ירמיה

      JEREMIAH (Yirmyāhû)

       Table of Contents

      1The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to 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. ³It 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.

      ⁴And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying:

      ⁵Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee,And before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee;I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

      ⁶Then said I: 'Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.' ⁷But the Lord said unto me:

      Say not: I am a child;For to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go,And whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak.⁸Be not afraid of them;For I am with thee to deliver thee,Saith the Lord.

      ⁹Then 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;¹⁰See, 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 overthrow;To build, and to plant.

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 'Jeremiah, what seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a rod of an ¹almond-tree.' ¹²Then said the Lord unto me: 'Thou hast well seen; for I ²watch over My word to perform it.'

      ¹³And 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 from the north.' ¹⁴Then the Lord said unto me: 'Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For, 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 entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶And I will utter My judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have offered unto other gods, and worshipped the work of their own hands. ¹⁷Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee; be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them. ¹⁸For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen 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. ¹⁹And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.'

       2And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord:

      I remember for thee the affection of thy youth,The love of thine espousals;How thou wentest after Me in the wilderness,In a land that was not sown.³Israel is the Lord's hallowed portion,His first-fruits of the increase;All that devour him shall be held guilty,Evil shall come upon them,Saith the Lord. ⁴Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob,And all the families of the house of Israel;⁵Thus saith the Lord:What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me,That they are gone far from Me,And have walked after things of nought, and are become nought?⁶Neither said they:'Where is the Lord that brought us upOut 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?'⁷And I brought you into a land of fruitful fields,To eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof;But when ye entered, ye defiled My land,And made My heritage an abomination.⁸The priests said not: 'Where is the Lord?'And they that handle the law knew Me not,And the rulers transgressed against Me;The prophets also prophesied by Baal,And walked after things that do not profit.⁹Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord,And with your children's children will I plead.¹⁰For pass over to the isles of the Kittites, and see,And send unto Kedar, and consider diligently,And see if there hath been such a thing.¹¹Hath a nation changed its gods,Which yet are no gods?But My people hath changed its gloryFor that which doth not profit.¹²Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this,And be horribly afraid, be ye exceeding amazed,Saith the Lord.¹³For 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. ¹⁴Is Israel a servant?Is he a home-born slave?Why is he become a prey?¹⁵The young lions have roared upon him,And let their voice resound;And they have made his land desolate,His cities are laid waste,Without inhabitant.¹⁶The children also of Noph and TahpanhesFeed upon the crown of thy head.¹⁷Is it not this that doth cause it unto thee,That thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God,When He led thee by the way? ¹⁸And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt,To drink the waters of Shihor?Or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria,To drink the waters of the River?¹⁹Thine own wickedness shall correct thee,And thy backslidings shall reprove thee:Know therefore and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing,That thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God,Neither is My fear in thee,Saith the Lord God of hosts. ²⁰For of old time I have broken thy yoke,And burst thy bands,And thou saidst: 'I will not transgress';Upon every high hillAnd under every leafy treeThou didst recline, playing the harlot.²¹Yet I had planted thee a noble vine,Wholly a right seed;How then art thou turned into the degenerate plantOf a strange vine unto Me?²²For though thou wash thee with nitre,And take thee much soap,Yet thine iniquity is marked before Me,Saith the Lord God. ²³How canst thou say: 'I am not defiled,I have not gone after the Baalim'?See thy way in the Valley,Know what thou hast done;Thou art a swift young camel traversing her ways;²⁴A wild ass used to the wilderness,That snuffeth up the wind in her desire;Her lust, who can hinder it?All they that seek her will not weary themselves;In her month they shall find her.²⁵Withhold 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.' ²⁶As 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;²⁷Who say to a stock: 'Thou art my father',And to a stone: 'Thou hast brought us 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.'²⁸But 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 citiesAre thy gods, O Judah. ²⁹Wherefore will ye contend with Me?Ye all have transgressed against Me,Saith the Lord.³⁰In vain have I smitten your children—They received no correction;Your sword hath devoured your prophets,Like a destroying lion.³¹O generation, see ye the word of the Lord:Have I been a wilderness unto Israel?Or a land of thick darkness?Wherefore say My people: 'We roam at large;We will come no more unto Thee'?³²Can a maid forget her ornaments,Or a bride her attire?Yet My people have forgotten MeDays without number. ³³How trimmest thou thy wayTo seek love!Therefore—even the wicked womenHast thou taught thy ways;³⁴Also in thy skirts is found the bloodOf the souls of the innocent poor;Thou didst not find them breaking in;Yet for all these things³⁵Thou saidst: 'I am innocent;Surely His anger is turned away from me'—Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee,Because thou sayest: