
speed swiftly:
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor
sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the
latchet of their shoes be broken:
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs
shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young
lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry
it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the
sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the
light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Isaiah 6
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he
covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he
did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD
of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and
the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for
mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his
hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy
lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and
who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be
wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be
utterly desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great
forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be
eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when
they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance
thereof.
Isaiah 7
1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of
Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son
of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against
it, but could not prevail against it.
2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with
Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the
trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and
Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the
highway of the fuller's field;
4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be
fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the
fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil
counsel against thee, saying,
6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach
therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of
Tabeal:
7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to
pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it
be not a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is
Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be
established.
10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or
in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for
you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil,
and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the
good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy
father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim
departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for
the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for
the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate
valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon
all bushes.
20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired,
namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and
the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a
young cow, and two sheep;
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall
give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that
is left in the land.
23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be,
where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall
even be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the
land shall become briers and thorns.
25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall
not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the
sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
Isaiah 8
1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in
it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest,
and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son.
Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my
mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken
away before the king of Assyria.
5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,
6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go
softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of
the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his
glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his
banks:
8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he
shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall
fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces;
and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be
broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word,
and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me
that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall
say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and
let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and
for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a
snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be
snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house
of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs
and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in
mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a
people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it
shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret
themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness,
dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Isaiah 9
1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation,
when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land
of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way
of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that
dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light
shined.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy
before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when
they divide the spoil.
4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his
shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments
rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for
ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of
Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the
sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against
him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall
devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned
away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do
they seek the LORD of hosts.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch
and rush, in one day.
15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that
teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are
led of them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither
shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an
hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this
his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and
thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall
mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the
people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his
brother.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall
eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat
every man the flesh of his own arm:
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be
against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand
is stretched out still.
Isaiah 10
1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write
grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right
from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that
they may rob the fatherless!
3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation
which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where
will ye leave your glory?
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall
fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but
his hand is stretched out still.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is
mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the
people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to
take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is
in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as
Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven
images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to
Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed
his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his
high looks.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my
wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people,
and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants
like a valiant man:
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as
one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and
there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or
shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod
should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff
should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones
leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the
burning of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a
flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one
day;
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful
field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer
fainteth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child
may write them.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel,
and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay
upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of
Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty
God.
22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a
remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow
with righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined,
in the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that
dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee
with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner
of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and
mine anger in their destruction.
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to
the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon
the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be
taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and
the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath
laid up his carriages:
29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at
Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto
Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to
flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand
against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with
terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the
haughty shall be humbled.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and
Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Isaiah 11
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the
rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of his reins.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down
together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover
the sea.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand
for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his
rest shall be glorious.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his
hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from
Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble
the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from
the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah
shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex
Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the
west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their
hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea;
and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and
shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which
shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that
he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Isaiah 12
1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though
thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou
comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the
LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my
salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name,
declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is
exalted.
5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known
in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One
of Israel in the midst of thee.
Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto
them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty
ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people;
a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the
LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD,
and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce
anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not
give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the
moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their
iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the
golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out
of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh
up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one
into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that
is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not
regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall
have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare
children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from
generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;
neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses
shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and
satyrs shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate
houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to
come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Isaiah 14
1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,
and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with
them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and
the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for
servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose
captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee
rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage
wherein thou wast made to serve,
4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and
say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the
rulers.
6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that
ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into
singing.
8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon,
saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it
stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it
hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as
we? art thou become like unto us?
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols:
the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how
art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the
most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee,
saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake
kingdoms;
17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities
thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every
one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as
the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that
go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast
destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall
never be renowned.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their
fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face
of the world with cities.
22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut
off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the
LORD.
23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of
water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the
LORD of hosts.
24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so
shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains
tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his
burden depart from off their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this
is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and
his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote
thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a
cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie
down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay
thy remnant.
31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for
there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his
appointed times.
32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the
LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Isaiah 15
1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste,
and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste,
and brought to silence;
2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab
shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be
baldness, and every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the
tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl,
weeping abundantly.
4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even
unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his
life shall be grievous unto him.
5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar,
an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with
weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall
raise up a cry of destruction.
6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered
away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have
laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling
thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim.
9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more
upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant
of the land.
Isaiah 16
1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the
wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so
the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the
midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them
from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the
spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon
it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment,
and hasting righteousness.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his
haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be
so.
7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the
foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords
of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are
come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her
branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah:
I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the
shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.
10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and
in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be
shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have
made their vintage shouting to cease.
11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine
inward parts for Kirharesh.
12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the
high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall
not prevail.
13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since
that time.
14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the
years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with
all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and
feeble.
Isaiah 17
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a
city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which
shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from
Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the
children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall
be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and
reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth
ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive
tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or
five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of
Israel.
7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have
respect to the Holy One of Israel.
8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither
shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or
the images.
9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an
uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel:
and there shall be desolation.
10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not
been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant
pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning
shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap
in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the
noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing
like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God
shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as
the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing
before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not.
This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob
us.
Isaiah 18
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes
upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered
and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a
nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye,
when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a
trumpet, hear ye.
4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will
consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a
cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is
ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning
hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to
the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all
the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a
people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their
beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose
land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of
hosts, the mount Zion.
Isaiah 19
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and
shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his
presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall
fight every one against his brother, and every one against his
neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will
destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to
the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the
wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and
a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted
and dried up.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence
shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every
thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the
brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall
languish.
9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks,
shall be confounded.
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make
sluices and ponds for fish.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise
counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am
the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now,
and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are
deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of
the tribes thereof.
14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and
they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man
staggereth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail,
branch or rush, may do.
16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid
and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which
he shaketh over it.
17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that
maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the
counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.
18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the
language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be
called, The city of destruction.
19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts
in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the
oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he
shall deliver them.
21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know
the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they
shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they
shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and
shall heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and
the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and
the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria,
even a blessing in the midst of the land:
25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my
people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Isaiah 20
1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of
Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;
2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go
and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from
thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and
barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon
Ethiopia;
4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and
the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with
their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation,
and of Egypt their glory.
6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such
is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the
king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?
Isaiah 21
1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass
through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth
treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O
Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon
me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the
hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure
hath he turned into fear unto me.
5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye
princes, and anoint the shield.
6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him
declare what he seeth.
7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses,
and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the
watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen.
And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the
graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of
the night? Watchman, what of the night?
12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye
will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye
travelling companies of Dedanim.
14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was
thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the
bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the
years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:
17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the
children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath
spoken it.
Isaiah 22
1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou
art wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy
slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all
that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not
to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity
by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the
walls, and of crying to the mountains.
6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir
uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of
chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that
day to the armour of the house of the forest.
9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are
many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye
broken down to fortify the wall.
11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old
pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had
respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to
mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating
flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall
die.
14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this
iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD
of hosts.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer,
even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed
thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on
high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and
will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large
country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory
shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he
pull thee down.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy
girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be
a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so
he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall
open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for
a glorious throne to his father's house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house,
the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the
vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is
fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and
the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken
it.
Isaiah 23
1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste,
so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it
is revealed to them.
2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of
Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is
her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength
of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do
I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.
5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at
the report of Tyre.
6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own
feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose
merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the
earth?
9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory,
and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is
no more strength.
11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the
LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the
strong holds thereof.
12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin,
daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou
have no rest.
13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the
Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up
the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought
it to ruin.
14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten
seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of
seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been
forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be
remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the
LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit
fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the
earth.
18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it
shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for
them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable
clothing.
Isaiah 24
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and
turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the
servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the
borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to
him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD
hath spoken this word.
4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth
away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell
therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are
burned, and few men left.
7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do
sigh.
8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth,
the joy of the harp ceaseth.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter
to them that drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that
no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the
mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with
destruction.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people,
there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning
grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of
the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the
LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory
to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!
the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous
dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the
earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the
earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be
removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy
upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish
the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth
upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in
the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall
they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the
LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before
his ancients gloriously.
Isaiah 25
1 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;
for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are
faithfulness and truth.
2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a
palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the
terrible nations shall fear thee.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in
his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the
blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry
place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the
terrible ones shall be brought low.
6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a
feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast
over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take
away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited
for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him,
we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall
be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the
dunghill.
11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that
swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down
their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down,
lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.
Isaiah 26
1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a
strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth
may enter in.
3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting
strength:
5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he
layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it
even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the
steps of the needy.
7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh
the path of the just.
8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee;
the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit
within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn
righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and
will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall
see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of
thine enemies shall devour them.
12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all
our works in us.
13 O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us:
but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall
not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all
their memory to perish.
15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the
nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends
of the earth.
16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer
when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her
delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in
thy sight, O LORD.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were
brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth;
neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they
arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew
of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the
indignation be overpast.
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall
disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Isaiah 27
1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall
punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked
serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt
it, I will keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in
battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me;
and he shall make peace with me.
6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall
blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain
according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he
stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is
all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of
the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and
images shall not stand up.
10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation
forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and
there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the
women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no
understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them,
and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off
from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be
gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall
be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of
Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the
LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose
glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat
valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of
hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under
feet:
4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley,
shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer;
which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand
he eateth it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for
a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for
strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are
out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong
drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through
strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no
place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the
breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon
line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this
people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary
to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there
a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and
snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this
people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with
hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a
foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the
plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the
waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your
agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall
pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by
morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a
vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it:
and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as
in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and
bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for
I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined
upon the whole earth.
23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the
clods of his ground?
25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad
the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat
and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument,
neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches
are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor
break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in
counsel, and excellent in working.
Isaiah 29
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to
year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow:
and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against
thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground,
and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as
of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech
shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and
the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away:
yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with
earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of
devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even
all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her,
shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he
eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man
dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is
faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the
nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken,
but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and
hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he
covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that
is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this,
I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read
this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with
their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of
men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this
people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their
wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall
be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD,
and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who
knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the
potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me
not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no
understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into
a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the
eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor
among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is
consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that
reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the
house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face
now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst
of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of
Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they
that murmured shall learn doctrine.
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel,
but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit,
that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to
strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the
shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust
in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be
an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and
anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery
flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of
young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a
people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore
have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that
it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will
not hear the law of the LORD:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not
unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy
One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this
word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall,
swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an
instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is
broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found
in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take
water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning
and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be
your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye
flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that
pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five
shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain,
and as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you,
and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for
the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no
more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when
he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water
of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any
more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the
way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to
the left.
22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver,
and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them
away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the
ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be
fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat
clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the
fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high
hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in
the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth
the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his
anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of
indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst
of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there
shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept;
and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the
mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall
shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger,
and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest,
and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the
LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in
battles of shaking will he fight with it.
33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he
hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood;
the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Isaiah 31
1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and
trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they
are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither
seek the LORD!
2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his
words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against
the help of them that work iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and
not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that
helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all
shall fail together.
4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young
lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth
against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself
for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight
for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;
defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve
it.
6 Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply
revolted.
7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and
his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and
the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from
the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes
shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion,
and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 32
1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule
in judgment.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert
from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a
great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them
that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue
of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said
to be bountiful.
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work
iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD,
to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of
the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked
devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy
speaketh right.
8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall
he stand.
9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless
daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the
vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones:
strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the
fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea,
upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city
shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy
of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness
be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness
remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of
righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure
dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be
low in a low place.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither
the feet of the ox and the ass.
Isaiah 33
1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest
treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou
shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make
an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their
arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of
thyself the nations were scattered.
4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the
caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon
them.
5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion
with judgment and righteousness.
6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and
strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of
peace shall weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the
covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down:
Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their
fruits.
10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I
lift up myself.
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath,
as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up
shall they be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near,
acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the
hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among
us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that
despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding
of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth
his eyes from seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions
of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the
land that is very far off.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the
receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than
thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not
understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see
Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken
down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers
and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall
gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our
king; he will save us.
23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast,
they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil
divided; the lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell
therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Isaiah 34
1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth
hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come
forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury
upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath
delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out
of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall
be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as
the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig
tree.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down
upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with
fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the
kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great
slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the
bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made
fat with fatness.
8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of
recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust
thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning
pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go
up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none
shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and
the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line
of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be
there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the
fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a
court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts
of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl
also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and
gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered,
every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall
fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his
spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto
them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to
generation shall they dwell therein.
Isaiah 35
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel
and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of
our God.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold,
your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will
come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb
sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the
desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land
springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall
be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The
way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be
for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with
songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 36
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that
Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of
Judah, and took them.
2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto
king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the
upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the
house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the
great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou
trustest?
5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and
strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest
against me?
6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon
if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh
king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he,
whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said
to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of
Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on
thy part to set riders upon them.
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of
my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for
horsemen?
10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy
it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray
thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it:
and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people
that are on the wall.
12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee
to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the
wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with
you?
13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews'
language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of
Assyria.
14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not
be able to deliver you.
15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD
will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand
of the king of Assyria.
16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an
agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every
one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one
the waters of his own cistern;
17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land
of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand
of the king of Assyria?
19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of
Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered
their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out
of my hand?
21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the
king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household,
and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to
Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Isaiah 37
1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his
clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of
the LORD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the
scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto
Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of
trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to
the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the
king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and
will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore
lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus
saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard,
wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and
return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in
his own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against
Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come
forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers
to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy
God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not
be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all
lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have
destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden
which were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of
the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers,
and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and
spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims,
thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth:
thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and
see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach
the living God.
18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the
nations, and their countries,
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but
the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed
them.
20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The
virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou
exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the
Holy One of Israel.
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the
multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains,
to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof,
and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of
his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I
dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient
times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green
herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
grown up.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine
ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as
groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the
same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and
eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again
take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape
out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He
shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not
come into this city, saith the LORD.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my
servant David's sake.
36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and
dwelt at Nineveh.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch
his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the
sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his
son reigned in his stead.
Isaiah 38
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet
the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD,
Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the
LORD,
3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked
before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which
is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy
father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will
add unto thy days fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of
Assyria: and I will defend this city.
7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will
do this thing that he hath spoken;
8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone
down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned
ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was
recovered of his sickness:
10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the
grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the
living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I
have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining
sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my
bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove:
mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake
for me.
15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done
it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the
life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to
my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all
my sins behind thy back.
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they
that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the
father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to
the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the
LORD.
21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a
plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the
house of the LORD?
Isaiah 39
1 At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had
been sick, and was recovered.
2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the
precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was
found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his
dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him,
What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah
said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah
answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing
among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that
which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be
carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget,
shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon.
8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou
hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my
days.
Isaiah 40
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received
of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the
LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice
with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall
rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those
that are with young.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted
out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor
hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in
the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the
way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as
the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very
little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof
sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him
less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare
unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it
over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree
that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a
graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from
the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the
earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the
heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the
earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea,
their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow
upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them
away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy
One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,
that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by
the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one
faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from
the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither
is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he
increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their
strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near
together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his
foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he
gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not
gone with his feet.
4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the
beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew
near, and came.
6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his
brother, Be of good courage.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with
the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the
sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed
of Abraham my friend.
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee
from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I
have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy
God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed
and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with
thee shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that
contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing,
and as a thing of nought.
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee,
Fear not; I will help thee.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee,
saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having
teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt
make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the
whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and
shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their
tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of
Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the
valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land
springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the
myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and
the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel
hath created it.
21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them
shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and
know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye
are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold
it together.
24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination
is he that chooseth you.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the
rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon
princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and
beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that
sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that
heareth your words.
27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to
Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was
no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten
images are wind and confusion.
