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JEREMIAH
CHAPTER
1
1
These are the sermons of Ieremie the sonne of Helkiah the priest, one of them
that dwelt at Anathoth in the lande of Beniamin,
2 When the Lorde had first spoken with hym in the tyme of Iosiah the sonne of
Amon kyng of Iuda, in the 13 yere of his raigne:
3 And so duryng vnto the tyme of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosiah king of Iuda, and
vntyll the 11 yere of Zedekiah the sonne of Iosiah kyng of Iuda were ended, when
Hierusalem was taken, euen in the fifth moneth.
4 The worde of the Lorde spake thus vnto me.
5 Before I fashioned thee in thy mothers wombe, I dyd knowe thee: and or euer
thou wast borne, I sanctified thee, and ordeyned thee to be a prophete vnto the
people.
6 Then sayde I: O Lorde God, I can not speake, for I am yet but young.
7 And the Lorde aunswered me thus: Say not so, I am to young: for thou shalt go
to all that I shall sende thee vnto, and whatsoeuer I commaunde thee, that shalt
thou speake.
8 Be not afrayde of their faces: for I am with thee to deliuer thee, saith the
Lorde.
9 And with that the Lorde stretched out his hande and touched my mouth: and the
same Lorde sayde vnto me, Beholde, I put my wordes in thy mouth.
10 And beholde, this day do I set thee ouer the people and kyngdomes, that thou
mayest roote out, breake of, destroy, and make waste, and that thou mayest
builde vp and plant.
11 After this the Lorde spake vnto me, saying: Ieremie, what seest thou? And I
sayd, I see a rod of an Almond tree.
12 Then sayde the Lorde vnto me: thou hast seene ryght, for I wyll make haste
speedyly vpon my worde to performe it.
13 It happened afterwarde that the Lorde spake to me agayne, and sayde: what
seest thou? and I sayde: I do see a seethyng pot, lokyng from out of the north.
14 Then sayde the Lorde vnto me: Out of the north shall come a plague vpon all
the dwellers of the lande.
15 For lo, I wyll call all the kinredes of the kingdomes of the north, saith the
Lorde: and they shall come, and euery one shall set his seate in the gates of
Hierusalem, and in all their walles rounde about, and in all cities of Iuda.
16 And through them shall I declare my iudgement, vpo all the wickednesse of
those men that haue forsaken me, that haue burnt incense vnto straunge gods, and
worshipped the workes of their owne handes.
17 And therfore girde vp thy loynes, arise, and tell them all that I geue thee
in commaundement: Feare them not, lest I destroy thee before them.
18 For beholde, this day do I make thee a strong fensed towne, an iron pyller,
and a brasen wall, agaynst the whole lande, agaynst the kinges and mightie men
of Iuda, agaynst the priestes and people of the lande.
19 They shall fight agaynst thee, but they shall not be able to ouercome thee:
for I am with thee to deliuer thee, saith the Lorde.
CHAPTER
2
1 Moreouer, the worde of the Lorde came vnto me, saying:
2 Go thy way, crye in the eares of Hierusalem, and say, Thus saith the Lorde: I
remember thee, the kindnesse of thy youth, and the loue of thy despousyng, in
that thou folowedst me through the wildernesse in an vntylled lande.
3
Israel
was an halowed thyng vnto the Lorde, and was his first fruites: All they that
deuour
Israel
shall offende, misfortune shall fall vpon them, saith the Lorde.
4 Heare therfore the worde of the Lord O thou house of Iacob, and all the
generations of the house of
Israel
.
5 Thus saith the Lorde, What vnfaithfulnesse founde your fathers in me, that
they went so farre away fro me, fallyng to lightnesse, and beyng so vayne?
6 They thought not in their heartes, where is the Lord that brought vs out of
the lande of Egypt, that led vs thorowe the wildernesse, through a desert &
rough lande, through a drye and deadly lande, yea a lande that no man had gone
through, and wherin no man had dwelt?
7 And when I had brought you into a pleasauut fertile lande, that ye myght enioy
the fruites & all the commodities of the same: ye went foorth and defiled my
lande, and brought mine heritage to abhomination.
8 The priestes them selues sayde not, Where is the Lord? They that had the lawe
in their handes knewe me not, the sheepheardes offended agaynst me, the
prophetes did prophecie in Baal, and folowed such thinges as shal bryng them no
profite.
9 Wherfore I am constrayned, saith the Lorde, yet agayne to contende in
iudgement with you, and with your childers children.
10 Go into the Isles of Cethim, and loke well: sende vnto Cedar, take diligent
heede, and see whether such thynges be done there,
11 Whether the gentiles them selues haue chaunged their gods which yet are no
gods in deede? but my people hath chaunged their honour for a thyng that may not
helpe them.
12 Be astonished O ye heauens, be afraide and abashed at such a thyng, saith the
Lorde.
13 For my people hath done two euils: they haue forsaken me the well of the
water of lyfe, and digged them pittes, yea vile and broken pittes that can holde
no water.
14 Is
Israel
a bonde seruaunt, or one of the housholde? why is he the so spoyled?
15 They rore and crye vpon him as lions, they haue made his lande waste: his
cities are so burnt vp, that there is no man dwellyng in them:
16 Yea the children of Noph & Taphnes shall cracke their crowne.
17 Commeth not this vnto thee because thou hast forsaken the Lorde thy God, euen
when he led thee by the way?
18 And what hast thou nowe to do in the streete of
Egypt
, to drynke water out of Nilus? Either what makest thou in the way to
Assyria
, to drynke water of the fludde?
19 Thine owne wickednesse shall reproue thee, and thy turnyng away shall
condempne thee: that thou mayest knowe and vnderstand howe euyll and hurtfull a
thyng it is, that thou hast forsaken the Lorde thy God, and hast not feared me,
saith the Lorde God of hoastes.
20 I haue euer broken thy yoke of olde, and burst thy bondes, yet sayest thou: I
wyll no more transgresse: but like an harlot thou runnest about vpon all hye
hylles, and among all greene trees.
21 Wheras I planted thee a noble vine, and wholly a right seede: howe art thou
turned then into a bitter vnfruitfull and straunge grape?
22 [Yea and that so sore] that though thou washe thee with Nitrus, and make thy
selfe to sauour with that sweete smellyng hearbe of Borith: yet in my sight thou
art stayned with thy wickednesse, saith the Lorde thy God.
23 Howe sayest thou nowe, I am not vncleane, and I haue not folowed Baalim? Loke
vpon thine owne wayes in the valleys what thou hast done? Thou art like a swift
dromedarie that goeth easyly her way.
24 And thy wantonnesse is lyke a wylde Asse that vseth the wildernesse, and that
snuffeth and bloweth at her wyll: who can tame her? All they that seeke her,
shall not fayle but fynde her in her moneth.
25 Kepe thy foote from nakednesse, and thy throte from thirst, and thou thinkest
in thy selfe: tushe, I wil take no sorowe, for I haue loued the straungers, and
them wyll I folowe.
26 Lyke as a theefe that is taken with the deede, commeth to shame: euen so is
the house of
Israel
come to confusion, the common people, their kynges and rulers, their priestes
and prophetes.
27 For they say to a stocke, Thou art my father, & to a stone, Thou hast
begotten me: yea they haue turned their backe vpon me, and not their face: but
in the tyme of their trouble, when they say, stande vp and helpe vs:
28 [I shall aunswere them] Where are nowe thy gods that thou hast made thee? bid
them stande vp, and helpe thee in the time of thy neede: For loke howe many
cities thou hast O Iuda, so many gods hast thou also.
29 Wherfore then wyll ye go to lawe with me? seeyng ye all are sinners agaynst
me, saith the Lorde.
30 It is but lost labour that I smite your children, for they receaue not my
correction: your owne sworde destroyeth your prophetes, lyke a deuouryng lion.
31 Oh generation, hearken vnto the worde of the Lorde: Am I become a wildernesse
vnto the people of
Israel
? or a lande that hath no lyght? wherfore saith my people then, We are lordes,
we wyll come no more vnto thee?
32 Doth a mayde forget her rayment, or a bride her stomacher? but my people hath
forgotten me a very long whyle.
33 Why beautifiest thou thy wayes so hyely, to obteyne fauour therthrough?
therfore also hast thou taught wickednesse through thy wayes.
34 Upon thy wynges is found the blood of poore and innocent people, whom thou
didst not fynde in corners & holes: but thou sluest the prophetes for
reprouyng all these thynges.
35 Yet darest thou say, I am [without sinne and] giltlesse, Tushe, his wrath can
not come vpon me: Beholde, I wyll reason with thee, because thou darest say, I
haue not offended.
36 Why gaddest thou so much hither and thither, to chaunge thy wayes? for thou
shalt be confounded aswell of
Egypt
as thou wast of the Assyrians.
37 Yea thou shalt go thy way from them, and smite thine handes together vpon thy
head, because the Lorde shall bring that confidence and hope of thine to naught,
& thou shalt not prosper withal.
CHAPTER
3
1 Commonly when a man putteth away his wyfe, and she goeth from hym &
maryeth with another, then the question is: shoulde he resort vnto her any more
after that? (Is not that lande then defiled and vncleane?) But as for thee thou
hast played the harlot with many louers, yet turne agayne to me, saith the Lorde.
2 Lift vp thine eyes to the hygh places, and loke where thou hast not ben
defiled: Thou hast wayted for them in the streetes, and as a murtherer in the
wildernesse, through thy whoredome and shamefull blasphemies is the lande
defiled.
3 This is the cause that the rayne and euenyng deawe hath ceassed: Thou hast
gotten thee an whores forehead, and wylt not be ashamed.
4 Wylt thou not herafter say vnto me, O my father, thou art he that hast brought
me vp, and led me from my youth?
5 Wyll God continue his wrath for euer? wyll he kepe our faultes in memorie to
the ende? Neuerthelesse, thou speakest such wordes, but thou art euer doyng
worse and worse to the vtmost of thy power.
6 The Lorde sayde also vnto me in the tyme of Iosiah the kyng, Hast thou seene
what that rebellion
Israel
hath done? howe she hath runne vp vpon all the hylles, and among all thicke
trees, and there played the harlot?
7 Hast thou seene also when she had done all this, howe I sayde vnto her, that
she shoulde turne agayne vnto me, and yet she is not returned? Iuda that
vnfaithfull sister of hers also sawe this:
8 Namely, that after I had well seene the adulterie of the shrinckyng harlot
Israel
, I put her away, and gaue her a byll of deuorcement: For all this, her
vnfaithfull sister Iuda was not ashamed, but went backe and played the whore.
9 Yea and the wantonnesse of her whoredome hath defyled the whole lande: For she
hath comitted fornication with stones and stockes.
10 Neuerthelsse, her vnfaithfull sister Iuda is not turned vnto me agayne with
her whole heart, but faignedlye saith the Lorde.
11 And the Lorde sayde vnto me, The backslyder
Israel
, is more righteous then the vnfaithfull Iuda.
12 And therfore go preach these wordes towarde the north, and say, Thou
disobedient Israel, turne agayne saith the Lorde, and I wyll not bring my wrath
vpon you: for I am mercifull saith the Lorde, and I wyll not alway beare
displeasure agaynst thee:
13 But on this condition, that thou know thy great blasphemie, namely that thou
hast vnfaithfully forsaken the Lord thy God, and hast made thy selfe partaker of
straunge gods vnder all greene trees, and hast had no wyll to heare my voyce,
saith the Lorde.
14 O ye disobedient childre, turne againe saith the Lorde, and I wyll be maryed
with you: for I wyll take one out of the citie, and two out of one generation
from among you, and bryng you into Sion,
15 And wyll geue you heardmen after myne owne mynde, which shall feede you with
learnyng and wisdome.
16 Moreouer, when ye be encreased and multiplied in the lande, then saith the
Lorde, there shall no more boast be made of the arke of the Lordes testament: No
man shall thinke vpon it, neither shall any man make mention of it: for from
thencefoorth it shall neither be visited, neither shall such thyng be done any
more.
17 Then shall Hierusalem be called the Lordes seate, and all heathen shalbe
gathered vnto it for the name of the Lordes sake which shalbe set vp at
Hierusalem: And from that tyme foorth they shall folowe no more the imagination
of their owne frowarde heart.
18 Then those that be of the house of Iuda, shal go vnto the house of Israel,
and they shall come together out of the north, into the same lande that I haue
geuen your fathers.
19 I haue thought thus: howe shall I take thee to be my children, and geue a
pleasaunt lande for thine heritage, yea and a goodly hoast of the heathen? And I
sayd, Call me father, and shrincke not from me.
20 Truely, lyke as a woman fayleth her husbande, so are ye vnfaithfull vnto me O
ye house of
Israel
, saith the Lorde.
21 The voyce of the children of
Israel
was hearde on hye, weepyng and waylyng: for that they haue defiled their way,
and forgotten God their Lorde.
22 O ye disobedient children, turne againe, & so shall I heale your
backturnynges. Lo we come vnto thee, for thou art the Lorde our God.
23 Truely, in vayne is health hoped for from the hylles, be they neuer so many:
but the health of
Israel
standeth only vpon God our Lorde.
24 Confusion hath deuoured our fathers labour from our youth vp, yea their
sheepe and bullockes, their sonnes and daughters.
25 So do we also sleepe in our confusion, and shame couereth vs: for we &
our fathers from our youth vp vnto this day haue sinned agaynst the Lord our
God, and haue not obeyed the voyce of the Lorde our God.
CHAPTER
4
1 O
Israel
, yf thou wylt turne thee, then turne vnto me, saith ye Lord: and yf thou wylt
put away thine abhominations out of my sight, thou shalt not be moued.
2 And shalt sweare, The Lord lyueth, in trueth, in equitie, and righteousnesse,
and all people shalbe fortunable and ioyfull in hym.
3 For thus saith the Lorde to all Iuda and Hierusalem: Plowe your lande, and
sowe not among the thornes.
4 Be circumcised in the Lorde, and cut away the foreskynne of your heartes all
ye of Iuda, and all the indwellers of Hierusalem: that myne indignation breake
not out lyke fire, and kindle, so that no man may quenche it, because of the
wickednesse of your imaginations.
5 Preach in Iuda and Hierusalem, crye out and speake, blowe the trumpettes in
the lande, crye that euery man may heare, and say, Gather you together, and we
wyll go into strong cities.
6 Set vp the token in Sion, speede you and make no tarying: for I wyll bring a
great plague and a great destruction from the north.
7 For the spoyler of the gentiles is broken vp from his place as a lion out of
his denne: that he may make thy lande waste, and destroy the cities, so that no
man may dwell therin.
8 Wherfore girde your selues about with sackcloth, mourne and weepe: for the
fearefull wrath of the Lorde is not withdrawen from vs.
9 At the same tyme saith the Lord, the heart of the kyng & of the princes
shalbe gone, the priestes shalbe astonished, and the prophetes shalbe sore
afrayde.
10 Then sayde I: Oh Lorde God, hast thou then deceaued this people and
Hierusalem, saying, Ye shall haue peace: and nowe the sworde goeth through their
lyues?
11 Then shall it be sayde to the people and Hierusalem, A strong winde in the
hye places of the wildernesse commeth through the way of my people, but neither
to fanne nor to cleanse.
12 After that, shall there come vnto me a strong wynde from those places, &
then wyll I also geue sentence vpon them.
13 For lo, he ariseth like a cloude, and his charrets are like a stormie wynde,
his horses are swifter then the Egle: Wo vnto vs, for we are destroyed.
14 O Hierusalem, washe thine heart from wickednesse, that thou mayest be helped:
Howe long shall thy vayne thoughtes remayne with thee?
15 For a voyce from Dan and from the hill of Ephraim speaketh out, and telleth
of a destruction.
16 Remember the heathen, and geue Hierusalem warning, and preache vnto her, that
watchers ouer her are commyng from farre countries, they haue cryed out against
the cities of Iuda.
17 And they haue beset her about in euery place, lyke as the watchmen in the
fielde: For they haue prouoked me to wrath, saith the Lorde.
18 Thy wayes and thy thoughtes haue brought thee vnto this, such is thine owne
wickednesse and disobedience: and because it is a bitter thyng, it hath stricken
thee to the heart.
19 Ah my belly, ah my belly shalt thou crie, howe is my heart so sore? my heart
panteth within me, I can not be styll, for I haue hearde the crying of the
trumpettes, and peales of warre.
20 They crye murther vpon murther, the whole lande shall perishe: Immediatly my
tentes were destroyed, and my hanginges in the twincklyng of an eye.
21 Howe long shall I see the tokens of warre, and heare the noyse of the
trumpettes?
22 [Neuerthelesse, this shall come vpon them,] because my people is become
foolishe, and hath not knowen me: they are the children of foolishnesse, and
without any discretion: To do euyll, they haue wit inough: but to do well, they
haue no wisdome.
23 I haue loked vpon the earth, and see it was waste and voyde: I loked towarde
heauen, and it had no shine.
24 I behelde the mountaynes, and lo, they trembled, and all the hylles were in a
feare.
25 I loked about me, and there was no body: and all the birdes of the ayre were
away.
26 I marked well, and the plowed fielde was become waste, yea all their cities
were broken downe at the presence of the Lord and indignation of his wrath.
27 For thus hath the Lorde saide: The whole lande shalbe desolate, yet wyll I
not then haue done.
28 And therfore shall the earth mourne, and the heauen be sorie aboue: for the
thyng that I haue spoken to the prophetes, purposed, and taken vpon me to do,
shall not repent me, and I wyll not go from it.
29 The whole lande shall flee for the noyse of horsemen and bowmen, they shall
runne into dennes, into wooddes, and climbe vp the stonye rockes: all the cities
shalbe voyde, and no man dwellyng therin.
30 What wylt thou nowe do, thou being destroyed? For though thou clothest thy
selfe with scarlet, and deckest thee with golde, though thou payntest thy face
with colours nowe, yet shalt thou trimme thy selfe in vayne: For those that
hitherto haue ben thy louers, shall abhorre thee, and go about to slay thee.
31 For I heare a noyse lyke as it were of a woman trauaylyng, & one
labouryng of her first childe, Euen the voyce of the daughter Sion, that casteth
out her armes, and sowneth, saying: Ah, wo is me, howe sore vexed and faynt is
my heart for feare of the murtherers?
CHAPTER
5
1 Loke through Hierusalem, beholde and see, seeke through her streetes also
within, yf ye can fynde one man that doth equall and ryght, or seketh for the
trueth, and I shall spare that citie, saith the Lorde.
2 For though they can say, the Lorde lyueth: yet they sweare to deceaue.
3 Wheras thou (O Lorde) lokest only vpon faith and trueth: Thou hast scourged
them, but they toke no repentaunce, thou hast corrected them for amendement, but
they refused thy correction, they made their faces harder then a stone, and
woulde not amende.
4 Therfore I thought in my selfe: peraduenture they are so simple & foolishe
that they vnderstande nothyng of the Lordes way, and iudgementes of their God.
5 Therfore will I go vnto their heades and rulers, and talke with them, if they
knowe the way of the Lord, and iudgementes of their God: But these [in lyke
maner] haue broken the yoke, and burst the bondes in sunder.
6 Wherfore a lion out of the wood hath hurt them, and a woolfe in the euenyng
shall destroy them, the Leoparde doth lye lurkyng by their cities, to teare in
peeces all them that come therout: for their offences are multiplied, and their
departyng away is encreased.
7 Shoulde I then for all this haue mercie vpon thee? Thy children haue forsaken
me, and sworne by them that are no gods: and albeit that I fed them to the full,
yet they fall to adulterie, and haunt harlottes houses.
8 In the desire of vncleanly lust they are become lyke the stoned horse, euery
man neyeth at his neighbours wife.
9 Shoulde I not correct this, saith the Lorde? shoulde I not be auenged of euery
people that is lyke vnto this?
10 Climbe vp vpon their walles, beate them downe, and destroy them not vtterly:
take away their battlementes, because they are not the lordes.
11 For vnfaithfully hath the house of
Israel
and Iuda forsaken me, saith the Lorde.
12 They haue denied the Lorde and sayde, It is not he [that loketh vpon vs]
tushe, there shall no misfortune come vpon vs, we shall see neither sworde nor
hunger.
13 As for the warning of the prophetes, it is but wynde, yea there is not the
worde of God in them: such thynges shall happen vnto them selues.
14 Wherfore thus saith the Lorde God of hoastes, Because ye speake such wordes,
beholde, the wordes that are in thy mouth wyll I turne to fire, and make the
people to be wood, that the fire may consume them.
15 Lo, I wyll bryng a people vpon you from farre, O house of Israel, saith the
Lorde, a mightie people, an olde people, a people whose speache thou knowest
not, neither vnderstandest what they say.
16 Their arrowes are sodayne death, yea they them selues be very giauntes.
17 This people shall eate vp thy fruite and thy meate, yea they shall deuour thy
sonnes & thy daughters, thy sheepe and thy bullockes, they shall eate vp thy
grapes and figges: As for thy strong and well defensed cities wherin thou didst
trust, they shall bryng to pouertie, and that through the sworde.
18 Neuerthelesse, I wyll not then haue done with you, saith the Lorde.
19 But if they say, wherfore doth the Lorde our God all this vnto vs? Then
aunswere them: because that lyke as ye haue forsaken me, & serued straunge
gods in your lande, euen so shal ye serue straungers out of your lande.
20 Preach this vnto the house of Iacob, and crye it out in Iuda, and say thus:
21 Heare this thou foolishe and vndiscreete people, ye haue eyes but ye see not,
eares haue ye but ye heare not.
22 Feare ye not me, saith the Lorde? will ye not tremble at my presence? which
bynde the sea with the sande by a continuall decree, so that it can not passe
his boundes: for though it rage, yet can it do nothing, and though the waues
therof do swell, yet may they not go ouer.
23 But this people hath a false and obstinate heart, they are departed and gone
away fro me.
24 They thinke not in their heartes, O let vs feare the Lord our God, who geueth
vs raine early and late when nede is, whiche kepeth euer still the haruest for
vs yerely.
25 Neuerthesse, your misdeedes haue turned these from you, and your sinnes haue
robbed you of good thinges.
26 For among my people are found wicked persons, that priuily lay snares and
wayte for men, to take them and destroy them.
27 And like as a nette is full of byrdes, so are their houses full of that which
they haue gotten with falshood and deceipt: Hereof commeth their great
substaunce and riches,
28 Hereof are they fat and welthy, and are more mischieuous then any other: they
minister not the lawe, they make no ende of the fatherlesse cause, yea and they
prosper: yet they iudge not the poore according to equitie.
29 Should I not punishe these thinges saith the Lorde? should not I be auenged
of all suche people as these be?
30 Horrible and greeuous thinges are done in the lande.
31 The prophetes teache falsely, and the preachers receaue giftes, and my people
hath pleasure therein: what wyll come thereof at the last.
CHAPTER
6
1 Come out of Hierusalem, ye strong chyldre of Beniamin blowe vp the trumpettes
ye Thecuites, set vp a token vnto Bethcaran: for a plague & a great miserie
appeareth out from the north.
2 I wyll liken the daughter Sion to a faire and tender woman, and to her shall
come the shepheardes with their flockes.
3 Their tentes shall they pitche rounde about her, and euery one shall feede in
his place.
4 Make battayle against her [shall they say] aryse, let vs go vp whyle it is yet
day: Alas the day goeth away, and the night shadowes fall downe.
5 Arise, let vs go vp by night, and destroy her strong holdes.
6 For thus hath the Lorde of hoastes commaunded, Hewe downe her trees, and set
vp bulwarkes against Hierusalem: for the tyme is come that this citie must be
punished, for in her is all maliciousnesse.
7 Like as a conduite spouteth out waters, so she spouteth out her wickednesse:
Robberie and vnrighteousnesse is hearde in her, sorowe and woundes are euer
there in my sight.
8 Amende thee (O Hierusalem) lest I withdrawe my heart from thee, and make thee
desolate, and thy lande also, that no man dwell in it.
9 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: The residue of
Israel
shalbe gathered as the remnaunt of grapes: and therefore turne thyne hande
agayne into the basket, like the grape gatherer.
10 But vnto whom shall I speake? whom shall I warne that he may take heede?
Their eares are so vncircumcised, that they may not heare: beholde, they take
the worde of God but for a scorne, and haue no lust therto.
11 And therefore I am so full of thyne indignation O Lorde, that I may suffer no
lenger, but shed it out vpon the chyldren that are without, and vpon all young
men: yea the man must be taken prisoner with the wife, and the aged with the
creeple.
12 Their houses with their landes and wiues shalbe turned into straungers: for I
wyll stretche out mine hand vpon the inhabitours of this lande, saith the Lorde.
13 For from the least to the most they hang all vpon couetousnesse: and from the
prophete vnto the priest, they go about falshood and lyes.
14 And beside that, they heale the hurt of my people with sweete wordes, saying,
Peace, peace: when there is no peace at all.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abhomination? Truly nay, they be
past shame, and therefore they shall fall among the slayne: and in the houre
when I shall visite them, they shalbe brought downe saith the Lorde.
16 Thus saith the Lorde, Go into the streetes, consider and make inquisition for
the olde way, and if it be the good and right way, then go therein, that ye may
finde rest for your soules: but they say, we wyll not walke therin.
17 Moreouer, I wyl set watchmen ouer you, and therefore take heede vnto the
voyce of the trumpet: but they say, we wyll not take heede.
18 Heare therefore ye gentiles, and thou congregation shalt know what I haue
deuised for them.
19 Heare thou earth also: behold, I wyll cause a plague to come vpon this
people, euen the fruite of their owne imaginations, for that they haue not ben
obedient vnto my wordes and to my lawe, but abhorred them.
20 Wherefore bryng ye me incense from
Saba
, and sweete smelling calamus from farre countreys? your burnt offeringes
displease me, and I reioyce not in your sacrifices.
21 And therefore thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I wyll lay stumbling blockes
among this people, and there shall fall at them the father with the chyldren,
one neighbour shall perishe with another.
22 Thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, there shall come a people from the north, and
a great people shal arise from the endes of the earth.
23 With bowes and with dartes shall they be weaponed, it is a rough and fearce
people, & an vnmercifull people: their voyce roareth like the sea, thei ride
vpon horses well appointed to the battaile against thee O daughter Sion.
24 The fame of them haue we hearde, our armes are feeble, heauinesse and sorowe
is come vpon vs, as vpon a woman trauayling with chylde.
25 Let no man go foorth into the fielde, let no man come vpon the hye streete:
for the sworde and feare of the enemie is on euery side.
26 Wherfore gyrde a sackcloth about thee O thou daughter of my people, sprinkle
thy selfe with ashes: mourne and weepe bitterly as vpon thyne onlye beloued
sonne, for the destroyer shall sodainly fall vpon vs.
27 Thee haue I set for a strong towre [O thou prophete] and a well fensed wall
among my people, to seeke out and to trye their wayes.
28 For they are all stubborne apostates and fallen away, walking deceiptfully,
they are cleane brasse and iron, for they hurt and destroy euery man.
29 The bellowes are brent in the fire, the leade is not moulten, the melter
melteth in vayne, for the euill is not taken away from them.
30 Therefore do they call them naughtie siluer, because the Lorde hath cast them
out.
CHAPTER
7
1 These are the wordes that God spake vnto Ieremie, saying:
2 Stande vnder the gate of the Lordes house, & crye out these wordes there
with a loude voyce, and say, Heare the word of the Lorde all ye of Iuda, that go
in at this doore to worship the Lorde:
3 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Amende your wayes and your
counsels, and I wyll let you dwell in this place.
4 Trust not in false lying words, saying: Here is the temple of the Lord, here
is the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lorde:
5 But rather in deede amende your wayes and counsels, and iudge right betwixt a
man and his neighbour,
6 Oppresse not the straunger, the fatherlesse, and the widowe, shed not innocent
blood in this place, cleaue not to straunge gods to your owne destruction:
7 Then wyll I let you dwell in this place, yea in the land that I gaue afore
tyme to your fathers for euer.
8 But take heede, ye trust in lying tales, that beguile you and do you no good.
9 For when ye haue stollen, murthered, committed adultrie and periurie, when ye
haue offered vnto Baal, folowing straunge and vnknowen gods: shall ye be
vnpunished?
10 Yet then come ye and stande before me in this house (whiche hath my name
geuen vnto it) and say, tushe, we are absolued quite, though we haue done all
these abhominations.
11 What, thinke you this house that beareth my name, is a denne of thieues? And
yet I see what you thinke, saith the Lorde.
12 Go to my place in Silo, wherevnto I gaue my name aforetyme, and looke well
what I did to the same place for the wickednesse of my people of
Israel
.
13 And now seing ye haue done all these deedes saith the Lorde, and I my selfe
rose vp euer betimes to warne you and to commune with you, yet would ye not
heare me, I called, ye would not aunswere:
14 Therefore, euen as I haue done vnto Silo, so wyll I do to this house that my
name is geuen vnto, and that you put your trust in, yea vnto the place that I
haue geuen to you and your fathers:
15 And I shal thrust you out of my sight, as I haue cast out all your brethren
the whole seede of Ephraim.
16 Therfore thou shalt not pray for this people, thou shalt neither geue thankes
nor bid prayer for them: make thou no intercession for them, for in no wise will
I heare thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Iuda, and in the streetes of
Hierusalem?
18 The chyldren gather stickes, the fathers kindle the fire, the wome kneade the
dough to bake cakes for the queene of heauen: they powre out drinke offeringes
vnto straunge gods, to prouoke me vnto wrath.
19 Howbeit they hurt not me saith the Lord, but rather confounde and shame them
selues.
20 And therefore thus saith the Lorde God: Beholde, my wrath and indignation
shalbe powred out vpon this place, vpon men and cattell, vpon trees in the
fielde, and fruite of the lande: and it shall burne, so that no man may quench
it.
21 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Heape vp your burnt
offeringes with your sacrifices, and eate the fleshe.
22 For when I brought your fathers out of
Egypt
, I spake no worde vnto them of burnt offeringes and sacrifices:
23 But this I commaunded them, saying, Hearken and obay my voyce, and I shalbe
your God, and ye shalbe my people, so that ye walke in al the wayes whiche I
haue commaunded you, that ye may prosper.
24 But they were not obedient, they inclined not their eares there vnto: but
went after their owne imaginations, and after the motions of their owne wicked
heart, and so turned them selues away, and conuerted not vnto me.
25 And this haue they done from the tyme that your fathers came out of
Egypt
, vnto this day: Neuerthelesse, I sent vnto you all my seruauntes the prophetes,
I rose vp early, and sent you worde.
26 Yet woulde they not hearken nor offer me their eares, but were obstinate, and
worse then their fathers.
27 And thou shalt nowe speake all these wordes vnto them, but they shall not
heare thee: thou shalt crye vpon them, but they shall not aunswere thee.
28 Therefore shalt thou say vnto them, This is the people that neither heareth
the voyce of the Lorde their God, nor receaueth his correction: faythfulnesse
and trueth is cleane rooted out of their mouth.
29 Wherefore cut of thine heere, O Hierusalem, and cast it away, take vp a
complaint on hye: for the Lorde hath cast away and forsaken the people that he
is displeased withall.
30 For the chyldren of Iuda haue done euyll in my sight, saith the Lorde: they
haue set vp their abhominations in the house that hath my name, and haue defiled
it:
31 They haue also buylded an aulter at Topheth, whiche is in the valley of the
chyldren of Hennom, that they might burne their sonnes and daughters in fire:
whiche I neuer commaunded them, neither came it euer in my thought.
32 And therfore beholde the dayes shall come (saith the Lorde) that it shall no
more be called Topheth, or the valley of the chyldren of Hennom, but the valley
of slaughter: for in Topheth they shall be buried, because they shall els haue
no roome.
33 Yea the dead bodyes of this people shalbe eaten vp of the foules of the ayre,
and wylde beastes of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
34 And as for the voyce of mirth and gladnesse of the cities of Iuda and
Hierusalem, the voyce of the bridegrome and of the bride, I wyll make them
ceasse: for the lande shalbe desolate.
CHAPTER
8
1 At the same tyme saith the Lorde, the bones of the kinges of Iuda, the bones
of his princes, the bones of the preachers and prophetes, yea and the bones of
the citizens of Hierusalem, shalbe brought out of their graues,
2 And layde against the sunne, the moone, & all the heauenly hoast, whom
they loued, whom they serued, whom they ranne after, whom they sought and
worshipped: they shall neither be gathered together nor buried, but shall lye as
dunge vpon the earth.
3 And all they that remaine of this wicked generation, shal desire rather to die
then to liue, whersoeuer they remaine, and where as I scatter them, saith the
Lorde of hoastes.
4 Thus shalt thou say vnto them also: Thus saith the Lorde, Do men fall so, that
they arise not vp againe? or if
Israel
repent, wyll not God turne againe to them?
5 Wherefore then is this people of Hierusalem gone so farre backe, that they
turne not againe? They are euer the longer the more obstinate, and wyll not be
conuerted.
6 For I haue loked and considered, but there is no man that speaketh a good
worde, there is no man that taketh repentaunce for his sinne, that wyll so muche
say, what haue I done? but euerie man turneth to his owne course, like a fierce
horse headlong to the battaile.
7 The Storke in the ayre knoweth his appointed tyme, the Turtle doue, the
Swallowe and the Crane consider the tyme of their trauayle: but my people wyll
not knowe the tyme of the punishment of the Lorde.
8 Howe dare ye say then, we are wyse, we haue the lawe of the Lorde among vs?
Truely in vayne hath he prepared his penne, and vainely haue the writers written
it.
9 Therefore shall the wyse be confounded, they shalbe afraide and taken: for lo,
they haue cast out the worde of the Lorde, what wisdome can then be among them?
10 Wherfore I wyl geue their wiues vnto aliauntes, and their fields to
destroyers: For from the lowest vnto the hyest they folowe filthy lucre, and
from the prophete vnto the priest they deale all with lies.
11 Neuerthelesse, they heale the hurt of my people very slenderly, saying,
peace, peace: where there is no peace at all.
12 Fye for shame, howe abhominable thinges do they? and yet they be not ashamed,
yea they knowe of no shame: Wherefore in the tyme of their visitation they shal
fal among the dead bodies, and be ouerthrowne, saith the Lorde.
13 Moreouer, I wyll consume them in deede (saith the Lorde) so that there shall
not be one grape vpon the vine, neither one figge vpon the figge tree, and the
leaues shalbe pluckt of: and the thing that I haue geuen them, shalbe taken from
them.
14 Why prolong we the time? Let vs gather our selues together, and go into the
strong citie, there shall we be in rest: for the Lorde our God hath put vs to
scilence, and geuen vs water mixt with gall to drinke, because we haue sinned
against hym.
15 We loked for peace, and we fare not the better, we wayted for the tyme of
health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.
16 The noyse of his horses is heard from Dan, the whole lande is afraide at the
neighing of his strong horses: for they are come in, and haue deuoured the lande,
withall that is in it, the cities, and those that dwell therin.
17 Moreouer, I wyll sende cockatrices and serpentes among you (whiche wyl not be
charmed) and they shall bite you, saith the Lorde.
18 I woulde haue had comfort against sorowe: but sorowe is come vpon me, and
heauinesse vexeth my heart.
19 For lo, the voyce of the crying of my people is hearde, [for feare of them
that come] from a farre countrey: Is not the Lord in Sion? Is not her king in
her? Wherefore then haue they greeued me [shall the Lorde say] with their
images, and foolishe straunge fashions of a forraine god?
20 The haruest is gone, the sommer hath an ende, and we are not helped.
21 I am sore vexed, because of the hurt of my people, I am heauie and abashed:
22 Is there not triacle at
Gilead
? Is there no phisitio there? why then is not the health of my people recouered?
CHAPTER
9
1 O who wyll geue my head water inough, and a wel of teares for mine eyes, that
I may weepe night and day for the slaughter of my people?
2 Woulde God that I had a cottage somewhere farre from folke, that I might leaue
my people and go from them, for they be all adulterers and a shrinking sort.
3 They bend their tongues like vowes to shoote out lyes, they waxe strong vppon
earth: As for the trueth, they may nothing away withall in the worlde, for they
go from one wickednes to another, and wyll not knowe me, saith the Lorde.
4 Yea, one must kepe hym selfe from another, no man may safely trust his owne
brother: for one brother vndermindeth another, one neighbour beguileth another.
5 Yea, one dissembleth with another, and they deale with no trueth: They haue
practised their tongues to lye, and taken great paynes to do mischiefe.
6 Thou sittest in the middes of a deceiptfull people, which for very dissembling
falshood wyll not knowe me, saith the Lorde.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Beholde, I wyll melt them and trye
them: for what shoulde I els do to my people?
8 Their tongues are like sharpe arrowes to speake deceipt: with their mouth they
speake peaceablie to their neighbour, but priuilie they lay wayte for hym.
9 Should I not punishe them for these thinges, saith the Lorde? or shoulde I not
be auenged of any suche people as this?
10 Upon the mountaines wyl I take vp a lamentation and a sorowfull crye, and a
mourning vpon the faire places of the wildernesse: Namely, howe they are so
brent vp, that no man goeth there any more, yea a man shall not heare one beast
crye there: byrdes and cattell are all gone from thence.
11 I wyl make Hierusalem also an heape of stones, & a den of venemous wormes:
and I wyll make the cities of Iuda so waste, that no man shall dwel therin.
12 What man is so wise as to vnderstand this? or to whom hath the Lorde spoken
by mouth, that he may shewe this, and say: O thou lande, why perishest thou so?
wherfore art thou so brent vp, and like a wildernesse that no man goeth thorowe?
13 Yea the Lorde hym selfe tolde the same vnto them that forsoke his lawe, and
kept not the thing that he gaue them in commaundement, neither liued thereafter:
14 But folowed the wickednesse of their owne heartes, & serued straunge gods
as their forefathers taught them.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Beholde, I wyll
feede this people with wormewood, and geue them gall to drinke.
16 I wyll scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their
fathers haue knowen: and I wyll send a sworde among them to persecute them,
vntyll I bring them to naught.
17 Moreouer, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Beware of the vengeaunce that
hangeth ouer you, and call for mourning wiues, and sende for wyse women, that
they come shortly,
18 And sing a mourning song of vs, that the teares may fall out of our eyes, and
that our eye liddes may gushe out of water.
19 For there is a lamentable noyse heard of Sion: O howe are we so sore
destroyed? O howe are we so pitiously confounded? We must forsake our owne
naturall countrey, and we are shut out of our owne lodginges.
20 Yet heare the worde of the Lorde (O ye women) and let your eares regarde the
wordes of his mouth: that ye may learne your daughters to mourne, and that euery
one may teache her neighbour to make lamentation
21 [Namely thus] Death is climing vp in at our windowes, he is come into our
houses, to destroy the chylde before the doore, and the young man in the streete.
22 But tell thou playnely, thus saith the Lord: The dead bodyes of men shall lye
vpon the ground as the dunge vpon the fielde, and as the handfull after the
mower, and there shalbe no man to take them vp.
23 Thus saith the Lorde: Let not the wise man reioyce in his wisdome, nor the
strong man in his strength, neither the riche man in his riches:
24 But who so wyll reioyce, let hym reioyce in this, that he vnderstandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the Lorde whiche do mercy, equitie, and righteousnesse
vpon the earth: therfore haue I pleasure in suche thinges, saith the Lorde.
25 Beholde the time commeth (saith the Lord) that I will visite all them whose
foreskinne is vncircumcised, and the circumcised,
26 The Egyptians, the Iewes, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the
shauen Madianites that dwel in the wildernesse: for all the gentiles are all
vncircumcised in the fleshe, but all the house of Israel are vncircumcised in
the heart.
CHAPTER
10
1 Heare the worde of the Lord that he speaketh vnto thee, O thou house of
Israel
.
2 Thus saith the Lord: ye shal not learne after the maner of the heathen, and ye
shall not be afraide for the tokens of heauen: for the heathen are afraide of
suche.
3 Yea all the customes and lawes of the gentiles are nothing but vanitie: They
hewe downe a tree in the wood with the handes of the workeman, and fashion it
with the axe.
4 They couer it ouer with golde or siluer, they fasten it with nailes and
hammers, that it moue not.
5 It standeth as stiffe as the Palme tree, it can neither speake nor go one
foote, but must be borne: Be not ye afraide of suche, for they can do neither
good nor euill.
6 But there is none lyke vnto thee O Lorde, and great is the name of thy power.
7 Who would not feare thee, O king of the gentiles? for thyne is the dominion:
for among all the wise men of the gentiles, and in all their kingdomes, there is
none that may be likened vnto thee.
8 They are altogether brutishe and vnwise in this one thing: wood is the
teaching of vanitie.
9 Siluer is brought out of Tharsis, and beaten to plates, and gold from Ophir, a
worke that is made with the hande of the craftesman, and they are clothed with
yelowe silke and scarlet: all these are the worke of cunning men.
10 But the Lorde is a true God, a liuing God, and an euerlasting kyng: if he be
wroth, the earth shaketh, all the gentiles may not abide his indignation.
11 [As for their gods] thus shall you say to them, they are no gods that made
neither heauen nor earth, therfore shall they perishe from the earth, and from
all thinges vnder heauen.
12 But [as for our God] he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdome
doth he order the whole compasse of the worlde, with his discretion hath he
spread out the heauens.
13 At his voyce the waters gathered together in the ayre, he draweth vp the
cloudes from the vttermost partes of the earth, he turneth lightning to raine,
and bringeth foorth the windes out of their treasures.
14 His wisdome maketh all men fooles, and confounded be casters of images: for
that they cast, is but a vayne thing, and hath no life.
15 The vayne craftesmen with their workes that they in their vanitie haue made,
shall perishe one with another in time of visitation.
16 Neuerthelesse, Iacobs portion is none such: but it is he that hath made all
thinges, and
Israel
is the rod of his inheritaunce: the Lorde of hoastes is his name.
17 Gather vp thy wares out of the land, thou that art in the strong place.
18 For thus saith the Lorde: beholde, I wyll now throwe as with a stone sling,
the inhabiters of this land at this once, and I wyll bring trouble vpon them,
that they shall proue true the wordes that I haue spoken by the prophetes.
19 Alas howe am I hurt? alas howe paynefull are my scourges vnto me? for I
consider this sorowe by my selfe, and I must suffer it.
20 My tabernacle is destroyed, and all my cordes are broken, my chyldren are
gone fro me, & can no where be founde: Nowe haue I none to spreade out my
tent, nor to set vp my hanginges.
21 For the heardmen are become foolishe, and they haue not sought the Lorde:
therefore haue they dealt vnwisely with their cattell, and all are scattered
abrode.
22 Beholde, the noyse is harde at hande, and great sedition out of the north, to
make the cities of Iuda a wildernesse, and a dwelling place for dragons.
23 Nowe I knowe (O Lord) that it is not in mans power to order his owne wayes,
or to rule his owne steppes and goinges.
24 Therefore chasten thou me O Lord, but with fauour, and not in thy wrath, lest
thou bring me vtterly to naught.
25 Powre out thyne indignation vpon the gentiles that knowe thee not, and vpon
the people that call not vpon thy name, and that because they haue consumed,
deuoured, and destroyed Iacob, and haue made his habitation waste.
CHAPTER
11
1 This is a sermo which the Lorde commaunded Ieremie for to preache, saying:
2 Heare the wordes of this couenaunt and speake vnto the men of Iuda, and to all
them that dwell at Hierusalem,
3 And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Cursed be euery one that
is not obedient vnto the words of this couenaunt,
4 Whiche I commaunded vnto your fathers, what time as I brought them out of
Egypt from the iron furnace, saying: Be obedient vnto my voyce, and do according
to all that I commaunde you, so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
5 And wyll kepe my promise that I haue sworne vnto your fathers, [namelye] that
I woulde geue them a lande whiche floweth with milke and honie, as ye see it is
come to passe vnto this day. Then aunswered I and sayde, Amen: let it be euen so
Lorde as thou sayest.
6 Then the Lord sayd vnto me againe: Preache this in the cities of Iuda, and
rounde about Hierusalem, & say: Heare the wordes of this couenaunt, and kepe
them.
7 For I haue diligently exhorted your fathers, euer since the tyme that I
brought them out of the lande of Egypt vnto this day, I gaue them warning be
times, saying: hearken vnto my voyce.
8 Neuerthelesse, they would not obey me, nor encline their eares vnto me: but
folowed the wicked imaginations of their owne heartes, and therefore I haue
brought vpon them al the wordes of this couenaunt that I gaue them to kepe,
which they [notwithstanding] haue not kept.
9 And the Lorde sayde vnto me: it is founde out that whole
Israel
and all these cities of Hierusalem are gone backe.
10 They haue turned them selues to the blasphemies of their forefathers, which
had no lust to heare my wordes: Euen lykewyse haue these also folowed straunge
gods, and worshipped them: The house of
Israel
and Iuda haue broken my couenaunt whiche I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore, thus saith the Lorde: beholde, I will send a plague vpon them,
whiche they shall not be able to escape: and they shall crye vnto me, and I wyl
not heare them.
12 Then shall the townes of Iuda, and the citizens of Hierusalem go and call
vpon their gods vnto whom they made their oblations: but they shall not be able
to helpe them in tyme of their trouble.
13 For as many cities as thou hast, O Iuda, so many gods hast thou had also: and
loke howe many streetes there be in thee (O Hierusalem) so many shameful aulters
haue ye set vp, aulters [I say] to offer vpon them vnto Baal.
14 Therfore pray not thou for this people, byd neither prayse nor prayer for
them: for though they crye vnto me in their trouble, yet wil I not heare them.
15 What part hath my beloued in my house, seing he hath worked abhomination,
seruing many gods? The holy fleshe offeringes in the temple are gone from thee
[O Iuda] and thou when thou hast done euyll, makest thy boast of it.
16 The Lord called thee a greene oliue tree, a faire one, a fruitefull one, a
goodlye one: but with great clamour hath the enemie set fire vpon it, & the
braunches of it are destroyed.
17 For the Lorde of hoastes that planted thee, hath deuised a plague for thee (O
thou house of
Israel
and Iuda) for the euyll that ye haue done to prouoke hym to wrath, in that ye
dyd seruice to Baal.
18 This (O Lorde) haue I learned of thee, and vnderstande it: for thou hast
shewed me their imaginations.
19 But I am as a meeke lambe, an oxe that is caryed away to be slayne, not
knowing that they had deuised suche a counsell against me [saying,] We wyll
destroy his meate with wood, and driue him out of the lande of the liuing, that
his name shall neuer be thought vpon.
20 Therfore I wyll beseche thee nowe (O Lorde of hoastes) thou righteous iudge,
thou that tryest the raynes and the heartes, let me see thee auenged of them:
for vnto thee haue I committed my cause.
21 The Lorde therfore spake thus of the citizens of Anathoth that sought to slay
me, saying: Preache not vnto vs in the name of the Lorde, or els thou shalt dye
of our handes:
22 Thus [I say] spake the Lorde of hoastes: Beholde, I will visit you, your
young me shal perishe with the sworde, your sonnes and your daughters shall
vtterly dye of hunger,
23 So that none shall remaine: for vpon the citizens of Anathoth wyll I bring a
plague euen the yere of their visitation.
CHAPTER
12
1 O Lorde thou art more righteous, then that I shoulde dispute with thee:
neuerthelesse, let me talke with thee in thynges reasonable. Howe happeneth it
that the way of the vngodly is so prosperous? and that it goeth so well with
them which without any shame offend and liue in wickednesse,
2 Thou plantest them, they take roote, they growe, and bryng foorth fruite: they
boast much of thee, yet art thou farre from their raynes.
3 But thou Lorde to whom I am well knowen, thou that hast sene and proued my
heart, take them away, like as a flocke is caryed to the slaughter house, &
appoynt them for the day of slaughter.
4 Howe long shall the lande mourne, and all the hearbes of the fielde perishe
for the wickednesse of them that dwell therin? The cattell and the birdes are
gone, yet say they, tushe, God wyll not destroy vs vtterly.
5 Seyng thou art weery in runnyng with the footmen, howe wilt thou then runne
with horses? In a peaceable sure lande thou mayest be safe: but howe wylt thou
do in the furious pride of Iordane?
6 For thy brethren and thy kinrede haue altogether dispised thee, and cryed out
vpon thee altogether: Beleue them not, though they speake faire wordes to thee.
7 As for me [I say] I haue forsaken mine owne dwellyng place, and left mine
heritage: my lyfe also that I loue so well, haue I geuen into the handes of myne
enemies.
8 Myne heritage is become vnto me as a lion in the wood: it cryed out vpon me,
therfore haue I forsaken it.
9 Is not mine heritage vnto me as a speckled birde? are not the birdes round
about agaynst her? Come and gather ye together all the beastes of the fielde,
come, that ye may eate it vp.
10 Diuers heardmen haue broke downe my vineyarde, and troden vpon my portion: of
my pleasaunt portion they haue made a wildernesse and desert.
11 They haue layde it waste, and nowe that it is waste it sigheth vnto me: yea
the whole lande lyeth waste, and no man regardeth it.
12 The destroyers come ouer the borders in the desert euery way: for the sworde
of the Lorde doth consume from the one ende of the lande to the other, and no
fleshe hath rest.
13 They haue sowen wheate, and reaped thornes, they haue taken heritage in
possession, but it doth them no good: and they were ashamed of your fruites,
because of the great wrath of the Lord.
14 Thus saith the Lord vpon all my euyl neighbours that lay hande on mine
heritage which I haue possessed, euen my people of
Israel
: Beholde, I wyll plucke them [namely
Israel
] out of their lande, and put out the house of Iuda from among them.
15 And when I haue rooted them out, I will be at one with them agayne, and I
wyll haue mercie vpon them, and bryng them agayne euery man to his owne
heritage, and into his lande.
16 And yf they [namely that trouble my people] wyll learne the wayes of them to
sweare by my name, the Lorde lyueth, lyke as they learned my people to sweare by
Baal, then shall they be built among my people:
17 But yf they wyll not obey, then wyll I roote out the same folke, and destroy
them, saith the Lorde.
CHAPTER
13
1 Thus saith the Lorde vnto me: Go thy way and get thee a lynnen girdle, and
girde it about thy loynes, let it not be wet.
2 Then I got me a girdle accordyng to the commaundement of the Lorde, and put it
about my loynes.
3 After this, the seconde tyme the Lorde spake vnto me agayne.
4 Take the girdle that thou hast prepared and put about thee, and get thee vp,
and go vnto
Euphrates
, and hyde it there in a hole of the rocke.
5 So went I, and hyd it at
Euphrates
, as the Lorde commaunded me.
6 And it happened long after this, that the Lorde spake vnto me: Up, and get
thee to
Euphrates
, & fetche the girdle from thence, which I commaunded thee to hyde there.
7 Then went I to
Euphrates
, & digged vp, and toke the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and
beholde, the girdle was corrupt, so that it was profitable for nothyng.
8 Then sayde the Lorde vnto me,
9 Thus saith the Lorde, Euen so wyll I corrupt the pride of Iuda, and the hye
mynde of Hierusalem.
10 This people is a wicked people, they wyll not heare my worde, they folowe the
wicked imaginations of their owne heart, and hang vpon straunge gods, them they
serue and worship, and therfore they shalbe as this breeche that serueth for
nothyng.
11 For as straytly as a girdle lyeth vpon a mans loynes, so straytly dyd I bynde
the whole house of
Israel
, and the whole house of Iuda vnto me, saith the Lorde: that they myght be my
people, that they might haue a glorious name, that they might be in honour: but
they woulde not obey me.
12 Therfore lay this riddle before them, and say, Thus saith the Lorde God of
Israel
: Euery pot shalbe fylled with wine. And they shall say vnto thee. Thinkest thou
we knowe not that euery pot shalbe fylled with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say vnto them, thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I shall fyll
all the inhabitours of this lande with drunkennesse, the kynges that syt vpon
Dauids stoole, the priestes & prophetes, with all that dwell at Hierusalem.
14 And I wyll set them one agaynst another, yea the fathers against the sonnes,
saith the Lorde: I wyll not pardon them, I wyll not spare them, nor haue pitie
vpon them: but destroy them.
15 Heare, geue eare, take not disdayne at it: for it is the Lorde hym selfe that
speaketh.
16 Honour the Lorde your God or he take his light from you, and or euer your
feete stumble in darcknesse at the hyll: lest when you loke for the lyght, he
turne it into the shadowe and darcknesse of death.
17 But if ye wyll not heare me that geue you secrete warnyng, I wyll mourne from
my whole heart for your stubburnnesse: Piteously wyll I weepe, and the teares
shall gushe out of mine eyes, for the Lordes flocke shalbe caried away captiue.
18 Tell the kyng and the queene, humble your selues, sit you downe lowe, for
your dignitie shalbe throwen downe, and the crowne of your glorie shall fall
from your head.
19 The cities towarde the south shalbe shut vp, and no man shall open them: all
Iuda shalbe caryed away captiue, so that none shall remayne.
20 Lyft vp your eyes, and beholde them that come from the north, where is the
flocke [O thou lande] that was geuen thee? and where are thy fat and riche
sheepe?
21 To whom wilt thou make thy mone when the enemie shall come vpon thee? for
thou hast taught them thy selfe, and made them maisters ouer thee: Shall not
sorowe come vpon thee as on a woman trauaylyng with childe?
22 And if thou wouldest then say in thine heart, Wherfore come these thinges
vpon me? Euen for the multitude of thy blasphemies shall thy hynder partes and
thy feete be discouered.
23 May a man of Inde chaunge his skinne, and the cat of the mountayne her
spottes? so, may ye that be exercised in euyll, do good?
24 Therfore wyll I scatter them like as the stubble that is taken away with the
south wynde.
25 This shalbe your portion, and the portion of your measure wherwith ye shalbe
rewarded of me saith the Lorde, because ye haue forgotten me, and put your trust
in deceiptfull thinges.
26 Therfore shall I turne thy clothes ouer thy head, and discouer thy shame.
27 Thy adulteries, thy neyghinges, thy shamefull whoredome on the hylles in the
fieldes, and thy abhominations haue I seene: Wo be vnto thee (O Hierusalem) wylt
thou neuer be clensed any more? Or when shall that be?
CHAPTER
14
1 The worde of the Lorde shewed vnto Ieremie concernyng the dearth of the
fruites.
2 Iuda hath mourned, his gates are desolate, they are brought to heauinesse,
euen vnto the grounde, and the crye of Hierusalem goeth vp.
3 The Lordes sent their seruauntes to fetche water, and when they came to the
welles, they did finde no water, but caried their vessels home emptie: they be
ashamed and confounded, and couer their heades.
4 For the grounde is dryed, because there commeth no rayne vpon it: the plowmen
also be ashamed and couer their heades.
5 The hynde also forsoke the young fawne that he brought foorth in the fielde,
because there was no
grasse
.
6 The wylde asses did stande in the hye places, and drewe in their winde lyke
the dragons, their eyes did fayle for want of
grasse
.
7 Doubtlesse our owne wickednesse doth rewarde vs: but Lorde do thou accordyng
to thy name, though our transgression and sinnes be many, and agaynst thee haue
we sinned.
8 For thou art the comfort and helpe of
Israel
in the tyme of trouble: Why wilt thou be as a straunger in the lande, and as
one that goeth his iourney, and cometh in only to remayne for a night?
9 Why wylt thou make thy selfe a cowarde, and as it were a giaunt that yet may
not helpe? But thou O Lorde art in the middest of vs, and thy name is called
vpon of vs, forsake vs not.
10 Thus hath the Lorde sayde vnto his people, seyng they haue had such a lust to
wander abrode, and haue not refrayned their feete: therfore the Lorde hath no
pleasure in them, but he wyll nowe bring againe to remembraunce all their
misdeedes, and punishe all their sinnes.
11 Yea euen thus sayde the Lorde vnto me: Thou shalt not pray to do this people
good.
12 For though they fast, I wyll not heare their prayers, and though they offer
burnt offeringes and sacrifices, yet wyll not I accept them: for I wyll destroy
them with the sworde, hunger, and pestilence.
13 Then aunswered I: O Lorde God, the prophetes say vnto them, Tushe, ye shall
neede to feare no sworde, and no hunger shall come vpon you: but the Lorde shall
geue you sure rest in this place.
14 And the Lorde sayde vnto me, The prophetes preach lyes in my name, wheras I
haue not sent them, neither gaue I them any charge, neither did I speake vnto
them: yet they preache vnto you false visions, charming, vanitie, and
deceiptfulnesse of their owne heart.
15 Therfore thus saith the Lorde: As for those prophetes that preache in my
name, whom I neuerthelesse haue not sent, and that say, Tushe, there shall no
sworde nor hunger be in this lande: with sworde and with hunger shall those
prophetes perishe.
16 And the people to whom they preache shalbe cast out of Hierusalem, dye of
hunger, and be slayne with the sworde, and there shalbe no man to bury them,
both they, and their wiues, their sonnes, and their daughters: for thus wyll I
poure their wickednesse vpon them.
17 This shalt thou say also vnto them, Mine eyes shall weepe without ceassyng
day and nyght: for my people shalbe destroyed with great harme, and shall
perishe with a great plague.
18 For yf I go into the fielde, lo, it lyeth all full of slayne men: If I come
into the citie, lo, they be all famished of hunger: yea their prophetes also and
priestes shalbe led into an vnknowen lande.
19 Hast thou then vtterly forsaken Iuda? Doest thou so abhorre Sion? Wherfore
hast thou so plagued vs, that we can be healed no more? We loked for peace, and
there commeth no good, for the tyme of health, and lo here is nothyng but
trouble.
20 We knowledge (O Lorde) all our misdeedes, and the sinnes of our fathers: for
we haue offended thee.
21 Cast vs not of (O Lord) for thy names sake, forget not thy louyng kindnesse,
ouerthrowe not the throne of thine honour, breake not the couenaunt that thou
hast made with vs.
22 Are there any among the gods of the gentiles that sende rayne, or geue the
showres from heauen? Art not thou thy selfe our Lorde God? we wyll trust in
thee, for thou doest all these thynges.
CHAPTER
15
1 Thus spake the Lorde vnto me, Though Moyses and Samuel stoode before me, yet
haue I no heart to this people: driue them away, that they may go out of my
sight.
2 And yf they say vnto thee, whyther shall we go? then tell them, The Lorde
geueth you this aunswere: Some vnto death, some to the sworde, some to hunger,
some into captiuitie.
3 For I wyll bryng foure plagues vpon them, saith the Lorde: The sworde shal
slay them, the dogges shall teare them in peeces, the foules of the ayre and
beastes of the earth shall eate them vp, and destroy them.
4 I wyll scatter them about also in all kingdomes and landes to be plagued,
because of Manasses the sonne of Hezekia kyng of Iuda, for the thynges that he
did in Hierusalem.
5 Who shall then haue pitie vpon thee O Hierusalem? who shalbe sorie for thee?
Or who shall make intercession to obtayne peace for thee?
6 Seing thou goest from me, and turnest backwarde, saith the Lorde: therfore I
dyd stretche out myne hande against thee to destroy thee, and I haue ben sorie
for thee so long that I am weerie.
7 I haue scattred them abrode with the fanne of euery side of the land, I haue
wasted my people and destroyed them, yet they haue had no lust to turne from
their owne wayes.
8 I haue made their widowes mo in number then the sandes of the sea, vpon the
mothers of their children dyd I bryng a destroyer in the noone day: sodaynly and
vnawares did I sende a feare vpon their cities.
9 She that hath borne seuen children, hath none, her heart is full of sorowe:
the sunne doth fayle her in the cleare day, she is confounded and faintie for
very heauinesse: As for those that remayne, I wyll deliuer them vnto the sworde
before their enemies, saith the Lorde.
10 O mother, alas that thou euer didst beare me, a brawler and rebuker of the
whole lande: though I neuer lent nor receaued vpon vsurie, yet all men speake
euyll vpon me.
11 And the Lord aunswered me, Ueryly thy remnaunt shall haue wealth: Come not I
to thee when thou art in trouble, & helpe thee when thine enemie oppresseth
thee?
12 Doth one iron hurt another? or one metall that commeth from the north
another?
13 As for thy riches and treasure, I will geue them out into a pray: not for
money, but because of all thy sinnes that thou hast done in all thy coastes.
14 And I wyll bryng thee with thine enemies into a lande that thou knowest not:
for the fire that is kindled in myne indignation shall burne you vp.
15 O Lorde thou knowest, therfore remember me, and visite me, reuenge me of my
persecutours: take me not from this life in the tyme of thine anger, thou
knowest that for thy sake I suffer rebuke.
16 When I had founde thy wordes I did eate them vp greedyly, they haue made my
heart ioyfull and glad: for thy name was called vpon me O Lorde God of hoastes.
17 I dwell not among the scorners, neither is my delight therin: but I dwell
alone because of thy hande, for thou hast fylled me with bitternesse.
18 Shall my heauinesse endure for euer? Are my plagues then so great that they
may neuer be healed? Wylt thou be as one that is false, and as a water that
falleth, and can not continue?
19 Upon these wordes, thus sayde the Lorde vnto me, If thou wylt turne agayne, I
shall set thee in my seruice, and yf thou wylt take out the thynges that is
precious from the vile, thou shalt be euen as myne owne mouth: they shall
conuert vnto thee, but turne not thou vnto them.
20 And so shall I make thee a strong brasen wall agaynst this people, they shall
fyght agaynst thee, but they shall not preuayle: for I my selfe wyll be with
thee, to helpe thee and deliuer thee, saith the Lorde:
21 And I will rid thee out of the handes of the wicked, and deliuer thee out of
the handes of tirauntes.
CHAPTER
16
1 Thus sayde the Lorde vnto me:
2 Thou shalt take thee no wife, nor beget children in this place.
3 For of the children that are borne in this place, of their mothers that haue
borne them, and of their fathers that haue begotten them in this lande, thus
saith the Lorde.
4 They shall dye an horrible death, no man shall weepe for them, nor bury them,
but they shall lye as dunge vpon the earth: they shall perishe through the
sworde & hunger, and their bodyes shalbe meate for the fowles of the ayre,
and beastes of the earth.
5 For thus saith the Lorde, Go not thou into the house of mournyng, nor come to
mourne and weepe for them: for I haue taken my peace from this people saith the
Lorde, yea my fauour and my mercies.
6 And in this lande shall they dye olde and young, and shall not be buryed: no
man shall beweepe them, no man shall clippe or shaue hym selfe for them.
7 They shall not wryng their handes in mournyng wise on their dead one to
comfort another: one shall not offer another the cup of consolation, to forget
their heauinesse for their father and mother.
8 Thou shalt not go into their feast house, to sit downe to eate or drynke with
them:
9 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde, I shall take
away out of this place the voyce of mirth and gladnesse, the voyce of the
bridegrome and of the bride, yea and that in your dayes, that ye may see it.
10 Nowe when thou shewest this people all these wordes, and they say vnto thee,
Wherfore hath the Lord deuised all this great plague for vs? or what is the
offence and sinne that we haue done agaynst the Lorde our God?
11 Then make thou them this aunswere: Because your fathers haue forsaken me,
saith the Lorde, and haue walked after straunge gods, whom they honoured and
worshipped: but me haue they forsaken, and haue not kept my lawe.
12 And ye with your shamefull blasphemies haue exceeded the wickednesse of your
fathers: for euery one of you hath folowed the frowarde and euyll imaginations
of his owne heart, and is not obedient vnto me.
13 Therfore wyll I cast you out of this lande, into a lande that ye and your
fathers knowe not: and there shall ye serue straunge gods day and nyght, there
wyll I shewe you no fauour.
14 Beholde therfore saith the Lorde, the dayes are come that it shall no more be
sayd: The Lorde liueth which brought the children of Israel out of the lande of
Egypt:
15 But it shalbe sayde, The Lorde liueth that brought the children of Israel
from the north, and from all landes where he had scattered them: for I wyll
bryng them agayne into the lande that I gaue their fathers.
16 Beholde, saith the Lorde, I wyll sende out many fisshers to take them, and
after that wyll I sende out many hunters, to hunt them out from all mountaynes
and hylles, and out of the caues of stone.
17 For mine eyes behold all their wayes, and they can not be hyd fro my face:
neither can their wicked deedes be kept close out of my sight.
18 But first wyll I sufficiently rewarde their shameful blasphemies and sinnes,
because they haue defiled my lande with their stinckyng carions and their
abhominations, wherwith they haue filled mine heritage.
19 O Lorde my strength, my power and refuge in tyme of trouble: the gentiles
shall come vnto thee from the endes of the worlde, and say, Ueryly our fathers
haue cleaued vnto lyes, their idols are but vayne and vnprofitable.
20 Howe can a man make those his gods, which are not able to be gods?
21 And therfore I wyll once teach them, saith the Lorde, I wyll shewe them my
hande and my power, and they shall knowe that my name is the Lorde.
CHAPTER
17
1 Your sinne [O ye of the tribe of Iuda] is written in the table of your heartes,
and grauen so vpon the edges of your aulters with a penne of iron, and with an
Adamant clawe:
2 That as the fathers thinke vpon their children, so thinke you also vpon your
aulters, wooddes, thicke trees, hye hylles, mountaynes, and fieldes.
3 Wherfore, I wyll make my mount that standeth in the fielde, all your
substaunce and treasure to be spoyled, for the great sinne that ye haue done
vpon your hye places throughout all the coastes of your lande.
4 Ye shalbe cast out also from the heritage that I gaue you: and I wyll subdue
you vnder the heauie bondage of your enemies, in a lande that ye knowe not: for
ye haue ministred fire to mine indignation, which shall burne euermore.
5 Thus saith the Lorde, Cursed be the man that putteth his trust in man, and
that taketh fleshe for his arme, and he whose heart departeth from the Lord.
6 He shalbe like the heath that groweth in wildernesse: As for the good thyng
that is for to come, he shall not see it, but dwell in a drye place of the
wildernesse, in a salt and vnoccupied lande.
7 O blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the Lorde, and whose hope is in
the Lorde hym selfe.
8 For he shalbe as a tree that is planted by the water side, which spreadeth out
the roote vnto moystnesse, whom the heate can not harme when it commeth, but his
leafe shalbe greene: And though there growe but litle fruite because of drouth,
yet is he not carefull, but he neuer leaueth of to bryng foorth fruite.
9 Among all thynges, man hath the most deceiptfull and stubburne heart: Who
shall then knowe it?
10 Euen I the Lorde searche out the grounde of the heart, & trye the raynes,
and rewarde euery man accordyng to his wayes, and accordyng to the fruite of his
workes.
11 The partrich maketh a nest of egges, which she layed not: he commeth by
riches, but not righteously, in the middest of his life must he leane them
behynde hym, & at the last be founde a very foole.
12 But thou (O Lorde) whose throne is most glorious, excellent, and of most
antiquitie, which dwellest in the place of our holy rest:
13 Thou art the comfort of Israel, all they that forsake thee shalbe confounded,
all they that do depart from thee shalbe written in earth: for they haue
forsaken the Lorde the very conduite of the waters of lyfe.
14 Heale me O Lorde, and I shalbe whole: saue thou me, & I shalbe saued: for
thou art my prayse.
15 Beholde, these men say vnto me, where is the worde of the Lorde? let it come
nowe.
16 Wheras I neuerthelesse obediently folowed thee as a sheephearde, & haue
not vncalled taken this office vpon me, this knowest thou well: my wordes also
were ryght before thee.
17 Be not thou terrible vnto me O Lord: for thou art he in whom I hope when I am
in perill.
18 Let my persecutours be confounded, but not me: let them be afrayde, and not
me: Thou shalt bryng vpon them the tyme of plague, and shalt destroy them right
sore.
19 Thus hath the Lorde sayde vnto me, Go and stande vnder the gate wherethrough
the people and the kynges of Iuda go out and in, yea vnder all the gates of
Hierusalem,
20 And say vnto them, Heare the worde of the Lorde ye kynges of Iuda, and all
thou people of Iuda, and all the citezins of Hierusalem, that go through this
gate.
21 Thus the Lorde comaundeth, Take heede for your lyues that ye
cary
no burthen vpon you in the Sabbath, to bryng it through the gates of Hierusalem.
22 Ye shall beare no burthen also out of your houses in the Sabbath, you shall
do no labour therin: but halowe the Sabbath, as I commaunded your fathers.
23 Howbeit they obeyed me not, neither hearkened they vnto me: but were
obstinate & stubburne, and neither obeyed me, nor receaued my correction.
24 Neuerthelesse, yf ye wyll heare me saith the Lorde, and beare no burthen into
the citie through this gate vpon the Sabbath, yf ye wyll halowe the Sabbath, so
that ye do no worke therin:
25 Then shall there go through the gates of this citie kynges and princes that
shal sit vpon the throne of Dauid, they shalbe caryed vpon charrettes, and ride
vpon horses, both they & their princes: yea whole Iuda and all the citezins
of Hierusalem shall go here through, and this citie shall euer be inhabited.
26 There shall come men also from the cities of Iuda, from about Hierusalem, and
from the lande of Beniamin, from the plaine fieldes, from the moutaynes, and
from the wildernesse, which shall bryng burnt offerynges, sacrifices, oblations,
and incense, and offer vp thankesgeuyng in the house of the Lorde.
27 But yf ye wyll not be obedient vnto me to halowe the Sabbath, so that ye wyll
beare your burthens through the gates of Hierusalem vpon the Sabbath: then shall
I set fire vpon the gates of Hierusalem, and it shall burne vp the houses of
Hierusalem, and no man shalbe able to quenche it.
CHAPTER
18
1 This is another communication that God had with Ieremie, saying:
2 Arise, and go downe into the potters house, & there shal I tell thee more
of my mynde,
3 Nowe when I came to the potters house, I founde hym makyng his worke vpon a
wheele.
4 The vessell that the potter made of clay, brake among his handes: So he began
a newe, and made another vessell accordyng to his mynde.
5 Then sayde the Lorde thus vnto me:
6 May not I do with you as this potter doth O ye house of
Israel
saith the Lorde? Beholde ye house of
Israel
, ye are in my hande, euen as the clay is in the potters hande.
7 When I take in hande to roote out, to destroy, or to waste away any people or
kyngdome:
8 If that people agaynst whom I haue thus deuised, conuert from their
wickednesse, I repent of the plague that I deuised to bryng vpon them.
9 Agayne, when I take in hande to builde or to plant a people or a kyngdome:
10 If the same people do euyll before me and heare not my voyce, I repent of the
good that I haue deuised for them.
11 Speake nowe therfore vnto whole Iuda, and to them that dwell at Hierusalem,
thus saith the Lorde, Beholde I am deuisyng a plague for you, and am takyng a
thyng in hande agaynst you: therfore let euery man turne from his euyll way, and
take vpon you the thyng that is good and ryght.
12 But they sayde, No more of this, we wyll folowe our owne imaginations, and do
euery man accordyng to the wilfulnesse of his owne mynde.
13 Therfore thus saith the Lorde, Aske among the heathen yf any man haue hearde
such horrible thynges, as the mayden
Israel
hath done?
14 Wyll a man forsake the showe of Libanus, which commeth from the rocke of the
fielde? Or shall the colde flowyng waters that commeth from another place be
forsaken?
15 But my people hath forgotten me, they haue made sacrifice in vayne, and their
prophetes make them fall in their wayes from the auncient pathes, and to go into
a way not vsed to be troden [of iust men.]
16 Wherethrough they haue brought their lande into an euerlastyng wildernesse
and scorne: so that whosoeuer trauayleth therby, shalbe abashed, and wagge their
heades.
17 With an east wynde wyll I scatter them before their enemies: and when their
destruction commeth, I wil turne my backe vpon them, but not my face.