Isaiah 42
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul
delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not
quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in
the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched
them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of
it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them
that walk therein:
6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine
hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles;
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to
another, neither my praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I
declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the
earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles,
and the inhabitants thereof.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the
villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the
islands.
13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy
like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against
his enemies.
14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained
myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and
devour at once.
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs;
and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead
them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto
them, and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust
in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent?
who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he
heareth not.
21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will
magnify the law, and make it honourable.
22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared
in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and
none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for
the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the
LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his
ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the
strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he
knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
Isaiah 43
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that
formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I
gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and
I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for
thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east,
and gather thee from the west;
6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back:
bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for
my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have
ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things?
let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or
let them hear, and say, It is truth.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have
chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he:
before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was
no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the
LORD, that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver
out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your
sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles,
and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in
the mighty waters;
17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power;
they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct,
they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of
old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye
not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in
the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls:
because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to
give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my
praise.
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary
of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings;
neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused
thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou
filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to
serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that
thou mayest be justified.
27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed
against me.
28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have
given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Isaiah 44
1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb,
which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun,
whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the
dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon
thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water
courses.
5 One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the
name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD,
and surname himself by the name of Israel.
6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no
God.
7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order
for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are
coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time,
and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside
me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their
delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses;
they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable
for nothing?
11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are
of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they
shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth
it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he
is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is
faint.
13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a
line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the
compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the
beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which
he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth
an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and
warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a
god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down
thereto.
16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth
flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself,
and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he
falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and
saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes,
that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor
understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I
have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and
eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I
fall down to the stock of a tree?
20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he
cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have
formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten
of me.
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a
cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts
of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and
every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified
himself in Israel.
24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the
womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the
heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad;
that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel
of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited;
and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the
decayed places thereof:
27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the
temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Isaiah 45
1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins
of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall
not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee
by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me.
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil:
I the LORD do all these things.
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down
righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive
with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to
the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me
of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my
hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his
ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for
price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.
14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of
Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee,
and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they
shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make
supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is
none else, there is no God.
15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the
Saviour.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall
go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation:
ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that
formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not
in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none
else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said
not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak
righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of
their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:
who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that
time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just
God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.
24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and
strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed.
25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall
glory.
Isaiah 46
1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and
upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to
the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the
burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house
of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from
the womb:
4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry
you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver
you.
5 To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we
may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and
hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they
worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his
place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one
shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his
trouble.
8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none
else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my
counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it
to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my
salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for
Israel my glory.
Isaiah 47
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on
the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou
shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the
leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I
will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of
Israel.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the
Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and
given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the
ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not
lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of
it.
8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that
dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else
beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of
children:
9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the
loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their
perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great
abundance of thine enchantments.
10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth
me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast
said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence
it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to
put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou
shalt not know.
12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy
sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou
shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the
astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and
save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they
shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall
not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy
merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter;
none shall save thee.
Isaiah 48
1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of
Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by
the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in
truth, nor in righteousness.
2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon
the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went
forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they
came to pass.
4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron
sinew, and thy brow brass;
5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to
pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done
them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have
shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou
didst not know them.
7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day
when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew
them.
8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time
that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very
treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I
refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee
in the furnace of affliction.
11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how
should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the
first, I also am the last.
13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right
hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up
together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath
declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure
on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him,
and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from
the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord
GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the
LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the
way that thou shouldest go.
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace
been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels
like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor
destroyed from before me.
20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of
singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth;
say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he
caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock
also, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
Isaiah 49
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD
hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made
mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his
hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath
he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be
glorified.
4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for
nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my
work with my God.
5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his
servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered,
yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my
strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I
will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my
salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him
whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of
rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because
of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall
choose thee.
8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and
give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to
cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in
darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their
pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun
smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the
springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be
exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and
from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into
singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will
have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten
me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are
continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made
thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather
themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou
shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind
them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy
destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,
and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other,
shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give
place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these,
seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and
removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left
alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring
thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their
shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth,
and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the
LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive
delivered?
25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be
taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will
contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy
children.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and
they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all
flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the
mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 50
1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement,
whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have
sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for
your transgressions is your mother put away.
2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there
none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or
have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I
make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no
water, and dieth for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their
covering.
4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should
know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth
morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off
the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded:
therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not
be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand
together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me?
lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of
his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust
in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about
with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye
have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in
sorrow.
Isaiah 51
1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the
LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit
whence ye are digged.
2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I
called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like
the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a
law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a
light of the people.
5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms
shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm
shall they trust.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath:
for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax
old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like
manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall
not be abolished.
7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose
heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid
of their revilings.
8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat
them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my
salvation from generation to generation.
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the
ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut
Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great
deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to
pass over?
11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with
singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they
shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man
which shall be made as grass;
13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he
were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he
should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared:
The LORD of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of
the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of
trembling, and wrung them out.
18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought
forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons
that she hath brought up.
19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee?
desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom
shall I comfort thee?
20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a
wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke
of thy God.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with
wine:
22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of
his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more
drink it again:
23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which
have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast
laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
Isaiah 52
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful
garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no
more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose
thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye
shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt
to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is
taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl,
saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in
that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of
good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall
they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring
again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem:
for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of
the LORD.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD
will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than
any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths
at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that
which they had not heard shall they consider.
Isaiah 53
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD
revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see
him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his
generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall
prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall
bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul
unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the
sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 54
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing,
and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the
children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith
the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the
curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and
strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy
seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be
inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded;
for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of
thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any
more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and
thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall
he be called.
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in
spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will
I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy
Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that
the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my
kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my
peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I
will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be
the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from
oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not
come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever
shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,
and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created
the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 55
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath
no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your
labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and
commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and
for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,
that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the
mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and
all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the
brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 56
1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my
salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth
hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his
hand from doing any evil.
3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the
LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his
people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and
choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place
and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an
everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to
serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every
one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my
covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in
my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be
accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of
prayer for all people.
8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I
gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the
forest.
10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb
dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are
shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every
one for his gain, from his quarter.
12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves
with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more
abundant.
Isaiah 57
1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful
men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come.
2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one
walking in his uprightness.
3 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the
adulterer and the whore.
4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide
mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a
seed of falsehood,
5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the
children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are
thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast
offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither
wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance:
for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up;
thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou
lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy
perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase
thyself even unto hell.
10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not,
There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore
thou wast not grieved.
11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied,
and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held
my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not
profit thee.
13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall
carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his
trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the
stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for
the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I
hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his
heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and
restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off,
and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose
waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Isaiah 58
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my
people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that
did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask
of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to
God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore
have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in
the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of
wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to
be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his
soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth
and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day
to the LORD?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the
poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that
thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and
he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the
yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday:
11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered
garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt
be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell
in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee
to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 59
1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with
iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered
perverseness.
4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in
vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth
iniquity.
5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that
eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into
a viper.
6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover
themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the
act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood:
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in
their paths.
8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their
goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein
shall not know peace.
9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us:
we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in
darkness.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no
eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places
as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for
judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins
testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our
iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from
our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from
the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off:
for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a
prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no
judgment.
16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his
righteousness, it sustained him.
17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of
salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for
clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his
adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay
recompence.
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory
from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from
transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit
that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall
not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and
for ever.
Isaiah 60
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is
risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness
the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be
seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness
of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves
together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy
daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear,
and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted
unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian
and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and
incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the
rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with
acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.
8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto
the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he
hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings
shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my
favour have I had mercy on thee.
11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be
shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the
Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish;
yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine
tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and
I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto
thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the
soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went
through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many
generations.
16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the
breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and
thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and
for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers
peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness
shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an
everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw
itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of
thy mourning shall be ended.
21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land
for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified.
22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong
nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.
Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance
of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of
many generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the
alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the
Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in
their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall
rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess
the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and
I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring
among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they
are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my
God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels.
11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth
the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will
cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 62
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I
will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy
glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
LORD shall name.