18 Then sayd they, Come, let vs imagine somethyng agaynst this Ieremie: for the
priestes shall not be destitute of the lawe, neither shall the wise men be
destitute of counsayle, nor the prophetes destitute of the worde of God: Come,
and let vs smite hym with the tongue, and let vs not marke all his wordes.
19 Consider me O Lorde, and heare the voyce of mine enemies.
20 Shall they recompence euyll for good? for they haue digged a pit for my soule:
Remember howe that I stoode before thee to speake good for them, and to turne
away thy wrath from them.
21 Therfore, let their children dye of hunger, and let them be oppressed with
the sworde: Let their wiues be robbed of their children, and become widowes, let
their husbandes be slayne, let their young men be kylled with the sworde in the
fielde.
22 Let the noyse be hearde out of their houses when thou bryngest the murtherer
sodaynly vpon them: for they haue digged a pit to take me, and layde snares for
my feete.
23 Yet Lorde thou knowest all their counsayle, that they haue deuised to slay
me, forgeue not their wickednesse, and let not their sinnes be put out of thy
sight, but let them be iudged before thee as giltie: this do thou vnto them in
the tyme of thine indignation.
CHAPTER
19
1 Thus sayde the Lorde: Go thy way and buye thee an earthen pitcher, and bryng
foorth the senatours & chiefe priestes,
2 Unto the valley of the children of Hennom, which lyeth without the east gate,
and shewe them there the wordes that I shall tell thee.
3 And say thus vnto them, Heare the worde of the Lorde ye kinges of Iuda, and ye
citezins of Hierusalem, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel:
Beholde, I wyll bryng suche a plague vpon this place, that the eares of all that
heare it shall glowe:
4 And that because they haue forsaken me, and vnhalowed this place, and haue
offered in it vnto straunge gods, whom neither they, their fathers, nor the
kynges of Iuda haue knowen: they haue filled this place also with the blood of
innocentes.
5 And they haue set vp an aulter vnto Baal, to burne their children for a burnt
offring vnto Baal, whiche I neither commaunded nor charged them, neither thought
once thervpon.
6 Beholde therfore the time commeth (saith the Lorde) that this place shall no
more be called Thopheth, nor the valley of the chyldren of Hennom, but the
valley of slaughter.
7 For in this place wyll I bryng to naught the counsayle of Iuda and Hierusalem,
and kyll them downe with the sworde before their enemies: and I wyll deliuer
them into the handes of them that seeke their liues, and their dead carkasses
will I geue to be meate for the foules of the ayre, & the beastes of the
fielde.
8 And I will make this citie so desolate and despised, that whosoeuer goeth
thereby shalbe abashed, and iest vpon her, because of all her plagues.
9 I will feede them also with the flesh of their sonnes and their daughters, yea
euery one shall eate vp another in the besieging & straytnesse wherewith
their enemies [that seeke their liues] shall kepe them in.
10 And the pitcher shalt thou breake in the sight of the men that goeth with
thee,
11 And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Euen so wyll I destroy
this people and citie, as a man breaketh an earthen vessell that can not be made
whole agayne: in Thopheth shall they be buried, for they shall haue none other
place.
12 Thus wyll I do vnto this place also saith the Lorde, and to them that dwel
therin, yea I wyll make this citie as Thopheth.
13 For the houses of Hierusalem, and the houses of the kynges of Iuda shalbe
defiled like as Thopheth, and so shal al the houses in whose roofes they did
sacrifice vnto all the hoast of heauen, and powred drinke offerings vnto
straunge gods.
14 And so Ieremie came from Thopheth where the Lorde had sent hym to prophesie,
and stoode in the court of the house of the Lorde, and spake to all the people,
15 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde, I will bryng vpon
this citie, and vpon euery towne about it, all the plagues that I haue deuised
against them, because they haue ben obstinate, and would not obay my warninges.
CHAPTER
20
1 When Phashur the priest the sonne of Emmer, chiefe in the house of the Lorde,
hearde Ieremie preache these wordes [so stedfastly]
2 He smote Ieremie, and put hym in the prison that is in the hye gate of
Beniamin towardes the house of the Lorde.
3 The next day folowing Phashur brought Ieremie out of the prison agayne: Then
saide Ieremie vnto him, The Lorde shall call thee no more Phashur [that is
excellent and increasing] but Magor [that is fearefull and afraide] euery where.
4 For thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I wil make thee afraide, euen thy selfe,
and all that fauour thee, which shall perishe with the sworde of their enemies,
euen before thy face, and I wyll geue whole Iuda into the hands of the king of
Babylon
, whiche shall
cary
some vnto
Babylon
prisoners, and slay some with the sworde.
5 Moreouer, all the substaunce of this citie, whatsoeuer they haue gotten with
their trauaile, all their precious thinges, & all the treasure of the kinges
of Iuda, wyll I geue into the handes of their enemies, whiche shall spoyle them,
and cary them vnto
Babylon
.
6 But as for thee (O Phashur) thou shalt go into captiuitie with all thyne
housholde, and to
Babylon
shalt thou come, where thou shalt dye and be buried, thou and all thy fauourers
to whom thou hast preached lies.
7 O Lord, if I am deceaued, then hast thou deceaued me, thou enforcedst me, and
hast preuayled: dayly am I despised and laughed to scorne of euery man.
8 For since I began to preache, I cryed out against violencie, and exclamed
against oppression: for the whiche cause they cast the worde of the Lorde in my
teeth, to my reproche continually.
9 Wherefore I thought from hencefoorth not to speake of hym, nor to preache any
more in his name: but the worde of the Lorde was a very burning fire in my heart
and in my bones, whiche when I woulde haue stopped, I might not.
10 Ueryly I hearde the euyll reportes of many, terrour was on euery side of me:
complayne vpon hym say they, and we wyll tell his tale: Yea all myne owne
companions, and suche as were conuersaunt with me, lay in wayte for my halting,
saying: peraduenture he wylbe deceaued, and so shall we preuayle against hym,
and be auenged of hym.
11 But the Lorde stoode by me lyke a mightie giaunt, therefore my persecutours
fell and coulde do nothing: they shalbe sore confounded, for they haue done
vnwisely, they shall haue an euerlasting shame, which shall neuer be forgotten.
12 And nowe O Lorde of hoastes that triest the righteous, which knowest the
raynes and the very heartes, let me see them punished: for vnto thee I haue
declared my cause.
13 Sing vnto the Lord and prayse hym, for he hath deliuered the soule of the
oppressed from the hande of the violent.
14 Cursed be the day wherein I was borne, vnhappy be the day wherein my mother
brought me foorth.
15 Cursed be the man that brought my father the tidinges to make hym gald,
saying, Thou hast begotten a sonne:
16 Let it happen vnto that man, as to the cities whiche the Lorde turned
vpsidedowne and repented not: Let hym heare crying in the morning, and at noone
day lamentable howling.
17 Why sluest thou not me assoone as I came out of my mothers wombe? or that my
mother had ben my graue her selfe, that the byrth might not haue come out, but
remayned still in her?
18 Wherefore came I foorth of my mothers wombe? to haue experience of labour and
sorowe, and to leade my lyfe with shame?
CHAPTER
21
1 These are the wordes that the lord spake vnto Ieremie, what time as kyng
Zedekias sent vnto him Phashur the sonne of Melchias, & Sophonias the sonne
of Maasias priest, saying:
2 Aske counsayle at the Lorde [we pray thee] on our behalfe, for Nabuchodonozor
the king of Babylon besiegeth vs: if the Lorde (peraduenture) wyll deale with vs
according to his maruaylous power, and take hym from vs.
3 Then spake Ieremie: Geue Zedechias this aunswere.
4 Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel
: Beholde, I wyll turne backe the weapons that ye haue in your hands, wherwith
ye fight against the king of
Babylon
and the Chaldees, whiche besiege you rounde about the walles, and I wyll bryng
them together into the middest of this citie.
5 And I my selfe will fight against you with an ouerstretched hande, and with a
mightie arme, in great displeasure and terrible wrath:
6 And wyll smite them that dwell in this citie, yea both men and cattell shall
dye of a great pestilence.
7 But after this (saith the Lorde) I shall deliuer Zedekias kyng of Iuda, and
his seruauntes, his people, and such as are escaped in the citie from the
pestilence, sworde, and hunger, into the power of Nabuchodonozor kyng of
Babylon, yea into the handes of their enemies, into the handes of those that
folowe vpon their liues, whiche shall smite them with the sworde, they shall not
pitie them, they shal not spare them, they shall haue no mercy vpon them.
8 And vnto this people thou shalt say, thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I lay
before you the way of life and death.
9 Whoso abideth in the citie, shall perishe, either with the sworde, with
hunger, or pestilence: but whoso goeth out to holde on the Chaldees part that
besiege it, he shall saue his lyfe, and shall winne his soule for a pray.
10 For I haue set my face against this citie (saith the Lorde) to plague it, and
to do it no good: it must be geuen into the hande of the kyng of
Babylon
, and be brent with fire.
11 And vnto the house of the king of Iuda say thus: Heare the worde of the Lorde:
12 O thou house of Dauid, thus saith the Lorde: Minister righteousnesse and that
soone, deliuer the oppressed from violent power, or euer my terrible wrath
breake out lyke a fire and burne, so that no man may quenche it because of the
wickednesse of your imaginations.
13 Behold, saith the Lord, I wyll come vpon thee that dwellest in the valleys,
rockes, and fieldes, and say, tushe, who will make vs afraide? or who wil come
into our houses?
14 For I wyll visite you saith the Lord, because of the wickednesse of your
inuentions, and wyll kindle suche a fire in your wood, as shall consume all that
is about you.
CHAPTER
22
1 Thus saith the Lord: Go downe into the house of the kyng of Iuda, and speake
there these wordes,
2 And say: Heare the worde of the Lorde thou king of Iuda that sittest in the
kyngly seate of Dauid, thou and thy seruauntes, and thy people that goeth in and
out at these gates.
3 Thus the Lord comaundeth: Kepe equitie and righteousnesse, deliuer the
oppressed from the power of the violent, do not greeue nor oppresse the
straunger, the fatherlesse, nor the widowe, and shed no innocent blood in this
place.
4 And if ye kepe these thinges faythfullye, then shall there come in at the
doore of this house, kinges to sit vpon Dauids seate, they shalbe caried in
charrets, and ride vpon horses, both they and their seruauntes, and their
people.
5 But if ye wyll not be obedient vnto these commaundementes, I sweare by mine
owne selfe, saith the Lord, this house shalbe waste.
6 For thus hath the Lorde spoken vppon the kynges of Iuda: Thou Gilead art vnto
me the head of Libanus: Shall I not make thee so waste as the cities that no man
dwell in?
7 I wyll prepare a destroyer with his weapons for thee, to hewe downe thy
especiall Cedar trees, and to cast them in the fire.
8 And all the people that go by this citie, shall speake one to another:
Wherfore hath the Lorde done thus vnto this noble citie?
9 Then shall it be aunswered: Because they haue broken the couenaunt of the
Lorde their God, and haue worshipped and serued straunge Gods.
10 Mourne not ouer the dead, and be not wo for them: but be sorie for hym that
departeth away, for he commeth not agayne, and seeth his natiue countrey no
more.
11 For thus saith the Lorde as touching Sellum the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda,
whiche raigned after his father: When he is caried out of this place, he shall
neuer come hyther agayne.
12 For he shall dye in the place wherevnto he is led captiue, and shall see this
lande no more.
13 Wo worth hym that buyldeth his house with vnrighteousnesse, and his parlours
with the good that he hath gotten by violence, which neuer recompenceth his
neighbours labour, nor payeth hym his hyre:
14 Who thinketh in hym selfe, I wyll buylde me a wyde house and gorgious
parlours, who causeth windowes to be hewen therin, and the seelinges and ioystes
maketh he of Cedar, and painteth them with Sinoper.
15 Thinkest thou to raigne nowe that thou hast inclosed thy selfe with Cedar?
Did not thy father eate and drinke and prosper well, as long as he dealt with
equitie and righteousnesse?
16 Yea, when he helped the oppressed and poore to their right, then prospered he
well: From whence came this, but onlye because he knewe me, saith the Lorde?
17 Neuerthelesse, as for thyne eyes and thyne heart they loke vpon couetousnesse,
to shed innocent blood, to do wrong and violence.
18 And therefore thus saith the Lorde against Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng
of Iuda: They shall not mourne for hym [as they vse to do] Alas brother, alas
sister: neither shall they say vnto him, Alas sir, alas for that noble prince.
19 But as an asse shall he be buried, corrupt, and be cast without the gates of
Hierusalem.
Jer 22:20 Climbe vp the hyll of Libanus [O thou daughter Sion] lyft vp thy voyce
vppon Basan, crye from all partes: for all thy louers are destroyed.
21 I gaue thee warning whyle thou wast yet in prosperitie: but thou saidest, I
wyll not heare: And this maner hast thou vsed from thy youth, that thou wouldest
neuer heare my voyce.
22 All thy heardmen shalbe driuen with the winde, and thy darlinges shalbe
caryed away into captiuitie: then shalt thou be brought to shame and confusion,
because of all thy wickednes.
23 Thou that dwellest vpon Libanus, and makest thy nest in the Cedar trees, O
howe litle shalt thou be regarded when thy sorowe and panges come vppon thee, as
vpon a woman trauayling with chylde?
24 As truely as I liue saith the Lorde, though Conanias the sonne of Iehoakim
kyng of Iuda were the signet of my right hande, yet wyll I plucke him of.
25 And I wyll geue thee into the hande of them that seeke thy life, and into the
power of them that thou fearest, euen into the power of Nabuchodonozor the kyng
of
Babylon
, and into the power of the Chaldees.
26 Moreouer, I wyll sende thee and thy mother that bare thee into a straunge
lande where ye were not borne, and there shall ye dye.
27 But as for the lande that ye wyll desire to returne vnto, ye shall neuer come
at it agayne.
28 This man Conanias shalbe lyke an image robbed and torne in peeces, and like a
vessell wherein there is no pleasure: Wherefore both he and his seede shalbe
sent away, and cast into a lande that they knowe not.
29 O thou earth, earth, earth, heare the worde of the Lorde,
30 Thus saith the Lorde, Write this man destitute of chyldren: for no
prosperitie shall this man haue all his dayes, neyther shall any of his seede be
so happie as to sit vpon the seate of Dauid, and to beare rule any more in Iuda.
CHAPTER
23
1 Wo vnto the shepheardes that destroy and scatter my flocke, saith the Lorde.
2 Wherefore this is the saying of the Lord God of
Israel
concerning the shepheardes that feede my people, Ye scatter and thrust out my
flocke, and loke not vpon them: therefore nowe wyll I visite the wickednesse of
your imaginations, saith the Lorde.
3 And I wyll gather together the remnaunt of my flocke from all landes that I
had driuen them vnto, and will bring them agayne to their foldes, that they may
growe and increase.
4 I wyll set shepheardes also ouer them, whiche shall feede them: they shall no
more feare and dread, and there shall none of them be loste, saith the Lorde.
5 Beholde, the tyme commeth saith the Lorde, that I wyll rayse vp the righteous
braunche of Dauid, whiche kyng shall beare rule, and he shall prosper with
wisdome, and shal set vp equitie and righteousnesse agayne in the earth.
6 In his tyme shall Iuda be saued, and
Israel
shall dwell without feare: and this is the name that they shall call hym, euen
the Lorde our righteousnesse.
7 And therefore beholde the time commeth saith the Lorde, that it shalbe no more
sayde, the Lorde liueth whiche brought the chyldren of Israel out of the lande
of Egypt:
8 But the Lorde liueth which brought foorth and led the seede of the house of
Israel out of the north lande, and from all countreys where I had scattred them:
and they shal dwel in their owne lande agayne.
9 My heart breaketh in my body, because of the false prophetes all my bones
shake, I am become like a drunken man that by the reason of wine can take no
rest, for very feare of the Lorde and his holy wordes.
10 Because the lande is full of adulterers, and thorowe swearing it mourneth,
and the pleasaunt pastures of the desert are dryed vp: yea the way that men take
is wicked, and their power is nothing right.
11 For the prophetes and the priestes them selues are polluted hypocrites, and
their wickednesse haue I founde in my house, saith the Lorde.
12 Wherefore their way shalbe slipperie in the darknesse, wherein they may
stacker and fall: for I wyll bryng a plague vpon them, euen the yere of their
visitation, saith the Lorde.
13 I haue seene folly among the prophetes of
Samaria
, that preached for Baal, and deceaued my people of
Israel
.
14 I haue seene also among the prophetes of Hierusalem foule adultrie, and
presumptuous lyes: they take the most shamefull men by the hande, flattering
them, so that they can not returne from their wickednes: all these with their
citizens are vnto me as
Sodom
, and as the inhabitours of Gomorre.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes concerning these prophetes: Beholde,
I wyll feede them with wormewood, and make them drinke the water of gall: For
from the prophetes of Hierusalem is hypocrisie come into all the lande.
16 And therfore the Lorde of hoastes geueth you this warning: Heare not the
wordes of the prophetes that preache vnto you and deceaue you, truely they
reache you vanitie: for they speake the meaning of their owne heart, and not out
of the mouth of the Lorde.
17 They say vnto them that despise me, The Lorde hath spoken it, tushe, ye shall
prosper right well: and vnto all them that walke after the lust of their owne
heart, they say, tushe, there shall no misfortune happen you.
18 For who hath sitten in the counsayle of the Lorde, that he hath hearde and
vnderstande what he is about to do? who hath marked his deuice, and hearde it?
19 Beholde, the stormie weather of the Lorde [that is] his indignation, shall go
foorth, and a violent whirlewinde shall fall downe vpon the head of the vngodly.
20 And the wrath of the Lorde shall not turne agayne, vntill he perfourme and
fulfill the thought of his heart: and in the latter dayes ye shall knowe his
meaning.
21 I haue not sent these prophetes [saith the Lorde] and yet they ranne, I haue
not spoken to them, and yet they preached.
22 But if they had continued in my counsayle, they had opened to my people my
wordes, and they had turned my people from their euyll wayes, and wicked
imaginations.
23 Am I then God that seeth but the thing whiche is nye at hande, and not that
is farre of, saith the Lorde?
24 May any man hide him selfe so, that I shall not see hym saith the Lorde? do
not I fulfill heauen and earth saith the Lorde?
25 I haue hearde well inough what the prophetes say that preache lyes in my
name, saying, I haue dreamed, I haue dreamed.
26 Howe long wyll this continue in the prophetes heart to tell lies, and preache
the craftie subtiltie of their owne heart?
27 Whose purpose is with the dreames that euery one tell, to make my people
forget my name, as their fathers dyd when Baal came vp.
28 The prophete that hath a dreame, let hym tell it, and he that vnderstandeth
my worde, let hym shewe it faythfully: for what hath chaffe and wheate to do
together saith the Lorde?
29 Is not my worde like a fire saith the Lorde? and like an hammer that breaketh
the harde stone?
30 Therefore thus saith the Lodre: beholde, I wyll vpon the prophetes that
steale my worde priuilie from euery man.
31 Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against the prophetes that make tongues
tender to speake, and to say, The Lorde hath saide it.
32 Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against those prophetes that dare
prophecie lying dreames, and deceaue my people with their vanities and
inconstant deuices, yet I neuer sent nor commaunded them: They shall do this
people no good at all, saith the Lorde.
33 If this people, eyther any prophete or priest aske thee, and say: What is the
burthen of the Lord? Thou shalt say vnto them: what burthen? I wyll forsake you
saith the Lorde.
34 And the prophete, priest, or people that vseth this tearme, The burthen of
the Lorde: him wyll I visite, and his house also.
35 But thus shall ye say euery one to another, and euery man to his brother:
what aunswere hath the Lorde geuen? or what is the Lordes commaundement?
36 And as for the burthen of the Lorde, ye shall speake no more of it, for euery
mans owne worde is his burthen: because ye haue altred the wordes of the liuing
God, the Lorde of hoastes, our God.
37 Thus shall euery man say to the prophetes: what aunswere hath the Lorde geuen
thee? or what saith the Lorde?
38 And not once to name the burthen of the Lorde. Therefore thus saith the Lord:
Forasmuch as ye haue vsed this terme (the burthen of the Lord) where as I
notwithstanding sent vnto you and forbad you to speake of the Lordes burthen:
39 Beholde therefore, I wyll take you vp as a burthen, and wyl cast you farre of
from my presence, yea and the citie also that I gaue you and your fathers:
40 And wyll bryng you to an euerlasting confusion, and into a shame that shall
neuer be forgotten.
CHAPTER
24
1 The Lorde shewed me a vision: Beholde, there stode two maundes of figges
before the temple of the Lorde, after that Nabuchodonozar kyng of Babylon had
led away captiue Iechonias the sonne of Iehoakim kyng of Iuda, the mightie men
also of Iuda, with the workemasters and cunning men of Hierusalem vnto Babylon.
2 In the one maunde were very good figges, euen like those that be first ripe:
in the other maunde were very naughtie figges, whiche might not be eaten they
were so euyll.
3 Then sayd the Lord vnto me: What seest thou Ieremie? I sayde, figges, whereof
some be very good, and some so euyll that no man may eate them.
4 Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto me, after this maner:
5 Thus saith the Lorde the God of Israel, Like as thou knowest the good figges:
so shall I knowe the men led away, whom I haue sent out of this place into the
lande of the Chaldees for their profite:
6 And I wyll set mine eyes vpon them for the best, for I wyll bryng them agayne
into this lande, I wyll buylde them vp, and not breake them downe, I wyll plant
them, and not roote them out.
7 And I wyll geue them an heart to knowe howe that I am the Lorde: They shalbe
my people, and I wyll be their God: for they shall returne vnto me with their
whole heart.
8 And like as thou knowest the naughtie figges whiche may not be eaten they are
so euyll: euen so wyll I, saith the Lorde, cause Zedechias the kyng of Iuda, yea
and all his princes, and the residue of Hierusalem that remaine ouer in this
lande, and them also that dwell in Egypt, to be vexed and plagued in all
kyngdomes and landes.
9 And I wyll make them to be a reprofe, a common byworde, a laughing stocke and
shame in al the places where I shall scatter them.
10 I wyll sende the sworde, hunger, and pestilence among them, vntyll I haue
cleane consumed them out of the lande that I gaue vnto them and their fathers.
CHAPTER
25
1 A Sermon that was geuen vnto Ieremie vppon all the people of Iuda, in the
fourth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda (that was in the first
yere of Nabuchodonozor kyng of
Babylon
.)
2 Which sermon Ieremie the prophete made vnto all the people of Iuda, and to all
the inhabitours of Hierusalem, on this maner.
3 From the thirteenth yere of Iosias the sonne of Amon kyng of Iuda vnto this
present day (that is euen twentie and three yeres) the worde of the Lord hath
ben committed vnto me, and so I haue spoken vnto you, I haue risen vp early, I
haue geuen you warning in season: but ye woulde not heare me.
4 Though the Lord hath sent his seruauntes all the prophetes vnto you in season,
yet would ye not obay, ye would not encline your eares to heare.
5 He sayde: Turne againe euery man from his euill way, and from your wicked
imaginations, and so shall ye dwell for euer in the lande that the Lord promised
you and your forefathers.
6 And go not after straunge gods, serue them not, worship them not, and anger me
not with the workes of your owne handes, then wyll I not punishe you.
7 Neuerthelesse, ye woulde not heare me saith the Lorde, but haue prouoked me to
anger with the workes of your handes, to your great harme.
8 Wherefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Because ye haue not hearkened vnto
my worde,
9 Lo, I wyll sende out and call for all the people that dwell in the north saith
the Lorde, and wyll prepare Nabuchodonozar the kyng of Babylon my seruaunt, and
wyll bryng them vpon this lande, and vpon all that dwell therin, and vpon all
the people that are about them, and wyll vtterly roote them out: I wyll make
them amased, a mockage, and a continuall desert.
10 Moreouer, I wyll take from them the voyce of gladnesse and solace, the voyce
of the bridegrome and the bride, the noyse of the milstones, and the light of
the cressets.
11 And this whole lande shall become a wildernesse and astonished: and these
nations shal serue the king of
Babylon
threscore yeres and ten.
12 When the threscore and ten yeres are expired, I wil visite all the
wickednesse of the kyng of Babylon and his people saith the Lorde, yea and the
lande of the Chaldees, and wyll make it a perpetuall wildernesse,
13 And wyll fulfill all my wordes vpon that lande whiche I haue deuised against
it: yea all that is written in this booke, whiche Ieremie hath prophecied of all
people.
14 So that they also shalbe subdued vnto diuers nations and great kynges, for I
will recompence them according to their deedes and workes of their owne handes.
15 For thus hath the Lorde God of
Israel
spoken vnto me: take this wine cup of indignation fro my hande, that thou
mayest cause all people to whom I sende thee, for to drinke of it.
16 That when they haue drunken therof, they may be madde and out of their wittes,
when the sworde commeth that I wyll sende among them.
17 Then toke I the cuppe from the Lordes hande, and made all people to drinke
thereof vnto whom the Lorde had sent me:
18 But first the citie of Hierusalem, and all the cities of Iuda, their kinges
and princes, to make them desolate, amased, despised, and hissed at, and cursed,
according as it is come to passe this day:
19 Yea and Pharao the kyng of Egypt, his seruauntes, his princes, and his people
altogether one with another:
20 And all kinges of the lande of Hus, all kinges of the Philistines lande,
Ascalon, Azah, Accaron, and the remnaunt of Asdod,
21 The Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites,
22 All the kinges of Tyrus and Sidon, the kinges of the Isles that are beyonde
the sea,
23 Dedan, Thema, Buz, and all them that dwell in the vttermost partes of the
worlde,
24 All the kinges of Arabia, and [generally] all the kinges that dwell in the
desert,
25 All the kinges of Zimri, al the kinges of Elam, all the kinges of the Medes,
26 All the kinges towarde the north, whether they be farre or nye, euery one
against his neighbour, yea and all the kyngdomes that are vpon the whole earth:
and the kyng of Sesach shall drinke also after them.
27 Therfore say thou vnto them, This is the commaundement of the Lorde of
hoastes the God of Israel: Drinke and be drunken, spewe and fall, that ye neuer
arise, and that thorowe the sworde whiche I wyll sende among you.
28 But yf they wyll not receaue the cup of thy hande, and drynke it, then tell
them, thus doth the Lorde of hoastes threaten you, Drynke it you shall, and that
shortly?
29 For lo, I begyn to plague the citie that my name is geuen vnto, thinke ye
then that I will leaue you vnpunished? ye shall not go quite: for why? I call
for a sworde vpon all the inhabitours of the earth, saith the Lorde of hoastes.
30 Therfore tell them all these wordes, and say vnto them: The Lorde shall crye
from aboue, and his voyce shalbe hearde from his holy habitation, with a great
noyse shal he crie from his court regall: he shall geue a great voyce like the
grape gatherers, and the sounde therof shalbe hearde vnto the endes of the
worlde.
31 For the Lorde hath a iudgement to geue vpon all people, and wyll holde his
court of iustice with all fleshe, and wyll deliuer the vngodly to the sworde,
saith the Lorde.
32 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, Beholde, a miserable plague shall go
from one people to another, and a great stormie water shall arise from all the
endes of the earth.
33 And the same day shall the Lord him selfe slay them from one ende of the
earth to another: there shal no mone be made for any of them, none gathered vp,
none buryed: but shall lye as dunge vpon the grounde.
34 Mourne O ye sheepheardes, and crye, sprinckle your selues with asshes O ye
rammes of the flocke: for the tyme of your slaughter and breache is fulfylled,
and ye shall fall lyke vessels that were much set by.
35 The sheepheardes shall haue no way to flee, and the rammes of the flocke
shall not escape.
36 Then shall the sheepheardes crye horribly, and the rammes of the flocke shall
mourne: for the Lorde hath consumed their pasture,
37 And their best fieldes lye dead, because of the horrible wrath of the Lorde.
38 They haue forsaken their foldes like as a lion: for their lande is waste
because of the spoylers furious crueltie, and of his fearefull indignation.
CHAPTER
26
1 In the begynnyng of the raigne of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda,
came this worde from the Lorde, saying:
2 Thus saith the Lord: Stande in the court of the Lordes house, & speake
vnto al them which (out of the citie of Iuda) come to do worship in the Lordes
house, all the wordes that I commaunde thee to say: loke that thou kepe not one
worde backe.
3 (If peraduenture they wyll hearken and turne euery man from his wicked way,
that I may also repent of the plague which I haue determined to bryng vpon them,
because of their wicked inuentions.)
4 And after this maner shalt thou speake vnto them, Thus saith the Lord: If ye
wyll not obey me, to walke in my lawes which I haue geuen you,
5 And to heare the wordes of my seruauntes the prophetes whom I sent vnto you,
risyng vp tymely, and styll sendyng, yet you haue not hearkened:
6 Then wyll I do to this house as I did vnto Silo, and wyll make this citie to
be abhorred of all the people of the earth.
7 And the priestes, the prophetes, and all the people hearde Ieremie preache
these wordes in the house of the Lorde.
8 Nowe when he had spoken out all the wordes that the Lorde commaunded hym to
preache vnto the people, then the priestes, the prophetes, and all the people
toke holde vpon hym, and sayde, Thou shalt dye:
9 Howe darest thou be so bolde as to say in the name of the Lord, it shall
happen to this house as it did vnto Silo, and this citie shalbe so waste that no
man may dwell therin?
10 And when all the people were gathered about Ieremie in the house of the Lorde,
the princes of Iuda hearde of this rumour, and they came soone out of the kynges
palace into the house of the Lorde, and sate them downe before the newe doore of
the Lorde.
11 Then spake the priestes and the prophetes vnto the rulers, and to all the
people these wordes, This man is worthy to dye: for he hath preached agaynst
this citie, as ye your selues haue hearde with your eares.
12 Then sayde Ieremie vnto the rulers and to all the people, The Lorde hath sent
me to preache agaynst this house, and agaynst this citie, all the wordes that ye
haue hearde.
13 Therfore amende your wayes, and your aduisementes, and be obedient vnto the
voyce of the Lorde your God, so shall the Lorde repent of the plague that he
hath deuised agaynst you.
14 Nowe as for me I am in your handes, do with me as you thinke expedient and
good:
15 But this shall ye knowe yf ye put me to death, ye shall make your selues,
this citie, and all the inhabitours therof giltie of innocent blood: For this is
of a trueth, that the Lorde hath sent me vnto you, to speake all these wordes in
your eares.
16 Then sayde the rulers and the people vnto the priestes and prophetes: This
man may not be condempned to death, for he hath preached vnto vs in the name of
the Lorde our God.
17 The elders also of the lande stoode vp, and sayde thus vnto all the people.
18 Micheas the Morasthite, which was a prophete vnder Ezekias kyng of Iuda,
spake to all the people of Iuda, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, Sion shalbe
plowed like a fielde, Hierusalem shalbe an heape of stones, and the hyll of the
Lordes house shalbe turned to an hye wood.
19 Did Ezekias the kyng of Iuda and all the people of Iuda put hym to death for
this? No veryly: but rather feared the Lord, and made their prayer vnto hym, for
the which cause also the Lorde repented of the plague that he had deuised
agaynst them: Shoulde we then do such a shamefull deede agaynst our soules?
20 There was a prophete also that preached stifly in the name of the Lorde,
called Urias the sonne of Semaiah of Kiriathiarim: this man also preached
agaynst this citie and agaynst this lande, according to all as Ieremie saith.
21 Nowe when Iehoakim the king with all the estates and princes had hearde his
wordes, the kyng went about to slay him: When Urias perceaued that, he was
afrayde and fled, and departed into
Egypt
.
22 Then Iehoakim the kyng sent seruauntes into the lande of Egypt [namelye]
Elnathan the sonne of Achbor, and certayne men with hym into Egypt:
23 Which fetched Urias out of Egypt, and brought him vnto king Iehoakim, that
slue hym with the sworde, and cast his dead body into the common peoples graue.
24 But Ahikam the sonne of Saphan helped Hieremie, that he came not into the
handes of the people to be slayne.
CHAPTER
27
1 In the begynnyng of the raigne of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda,
came this worde vnto Ieremie from the Lorde, which spake thus vnto me:
2 Make thee bondes and chaynes, and put them about thy necke,
3 And sende them to the kyng of Edom, to the kyng of Moab, to the kyng of Ammon,
to the kyng of Tyrus, and to the kyng of Sidon, and that by the messengers which
shall come to Hierusalem, vnto Zedekiah the kyng of Iuda:
4 And bid them say vnto their maisters, Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God
of Israel, speake thus vnto your maisters:
5 I am he that made the earth, the men, and the cattell that are vpon the
grounde with my great power & stretched out arme, and haue geuen it vnto
whom it pleased me.
6 And nowe wyll I deliuer all these landes into the power of Nabuchodonozor the
kyng of
Babylon
my seruaunt: the beastes also of the fielde shall I geue hym, to do hym seruice.
7 And all the people shal serue him, and his sonne, and his childers children,
vntyll the tyme of the same lande be come, and his tyme also: yea many people
and great kynges shall serue hym.
8 Moreouer, that people and kyngdome which wyl not serue Nabuchodonozor, &
that wyll not put their neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of
Babylon
: the same people wyll I visite with the sworde, with hunger and pestilence,
vntyll I haue consumed them in his handes, saith the Lorde.
9 And therfore folowe not your prophetes, soothsayers, expounders of dreames,
charmers, & witches, which say vnto you, Ye shal not serue the kyng of
Babylon
.
10 For they preache you lyes, to bring you farre from your lande, & that I
myght cast you out, and destroy you.
11 But the people that put their neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of
Babylon
and serue hym, those wyll I let remayne styll in their owne lande, saith the
Lorde, and they shall occupie it and dwell therin.
12 All these thynges tolde I Zedekiah the kyng of Iuda, and sayde: Put your
neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of
Babylon
, and serue him and his people, that ye may liue.
13 Why wylt thou and thy people perishe with the sworde, with hunger, with
pestilence, like as the Lord hath deuised for all people that wyll not serue the
kyng of
Babylon
?
14 Therfore geue no eare vnto those prophetes that tell you, Ye shall not serue
the kyng of
Babylon
: for they preache you lyes.
15 Neither haue I sent them saith the Lorde: howbeit they are bolde falsly to
prophecie in my name, that I myght the sooner driue you out, and that ye myght
perishe, with your preachers.
16 I speake to the priestes also, and to all this people: Thus saith the Lorde,
Heare not the wordes of your prophetes that preache vnto you, and say, Beholde,
the vessels of the Lordes house shall shortly be brought hyther agayne from
Babylon: for they prophecie lyes vnto you.
17 Heare them not, but serue the kyng of
Babylon
, that ye may lyue: Wherfore wyll ye make this citie to be destroyed?
18 But yf they be true prophetes in very deede, and yf the worde of the Lorde be
committed vnto them, then let them pray the Lord of hoastes, that the remnaunt
of the ornamentes which are in the house of the Lorde & in the house of the
kyng of Iuda, and at Hierusalem, be not caryed to Babylon also.
19 For thus hath the Lorde of hoastes spoken concerning the pillers, the lauer,
the seate, and the residue of the ornamentes that yet remayne in this citie,
20 Which Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
toke not when he caryed away Iechonias the sonne of Iehoakim kyng of Iuda, with
all the power of Iuda & Hierusalem, vnto
Babylon
captiue.
21 Yea thus hath the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel spoken, as touchyng the
residue of the ornamentes of the Lordes house, of the kyng of Iuda his house,
and of Hierusalem:
22 They shalbe caryed vnto Babylon, and there shall they remayne vntyll I visite
them, saith the Lorde: then wyll I bryng them hyther agayne.
CHAPTER
28
1 And it came to passe the same yere, euen in the begynnyng of the raigne of
Zedekiah kyng of Iuda, in the fourth yere, the fift moneth, that Hananias the
sonne of Assur the prophete of Gibeon spake to me in the house of the Lorde, in
the presence of the priestes, and of all the people, and sayde:
2 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: I haue broken the yoke of
the kyng of Babylon,
3 And after two yeres wyll I bryng agayne into this place all the ornamentes of
the Lordes house, that Nabuchodonozor kyng of Babylon caryed away from this
place vnto Babylon,
4 Yea I wyll bryng agayne Iechonias the sonne of Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda hym
selfe, with all the prisoners of Iuda that are caried vnto Babylon, euen into
this place, saith the Lorde: for I wyll breake the yoke of the kyng of Babylon.
5 Then the prophete Ieremie gaue aunswere vnto the prophete Hananias before all
the priestes, and before all the people that were present in the house of the
Lorde.
6 And the prophete Ieremie sayde, Amen, the Lorde do that, and graunt the thyng
which thou hast prophecied, that he may bryng agayne all the ornamentes of the
Lordes house, and restore all the prisoners from
Babylon
into this place.
7 Neuerthelesse, hearken thou also what I wyll say, that thou and all the people
may heare.
8 The prophetes that were before vs in tyme past, which prophecied of warre, or
trouble, or pestilence,
9 Either of peace vpon many nations and great kyngdomes, were proued by this (yf
God hath sent them in very deede) when the thyng came to passe which the
prophete tolde before.
10 And Hananias the prophete toke the chayne from the prophete Ieremies necke,
and brake it:
11 And with that sayde Hananias that all the people might heare, thus hath the
Lorde spoken, Euen so wyll I breake the yoke of Nabuchodonozor kyng of
Babylon
from the necke of all nations, yea and that within this two yere. And so the
prophete Ieremie went his way.
12 Nowe after that Hananias the prophete had taken the chayne from the prophete
Ieremies necke and broken it, the worde of the Lorde came vnto the prophete
Ieremie, saying:
13 Go and tell Hananias these wordes, Thus saith the Lord: thou hast broken the
chayne of wood, but in steade of wood thou shalt make chaynes of iron.
14 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: I wyll put a yoke of
iron vpon the necke of all this people, that they may serue Nabuchodonozor the
kyng of Babylon, yea and so shall they do: and I wyll geue hym the beastes of
the fielde.
15 Then sayde the prophete Ieremie vnto the prophete Hananias: Heare me Hananias,
The Lorde hath not sent thee, but thou bryngest this people into a false beliefe.
16 And therfore thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I wyll sende thee out of the
lande, and within a yere thou shalt dye, because thou hast falsely spoken
agaynst the Lorde.
17 So Hananias dyed the same yere in the seuenth moneth.
CHAPTER
29
1 These are the wordes of the booke that Ieremie the prophete sent from
Hierusalem vnto the prisoners, the senatours, priestes, prophetes, and all the
people, whom Nabuchodonozor had led from Hierusalem vnto Babylon,
2 After that tyme that kyng Iechonias and his queene, his chamberlaynes, the
princes of Iuda and Hierusalem, the workmaisters of Hierusalem, were departed
thyther.
3 Which booke Elasah the sonne of Saphan, & Gamariah the sonne of Helkia did
beare, whom Zedekias the kyng of Iuda sent vnto
Babylon
to Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
: These were the wordes of Hieremies booke.
4 Thus hath the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel spoken, vnto all the
prisoners that were fled from Hierusalem to Babylon:
5 Builde you houses to dwell therin, plant you gardens, that you may enioy the
fruites therof.
6 Take you wiues to beare you sonnes and daughters, prouide wiues for your
sonnes, and husbandes for your daughters, that they may get sonnes &
daughters: and that ye may multiplie there, and decrease not.
7 Seke after the peace and prosperitie of the citie wherin ye be prisoners, and
pray vnto the Lorde for it: for in the peace therof shall your peace be.
8 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, Let not these prophetes
and soothsayers that be among you deceaue you, and beleue not your owne dreames:
9 For why? they preache you lyes in my name, and I haue not sent them, saith the
Lorde.
10 But thus saith the Lorde, When ye haue fulfylled seuentie yeres at
Babylon
, I will bring you home, and of mine owne goodnesse I wyll
cary
you hither agayne into this place.
11 For I knowe what I haue deuised for you, saith the Lorde: My thoughtes are to
geue you peace, and not trouble, and to geue you an ende as you wishe and hope
to haue.
12 Ye shall crye vnto me, ye shall go and call vpon me, and I wyll heare you.
13 Ye shall seke me and fynde me, yea yf so be that you seke me with your whole
heart.
14 I wyll be founde of you, saith the Lord, and will deliuer you out of prison,
and gather you together agayne out of all places wherin I haue scattered you
saith the Lorde, and wyll bryng you agayne to the same place from whence I
caused you to be caried away captiue.
15 But where as ye say that God hath raysed you vp prophetes at Babylon,
16 Thus hath the Lorde spoken to the king that sitteth in the throne of Dauid,
and to all the people that dwell in this citie, your brethren that are gone with
you into captiuitie:
17 Thus [I say] speaketh the Lorde of hoastes, Beholde I wyll sende a sworde,
hunger, and pestilence vpon them, and wyll make them lyke vntymely figges that
may not be eaten for bitternesse:
18 And I wyll persecute them with the sworde, with hunger, and pestilence, I
wyll deliuer them vp to be vexed of all kyngdomes, to be cursed, abhorred,
laughed to scorne, and put to confusion of all the people among whom I haue
scattered them:
19 And that because they haue not ben obedient vnto my commaundementes saith the
Lord, which I sent vnto them by my seruauntes the prophetes: I stoode vp early
and sent vnto them, but they woulde not heare, saith the Lorde.
20 Heare therfore the worde of the Lord all ye prisoners whom I sent from
Hierusalem to
Babylon
.
21 Thus hath the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel spoken of Ahab the sonne of
Colaiah, and of Zedekiah the sonne of Maasiah, which prophecie lyes vnto you in
my name: Beholde, I wyll deliuer them into the hande of Nabuchodonozor the kyng
of Babylon, that he may slay them before your eyes.
22 And all the prisoners of Iuda that are in Babylon, shall take this tearme of
cursyng, and say: Nowe God do vnto thee as he did vnto Zedekiah & Ahab, whom
the kyng of Babylon rosted in the fire:
23 Because they sinned shamefully in Israel, for they haue not only defiled
their neighbours wiues, but also preached lying wordes in my name, which I haue
not commaunded them: This I testifie and assure, saith the Lorde.
24 But as for Semeiah the Nehelamite, thou shalt speake vnto hym:
25 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, Because thou hast sent
letters in thine owne name vnto all the people that is at Hierusalem, and to
Sophoniah the sonne of Maasiah the priest, yea & sent them to all the
priestes, wherin thou writest thus vnto hym:
26 The Lorde hath ordeyned thee to be priest in the steade of Iehoiada the
priest, that thou shouldest be chiefe in the house of the Lorde aboue all
prophetes and preachers, and that thou mightest set them vpon the pyllory, or in
the stockes:
27 Howe happeneth it then that thou hast not reproued Hieremie of Anathoth,
which neuer leaueth of his propheciyng.
28 And beside all this, he hath sent vs worde vnto
Babylon
, and tolde vs playnely that our captiuitie shall long endure, that we should
builde vs houses to dwel therin, and to plant vs gardens, that we may enioy the
fruites therof.
29 Which letter Sophonias the priest read, and let Ieremie the prophete heare
it.
30 Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto Ieremie, saying:
31 Sende worde to all them that be in captiuitie, on this maner, Thus hath the
Lorde spoken concerning Semeiah the Nehelamite: Because that Semeiah hath
prophecied vnto you without my commission, and brought you into a false hope:
32 Therfore thus the Lorde doth certifie you, Beholde, I wyll visite Semeiah the
Nehelamite and his seede, so that none of his shall remayne among this people,
and none of them shall see the good that I wyll do for my people, saith the
Lorde: for he hath preached falsely of the Lorde.
CHAPTER
30
1 These are the wordes that the Lord sheweth vnto Ieremie, saying:
2 Thus saith the Lorde God of
Israel
: Write vp diligently all the wordes that I haue spoken vnto thee in a booke.
3 For lo, the tyme commeth saith the Lorde, that I wyll bryng agayne the
prisoners of my people of
Israel
and Iuda saith the Lorde: for I wyll restore them vnto the lande that I gaue to
their fathers, and they shall haue it in possession.
4 Agayne, these wordes spake the Lord concernyng
Israel
and Iuda,
5 Thus saith the Lorde, We haue heard a terrible crye, feare and disquietnesse.
6 For what els doth this signifie that I see? [namely] that all strong men smite
euery man his hande vpon his loynes, as a woman in the payne of her trauayle:
Who euer sawe a man trauayle with childe? Enquire therafter and see, yea all
their faces are marueylous pale.
7 Alas for this day, which is so dreadfull that none may be likened vnto it, and
alas for the tyme of Iacobs trouble, from the which he shal yet be deliuered.
8 For in that day saith the Lorde of hoastes, I wyll take his yoke from of thy
necke, and breake thy bondes, and straungers shall no more haue dominion ouer
them:
9 But they shall do seruice vnto God their Lorde, and to Dauid their kyng whom I
wyll rayse vp vnto them.
10 And as for thee O my seruaunt Iacob, feare not saith the Lorde, and be not
afrayde O Israel: For lo, I wyll helpe thee also from farre, and thy seede from
the lande of their captiuitie: And Iacob shall turne agayne, he shalbe in rest,
and haue a prosperous lyfe, and no man shall make hym afrayde:
11 For I am with thee to helpe thee, saith the Lorde: And though I shall destroy
all the people among whom I haue scattered thee, yet wyll I not destroy thee,
but correct thee, and that with descretion: for I wyll not vtterly destroy thee.
12 Therfore thus saith the Lorde, Thy brosinges are perilous, & thy woundes
redy to cast thee into sicknesse.
13 There is no man to meddle with thy cause, or to lay plaster vpon thee, or to
bynde vp thy woundes to heale thee.
14 All thy louers haue forgotten thee, and care nothyng for thee: for I haue
geuen thee a cruell stroke, and chastened thee roughly, and that for the
multitude of thy misdeedes: for thy sinnes haue had the ouer hande.
15 Why makest thou mone for thy harme? In deede thou art sore wounded and in
ieopardie: but for the multitude of thy misdeedes and sinnes I haue done this
vnto thee.
16 And therfore all they that deuour thee, shalbe deuoured, and all thine
enemies shalbe led into captiuitie: all they that make thee waste, shalbe wasted
them selues, and all those that rob thee, wyll I make also to be robbed.
17 For I wyll geue thee thy health agayne, and make thy woundes whole saith the
Lorde, because they reuiled thee, as one cast away and dispised: Sion [sayde
they] is she whom no man regardeth.
18 For thus saith the Lorde, Beholde I wyll bryng agayne the captiuitie of
Iacobs tentes, and defende his dwellyng place: the citie shalbe builded in her
olde estate, and the houses shall haue their ryght foundation.
19 And out of them shal go thankesgeuing and the voyce of ioy: I wyll multiplie
them, and they shal not be fewe, I shall endue them with honour, and no man
shall subdue them.
20 Their children shalbe as aforetyme, and their congregation shall continue in
my syght: and all those that vexe them wyll I visite.
21 A captayne also shall come of them, and a prince shall spryng out from the
middest of them, hym wyll I chalenge to my selfe, and he shall come vnto me: For
what is he that geueth ouer his heart to come vnto me, saith the Lorde?
22 Ye shalbe my people also, and I wyll be your God.
23 Beholde, on the other syde shall the wrath of the Lorde breake out as a
stormie water, as a myghtie whirle wynde, and shall fall vpon the heades of the
vngodly.
24 The terrible displeasure of the Lorde shall not leaue of, vntyll he haue done
and perfourmed the intent of his heart, which in the latter dayes ye shall
vnderstande.
CHAPTER
31
1 At the same tyme, saith the Lord, shal I be the God of all the generations of
Israel
, & they shalbe my people.
2 Thus saith the Lord: The people of
Israel
which escaped in the wildernesse from the sworde, founde grace to come into
their rest.
3 Euen so shall the Lorde nowe also appeare vnto me from farre [and say] I loue
thee with an euerlasting loue, therfore by my mercie I haue drawen thee vnto me.