3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a
royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any
more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy
land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be
married.
5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee:
and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God
rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never
hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep
not silence,
7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth.
8 The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his
strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine
enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the
which thou hast laboured:
9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and
they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my
holiness.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard
for the people.
11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye
to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him.
12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD:
and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Isaiah 63
1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?
this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of
his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him
that treadeth in the winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none
with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my
fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will
stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my
redeemed is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there
was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me;
and my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk
in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of
the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the
great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on
them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his
lovingkindnesses.
8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie:
so he was their Saviour.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his
presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and
he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was
turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying,
Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of
his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm,
dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that
they should not stumble?
14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused
him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious
name.
15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy
holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the
sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they
restrained?
16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and
Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer;
thy name is from everlasting.
17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our
heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine
inheritance.
18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our
adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called
by thy name.
Isaiah 64
1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down,
that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to
boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may
tremble at thy presence!
3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest
down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor
perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that
remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned:
in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like
the wind, have taken us away.
7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up
himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and
hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our
potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever:
behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a
desolation.
11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is
burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold
thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
Isaiah 65
1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that
sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not
called by my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that
sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat
swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier
than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the
day.
6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will
recompense, even recompense into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith
the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed
me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into
their bosom.
8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one
saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my
servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an
inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my
servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a
place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain,
that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink
offering unto that number.
12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down
to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I
spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose
that wherein I delighted not.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat,
but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall
be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry
for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the
Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the
God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God
of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they
are hid from mine eyes.
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former
shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for,
behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice
of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that
hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old;
but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and
another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and
mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they
are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 66
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the
place of my rest?
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have
been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is
poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a
lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as
if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed
an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul
delighteth in their abominations.
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon
them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did
not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I
delighted not.
5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren
that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the
LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be
ashamed.
6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of
the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she
was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the
earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at
once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the
LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love
her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her
consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance
of her glory.
12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall
ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her
knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye
shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall
flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward
his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots
like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with
flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and
the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the
abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I
will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my
glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape
of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow,
to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my
fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among
the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD
out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and
upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith
the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel
into the house of the LORD.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the
LORD.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall
remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name
remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and
from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me,
saith the LORD.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither
shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all
flesh.
Jeremiah 1
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of
Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah
king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth
month.
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt
speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the LORD.
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD
said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw
down, to build, and to plant.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten
my word to perform it.
13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What
seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is
toward the north.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his
throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the
walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound
thee before them.
18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron
pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of
Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and
against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail
against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
Jeremiah 2
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I
remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals,
when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not
sown.
3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his
increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them,
saith the LORD.
4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families
of the house of Israel:
5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me,
that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are
become vain?
6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of
deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of
death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof
and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and
made mine heritage an abomination.
8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law
knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets
prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your
children's children will I plead.
10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar,
and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my
people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith the LORD.
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land
waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy
head.
17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken
the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the
waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to
drink the waters of the river?
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall
reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and
bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is
not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and
thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under
every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then
art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet
thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift
dromedary traversing her ways;
24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her
pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her
will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but
thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and
after them will I go.
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel
ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their
prophets,
27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not
their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and
save us.
28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if
they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against
me, saith the LORD.
30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness
unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords;
we will come no more unto thee?
32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my
people have forgotten me days without number.
33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also
taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor
innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn
from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have
not sinned.
36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be
ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head:
for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper
in them.
Jeremiah 3
1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become
another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be
greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet
return again to me, saith the LORD.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not
been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in
the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and
with thy wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the
guide of my youth?
5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?
Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every
high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the
harlot.
7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.
But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce;
yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the
harlot also.
9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she
defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified
herself more than treacherous Judah.
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to
fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep
anger for ever.
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against
the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under
every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto
you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will
bring you to Zion:
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall
feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in
the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither
shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that
be done any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and
all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to
Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of
their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to
the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said,
Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have
ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of
the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they
have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of
Israel.
24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth;
their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have
sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth
even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
Jeremiah 4
1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if
thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou
not remove.
2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in
righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in
him shall they glory.
3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up
your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of
your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury
come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the
evil of your doings.
5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the
trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring
evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the
Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy
land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an
inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce
anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart
of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests
shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this
people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword
reacheth unto the soul.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry
wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my
people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will
I give sentence against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a
whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are
spoiled.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be
saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount
Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,
that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against
the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she
hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is
thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine
heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh
a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is
spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet?
22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish
children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil,
but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills
moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the
cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his
fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet
will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent,
neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;
they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city
shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest
thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold,
though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make
thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish
as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the
daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands,
saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
Jeremiah 5
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and
know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if
there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I
will pardon it.
2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them,
but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have
refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a
rock; they have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they
know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they
have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but
these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the
evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities:
every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their
transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and
sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they
then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses.
8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his
neighbour's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take
away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall
evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them:
thus shall it be done unto them.
14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this
word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people
wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel,
saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a
nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they
say.
16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons
and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine
herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall
impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full
end with you.
19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the
LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them,
Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so
shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which
have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence,
which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss
themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they
not pass over it?
23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God,
that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he
reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have
withholden good things from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that
setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the
wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they
prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?
Jeremiah 6
1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst
of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire
in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great
destruction.
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch
their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his
place.
4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto
us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are
stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a
mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly
oppression in the midst of her.
7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her
wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually
is grief and wounds.
8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest
I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant
of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the
baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold,
their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word
of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding
in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly
of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be
taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and
wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of
the land, saith the LORD.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one
is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest
every one dealeth falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall
fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be
cast down, saith the LORD.
16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find
rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the
trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among
them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my law, but rejected it.
20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet
cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor
your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks
before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall
upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country,
and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no
mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set
in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath
taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of
the enemy and fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow
thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter
lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that
thou mayest know and try their way.
28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are
brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the
founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected
them.
Jeremiah 7
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word,
and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at
these gates to worship the LORD.
3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and
your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The
temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly
execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and
shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to
your hurt:
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave
to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers
in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name
at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people
Israel.
13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I
spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I
called you, but ye answered not;
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name,
wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your
fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your
brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear
thee.
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the
women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to
pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to
anger.
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke
themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury
shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon
the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall
burn, and shall not be quenched.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt
offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day
that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt
offerings or sacrifices:
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will
be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways
that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the
counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward,
and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets,
daily rising up early and sending them:
26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened
their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will
not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not
answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the
voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is
perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a
lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the
generation of his wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the
LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by
my name, to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in
the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the
valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no
place.
33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the
heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the
streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land
shall be desolate.
Jeremiah 8
1 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the
kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the
priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the
host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and
after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they
have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall
be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them
that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither
I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they
fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual
backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him
of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his
course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the
turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;
but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo,
certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have
rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to
them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto
the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the
priest every one dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they
fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall
be cast down, saith the LORD.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes
on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the
things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the
defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath
put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have
sinned against the LORD.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and
behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land
trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are
come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and
those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which
will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of
them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her
king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven
images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black;
astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is
not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Jeremiah 9
1 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that
I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men;
that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all
adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not
valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to
evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any
brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour
will walk with slanders.
5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the
truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary
themselves to commit iniquity.
6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they
refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and
try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one
speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he
layeth his wait.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the
habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned
up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice
of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled;
they are gone.
11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will
make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom
the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the
land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth
through?
13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set
before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after
Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of
gall to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor
their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I
have consumed them.
17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning
women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may
come:
18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes
may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we
are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our
dwellings have cast us out.
20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive
the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one
her neighbour lamentation.
21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our
palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from
the streets.
22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as
dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and
none shall gather them.
23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man
glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment,
and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith
the LORD.
25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them
which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and
all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for
all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in the heart.
Jeremiah 10
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not
dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of
the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and
with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be
borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot
do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great,
and thy name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it
appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in
all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine
of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from
Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue
and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations
shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens
and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under
these heavens.