4 I wyll repayre thee agayne O thou daughter of
Israel
, that thou mayest be fast and sure: thou shalt take thy tabrettes agayne, and
go foorth with them that leade the daunce:
5 Thou shalt plant vines agayne vpon the hylles of
Samaria
, and the grape gatherers shall plant, and commonly eate of it.
6 For the dayes shall come when the watchmen vpon the mount of Ephraim shall
crye, Arise, let vs go vp vnto Sion to our Lorde God.
7 For thus saith the Lorde, Reioyce with gladnesse because of Iacob, crye vnto
the head of the gentiles, speake out, syng and say, O Lorde saue thy people the
remnaunt of
Israel
.
8 Beholde, I wyll bryng them agayne from out of the north lande, and gather them
from the endes of the worlde, with the blynde & lame that are among them,
with the women that be great with chylde, & such as be also deliuered: and
the companie of them that come agayne shalbe great.
9 They shall come weepyng, and with mercifull pitie will I bring them hither
agayne: I will leade them to the riuers of water in a strayght way where they
shall not stumble: For I am
Israels
father, and Ephraim is my first borne.
10 Heare the worde of the Lorde O ye gentiles, preache in the Isles that lye
farre of, and say: He that hath scattered
Israel
, shall gather hym together agayne, and shall kepe hym as a sheephearde doth his
flocke.
11 For the Lorde hath redeemed Iacob, and ridde hym from the hande of the
violent.
12 And they shall come and reioyce vpon the hyll of Sion, and shall haue
plenteousnesse of goodes, which the Lorde shall geue them, [namely] wheate,
wine, oyle, young sheepe, and calues: and their soule shalbe as a well watered
garden, for they shall no more be hungry.
13 Then shall the mayde reioyce in the daunce, yea both young and olde folkes:
for I wyll turne their sorowe into gladnesse, and wyll comfort them from their
sorowes, and make them ioyfull.
14 I wyll powre plenteousnesse vpon the heartes of the priestes, and my people
shalbe satisfied with my goodnesse, saith the Lorde.
15 Thus saith the Lorde, The voyce of heauinesse, weepyng, and lamentation was
hearde on hye, euen of Rachel mournyng for her children, and woulde not be
comforted because they were not.
16 But nowe saith the Lorde, leaue of from weepyng and crying, withholde thine
eyes from teares: for thy labour shalbe rewarded saith the Lorde, and they shall
come agayne out of the lande of their enemies.
17 Yea euen thy posteritie shall haue consolation in this saith the Lorde, that
thy children shal come agayne into their owne lande.
18 Moreouer, I hearde Ephraim that was led away captiue complayne on this maner:
O Lorde thou hast correct me, & thy chastenyng haue I receaued, as an
vntamed calfe, conuert thou me and I shalbe conuerted: for thou art my Lorde
God.
19 Yea assoone as thou turnest me, I shall refourme my selfe, and when I
vnderstande, I shall smite vpon my thygh: For veryly I haue committed shamefull
thynges: for I haue borne the reproofe and confusion of my youth.
20 Upon this complaynt I thought thus by my selfe: Is not Ephraim my deare sonne?
Is he not the childe with whom I haue had all my mirth and pastime? For since
the tyme that I first comuned with hym, I haue hym euer in remembraunce:
therfore my heart driueth me vnto hym, gladly and louyngly wyll I haue mercie
vpon him, saith the Lorde.
21 Make thy selfe markes, set vp heapes of stone, set thine heart vpon the way
that thou didst walke, and turne againe O thou daughter of Israel, turne agayne
to these cities of thine.
22 Howe long wilt thou go astray O thou shrinkyng daughter? for the Lorde wyll
worke a newe thyng vpon earth: A woman shall compasse a man.
23 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: It wyl come therto,
that when I haue brought Iuda out of captiuitie, these wordes shalbe hearde in
the lande and in his cities, The Lord blesse thee O thou dwellyng place of
ryghteousnesse, O thou holy hyll.
24 And there shall dwell Iuda and all her cities, the sheepheardes and
husbandmen:
25 For I shall feede the hungry soule, and refreshe all faynt heartes.
26 When I hearde this, I came agayne to my selfe, I sawe like as I had ben waked
out of a sweete sleepe.
27 Beholde saith the Lorde, the dayes come that I wyll sowe the house of
Israel
and the house of Iuda with men and with cattell.
28 Yea it shall come therto, that like as I haue gone about in tymes past to
roote them out, to scatter them, to breake them downe, to destroy them, &
chasten them: euen so wyll I also go diligently about to builde them vp agayne,
and to plant them, saith the Lorde.
29 Then shall it no more be sayde, The fathers haue eaten a sowre grape, and the
childrens teeth are set on edge:
30 For euery one shall dye for his owne misdeedes: so that who so eateth a sowre
grape, his teeth shalbe set on edge.
31 Beholde the dayes wyll come saith the Lorde, that I wyll make a newe
couenaunt with the house of Israel, and the house of Iuda:
32 Not after the couenaunt that I made with their fathers, when I toke them by
the hande and led them out of the lande of Egypt, which couenaunt they brake,
yea euen when I as an husbande had rule ouer them saith the Lorde.
33 But this shalbe the couenaunt that I wyll make with the house of
Israel
after those dayes saith the Lorde: I wyll plant my lawe in the inwarde partes
of them, and write it in their heartes, and wyll be their God, and they shalbe
my people.
34 And from thencefoorth shall no man teache his neighbour or his brother, and
say, Knowe the Lorde: but they shal all knowe me from the lowest vnto the hyest,
saith the Lorde: for I wyll forgeue their misdeedes, and wyll neuer remember
their sinnes any more.
35 Thus saith the Lorde, which gaue the sunne to be a lyght for the day, and the
moone and the starres to shine in the night, whiche moueth the sea, so that the
fluddes thereof waxe fierce, his name is the Lorde of hoastes.
36 Like as this ordinaunce shall neuer be taken out of my sight, saith the Lord:
so shall the seede of
Israel
neuer ceasse, but alway be a people before me.
37 Moreouer, thus saith the Lord, Like as the heauen aboue can not be measured,
and as the foundations of the earth beneath may not be sought out: so will I
also not cast out the whole seede of
Israel
for that they haue committed saith the Lorde.
38 Beholde, the dayes come saith the Lorde, that the citie of the Lorde shalbe
enlarged, from the towre of Hananeel, vnto the gate of the corner wall.
39 From thence shall the right measure be taken before her vnto the hyll toppe
of Gareb, and shall come about Gaath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead carkasses, and of the asshes, and all the
fieldes, vnto the brooke of Cedron, and vnto the corner of the horse gate
towarde the east, it shalbe holy vnto the Lorde, and shall neuer be broken nor
cast downe any more.
CHAPTER
32
1 These wordes spake the Lorde vnto Ieremie in the tenth yere of Zedekias king
of Iuda, whiche was the eyghteenth yere of Nabuchodonozor,
2 What tyme as the kyng of Babylons hoast layde siege vnto Hierusalem: but
Ieremie the prophete lay bounde in the court of the pryson, whiche was in the
kyng of Iudaes house,
3 Where Zedekias the kyng of Iuda caused hym to be layde, because he had
prophecied on this maner: Thus saith the Lorde, Beholde, I wyll deliuer this
citie into the handes of the kyng of Babylon, whiche shall take it.
4 As for Zedekias the kyng of Iuda, he shall not be able to escape the Chaldees:
but surely he shall come into the handes of the king of
Babylon
, whiche shall speake with him mouth to mouth, and one of them shall looke
another in the face.
5 And Zedekias shalbe caryed vnto
Babylon
, and there shall he be vntyll the tyme that I visite hym saith the Lorde: but
if thou takest in hande to fight against the Chaldees, thou shalt not prosper.
6 And Ieremie saide, Thus hath the Lorde spoken vnto me:
7 Beholde, Hananeel the sonne of Sellum thine vncles sonne, shall come vnto
thee, and require thee to redeeme the lande that lyeth in Anathoth vnto thy
selfe: for by reason of kinred it is thy right to redeeme it and bye it out.
8 And Hananeel myne vncles sonne came to me in the court of the pryson,
according to the word of the Lord, and sayde vnto me: Bye my lande I pray thee,
that lieth in Anathoth in the countrey of Beniamin, for by heritage thou hast
right to loose it out for thy selfe, therfore redeeme it. Then I perceaued that
this was the comaundement the Lorde:
9 And so I bought the lande from Hanaeel of Anathoth myne vncles sonne, and
wayed hym there the money, euen seuen sicles, and ten syluer pence:
10 And I writ it in a booke, and sealed it, and toke witnesses, and wayed hym
there the money vpon the waightes.
11 So I toke the euidence with the copie, when it was orderly sealed, and read
it ouer:
12 And I gaue the euidence to Baruch the sonne of Neriah, the sonne of Maasiah,
in the sight of Hananeel my cosin, and in the presence of the witnesses that be
named in the euidence, and before all the Iewes that were thereby in the court
of the pryson.
13 I charged Baruch also before them, saying:
14 The Lord of hoastes, the God of Israel commaundeth [thee] to take this sealed
euidence with the copie, and to lay it in the earthen vessell, that it may long
continue.
15 For the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel hath determined, that houses,
fieldes, and vineyardes shalbe possessed agayne in this lande.
16 Nowe when I had deliuered the euidence vnto Baruch the sonne of Neriah, I
besought the Lorde, saying:
17 O Lorde God, it is thou that hast made heauen and earth with thy great power
and hye arme, and there is nothing hid from thee.
18 Thou shewest mercy vpon thousandes, thou recompensest the wickednesse of the
fathers into the bosome of the chyldren that come after them.
19 Thou art the great and mightie God, whose name is the Lorde of hoastes, great
in counsel, and excellent in worke, thyne eyes looke vpon all the wayes of mens
chyldren, to rewarde euery one after his way, and according to the fruites of
his inuentions.
20 Thou hast done great tokens and wonders in the lande of
Egypt
, as we see this day, vpon the people of
Israel
, and vpon those men, to make thy name great, as it is come to passe this day.
21 Thou hast brought thy people of
Israel
out of the lande of
Egypt
, with tokens, with wonders, with a mightie hande, with a stretched out arme,
and with great terriblenesse:
22 And hast geuen them this lande, like as thou haddest promised vnto their
fathers [namely] that thou wouldest geue them a lande that floweth with mylke
and honye.
23 Nowe when they came therein and possessed it, they folowed not thy voyce, and
walked not in thy lawe: but all that thou commaundedst them to do, that haue
they not done, and therefore come all these plagues vpon them.
24 Beholde, there are bulwarkes made nowe against this citie to take it, and it
shalbe wonne of the Chaldees that besiege it with sworde, with hunger, and
death: and looke what thou hast spoken, that same shall come vpon them, for lo
all thinges are present vnto thee.
25 Yet sayest thou vnto me O Lorde God, and commaundest me that I shall bye a
peece of land vnto my selfe for money, and take witnesses thereto: and yet in
the meane season the citie is deliuered into the power of the Chaldees.
26 Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto Ieremie, saying:
27 Beholde, I am the Lorde God of all fleshe: is there any thing then to harde
for me?
28 Therefore thus saith the Lorde: beholde, I shall deliuer this citie into the
power of the Chaldees, and into the power of Nabuchodonozor the king of Babylon,
they shall take it:
29 For the Chaldees shall come and winne this citie, and set fire vpon it, and
burne it, with the gorgious houses, in whose parlours they haue made sacrifice
vnto Baal, and powred drinke offeringes vnto straunge gods, to prouoke me vnto
wrath:
30 For the chyldren of Israel and the chyldren of Iuda haue only ben doyng
wickednesse before me from their youth vp, they haue ben only prouoking me to
wrath with the workes of their owne handes, saith the Lorde.
31 For what hath this citie ben els, but a prouoking of my wrath euer since the
day that thei builded it, vnto this houre wherein I cast it out of my sight?
32 Because of the great blasphemies of the children of Israel and Iuda, which
they haue done to prouoke me, yea they, their kynges, their princes, their
priestes, their prophetes, the men of Iuda, and the citizens of Hierusalem:
33 When I stoode vp early and taught them, and instructed them, they turned
their backes to me, and not their faces,
34 They woulde not heare to be refourmed and correct: but set their idols in the
house that is halowed to my name, to defile it.
35 They haue buylded hye places for Baal in the valley of the chyldren of Hennom,
to cause their sonnes & daughters to passe thorow [fire] in the honour of
Moloch, whiche I neuer commaunded them: neither came it euer in my thought to
make Iuda sinne with such abhomination.
36 And nowe therefore thus hath the Lorde God of
Israel
spoken concerning this citie, whiche as ye your selues confesse, shalbe
deliuered into the hande of the kyng of
Babylon
, [when it is wonne] with the sworde, with hunger, and with pestilence.
37 Beholde, I wyll gather them together from all landes, wherein I haue scattred
them in my wrath in fearefull and great displeasure, and wyll bryng them agayne
vnto this place, where they shall dwell safely:
38 And they shalbe my people, and I wyll be their God.
39 And I wyll geue them one heart and one way, that they may feare me al the
dayes of their lyfe: that they and their chyldren after them may prosper.
40 And I wyll set vp an euerlasting couenaunt with them [namely] that I wyll
neuer ceasse to do them good, and that I wyll put my feare in their heartes, so
that they shall not runne away from me.
41 Yea I wyll haue a lust and pleasure to do them good, and faithfully to plant
them in this land with my whole heart and with my whole soule.
42 For thus saith the Lorde, Like as I haue brought all this great plague vppon
this people: euen so wyll I also bryng vpon them all the good that I haue
promised them.
43 And men shall haue their possessions in this lande, wherof ye say nowe, that
it shall neither be inhabited of the people, nor of cattell, but be deliuered
into the handes of the Chaldees:
44 Yea lande shalbe bought for money, and euidences made thervpon, and sealed
before witnesses in the countrey of Beniamin, and rounde about Hierusalem, in
the cities of Iuda, in the cities that are vpon the mountaynes, and them that
lye beneath, yea and in the cities that are in the south: for I wyll bryng their
prysoners hyther agayne, saith the Lorde.
CHAPTER
33
1 Moreouer, the worde of the Lorde came vnto Ieremie againe whe he was yet
bounde in the court of the prison.
2 Thus saith the Lord who made Hierusale, who fashioned the same to establishe
it, whose name is the Lorde:
3 Crye vnto me, and I wyll aunswere, and shewe thee great and hye thinges whiche
were vnknowen vnto thee.
4 Thus [I say] speaketh the Lorde god of
Israel
, concerning the houses of this citie, and the houses of the kynges of Iuda that
are broken thorowe the ordinaunce and the sworde.
5 The inhabitours of this citie haue come to fight against the Chaldees, and
they are filled with the dead carkasses of men, whom I haue slayne in my wrath
and displeasure, when I turned my face from this citie, because of al her
wickednesse.
6 Beholde saith the Lorde, I wyll repaire and heale their woundes, and make them
whole: I wyll open them the large treasure of peace and trueth,
7 And wyll returne the captiuitie of Iuda and Israel, and wyll set them vp
agayne as they were before:
8 From all misdeedes wherein they offended against me, I wyll clense them: and
all their blasphemies which they haue done against me when they regarded me not,
I wyll forgeue them.
9 And this shall get me a name, a prayse and honour among all the people of the
earth, whiche shall heare all the good that I wyll shewe vnto them, yea they
shalbe afraide and astonied at all the good deedes and benefites that I wyll do
for them.
10 Moreouer, thus saith the Lorde: In this place (wherof ye say that it shalbe a
wildernesse, wherein neither people nor cattle shall dwell) in lyke maner in the
cities of Iuda and in the streetes of Hierusalem (which also shalbe so voyde
that neither people nor cattle shall dwel there,)
11 Shall the voyce of gladnesse be heard agayne, the voyce of the bridegrome and
of the bride, the voyce of them that shall sing, Prayse the Lord of hoastes, for
he is louing, and his mercy endureth for euer, and the voyce of them that offer
vp gyftes in the house of the Lorde: for I wyll restore the captiuitie of this
lande as it was afore, saith the Lorde.
12 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, It shall come yet therto, that in this lande
whiche is voyde from men and cattle, and in all the cities of the lande, there
shalbe set vp shepheardes cottages to rest their flockes.
13 In the cities vpon the mountaynes, and in the cities that lye vpon the plaine,
and in the cities of the south, in the lande of Beniamin, and rounde about
Hierusalem, and in the cities of Iuda shall the sheepe passe agayne vnder the
hande of him that telleth them, saith the Lorde.
14 Beholde, the tyme commeth saith the Lorde, that I will perfourme that good
thing whiche I haue promised vnto the house of
Israel
, and vnto the house of Iuda.
15 In those dayes, and at the same tyme, I wyll bryng foorth vnto Dauid the
braunche of righteousnesse, and he shall do equitie and righteousnesse in the
lande.
16 In those dayes shall Iuda be saued, and Hierusalem shall dwell safe: and this
shalbe her name, God our righteousnesse.
17 For thus the Lorde promiseth, Dauid shall neuer want one to sit vpon the
throne of the house of Israel:
18 Neither shall the priestes and leuites want one to offer alway before me
burnt offeringes, to kindle the meate offeringes, and to prepare the sacrifices.
19 And the worde of the Lord came vnto Ieremie, after this maner.
20 Thus saith the Lorde: May the couenaunt whiche I haue made with day and night
be broken, that there shoulde not be day and night in due season?
21 Then may my couenaunt also be broken whiche I made with Dauid my seruaunt,
and so he not to haue a sonne to raigne in his throne: so shall also the
Priestes and Leuites neuer fayle, but serue me.
22 For like as the starres of heauen may not be numbred, neither the sande of
the sea measured: so wyll I multiplie the seede of Dauid my seruaunt, and the
Leuites my ministers.
23 Moreouer, the worde of the Lorde came to Ieremie, saying:
24 Considerest thou not what this people speaketh? Two kinredes [say they] had
the Lorde chosen, and those same two hath he cast away: for so they haue
despised my people, and they reputed them as though they were no people.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If I haue made no couenaunt with day and
night, and geuen no statute vnto heauen and earth:
26 Then will I also cast away the seede of Iacob and Dauid my seruaunt, so that
I wyll take no prince out of his seede to rule the posteritie of Abraham, Isaac,
and Iacob: but yet I will turne agayne their captiuitie, and be mercyfull vnto
them.
CHAPTER
34
1 These are the wordes whiche the Lord spake vnto Ieremie, what tyme as
Nabuchodonozor the king of
Babylon
, and all his hoast, and all the kyngdomes that were vnder his power, and all
his people fought against Hierusalem and all the cities therof.
2 Thus saith the Lorde God of Israel, Go and speake to Zedekias the king of Iuda,
and tell hym, the Lorde sendeth thee this worde: beholde, I wyll deliuer this
citie into the hande of the kyng of Babylon, he shall burne it with fire,
3 And thou shalt not escape his handes, but shalbe taken prisoner, and deliuered
into his power: Thou shalt looke the kyng of Babylon in the face, and he shall
speake to thee mouth to mouth, and then shalt thou go to Babylon.
4 Yet heare the worde of the Lorde, O Zedekias thou kyng of Iuda, thus saith the
Lorde vnto thee, Thou shalt not be slayne with the sworde,
5 But shalt dye in peace: And as thy forefathers the kynges, thy progenitours
were brent, so shalt thou be brent also, and in thy mourning they shal say, O
Lorde: for thus haue I determined, saith the Lorde.
6 Then saide Ieremie the prophete all these wordes vnto Zedekias kyng of Iuda in
Hierusalem,
7 What tyme as the kyng of Babylons hoast besieged Hierusalem, and the remnaunt
of the cities [namely] Lachis and Azecah, whiche yet remayned of the strong
defensed cities of Iuda.
8 These are the wordes that the Lorde spake vnto Ieremie the prophete, when
Zedekias was agreed with all the people at Hierusalem, that there shoulde be
proclaymed a libertie:
9 So that euery man should let his seruaunt and handmayde go free, Hebrue and
Hebruesse, and no Iewe holde his brother as a bondman.
10 Nowe as they had consented, all the princes and all the people whiche had
gathered vnto this agreement, that euery man shoulde set at libertie his
bondseruaunt and bondwoman, and no longer to holde them bounde: euen so they
were obedient, and let them go free.
11 But afterwarde they repented, and toke agayne the seruauntes and handmaydens
whom they had let go free, and so made them bonde agayne.
12 For whiche cause, the worde of the Lorde came vnto Ieremie from the Lorde hym
selfe, saying:
13 Thus saith the Lorde God of Israel: I made a couenaunt with your fathers when
I brought them out of the lande of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
14 When seuen yeres are out, euery man shall let his bought seruaunt an Hebrue
go free, if he haue serued hym sixe yeres: but your fathers obayed me not, and
hearkened not vnto me.
15 As for you ye were nowe turned, and dyd right before me, in that ye
proclaymed euery man to let his neighbour go free, and in that ye made a
couenaunt before me in the temple that beareth my name.
16 But yet ye turned your selues againe, and blasphemed my name, in this, that
euery man hath required his seruaunt and handemayde agayne whom ye had let go
quite and free, and compelled them to serue you agayne, and to be bondmen and
bondwomen.
17 And therfore thus saith the Lord: Ye haue not obayed me, euery man to
proclaime freedome vnto his brother and neighbour: wherefore I wyll call you
vnto freedome, saith the Lorde, euen vnto the sworde, to the pestilence, and to
hunger, and will make you to be plagued in all kyngdomes of the earth.
18 Yea those men that haue broken my couenaunt, and not kept the wordes of the
appointment whiche they made before me, when they hewed the calfe in two, and
when they went thorowe the two halfes therof,
19 The princes of Iuda, the princes of Hierusalem, the gelded me, the priestes,
and all the people of the lande, whiche went thorowe the two sydes of the calfe:
20 Those men will I geue into the power of their enemies, and into the handes of
them that folowe vpon their liues: and their dead bodies shalbe meate for the
foules of the ayre and beastes of the fielde.
21 As for Zedekias the king of Iuda and his princes, I wyll deliuer them into
the power of their enemies, & of them that desire to slay them, and into the
hande of the kyng of Babylons hoast, whiche nowe is departed from you.
22 But thorowe my commaundement (saith the Lord) they shall come againe before
this citie, they shall fight against it, winne it, and burne it: Moreouer, I
wyll lay the cities of Iuda so waste, that no man shall dwell therin.
CHAPTER
35
1 The wordes which the Lorde spake vnto Ieremie, in the raigne of Iehoakim the
sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda, are these:
2 Go vnto the house of the Rechabites, and call them out, and bryng them to the
house of the Lorde, into some commodious place, and geue them wine to drinke.
3 Then toke I Iazaniah the sonne of Ieremie, the sonne of Habaziniah, and his
brethren, and all his sonnes, and the whole housholde of the Rechabites,
4 And brought them into the house of the Lord, into the closet of the chyldren
of Hanan the sonne of Iegedaliah the man of God, whiche was by the closet of the
princes, that is aboue the closet of Maasiah the sonne of Sellum, whiche is the
treasurer.
5 And before the sonnes of the kinred of the Rechabites I set pottes full of
wine, and cuppes, and sayde vnto them, Drinke wine:
6 But they sayde, We wyll drinke no wine: for Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our
father commaunded vs, saying: Ye and your sonnes shall neuer drinke wine, buylde
houses, sowe no seede, plant no vines,
7 Yea ye shall haue no vineyardes: but for al your tyme ye shall dwel in tentes,
that ye may liue long in the land wherin ye be straungers.
8 Thus haue we obayed the commaundement of Ionadab the sonne of Rechab our
father in al that he hath charged vs, and so we drinke no wine al our life long,
we nor our wiues, our sonnes and our daughters,
9 Neither buylde we any house to dwel therein: we haue also among vs neither
vineyardes, nor corne lande to sowe:
10 But we dwell in tentes, we obay, and do according vnto all that Ionadab our
father commaunded vs.
11 But nowe that Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon came vp into the lande, we
sayde, Come, let vs go to Hierusalem, that we may escape the hoast of the
Chaldees and the Assyrians: and so we dwell nowe at Hierusalem.
12 Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto Ieremie, saying:
13 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Go and tell the men of
Iuda, and the inhabitours of Hierusalem: wyll ye not be refourmed to obay my
wordes, saith the Lorde?
14 The wordes whiche Ionadab the sonne of Reehab commaunded his sonnes, that
they shoulde drinke no wine, are fast surely kept, for vnto this day they drinke
no wine, but obay their fathers commaundement: but as for me I haue stande vp
early, I haue spoken vnto you, and geuen you earnest warning, and yet haue ye
not ben obedient vnto me.
15 Yea I haue sent my seruauntes al the prophetes vnto you, I rose vp early, and
sent you worde, saying: O turne you nowe euery man from his wicked way, amende
your liues, and go not after straunge gods to worship them, that ye may continue
in the lande whiche I haue geuen vnto you and your fathers: but ye woulde
neither heare me nor folowe me.
16 The chyldren of Ionadab Rechabs sonne, haue stedfastly kept their fathers
commaundement that he gaue them: but this people is not obedient vnto me,
17 And therfore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Beholde, I
wyll bryng vpon Iuda, and vpon euery one that dwelleth in Hierusalem, all the
trouble that I haue deuised against them: For I haue spoken vnto them, but they
woulde not folowe, I haue called vnto them, neuerthelesse they woulde geue me no
aunswere.
18 Ieremie also spake vnto the householde of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord
of hoastes the God of Israel: forasmuche as ye haue obayed the commaundement of
Ionadab your father, and kept all his preceptes, and done according to all that
he hath bidden:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God Israel: Ionadab the sonne
of Rechab shal not faile, but haue one out of his flocke to stande alway before
me.
CHAPTER
36
1 In the fourth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias the kyng of Iuda, came the
worde of the Lorde vnto Ieremie, saying:
2 Take a booke, and write therein all the wordes that I haue spoken to thee
against Israel, against Iuda, and against all the people, from the tyme that I
began to speake vnto thee in the raigne of Iosias, vnto this day:
3 That when the house of Iuda heareth of the plague whiche I haue deuised for
them, they may peraduenture turne euery man from his wicked way, that I may
forgeue their offences and sinnes.
4 Then dyd Ieremie call Baruch the sonne of Neriah, and Baruch wrote in the
booke at the mouth of Ieremie, all the wordes of the Lorde whiche he had spoken
vnto hym.
5 And Ieremie commaunded Baruch, saying: I am in prison, so that I may not come
into the house of the Lorde:
6 Therefore go thou thither, and reade the booke that thou hast written at my
mouth [namely] the wordes of the Lord, and reade them in the Lordes house vpon
the fasting day, that the people, whole Iuda, and al they that come out of the
cities may heare.
7 Peraduenture they wyll pray meekelye before the face of the Lorde, and turne
euery one from his wicked way: for great is the wrath and displeasure that the
Lorde hath taken against this people.
8 So Baruch the sonne of Neriah, dyd according to all that Ieremie the prophete
commaunded hym, reading the wordes of the Lorde out of the booke in the Lordes
house.
9 And this was done in the fifth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of
Iuda, in the ninth moneth, when it was commaunded that all the people of
Hierusalem shoulde fast before the Lorde, and they also that were come fro the
cities of Iuda vnto Hierusalem:
10 Then read Baruch the wordes of Ieremie out of the booke within the house of
the Lorde, out of the treasurie of Gamariah the sonne of Saphan the scribe,
which is beside the hyer loft of the new doore of the Lordes house, that all the
people might heare.
11 Now when Micheas the sonne of Gamariah, the sonne of Saphan, heard all the
wordes of the lord out of the booke,
12 He went downe to the kynges palace into the scribes chaumbers, for there all
the princes were set, Elisama the scribe, Dalaiah the sonne of Semei, Elnathan
the sonne of Achbor, Gamariah the sonne of Saphan, Zedekias the sonne of
Hananias, with all the princes.
13 And Micheas tolde them all the wordes that he hearde Baruch reade out of the
booke before the people.
14 Then all the princes sent Iehudi the sonne of Nathaniah the sonne of Selemiah,
the sonne of Chusi, vnto Baruch, saying: Take in thine hande the booke whereout
thou hast read before all the people, & come. So Baruch the sonne of Neriah
toke the booke in his hande, and came vnto them.
15 And they sayd vnto him: Sit downe and reade the booke, that we may heare
also: So Baruch read that they might heare.
16 Nowe when they had hearde all the wordes, they were abashed one vpon another,
and sayde vnto Baruch: We will certifie the king of al these wordes.
17 And they examined Baruch, saying: Tell vs, howe diddest thou write all these
wordes out of his mouth?
18 Then Baruch aunswered them: He spake all these wordes vnto me with his mouth,
and I wrote them in the booke.
19 Then sayd the princes vnto Baruch: Go thy way, hide thee with Ieremie, so
that no man knowe where ye be.
20 And they went in to the kyng to the court (but they kept the booke in the
chaumber of Elizama the scribe) and tolde the kyng all the wordes, that he might
heare.
21 So the kyng sent Iehudi to fet hym the booke: which he brought out of Elizama
the scribes chaumber, and Iehudi read in it, that the king and all the princes
whiche were about hym might heare.
22 Nowe the kyng sate in the winter house (for it was in the ninth moneth) and
there was a fire before hym.
23 And when Iehudi had read three or foure leaues therof, he cut the booke in
peeces with a penknife, and cast it into the fire vpon the harth, vntill the
booke was al brent in the fire vpon the harth.
24 Yet no man was abashed therof, nor rent his clothes, neither the kyng hym
selfe nor his seruauntes, though they hearde all these wordes.
25 Neuerthelesse, Elnathan, Dalaiah, and Gamariah besought the kyng that he
woulde not burne the booke: notwithstanding, the kyng woulde not heare them:
26 But commaunded Ierahmel the sonne of Amelech, Saraiah the sonne of Ezriel,
and Selemiah the sonne of Abdeel, to lay handes vpon Baruch the scribe, and vpon
Ieremie the prophete: but the Lorde kept them out of sight.
27 Nowe after that the kyng had brent the booke, and the sermons which Baruch
wrote at the mouth of Ieremie, the worde of the Lorde came vnto Ieremie, saying:
28 Take another booke, and write in it all the foresayde sermons that were
written in the first booke whiche Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda hath brent.
29 And tell Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda, thus saith the Lorde: Thou hast brent the
booke, and thoughtest within thy selfe, Why hast thou written therin, that the
kyng of Babylon shall come and make this lande waste, so that he shall make both
people and cattell to be out of it?
30 Therefore thus the Lorde saith of Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda: There shall none
of his generation sit vpon the throne of Dauid, his dead coarse shalbe cast out,
that the heate of the day and the frost of the night may come vppon hym.
31 And I wyll visite the wickednesse of hym, of his seede, and of his seruauntes:
Moreouer, all the euyll that I haue promised them, though they hearde me not,
wyll I bryng vpon them, vpon the inhabitours of Hierusalem, and vpon all Iuda.
32 Then toke Ieremie another booke and gaue it Baruch the scribe the sonne of
Neriah, which wrote therin out of the mouth of Hieremie, all the sermons that
were in the first booke which Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda did burne: and there
were added vnto them many mo sermons, lyke vnto the former.
CHAPTER
37
1 Zedekia the sonne of Iosiah which was made kyng through Nabuchodonozor king of
Babylon
, raigned in the lande of Iuda, in the stead of Cononiah the sonne of Iehoakim.
2 But neither he, nor his seruauntes, nor the people in his lande, woulde obey
the wordes of the Lorde which he spake by the prophete Ieremie.
3 Neuerthelesse, Zedekia the king sent Iehucall the sonne of Selemiah, and
Sophoniah the sonne of Maasiah the priest, to the prophete Ieremie, saying: O
pray thou vnto the Lorde our God for vs.
4 Nowe Ieremie walked free among the people at that tyme, and was not put in
prison as yet.
5 Pharaos hoast also was come out of
Egypt
: which when the Chaldees which besieged Hierusalem perceaued, they departed
from thence.
6 Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto the prophete Ieremie, saying:
7 Thus saith the Lorde God of
Israel
, This aunswere shal ye geue to the king of Iuda that sent you vnto me for
counsayle: Beholde, Pharaos hoast which is come foorth to helpe you, shal
returne into
Egypt
into his owne lande.
8 But the Chaldees shall come agayne, and fight agaynst this citie, winne it,
and set fire vpon it.
9 For thus saith the Lorde, Deceaue not your owne myndes, thynkyng on this maner,
Tushe, the Chaldees go nowe their way from vs: No, they shall not go their way.
10 For though ye had slayne the whole hoast of the Chaldees that besiege you,
and that none remayned of them but wounded men, yet shoulde they stande vp and
set fire vpon this citie.
11 Nowe when the hoast of the Chaldees was broken vp from Hierusalem for feare
of the Egyptians armie,
12 Ieremie went out of Hierusalem towarde the lande of Beniamin, to get hym from
among the people.
13 And when he came vnder Beniamins port, there was a porter called Ieriah, the
sonne of Selemiah, the sonne of Hananiah, which fell vpon hym, and toke hym,
saying: Thy mynde is to runne to the Chaldees.
14 Then sayde Ieremie, It is not so, I go not to the Chaldees: Neuerthelesse,
Ieriah woulde not beleue hym, but brought Ieremie bounde before the princes.
15 Wherfore the princes were angry with Ieremie, & smote hym, and layde hym
in prison in the house of Ionathan the scribe: for they had made that house the
prison.
16 Thus was Hieremie put into a dungeon and prison, and so lay there a long tyme.
17 Then Zedekia the kyng sent for him, and called hym, and asked hym quietly in
his owne house, saying: Thinkest thou this businesse [that nowe is in hande]
commeth of the Lorde? Ieremie aunswered, Yea that it doth: and thou (sayde he)
shalt be deliuered into the kyng of Babylons power.
18 Moreouer, Ieremie sayde vnto king Zedekia, What haue I offended agaynst thee,
agaynst thy seruauntes, or agaynst this people, that ye haue put me in prison?
19 Where are your prophetes which haue prophecied vnto you, and sayde, that the
kyng of
Babylon
shoulde not come agaynst you and this lande?
20 And therfore heare nowe O my Lorde the kyng, let my prayer be accepted before
thee, and sende me no more into the house of Ionathan the scribe, that I dye not
there.
21 Then Zedekia commaunded to put Ieremie in the fore entrie of the prison, and
dayly to be geuen hym a cake of bread of the bakers streete, vntyll all the
bread in the citie was eaten vp: Thus Ieremie remayned in the fore entrie of the
prison.
CHAPTER
38
1 Saphatiah the sonne of Mathan, Gedaliah the sonne of Pashur, Iucal the sonne
of Selemiah, & Pashur the sonne of Melchia, perceaued the wordes that
Ieremie had spoken vnto all the people, namely, on this maner.
2 Thus saith the Lorde, Who so remayneth in this citie, shall perishe either
with the sworde, with hunger, or with pestilence: but who so falleth vnto the
Chaldees shal escape, winning his soule for a pray, and shall lyue.
3 For thus saith the Lorde, This citie no doubt must be deliuered into the power
of the kyng of
Babylon
, and he also shall winne it.
4 Then saide the princes vnto the kyng, Sir, we beseche you let this man be put
to death: for thus he discourageth the handes of the souldiours that be in this
citie, and the handes of all the people, when he speaketh such wordes vnto them:
This man laboureth not for peace of the people, but mischiefe.
5 Zedekia the kyng aunswered, and sayde, Lo, he is in your handes: for the kyng
may denie you nothyng.
6 Then toke they Ieremie and cast him into the dungeon of Melchiah the sonne of
Amelech, that dwelt in the fore entrie of the prison, and they let downe Ieremie
with coardes into a dungeon, where there was no water, but mire: So Ieremie
stack fast in the mire.
7 Nowe when Abedmelech the Morian beyng a chaumberlayne in the kynges court,
vnderstoode that they had cast Ieremie into the dungeon,
8 He went out of the kynges house, and spake to the king, which then sate vnder
the port of Beniamin, these wordes.
9 My Lorde the kyng, where as these men meddle with Ieremie the prophete, they
do hym wrong [namely] in that they haue put hym in prison, there to dye for
hunger: for there is no more bread in the citie.
10 Then the kyng commaunded Abedmelech the Morian, and sayde, Take from hence
thirtie men whom thou wylt, and drawe vp Ieremie the prophete out of the dungeon
before he dye.
11 So Abedmelech toke the men with hym, and went to the house of the king, and
there vnder the treasurie he gat olde ragges and worne cloutes, and let them
downe by a corde into the dungeon to Ieremie.
12 And Abedmelech the Morian sayde vnto the prophete Ieremie: O put these ragges
and cloutes vnder thine arme holes betwixt them and the cordes: And Ieremie did
so.
13 So they drewe vp Ieremie with cordes, & toke hym out of the dungeon: and
he remayned in the fore entrie of the prison.
14 Then Zedekia the kyng sent, & caused Ieremie the prophete to be called
vnto hym, into the thirde entrie that is in the house of the Lorde, and the kyng
sayde vnto Ieremie: I wyll aske thee somewhat, but hyde nothyng fro me.
15 Then Ieremie aunswered Zedekia, If I be playne vnto thee, thou wylt cause me
to suffer death: yf I geue thee counsayle, thou wylt not folowe me.
16 So the kyng swore an oth secretely to Ieremie, saying: As the Lorde liueth
that made vs these soules, I wyll not slay thee, nor geue thee into the handes
of them that seke after thy lyfe.
17 Then sayde Ieremie vnto Zedekia, Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of
Israel: If case be that thou wylt go foorth vnto the kyng of Babylons princes,
thou shalt saue thy lyfe, and this citie shall not be brent, yea both thou and
thy housholde shall escape with your lyues:
18 But yf thou wylt not go foorth to the kyng of Babylons princes, then shall
this citie be deliuered into the handes of the Chaldees, which shall set fire
vpon it, and thou shalt not be able to escape them.
19 And Zedekia said vnto Ieremie: I am afrayde for the Iewes that are fled vnto
the Chaldees, lest I come into their handes, & so they to haue me in
derision.
20 But Ieremie aunswered, No, they shall not betray thee: O hearken vnto the
voyce of the Lorde I beseche thee, which I speake vnto thee, so shalt thou be
well, and saue thy lyfe:
21 But yf thou wylt not go foorth, the Lorde hath tolde me this playnely,
22 Beholde, all the women that are left in the kyng of Iudas house, shalbe led
foorth vnto the kyng of Babylons princes: and they shall say, thou art deceaued,
and the men in whom thou didst put thy trust, haue gotten thee vnder, & set
thy feete fast in the mire, and gone their way from thee.
23 Therfore all thy wyues with thy children shall they leade foorth vnto the
Chaldees, and thou shalt not escape their handes: but shalt be the kyng of
Babylons prisoner, and this citie shalt thou cause to be burnt.
24 Then sayde Zedekia vnto Ieremie: Loke that no body knowe of these wordes, and
thou shalt not dye.
25 But yf the princes perceaue that I haue talked with thee, and come vnto thee,
saying: O speake, what sayde the kyng to thee, hyde it not from vs, and we wyll
not put thee to death: tell vs (we pray thee) what sayde the kyng to thee?
26 See thou geue them this aunswere: I haue humbly besought the kyng that he
wyll let me lye no more in Iehonathans house, that I dye not there.
27 Then came all the princes vnto Ieremie, and asked hym: and he tolde them
after the maner as the kyng bad hym. Then they helde their peace, and let hym
alone: for they perceaued nothyng.
28 So Ieremie abode styll in the fore entrie of the prison, vntyll the day that
Hierusalem was wonne.
CHAPTER
39
1 Nowe when the citie of Hierusalem was taken (for in the ninth yere of Zedekia
kyng of Iuda, the tenth moneth, came Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon and all
his hoast, and besieged Hierusalem, and fought agaynst it,
2 And in the eleuenth yere of Zedekia, in the fourth moneth, the ninth day of
the moneth, he brake into the citie)
3 Then all the princes of the kyng of Babylon came in and sate them downe vnder
the port: Neregel, Sarezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsachim, Rabsaris, Neregel, Sarezer,
Rabmag, with all the other princes of the king of Babylo.
4 And when Zedekia the kyng of Iuda with his souldiers sawe them, then they fled
and departed out of the citie by nyght through the kynges garden, and through
the port that is betweene the two walles, and so the kyng went towarde the
wildernesse:
5 But the Chaldees hoast folowed fast after them, and toke Zedekia in the fielde
of Hiericho, and brought hym prisoner to Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon,
vnto Reblath, that lyeth in the lande of Hemath, where he gaue iudgement vpon
hym.
6 So the kyng of Babylon caused the children of Zedekia and all the nobles of
Iuda to be slayne before his face at Reblath,
7 And made Zedekias eyes to be put out, and bounde him with two chaines, and
sent hym to Babylon.
8 Moreouer, the Chaldees burnt vp the kynges palace, with the other houses of
the people, and brake downe the walles of Hierusalem.
9 As for the remnaunt of the people that were in the citie, and such as were
come to hym, and whatsoeuer was left of the common sort, Nabuzaradan the chiefe
captayne caryed them to
Babylon
.
10 But Nabuzaradan the chiefe captaine let the rascall people and those that had
nothyng, dwell styll in the lande of Iuda, and gaue them vineyardes and corne
fieldes at the same tyme.
11 Nabuchodonozor also the kyng of
Babylon
, gaue Nabuzaradan the chiefe captayne a charge concerning Ieremie, saying:
12 Take and cherishe hym, and make much of him, see thou do him no harme, but
entreate hym after his owne desire.
13 So Nabuzaradan the chiefe captayne, Nabuzarban, Rabsares, Neregal, Sarezer,
Rabmag, and all the kyng of Babylons lordes, sent for Ieremie,
14 And caused hym to be set out of the fore entrie of the prison, and committed
hym vnto Gedaliah the sonne of Ahikam, the sonne of Saphan, that he shoulde cary
hym home: and so he dwelt among the people.
15 Nowe when Ieremie lay yet bounde in the fore entrie of the prison, the worde
of the Lorde came vnto hym, saying:
16 Go and tell Abedmelech the Morian, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of
Israel: Beholde, the cruell and sharpe plague that I haue deuised for this citie
wyll I bring vpon them, that thou shalt see it:
17 But I wyll deliuer thee in that day saith the Lorde, & thou shalt not
come in the handes of those men whom thou fearest:
18 For doubtlesse I wyll saue thee, so that thou shalt not perishe with the
sworde: but thy lyfe shalbe saued, and that because thou hast put thy trust in
me, saith the Lorde.
CHAPTER
40
1 This is the worde that the Lorde spake vnto Ieremie, when Nabuzaradan the
chiefe captayne had let hym go free from Ramath, whyther he had led hym bounde
among all the prisoners that were caryed from Hierusalem and Iuda vnto Babylon.
2 The chiefe captaine called for Ieremie, and sayde vnto hym, The Lorde thy God
spake mightily before of the misery vpon this place.
3 Nowe the Lorde hath sent it and perfourmed it as he hath promised: for ye haue
sinned agaynst the Lord, and haue not ben obedient vnto his voyce, therfore
commeth this plague vpon you.
4 Beholde, I loose the bandes from thy handes this day: yf thou wilt nowe go
with me vnto Babylon, vp then, for I wyll see to thee, and prouide for thee: but
yf thou wylt not go with me to Babylon, then remayne here: Beholde all the lande
is at thy wyll, loke where thou thinkest conuenient and good for thee to abyde,
there dwell.
5 For as yet he was not gone backe agayne to Gedaliah: therfore he sayde to him,
Go backe to Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam, the sonne of Saphan, whom the kyng of
Babylon hath made gouernour ouer the cities of Iuda, and dwell with hym among
the people, or remayne where soeuer it please thee. So the chiefe captayne gaue
him his expences with a rewarde, and let hym go.
6 Then went Ieremie vnto Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam to Mispa, & dwelt
there with hym among the people that were left in the lande.
7 Nowe whe the captaynes of the hoast of Iuda, which with their felowes were
scattered abrode on euery syde in the lande, vnderstoode that the kyng of
Babylon had made Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam gouernour in the lande, and that
man, wyfe, and chylde, yea and the poore men in the lande that were not led
captiue to Babylon, should be vnder his iurisdiction:
8 They came to Gedaliah vnto Mispa, [namely] Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah,
Iohanan and Ionathan the sonnes of Careah, Sareah the sonne of Thanehumeth, the
sonnes of Ephai the Netophatite, Iezaniah the sonne of Maachati, with their
companions.
9 And Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam, the sonne of Saphan, sware vnto them and
their felowes in this maner: Be not afrayde to serue the Chaldees, dwel in the
lande, and do the king of
Babylon
seruice, so shall ye prosper.
10 Beholde I dwell at Mispa, to be an officer in the Chaldees behalfe, and to
satisfie such as come to vs: therfore gather wine, corne, and oyle, & kepe
them in your ware houses, and dwell in your cities that ye haue in kepyng.
11 Yea all the Iewes also that dwelt in Moab, vnder the Ammonites, Idumea, and
in all the countreys, when they hearde that the kyng of Babylon had made
Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam the sonne of Saphan, gouernour vpon all them that
were left in Iuda:
12 All the Iewes [I say] returned out of all places where they were fled vnto,
and came into the lande of Iuda to Gedaliah vnto Mispa, and gathered wine and
other fruites, and that very much.
13 Moreouer, Iohanan the sonne of Careah, and all the captaynes of the hoast
that were scattered on euery syde in the lande, came to Gedaliah to Mispa, and
sayde vnto hym:
14 Knowest thou not that Baalis the kyng of the Ammonites hath sent Ismael the
sonne of Nathaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam beleued them
not.
15 Then sayde Iohanan the sonne of Careah vnto Gedaliah in Mispa these wordes
secretely, Let me go I pray thee, and I wyll slay Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah,
so that no body shall knowe it: Wherfore wyll he kyll thee, that all the Iewes
which resort vnto thee myght be scattered, and the remnaunt in Iuda perishe.
16 And Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam sayde to Iohanan the sonne of Careah, Thou
shalt not do it: for they are but lyes that thou sayest of Ismael.
CHAPTER
41
1 But in the seuenth moneth, it happened that Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah, the
sonne of Elisama, one of the kynges blood came, and the greatest about the kyng,
& ten men with him, vnto Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam to Mispa, and they did
eate together in Mispa.
2 And Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah, with those ten men that were with him,
start vp, and smote Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam the sonne of Saphan with the
sworde, and slue hym whom the king of
Babylon
had made a gouernour of the lande.
3 Ismael also slue all the Iewes that were with Gedaliah at Mispa, and all the
Chaldees that he founde there waytyng vpon hym, and those that were able to
fyght he slue with hym.
4 The next day after that he had slayne Gedaliah, the matter was yet vnknowen:
5 And there came certayne men from Sichem, from Silo, and Samaria, to the number
of fourescore, which had shauen their beardes, rent their clothes, and were all
heauie, bryngyng meate offerynges and incense in their handes, to offer it in
the house of the Lorde.
6 And Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah went foorth of Mispa weepyng, to meete them:
Nowe when he met them, he sayde, Go your way to Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam.
7 And when they came in the middest of the citie, Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah,
with them that were with hym, slue them euen at the middest of the pit.
8 Among these fourescore men there were ten that sayde vnto Ismael: Oh slay vs
not, for we haue yet a great treasure in the fielde, of wheate, barly, oyle, and
hony: So he spared them, and slue them not with their brethren.
9 Nowe the pit wherin Ismael did cast the dead bodyes of the men whom he slue
because of Gedaliah, had kyng Asa caused to be made for feare of Baasa the kyng
of Israel, and the same pit did Ismael fyll with slayne men.
10 As for the remnaunt of the people, the kynges daughters, and all the people
that were left at Mispa, vpon whom Nabuzaradan the chiefe captayne had made
Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam gouernour, Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah caryed
them away prisoners towarde the Ammonites.