12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world
by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the
heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the
earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out
of his treasures.
14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded
by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no
breath in them.
15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their
visitation they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all
things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is
his name.
17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of
the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it
so.
19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this
is a grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children
are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth
my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD:
therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be
scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of
the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of
dragons.
23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou
bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the
families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and
devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
Jeremiah 11
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be
the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth
out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice,
and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my
people, and I will be your God:
5 That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to
give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then
answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
6 Then the LORD said 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 do them.
7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought
them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and
protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in
the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them
all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they
did them not.
9 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of
Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which
refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them:
the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant
which I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them,
which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto
me, I will not hearken unto them.
12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and
cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save
them at all in the time of their trouble.
13 For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah;
and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up
altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or
prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry
unto me for their trouble.
15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought
lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou
doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly
fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it,
and the branches of it are broken.
17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil
against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of
Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger
in offering incense unto Baal.
18 And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou
shewedst me their doings.
19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and
I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us
destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from
the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the
reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee
have I revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy
life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not
by our hand:
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them:
the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters
shall die by famine:
23 And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon
the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Jeremiah 12
1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk
with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea,
they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from
their reins.
3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart
toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare
them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither,
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed,
and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then
how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace,
wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the
swelling of Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have
dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after
thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given
the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out
against me: therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about
are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to
devour.
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my
portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate
wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me;
the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness:
for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land
even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put
themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of
your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the
inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I
will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah
from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will
return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every
man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of
my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my
people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my
people.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that
nation, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 13
1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put
it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my
loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and
arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me,
Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I
commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the
place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was
profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah,
and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the
imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them,
and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for
nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused
to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of
Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for
a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall
say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be
filled with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will
fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon
David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the
sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
mercy, but destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and
before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look
for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross
darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for
your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.
18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for
your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them:
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly
carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where
is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught
them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail?
22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me?
For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy
heels made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by
the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the
LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame
may appear.
27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy
whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto
thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
Jeremiah 14
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto
the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came
to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels
empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the
plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there
was no grass.
6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the
wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy
name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against
thee.
8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man
that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot
save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by
thy name; leave us not.
10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to
wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not
accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt
offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume
them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye
shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give
you assured peace in this place.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I
sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them:
they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of
nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy
in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall
not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be
consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the
streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they
shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor
their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down
with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin
daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very
grievous blow.
18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword!
and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with
famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that
they know not.
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why
hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for
peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold
trouble!
20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our
fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of
thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause
rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God?
therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Jeremiah 15
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,
yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight,
and let them go forth.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go
forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for
death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such
as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the
captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to
slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts
of the earth, to devour and destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth,
because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which
he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan
thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward:
therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I
am weary with repenting.
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will
bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return
not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have
brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at
noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon
the city.
9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost;
her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and
confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before
their enemies, saith the LORD.
10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a
man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor
men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I
will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in
the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without
price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which
thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn
upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of
my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for
thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O
LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone
because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to
be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters
that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring
thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the
precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto
thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they
shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for
I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will
redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Jeremiah 16
1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or
daughters in this place.
3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the
daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers
that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this
land;
4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented;
neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face
of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine;
and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the
beasts of the earth.
5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning,
neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace
from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not
be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor
make themselves bald for them:
7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort
them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation
to drink for their father or for their mother.
8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them
to eat and to drink.
9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the
voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom,
and the voice of the bride.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all
these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD
pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or
what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken
me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served
them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept
my law;
12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every
one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken
unto me:
13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know
not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods
day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel
out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from
the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven
them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto
their fathers.
16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall
fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt
them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of
the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my
face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double;
because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance
with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the
earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity,
and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause
them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name
is The LORD.
Jeremiah 17
1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of
a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the
horns of your altars;
2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the
green trees upon the high hills.
3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy
treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy
borders.
4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I
gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land
which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which
shall burn for ever.
5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when
good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in
a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD
is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her
leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that
getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his
days, and at his end shall be a fool.
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed,
and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because
they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be
saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come
now.
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee:
neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came
out of my lips was right before thee.
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be
confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring
upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children
of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which
they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah,
and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by
these gates:
21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on
the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day,
neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded
your fathers.
23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck
stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith
the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the
sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes
sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses,
they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places
about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and
from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and
sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of
praise, unto the house of the LORD.
27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and
not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the
sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it
shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Jeremiah 18
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a
work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine
hand, O house of Israel.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil,
I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will
repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame
evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every
one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who
hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible
thing.
14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of
the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another
place be forsaken?
15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to
vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the
ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that
passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will
shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah;
for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the
wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with
the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.
20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for
my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and
to turn away thy wrath from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out
their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved
of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death;
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop
suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid
snares for my feet.
23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight,
but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time
of thine anger.
Jeremiah 19
1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take
of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the
entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell
thee,
3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever
heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and
have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their
fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place
with the blood of innocents;
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with
fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake
it, neither came it into my mind:
6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place
shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom,
but The valley of slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this
place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies,
and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will
I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of
the earth.
8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that
passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues
thereof.
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend
in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that
seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go
with thee,
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will
I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel,
that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet,
till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the
inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah,
shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon
whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and
have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to
prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to
all the people,
15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have
pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that
they might not hear my words.
Jeremiah 20
1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor
in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks
that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the
LORD.
3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah
out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not
called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to
thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of
their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all
Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them
captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the
labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the
treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to
Babylon.
6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into
captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die,
and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast
prophesied lies.
7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger
than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh
me.
8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because
the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision,
daily.
9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in
his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in
my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say
they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting,
saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against
him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my
persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be
greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting
confusion shall never be forgotten.
12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins
and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I
opened my cause.
13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the
soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man
child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and
repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting
at noontide;
17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have
been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow,
that my days should be consumed with shame?
Jeremiah 21
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah
sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of
Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us
according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the
weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the
king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without
the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and
with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast:
they shall die of a great pestilence.
7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah,
and his servants, and the people, and such as are 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 that seek their life: and he shall smite
them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have
pity, nor have mercy.
8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I
set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to
the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be
unto him for a prey.
10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good,
saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall burn it with fire.
11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word
of the LORD;
12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the
morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the
oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench
it, because of the evil of your doings.
13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of
the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us?
or who shall enter into our habitations?
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith
the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall
devour all things round about it.
Jeremiah 22
1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and
speak there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest
upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that
enter in by these gates:
3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong,
do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither
shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the
gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the
LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art
Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a
wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his
weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into
the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every
man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great
city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of
the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him
that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native
country.
11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of
Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out
of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and
shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages,
and giveth him not for his work;
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and
cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with
vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy
father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well
with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with
him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and
for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do
it.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother!
or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah
his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry
from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not
hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not
my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into
captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy
wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how
gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a
woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king
of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee
thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and
into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into
another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they
not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is
no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast
into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall
not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting
upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
Jeremiah 23
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture! saith the LORD.
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that
feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and
have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your
doings, saith the LORD.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds;
and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they
shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking,
saith the LORD.
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and
this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no
more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out
of the land of Egypt;
8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the
house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries
whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones
shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome,
because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land
mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their
course is evil, and their force is not right.
11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I
found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the
darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring
evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in
Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:
they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands
of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all
of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets;
Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water
of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth
into all the land.
16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a
vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye
shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the
imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived
and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a
grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the
wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and
till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye
shall consider it perfectly.
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to
them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to
hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?
saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name,
saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy
lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams
which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have
forgotten my name for Baal.
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that
hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to
the wheat? saith the LORD.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that
steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their
tongues, and say, He saith.
32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the
LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and
by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore
they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,
saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them,
What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall
say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his
brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's
word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living
God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered
thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the
LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent
unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will
forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast
you out of my presence:
40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Jeremiah 24
1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before
the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had
carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and
the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem,
and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first
ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be
eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said,
Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be
eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will
I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have
sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them
again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and
I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and
they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return
unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely
thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his
princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and
them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the
earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a
curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among
them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and
to their fathers.
Jeremiah 25
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was
the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah,
and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah,
even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of
the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early
and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4 And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising
early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your
ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from
the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given
unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and
provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you
no hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might
provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my
words,
9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the
LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will
bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them,
and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual
desolations.
10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the
sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and
these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that
I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for
their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it
perpetual desolations.
13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced
against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath
prophesied against all the nations.
14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them
also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and
according to the works of their own hands.
15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of
this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee,
to drink it.
16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword
that I will send among them.
17 Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to
drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof,
and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an
hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all
his people;
20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and
all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah,
and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the
kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people
that dwell in the desert,
25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the
kings of the Medes,
26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and
all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth:
and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and
rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to
drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye
shall certainly drink.
29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my
name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished:
for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth,
saith the LORD of hosts.
30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto
them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his
holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall
give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the
inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath
a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will
give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from
nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the
coasts of the earth.
33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the
earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented,
neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye
principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your
dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of
the flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal
of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce
anger of the LORD.
38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate
because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce
anger.
Jeremiah 26
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and
speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S
house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish
not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way,
that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them
because of the evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not
hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto
you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a
curse to all the nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all
that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the
priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou
shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house
shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an
inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the
house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from
the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry
of the new gate of the LORD'S house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all
the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied
against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people,
saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against
this city all the words that ye have heard.
13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he
hath pronounced against you.
14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and
meet unto you.
15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely
bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the
inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to
speak all these words in your ears.
16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the
prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in
the name of the LORD our God.
17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the
assembly of the people, saying,
18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of
Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall
become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a
forest.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death?
did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented
him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we
procure great evil against our souls.
20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD,
Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against
this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the
princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when
Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son
of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto
Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body
into the graves of the common people.
24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with
Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to
put him to death.
Jeremiah 27
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them
upon thy neck,
3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to
the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of
Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto
Zedekiah king of Judah;
4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the
ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it
unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I
given him also to serve him.
7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son,
until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great
kings shall serve themselves of him.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not
serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not
put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will
I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with
the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor
to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which
speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land;
and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of
Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own
land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words,
saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and
serve him and his people, and live.
13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that
will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto
you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy
a lie unto you.
15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in
my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and
the prophets that prophesy unto you.
16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy
unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD'S house shall now
shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto
you.
17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live:
wherefore should this city be laid waste?
18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them,
let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels
which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king
of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and
concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the
residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away
captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to
Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the
vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the
king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the
day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and
restore them to this place.
Jeremiah 28
1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of
Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month,
that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake
unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of
all the people, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have
broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the
vessels of the LORD'S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took
away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon,
saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the
presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that
stood in the house of the LORD,
6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD
perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the
vessels of the LORD'S house, and all that is carried away captive, from
Babylon into this place.
7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and
in the ears of all the people;
8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old
prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of
war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet
shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath
truly sent him.
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet
Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full
years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that
Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the
prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken
the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a
yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have
given him the beasts of the field also.
15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now,
Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to
trust in a lie.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the
face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught
rebellion against the LORD.
17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Jeremiah 29
1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent
from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away
captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the
people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to
Babylon;
2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the
princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths,
were departed from Jerusalem;)
3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of
Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are
carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from
Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the
fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your
sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and
daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be
carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace
thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your
prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you,
neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them,
saith the LORD.
10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in
causing you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I
will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with
all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from
all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will
bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away
captive.
15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in
Babylon;
16 Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the
throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and
of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the
sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile
figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with
the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms
of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a
reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I
sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending
them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity,
whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of
Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto
you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your
eyes;
22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah
which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like
Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed
adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in
my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a
witness, saith the LORD.
24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because
thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at
Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all
the priests, saying,
26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest,
that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that
is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in
prison, and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which
maketh himself a prophet to you?
28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is
long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat
the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah
the prophet.
30 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD
concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath
prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in
a lie:
32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the
Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this
people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people,
saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jeremiah 30
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the
words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the
captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will
cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they
shall possess it.
4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and
concerning Judah.
5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear,
and not of peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore
do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail,
and all faces are turned into paleness?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the
time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that
I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and
strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I
will raise up unto them.
10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither
be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy
seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and
shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a
full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not
make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will
not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is
grievous.
13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou
hast no healing medicines.
14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have
wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a
cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were
increased.
15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for
the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I
have done these things unto thee.
16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine
adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that
spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give
for a prey.
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy
wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying,
This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of
Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall
be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the
manner thereof.
19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them
that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I
will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation
shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress
them.
21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall
proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and
he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to
approach unto me? saith the LORD.
22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a
continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the
wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done
it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter
days ye shall consider it.
Jeremiah 31
1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the
families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found
grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel:
thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the
dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the
planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim
shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout
among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD,
save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them
from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the
woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great
company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead
them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight
way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and
Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles
afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep
him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of
him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall
flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and
for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul
shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at
all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old
together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort
them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my
people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and
bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted
for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes
from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they
shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children
shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast
chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the
yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my
God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was
instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake
against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are
troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward
the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of
Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the
LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a
man.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall
use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I
shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of
justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof
together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every
sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of
Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed
of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to
pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to
afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the
LORD.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour
grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth
the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the
day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and
the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which
divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his
name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the
seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the
foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all
the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built
to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the
hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all
the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate
toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked
up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Jeremiah 32
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of
Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of
Nebuchadrezzar.
2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah
the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the
king of Judah's house.
3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost
thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this
city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the
Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall
behold his eyes;
5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I
visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall
not prosper.
6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee,
saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of
redemption is thine to buy it.
8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison
according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I
pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin:
for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy
it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in
Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses,
and weighed him the money in the balances.
11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed
according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of
Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son,
and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the
purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these
evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and
this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that
they may continue many days.
15 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and
fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch
the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy
great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for
thee:
18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the
iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them:
the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon
all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto
this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a
name, as at this day;
21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt
with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their
fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice,
neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou
commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to
come upon them:
24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the
city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it,
because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and
what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for
money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the
Chaldeans.
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too
hard for me?
28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into
the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set
fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they
have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto
other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done
evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only
provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of
my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I
should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the
children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they,
their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the
men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I
taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not
hearkened to receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my
name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of
the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass
through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came
it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah
to sin.
36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning
this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the
king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have
driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I
will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell
safely:
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me
for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not
turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them
in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil
upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have
promised them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is
desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the
Chaldeans.
44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal
them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places
about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the
mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the
south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 33
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time,
while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to
establish it; the LORD is his name;
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty
things, which thou knowest not.
4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of
this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are
thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with
the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury,
and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and
will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel
to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have
sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they
have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before
all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do
unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for
all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which
ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate,
without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall
say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of
the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate
without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be
an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in
the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places
about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass
again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good
thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house
of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of
righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and
righteousness in the land.
16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell
safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD
our righteousness.
17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon
the throne of the house of Israel;
18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer
burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice
continually.
19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my
covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in
their season;
21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he
should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites
the priests, my ministers.
22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the
sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the
Levites that minister unto me.
23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two
families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus
they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation
before them.
25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and
if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so
that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return,
and have mercy on them.
Jeremiah 34
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of
his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against
all the cities thereof, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king
of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this
city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with
fire:
3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken,
and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of
the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and
thou shalt go to Babylon.
4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith
the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers,
the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for
thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced
the word, saith the LORD.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of
Judah in Jerusalem,
7 When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against
all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against
Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that
the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at
Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his
maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should
serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into
the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every
one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them
any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the
handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into
subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your
fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew,
which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years,
thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not
unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in
proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a
covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his
servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at
their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto
you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in
proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his
neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the
sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be
removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which
have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before
me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts
thereof,
19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and
the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the
parts of the calf;
20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the
hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for
meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand
of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and
into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from
you.
22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to
this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it
with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an
inhabitant.
Jeremiah 35
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring
them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give
them wine to drink.
3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and
his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of
the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the
chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son
of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of
wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab
our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye,
nor your sons for ever:
7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor
have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live
many days in the land where ye be strangers.
8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father
in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our
wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor
field, nor seed:
10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to
all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up
into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear
of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians:
so we dwell at Jerusalem.
12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men
of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive
instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons
not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none,
but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto
you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up
early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil
way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them,
and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your
fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the
commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people
hath not hearkened unto me:
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I
have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto
them, but they have not answered.
18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the
commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done
according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab
the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.
Jeremiah 36
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I
have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against
all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of
Josiah, even unto this day.
3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I
purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil
way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from
the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken
unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into
the house of the LORD:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from
my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD'S
house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears
of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and
will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the
fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the
prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the
LORD'S house.
9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before
the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that
came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of
the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in
the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house, in
the ears of all the people.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out
of the book all the words of the LORD,
12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber:
and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and
Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and
Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all
the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard,
when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son
of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand
the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So
Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So
Baruch read it in their ears.
16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were
afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell
the king of all these words.
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all
these words at his mouth?
18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me
with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah;
and let no man know where ye be.
20 And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the
roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in
the ears of the king.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of
Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the
king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there
was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves,
he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the
hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the
hearth.
24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king,
nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
25 Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession
to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear
them.
26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah
the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the
scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had
burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of
Jeremiah, saying,
28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words
that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath
burned.
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD;
Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein,
saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land,
and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall
have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be
cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their
iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have
pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe,
the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the
words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire:
and there were added besides unto them many like words.
Jeremiah 37
1 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son
of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land
of Judah.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did
hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet
Jeremiah.
3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah
the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray
now unto the LORD our God for us.
4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not
put him into prison.
5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the
Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed
from Jerusalem.
6 Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king
of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's
army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their
own land.
8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and
take it, and burn it with fire.
9 Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans
shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight
against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should
they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken
up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
12 Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of
Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.
13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was
there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of
Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away
to the Chaldeans.
14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans.
But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him
to the princes.
15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and
put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had
made that the prison.
16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and
Jeremiah had remained there many days;
17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked
him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD?
And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into
the hand of the king of Babylon.
18 Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended
against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye
have put me in prison?
19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The
king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my
supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me
not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah
into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a
piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the
city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
Jeremiah 38
1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur,
and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard
the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to
the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and
shall live.
3 Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of
the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.
4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this
man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war
that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking
such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this
people, but the hurt.
5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king
is not he that can do any thing against you.
6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah
the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let
down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but
mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in
the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the
king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
8 Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king,
saying,
9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done
to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he
is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no
more bread in the city.
10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from
hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the
dungeon, before he die.
11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the
king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten
rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old
cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And
Jeremiah did so.
13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the
dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him
into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king
said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.
15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt
thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou
not hearken unto me?
16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the
LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death,
neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of
hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king
of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not
be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then
shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall
burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews
that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand,
and they mock me.
20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech
thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be
well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath
shewed me:
22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's
house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and
those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed
against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away
back.
23 So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the
Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be
taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this
city to be burned with fire.
24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words,
and thou shalt not die.
25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come
unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said
unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death;
also what the king said unto thee:
26 Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before
the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to
die there.
27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told
them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they
left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.
28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that
Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah 39
1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and
they besieged it.
2 And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth
day of the month, the city was broken up.
3 And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the
middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris,
Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king
of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them,
and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city
by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two
walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
5 But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in
the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up
to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath,
where he gave judgment upon him.
6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before
his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to
carry him to Babylon.
8 And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the
people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into
Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those
that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that
remained.
10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the
people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them
vineyards and fields at the same time.
11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah
to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him
even as he shall say unto thee.
13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban,
Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's
princes;
14 Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison,
and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.
15 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in
the court of the prison, saying,
16 Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon
this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in
that day before thee.
17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt
not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the
sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast
put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 40
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan
the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken
him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of
Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The
LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
3 Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said:
because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice,
therefore this thing is come upon you.
4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were
upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into
Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto
thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is
before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go,
thither go.
5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath
made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the
people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the
captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and
dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields,
even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto
him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them
that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
8 Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the
son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah
the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and
to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the
land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans,
which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and
oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye
have taken.
11 Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the
Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that
the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set
over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
12 Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were
driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and
gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the
forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
14 And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of
the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly,
saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee,
that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and
the remnant in Judah perish?
16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah,
Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.
Jeremiah 41
1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of
the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam
to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were
with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with
the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor
over the land.
3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with
Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the
men of war.
4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and
no man knew it,
5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria,
even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent,
and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to
bring them to the house of the LORD.
6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them,
weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he
said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of
the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us
not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and
of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their
brethren.
9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men,
whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had
made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.
10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that
were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that
remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had
committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the
Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the
forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah had done,
12 Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with
Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the
forces that were with him, then they were glad.
14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah
cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight
men, and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the
forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had
recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he
had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the
women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again
from Gibeon:
17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is
by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom
the king of Babylon made governor in the land.
Jeremiah 42
1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah,
and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least
even unto the greatest, came near,
2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our
supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy
God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as
thine eyes do behold us:)
3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and
the thing that we may do.
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I
will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall
come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will
declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness
between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the
LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of
the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us,
when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came
unto Jeremiah.
8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the
forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to
the greatest,
9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom
ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not
pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent
me of the evil that I have done unto you.
11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not
afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to
deliver you from his hand.
12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you,
and cause you to return to your own land.
13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the
voice of the LORD your God,
14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall
see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of
bread; and there will we dwell:
15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah;
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your
faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall
overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye
were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye
shall die.
17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into
Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and
by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the
evil that I will bring upon them.
18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger
and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into
Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse,
and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not
into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your
God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all
that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath
sent me unto you.
22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and
to sojourn.
Jeremiah 43
1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking
unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the
LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of
Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest
falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt
to sojourn there:
3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to
deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to
death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and
all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land
of Judah.
5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces,
took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations,
whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and
every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the
prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of
the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the
brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in
the sight of the men of Judah;
10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my
servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and
he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver
such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to
captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he
shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array
himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment;
and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
13 He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land
of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn
with fire.
Jeremiah 44
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in
the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at
Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the
evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of
Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth
therein,
3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me
to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods,
whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early
and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their
wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in
the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are
wasted and desolate, as at this day.
7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut
off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave
you none to remain;
8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands,
burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be
gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a
curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness
of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own
wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed
in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared,
nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and
before your fathers.
11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to
go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be
consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by
the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto
the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an
execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have
punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land
of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should
return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to
return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.
Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto
other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even
all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered
Jeremiah, saying,
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of
Nerth, we will not listen to you.
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own
mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings,
and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of
Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw
no evil.
But since we stopped burning incense and pouring out drink offerings to
Cren,
we have been in need of all things, and have
been consumed by the sword and famine.
And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out
drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and
pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the
women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the
streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your
princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them,
and came it not into his mind?
So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your
doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed;
therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse,
without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against
the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his
law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil
is happened unto you, as at this day.
Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women,
Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your
wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand,
saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn
incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto
her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the
land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD,
that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in
all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all
the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the
sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the
land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah,
that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose
words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will
punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely
stand against you for evil:
30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt
into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his
life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of
Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of
Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, saying,
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch;
Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my
sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which
I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will
pluck up, even this whole land.
And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for,
behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life
will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Gentiles;
Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which
was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah.
Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with
your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their
mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for
fear was round about, saith the LORD.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall
stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the
rivers?
Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the
rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will
destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men
come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and
the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance,
that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour,
and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord
GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river
Euphrates.
11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt:
in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the
land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are
fallen both together.
13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and
in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall
devour round about thee.
15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD
did drive them.
16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said,
Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our
nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath
passed the time appointed.
18 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely
as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he
come.
19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into
captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh
out of the north.
21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for
they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not
stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the
time of their visitation.
22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with
an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be
searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are
innumerable.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered
into the hand of the people of the north.
25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish
the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their
kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their
lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into
the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in
the days of old, saith the LORD.
27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O
Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from
the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and
at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with
thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have
driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee
in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
Jeremiah 47
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and
shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all
that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men
shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at
the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the
fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to
cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD
will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of
their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put
up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against
Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
Jeremiah 48
1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe
unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken:
Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised
evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also
thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great
destruction.
4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in
the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou
shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his
priests and his princes together.
8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape:
the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the
LORD hath spoken.
9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities
thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed
be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his
lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he
gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent
is not changed.
12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send
unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his
vessels, and break their bottles.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was
ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young
men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the
LORD of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth
fast.
17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his
name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and
sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he
shall destroy thy strong holds.
19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that
fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it
in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon
Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the
land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab
also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves?
for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's
mouth.
29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his
loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his
heart.
30 I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies
shall not so effect it.
31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab;
mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer:
thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer:
the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the
land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none
shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have
they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of
three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that
offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart
shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that
he hath gotten are perished.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the
hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab,
and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel
wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned
the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all
them about him.
40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall
spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty
men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in
her pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath
magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant
of Moab, saith the LORD.
44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that
getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring
upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the
force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the
midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of
the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy
sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days,
saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Jeremiah 49
1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons?
hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people
dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause
an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be
a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then
shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird
you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their
king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O
backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall
come unto me?
5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts,
from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man
right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of
Ammon, saith the LORD.
7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in
Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will
bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning
grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and
he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his
brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let
thy widows trust in me.
12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to
drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall
altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt
surely drink of it.
13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become
a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities
thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto
the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise
up to the battle.
15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised
among men.
16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O
thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height
of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be
astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities
thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son
of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan
against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run
away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her?
for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that
shepherd that will stand before me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against
Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants
of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he
shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise
thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings
over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom
be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have
heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;
it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath
seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in
travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men
of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall
consume the palaces of Benhadad.
28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise
ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take
to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels;
and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.
30 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith
the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against
you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without
care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell
alone.
32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle
a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost
corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith
the LORD.
33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for
ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of
heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall
be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and
before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even
my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them,
till I have consumed them:
38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the
king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring
again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 50
1 The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of
the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded,
Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are
broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which
shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall
remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of
Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and
weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying,
Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant
that shall not be forgotten.
6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to
go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone
from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said,
We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the
habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of
the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an
assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set
themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their
arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied,
saith the LORD.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine
heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow
as bulls;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be
ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a
dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it
shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be
astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that
bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned
against the LORD.
15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her
foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the
vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do
unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in
the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn
every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first
the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the
king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed
on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount
Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of
Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of
Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I
reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against
the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith
the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is
Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,
and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou
hast striven against the LORD.
25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons
of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in
the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast
her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto
them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of
his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow,
camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her
according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto
her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of
Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men
of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of
hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him
up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all
round about him.
33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the
children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them
captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall
throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and
disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the
inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her
mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all
the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become
as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is
the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the
islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it
shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from
generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities
thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any
son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and
many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not
shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride
upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against
thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands
waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in
travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan
unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run
away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her?
for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that
shepherd that will stand before me?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken
against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the
land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them
out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the
cry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah 51
1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and
against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a
destroying wind;
2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall
empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her
round about.
3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him
that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young
men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that
are thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD
of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of
Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be
not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S
vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the
earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the
nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for
her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and
let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth
unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us
declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up
the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against
Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the
vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch
strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath
both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of
Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine
end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill
thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout
against thee.
15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world
by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the
heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the
earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out
of his treasures.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded
by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no
breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation
they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all
things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is
his name.
20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I
break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and
with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee
will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in
pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock;
and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of
oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea
all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the
LORD.
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD,
which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon
thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt
mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone
for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the
nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the
kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against
her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the
captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his
dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD
shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a
desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained
in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they
have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet
another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned
with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of
Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a
little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed
me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a
dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me
out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the
inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,
shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and
take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her
springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an
astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions'
whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them
drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not
wake, saith the LORD.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with
he goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth
surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude
of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land
wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his
mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow
together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man
his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be
heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in
another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler
against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the
graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and
all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing
for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith
the LORD.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon
shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember
the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath
covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the
LORD'S house.
52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do
judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded
shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should
fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come
unto her, saith the LORD.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the
land of the Chaldeans:
55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the
great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their
voice is uttered:
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her
mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD
God of recompences shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains,
and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual
sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be
utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the
people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall
be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of
Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of
Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah
was a quiet prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon
Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt
see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to
cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but
that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book,
that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of
Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from
the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far
are the words of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 52
1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal
the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to
all that Jehoiakim had done.
3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and
Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah
rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched
against it, and built forts against it round about.
5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine
was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the
land.
7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went
forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two
walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the
city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook
Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from
him.
9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon
to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.
10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes:
he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound
him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till
the day of his death.
12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the
nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan,
captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the
houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he
with fire:
14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the
guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive
certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that
remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king
of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of
the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and
the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the
Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
18 The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls,
and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered,
took they away.
19 And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons,
and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of
gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain
of the guard away.
20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under
the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the
brass of all these vessels was without weight.
21 And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen
cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness
thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter
was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round
about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were
like unto these.
23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the
pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.
24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and
Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
25 He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the
men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person,
which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who
mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of
the land, that were found in the midst of the city.
26 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them
to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah
in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his
own land.
28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the
seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive
from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred
forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six
hundred.
31 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity
of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and
twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the
first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah,
and brought him forth out of prison,
32 And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of
the kings that were with him in Babylon,
33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread
before him all the days of his life.
34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king
of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the
days of his life.
Lamentations 1
1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she
become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess
among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among
all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt
treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of
great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest:
all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts:
all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are
afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath
afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are
gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes
are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without
strength before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her
miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when
her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the
adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that
honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea,
she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end;
therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD,
behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things:
for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom
thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant
things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I
am become vile.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there
be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth
against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back:
he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are
wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall,
the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to
rise up.
15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of
me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the
Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water,
because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my
children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her:
the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should
be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment:
hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my
young men are gone into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine
elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to
relieve their souls.
20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine
heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the
sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine
enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it:
thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like
unto me.
22 Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou
hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and
my heart is faint.
Lamentations 2
1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his
anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,
and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not
pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the
daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath
polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
3 He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath
drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against
Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as
an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the
tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath
swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and
hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a
garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath
caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath
despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he
hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they
have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn
feast.
8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion:
he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from
destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they
languished together.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her
bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no
more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep
silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded
themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their
heads to the ground.
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is
poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my
people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of
the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned
as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured
out into their mothers' bosom.
13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I
liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee,
that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is
great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they
have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but
have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their
head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men
call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss
and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this
is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his
word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and
hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee,
he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let
tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let
not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour
out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy
hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for
hunger in the top of every street.
20 Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the
women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest
and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins
and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the
day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that
in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I
have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Lamentations 3
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all
the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain
heavy.
8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths
crooked.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret
places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made
me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with
wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me
with ashes.
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat
prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the
gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon
him.
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with
reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to
the multitude of his mercies.
33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord
commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of
his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain,
thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not
pass through.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the
people.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of
the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my
city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my
cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst,
Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed
my life.
59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations
against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations
against me;
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against
me all the day.
63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of
their hands.
65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the
LORD.
Lamentations 4
1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the
stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they
esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their
young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the
ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for
thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that
were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is
greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as
in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they
were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the
streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is
become like a stick.
9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain
with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the
fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they
were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce
anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the
foundations thereof.
12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would
not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered
into the gates of Jerusalem.
13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests,
that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted
themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart,
touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the
heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard
them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not
the elders.
17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching
we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is
near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they
pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in
their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the
heathen.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land
of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be
drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of
Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit
thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.
Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our
reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be
satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their
iniquities.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out
of their hand.
9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of
the wilderness.
10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of
Judah.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not
honoured.
13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the
wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their
musick.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk
upon it.
19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to
generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our
days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
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