11 But when Iohanan the sonne of Careah, and all they which had ben captaynes
ouer the kinges hoast with him, hearde of all the wickednesse that Ismael the
sonne of Nathaniah had done:
12 They toke their companions, & went out for to fyght with Ismael the sonne
of Nathaniah, and founde hym by the great waters that are at Gibeon.
13 Nowe when all the people whom Ismael led captiue, sawe Iohanan the sonne of
Careah, and all the other captaynes of the hoast, they were glad.
14 So all the people that Ismael had caried away from Mispa, were brought agayne:
and when they returned, they came to Iohanan the sonne of Careah.
15 But Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah fled from Iohanan with eyght companions,
and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then Iohanan the sonne of Careah, and all the captaynes of the hoast that
were with hym, toke all the remnaunt of the people, whom Ismael the sonne of
Nathaniah had led away when he had slayne Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam, whom
they also had reserued from hym, fightyng men, women, and children, and gelded
men, whom they brought agayne from Gibeon,
17 And went from thence, and sate them downe at Geruth Chamaam, which lyeth
beside Bethlehem, that they might go into Egypt for feare of the Chaldees:
18 Of whom they were afrayde, because that Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah had
slayne Gedaliah Ahicams sonne, whom the kyng of Babylon had made gouernour in
the lande.
CHAPTER
42
1 So all the captaynes of Iohanan the sonne of Careah, Iezaniah the sonne of
Osiah, came, with all the people fro the least vnto the most,
2 And sayde vnto Ieremie the prophete: O heare our petition, that thou mayest
pray for vs vnto the Lorde thy God, [namely] for all the remnaunt, wherof there
be fewe of vs left of many, as thou seest vs:
3 That the Lorde thy God may shewe vs a way to go in, and tell vs what we
shoulde do.
4 Then Ieremie the prophete sayde vnto them: I haue hearde you, beholde, I wyll
pray vnto God your Lorde as ye haue required me: and loke what aunswere the
Lorde geueth, I shall certifie you therof, and kepe nothyng backe from you.
5 And they sayde vnto Ieremie, The Lorde be a true and faithfull witnesse
betwixt vs, that we wyll do all that the Lorde thy God commaundeth vs.
6 Whether it be good or euyll, we wyll hearken vnto the voyce of the Lorde God,
to whom we sende thee, that we may prosper when we haue folowed the voyce of the
Lorde our God.
7 And after ten dayes came the worde of the Lorde vnto Ieremie.
8 Then called he Iohanan the sonne of Careah, and all the captaynes of the
people that were with hym, yea and all the people from the least to the most,
9 And sayde vnto them: Thus saith the Lorde God of Israel, vnto whom ye sent me
to lay foorth your prayers before hym:
10 If ye wyll dwell in this lande, I shall builde you vp, & not breake you
downe, I shal plant you, and not roote you out: for I repent as concerning the
trouble that I haue done to you.
11 Feare not the kyng of
Babylon
of whom ye stande in awe, O be not afraide of him, saith the Lord: for I wyll
be with you to helpe you, and deliuer you from his hande.
12 I wyll pardon you, I wyll haue mercie vpon you, and cause hym to pitie you,
and bryng you agayne into your owne lande.
13 Neuerthelesse, yf ye purpose not to dwell in this lande, nor to folowe the
voyce of the Lorde your God:
14 But wyll say thus, We wyll not dwell heare, but go into Egypt, where we shall
neither see warre, heare the noyse of the trumpe, nor suffer hunger, there wyll
we dwell:
15 Wherfore heare nowe the worde of the Lorde O ye remnaunt of Iuda, Thus saith
the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: If ye be wholly purposed to go into
Egypt, and to dwell there as straungers,
16 The sworde that ye feared, shall ouertake you in Egypt: and the hunger wherof
ye be here afrayde, shall hang vpon you, and folowe you into Egypt, and there
shall ye dye.
17 And all they that of set purpose vndertake to go into Egypt to soiourne
there, shall perishe with the sworde, with hunger, and pestilence, not one of
them shall remayne, there shall none escape the plague that I wyll bryng vpon
them.
18 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, Lyke as my wrath and
indignation is moued agaynst the inhabitours of Hierusalem: so shall my
displeasure be kindled agaynst you also yf ye go into Egypt, and there ye shalbe
reuiled, abhorred, brought to shame and confusion, and as for this place ye
shall neuer see it more.
19 The Lorde forbiddeth you (O ye remnaunt of Iuda) that ye shall not go into
Egypt
: and forget not that I haue warned you earnestly this day.
20 For ye haue dissembled with me: for ye sent me vnto the Lorde your God, and
sayde, O pray thou the Lorde our God for vs, and loke what aunswere the Lorde
our God geueth thee, that bryng vs agayne, and we shall do therafter:
21 Nowe haue I shewed and declared vnto you, but ye haue not obeyed the voyce of
the Lorde your God, for the which cause he hath sent me to you.
22 Nowe therfore be sure that ye shall perishe with the sworde, with hunger and
pestilence, euen in the same place where your lust is to go and dwell.
CHAPTER
43
1 Nowe when Ieremie had ended all ye wordes of the Lorde his God vnto the
people, which to declare the Lorde their God had sent him to them, euen all
these wordes [I say]
2 Azariah the sonne of Osaiah, and Iohanan the sonne of Careah, with all the
stubburne persons, sayd vnto Ieremie, Thou lyest, the Lorde our God hath not
sent thee to speake vnto vs, that we shoulde not go into Egypt, and dwell there:
3 But Baruch the sonne of Neriah prouoketh thee agaynst vs, that he myght bryng
vs into the captiuitie of the Chaldees, that they myght slay vs, and cary vs
away prisoners vnto Babylon.
4 So Iohanan the sonne of Careah, and all the captaynes of the hoast, and all
the people, folowed not the commaundement of the Lorde, [namely] to dwell in the
lande of Iuda:
5 But Iohanan the sonne of Cariah, and all the captaines of the hoast, caried
away all the remnaunt of Iuda, that were come together agayne from all the
heathen, among whom they had ben scattered, to dwell in the lande of Iuda,
6 Men, women, children, the kynges daughters, all those that Nabuzaradan the
chiefe captayne had left with Gedaliah the sonne of Ahikam, the sonne of Saphan:
they caryed away also the prophete Ieremie, Baruch the sonne of Neriah,
7 And so came into Egypt: for they were not obedient vnto the commaundement of
God. Thus came they to Thaphnis:
8 And in Thaphnis the worde of the Lorde happened vnto Ieremie, saying:
Jer 43:9 Take great stones in thine hande, and hyde them in the bricke wall
vnder the doore of Pharaos house in Thaphnis, that all the men of Iuda may see,
10 And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde,
I will sende and call for Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon my seruaunt, and
wyll set his seate vpon these stones that I haue hyd, and he shall spreade his
tent ouer them.
11 And when he commeth, he shall smite the
land
of
Egypt
, some with slaughter, some with banishment, and some with the sworde.
12 He shall set fire vpon the temple of the Egyptians gods, and burne them vp,
and take them selues prisoners: Moreouer, he shall aray hym selfe with the lande
of Egypt, lyke as a sheephearde putteth on his coate, and shall depart his way
from thence in peace.
13 The pyllers also of the temple of the sunne that is in
Egypt
shall he breake in peeces, and burne the temples of the Egyptians gods.
CHAPTER
44
1 This is the worde that was shewed to Ieremie concernyng all the Iewes which
dwelt in
Egypt
, at Migdol, at Thaphnis, at Noph, and in the lande of Pathures.
2 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, Ye haue seene all the
miserie that I haue brought vpon Hierusalem, & vpon all the cities of Iuda:
so that this day they are desolate and no man dwellyng therin,
3 And that because of the great blasphemies, which they commited to prouoke me
vnto anger, in that they went backe to do sacrifice and worship vnto straunge
gods, whom neither they, nor ye, nor your fathers haue knowen.
4 Howbeit I sent vnto them my seruauntes all the prophetes, I rose vp early, I
sent vnto them and gaue them warning, O do no suche abhominable thinges, and
thinges that I hate.
5 But they would not folowe nor hearken to turne from their wickednesse, &
to do no more sacrifice vnto straunge gods.
6 Wherefore, myne indignation and wrath was kindled, and it brent vp the cities
of Iuda, with the streetes of Hierusalem, so that they were made waste and
desolate, as it is come to passe this day.
7 Nowe therfore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Howe
happeneth it that ye do so great euyll vnto your owne soules, thus to destroy
the men and woman, chyldren and babes of Iuda, so that none of you is left?
8 Because ye prouoke me to wrath with the workes of your owne hands, when ye
offer vnto straunge gods in the lande of Egypt where as ye be gone to dwell,
that ye might vtterly perishe, and that ye might be reuiled and shamefully
intreated of all nations?
9 Or haue ye nowe forgotten the wickednesse of your forefathers, the wickednesse
of the kynges of Iuda and their wiues, the wickednesse that ye your selues and
your wiues haue done in the lande of Iuda, and in the streetes of Hierusalem?
10 Yet are ye not sorie this day, ye feare not, neither walke ye in my lawe, and
in my commaundementes that I haue geuen vnto you and your forefathers.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: I am stedfally
aduised and determined to punish you, and to roote out all Iuda.
12 As for the remnaunt of Iuda that purposely went into Egypt there to dwell, I
wyll take them, and they shall all be destroyed, in the lande of Egypt shall
they perishe, beyng consumed with the sworde and with hunger: for from the least
vnto the most they shall perishe with the sworde and with hunger: Moreouer, they
shalbe reuiled, adhorred, shamed, and confounded.
13 For I wyll visite them that dwell in
Egypt
, as I haue visited Hierusalem, with the sworde, with hunger, and with
pestilence.
14 So that none of the remnaunt of Iuda whiche are gone to dwell in Egypt,
shalbe left to come againe into the land of Iuda, although they thinke to come
thyther agayne and to dwell there: for none shall come agayne but suche as are
fled away.
15 Then all the men whiche knewe that their wiues had offred vnto straunge gods,
and a great sort of wiues that stoode there, yea and all the people that dwelt
there in Egypt in the citie of Phatures, aunswered Ieremie and saide:
16 As for the wordes that thou hast spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lorde, we
wyll in no wise heare them:
17 But whatsoeuer goeth out of our owne mouth, that wyll we do, we wyll do
sacrifice, and offer oblations vnto the Queene of heauen, like as we and our
forefathers, our kinges and our heades haue done in the cities of Iuda, and in
the streetes of Hierusalem: for then had we plenteousnesse of vitailes, then
were we in prosperitie, and no misfortune came vpon vs:
18 But since we left to offer and to do sacrifice vnto the Queene of heauen, we
haue had scarsenesse of all thinges, and perishe with the sworde and hunger.
19 [Last of all] when we [women] dyd sacrifice and offred vnto the Queene of
heauen: dyd we make her cakes and powre vnto her drinke offeringes to do her
seruice, without our husbandes wylles?
20 Then saide Ieremie vnto all the people, to the men, to the women, and to all
the folke whiche had geuen hym that aunswere:
21 Dyd not the Lorde remember the sacrifices that ye, your forefathers, your
kynges and rulers, with all the people, haue offred in the cities of Iuda, in
the streetes of Hierusalem? and hath he not considered this in his minde?
22 Insomuche that the Lorde might no longer suffer the wickednesse of your
inuentions, and the abhominable thinges whiche ye dyd: Is not your lande
desolate and voyde, yea and abhorred, so that no man dwelleth therein any more,
as it is come to passe this day?
23 Did not all this happen vnto you, because ye made suche sacrifice, and sinned
against the Lord: Ye haue not folowed his voyce, to walke in his law, in his
ordinaunces and statutes: yea this is the cause that all misfortune happened
vnto you, as it is come to passe this day.
24 Moreouer, Ieremie spake vnto al the people, and to al the women: Heare the
worde of the Lorde all Iuda that be in the lande of
Egypt
.
25 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the god of Israel, Ye and your wiues haue
spoken with your owne mouth the thing that ye haue fulfilled in deede, yea thus
haue ye sayde: We wyll not fayle, but perfourme the vowes that we haue vowed, we
wyll do sacrifice, and powre out drinke offeringes to the Queene of heauen:
Purposely wyll ye set vp your owne meaninges, and perfourme your vowes.
26 And therefore heare the worde of the Lorde all Iuda, that dwell in the lande
of
Egypt
: Beholde, I haue sworne by my great name, saith the Lorde, that my name shall
not be rehearsed thorowe any mans mouth of Iuda in all the lande of
Egypt
, to say, the Lorde God liueth.
27 For I wyl watch to plague them, and not for their wealth: And all the men of
Iuda that be in the lande of
Egypt
shall perishe with the sworde, and with hunger, vntil they be vtterly
destroyed.
28 Neuerthelesse, those that fled away for the sworde, shall come againe out of
Egypt into the land of Iuda, but there shalbe very fewe of them: and all the
remnaunt of Iuda that are gone into Egypt there to dwell, shall knowe whose
words shalbe found true, theirs, or myne.
29 Take this for a token, that I wyll visite you in this place saith the Lorde,
and that ye may knowe howe that I without doubt wyl perfourme my purpose vpon
you, to punishe you.
30 Beholde saith the Lorde, I wyll deliuer Pharao Hophrea kyng of
Egypt
, into the handes of his enemies that seeke after his lyfe: euen as I gaue
Zedekias the kyng of Iuda into the handes of Nabuchodonozor kyng of
Babylon
his enemie, whiche sought after his life.
CHAPTER
45
1 These are the wordes that Ieremie the prophete spake vnto Baruch the sonne of
Neriah, after that he had written these sermons in a booke at the mouth of
Ieremie, in the fourth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda,
saying:
2 Thus saith the Lorde God of Israel vnto thee, O Baruch:
3 Insomuch as thou thoughtest thus [when thou wast wrytyng] wo is me, the Lorde
hath geuen me payne for my trauayle, I haue weeried my selfe with sighing, and
haue founde no rest:
4 Therefore tell hym O Ieremie, that the Lord saith thus: Beholde, the thing
that I haue buylded, wyll I breake downe agayne, and roote out the thing that I
haue planted, yea this whole lande:
5 And seekest thou yet promotion [looke not for it, and] desire it not, for I
wyll bryng a miserable plague vpon all flesh saith the Lorde: but thy lyfe wyll
I geue thee for a pray in all places whythersoeuer thou goest.
CHAPTER
46
1 Heare folowe the wordes of the Lorde to the prophete Ieremie, which he spake
against [all] the gentiles.
2 These wordes folowing preached he in the Egyptians, concerning the hoast of
Pharao Necho kyng of
Egypt
, when he was in Charchamis beside the water of Euphrates, what tyme as
Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
slue hym, in the fourth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda.
3 Make redy buckler and shielde, and go foorth to fight.
4 Harnesse your horses, and set your selues vpon them, set your sallets fast on,
bryng foorth speares, scoure your swordes, and put on your brestplates.
5 But alas, howe happeneth it that I see you so afraide? why shrinke ye backe?
Their worthyes are slayne, yea they runne so fast away that none of them looketh
behinde hym: fearefulnesse is fallen vpon euery one of them saith the Lorde.
6 The lightest of foote shall not flee away, and the worthyes shal not escape:
towarde the north by the water of
Euphrates
they dyd stumble and fall.
7 But what is he this that swelleth vp as it were a fludde, roaring and raging
lyke the streames of water?
8 It is
Egypt
that ryseth vp lyke the fludde, and casteth out the waters with so great noyse:
And he saide, I wyll go vp and wyll couer the earth, I wyll destroy the citie
with them that are therin.
9 Get you vp ye horses, roule foorth ye charets, come foorth worthyes, ye
Ethiopians, ye Libyans with your bucklers, ye Lydians with your bowes.
10 But this day of the Lorde God of hoastes, is a day of vengeaunce, that he may
auenge him of his enemies: The sworde shall deuour, it shalbe satisfied and
bathed in their blood, for the Lord God of hoastes shall haue a slayne offering
towarde the north, by the water of Euphrates.
11 Go vp vnto Gilead, and bryng triacle O virgin thou daughter of
Egypt
: but in vayne shalt thou go to surgerie, for thy wounde shall not be stopped.
12 The heathen haue hearde of thy shame, and the lande is full of thy confusion,
for one strong man did stumble vpon another, and they are fallen both together.
13 These are the wordes that the Lord spake to the prophete Ieremie, concerning
the comming of Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon, whiche was sent to destroy
the lande of Egypt:
14 Preache out thorowe the lande of Egypt, and cause it to be proclaymed at
Migdol, Noph, and Thaphnis, and say: stande styll, make thee redye, for the
sworde shall consume thee rounde about.
15 Howe happeneth it that thy mightie worthyes are fallen? why stoode they not
fast? euen because the Lorde thrust them downe.
16 The slaughter was great, for one fell euer still vpon another: and they sayde,
Up, let vs go agayne to our owne people, and to our owne naturall countrey, from
the cruel sworde.
17 They dyd crye euen there, Pharao the kyng of
Egypt
is a kyng of troublesomnesse: he hath ouerpast the appointed tyme.
18 As I liue (saith the kyng whose name is the Lorde of hoastes) so surely as
Thabor standeth among the mountaynes, and Charmel in the sea: euen so assuredly
shall this mischiefe come [vppon
Egypt
.]
19 O thou daughter of
Egypt
, make redye thy geare to flit: for Noph shalbe voyde and desolate, so that no
man shal dwell therein.
20 The lande of
Egypt
is lyke a goodly faire calfe: but destruction shall come out of the north [I
say] it commeth.
21 Her waged souldiers that be with her are lyke fat calues, they also shall
flee away together and not abyde: for the day of their slaughter, and the tyme
of their visitation shall come vpon them.
22 The crye of them shall make a noyse as the hissing of serpentes: for they
shall enter in with their hoastes, and come against her with axes, as it were
hewers downe of wood.
23 And they shall cut downe her wood saith the Lorde, they shalbe innumerable:
for they shalbe mo in number then the grashoppers, so that no man shalbe able to
tell them.
24 The daughter of
Egypt
is confounded, and deliuered into the handes of the people of the north.
25 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Beholde, I wyll visite
that restlesse people of Alexandria, Pharao, & Egypt, yea both their gods
and their kinges, euen Pharoa and all them that put their trust in hym:
26 Yea I wyl deliuer them into the handes of those that seeke after their liues,
[namely] into the power of Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon, and into the
power of his seruauntes: and after all these thinges, it shalbe inhabited as
aforetyme, saith the Lorde.
27 Be not thou afraide O my seruaunt Iacob, feare not thou O Israel: for lo, I
wyll helpe thee from farre, and thy seede from the lande of their captiuitie:
Iacob also shall come againe and be in rest, he shall prosper, and no man shall
do hym harme.
28 Feare thou not (O Iacob my seruaunt) saith the Lorde, for I am with thee, and
wyll destroy all nations among whom I haue scattered thee: neuerthelesse I wyll
not consume thee, but chasten thee and correct thee, yea and that with
discretion, neither wyll I vtterly destroy thee.
CHAPTER
47
1 These are the wordes that the Lorde spake vnto Ieremie the prophete against
the Philistines, before that Pharao smote [the citie of] Azah.
2 Thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, there shal waters arise out of the north, and
shall growe to a great fludde, running ouer & couering the lande and all
that is therin, the cities and them that dwel therin: and the men shal crye,
& all they that dwel in the land shal mourne
3 At the noyse and stamping of their strong barbed horses, at the shaking of
their charrets, and at the rumbling of the wheeles: the fathers shall not looke
to their chyldren, so feeble and weerie shall their handes be,
4 At the same tyme when he shalbe there to destroy the whole lande of the
Philistines, he shall make waste both Tyrus, Sidon, and the residue of their
ayde: for the Lorde wyll destroy the Philistines, the remnaunt of the Ile of
Caphtor.
5 Baldnesse is come vpon Azah, Ascalon is put to scilence, with the rest of
their valleys: Howe long wylt thou teare thy selfe?
6 O thou sworde of the Lorde, howe long wylt thou not ceasse? Turne againe into
thy sheath, rest, and leaue of.
7 But how can it ceasse, when the Lord him selfe hath geuen it a charge against
Ascalon, and raysed it vp against the cities of the sea coast?
CHAPTER
48
1 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel against
Moab
: Wo be to the citie of Nebo, for it is layde waste, brought to confusion, and
Kiriathaim is taken: Misgab is brought to shame and afraide.
2
Moab
can boast no more of Hesbon, for they haue deuised a mischiefe against it: Come
[shall they say] let vs roote them out, that they may be no more a nation, thou
also shalt be destroyed O Madmena, and the sworde shall persecute thee.
3 A voyce shall crye from Horonaim: Great wasting and destruction shall come
vpon them,
4
Moab
is made desolate, her litle ones haue cryed out.
5 For at the going vp vnto Luith he arose with lamentation and mourning, and
downe towarde Horonaim they hearde a cruel and deadly crye:
6 Get you away, saue your liues, and be lyke vnto the heath in the wyldernesse.
7 For because thou hast trusted in thine owne workes and treasure, thou shalt be
taken: Chamos with his priestes and princes shall go away into captiuitie.
8 The destroyer shall come vpon all cities, none shall escape: The valleys
shalbe destroyed, and the fieldes shalbe layde waste, lyke as the Lorde hath
spoken.
9 Geue winges vnto
Moab
, that she get her away speedyly: for her cities shalbe made so desolate, that
no man shall dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lorde fraudulently, and cursed be he
that kepeth backe his sworde from sheddyng of blood.
11 Moab hath euer ben riche and carelesse from her youth vp, she hath ben still
setled vpon lies, she was neuer yet put out of one vessell into another [that
is] she neuer went away into captiuitie, therefore her taste remayneth, and her
sauour is not yet chaunged.
12 But lo, the tyme commeth saith the Lorde, that I shall sende her trussers to
trusse her vp, whiche shall remoue her from her dwelling, and emptie her
vessels, and breake her wine pottes.
13 And
Moab
shalbe ashamed of Chamos, lyke as
Israel
was ashamed of
Bethel
, wherein she put her trust.
14 Wherefore do ye thinke thus: we are mightie and strong men of warre?
15
Moab
is destroyed, and her cities brent vp, her chosen young men be slayne, saith
the kyng whose name is the Lorde of hoastes.
16 The destruction of
Moab
commeth on a pace, and her fall is at hande.
17 All ye neighbours mourne for her, and all ye that knowe her name, say, O howe
happeneth it that the strong staffe and the goodly rodde is thus broken?
18 And thou daughter Dibon, come downe from thy glory, and sit in thyrst: for he
that destroyeth
Moab
, shall come vp to thee also, and breake downe thy strong holdes.
19 And thou that dwellest in Aroer, get thee to the streete, and looke about
thee, aske them that are fled and escaped, and say, What thing is happened?
20 Oh
Moab
is confounded and ouercome: mourne and crye, tell it out at Arnon, that
Moab
is destroyed.
21 For iudgement shall come vpon the playne lande [namely] vpon
Holon
, and Iahzah, and vpon Mephaath.
22 And vpon Dibon, vpon Nabo, and Beth Deblathaim,
23 Upon Kiriathaim, and vpon Beth Gamul, vpon Beth Maon,
24 And vpon Carioth, vpon Bozra, and all the cities in the lande of Moab,
whether they lye farre or neare.
25 The horne of
Moab
is smitten downe, and her arme broken saith the Lorde.
26 Make her drunken, for she magnified her selfe aboue the Lorde, that men may
clap their handes at her vomite, and that she also may be laughed to scorne.
27 Diddest not thou laugh
Israel
to scorne, as though he had ben taken [with theft] among thieues? for so often
as thou makest mention of hym, thou skippest for ioy.
28 Ye Moabites, leaue the cities, and dwel in rockes of stone, and become like
doues that make their nestes in holes.
29 As for
Moabs
pride we haue hearde of it, she is very hye minded, I knowe her stoutenesse,
her boasting, her arrogancie, and the pride of her stomacke, [saith the Lorde.]
30 I knowe (saith the Lorde) her indignation, she doth not right, her wordes are
lyes, and they haue not dealt truely.
31 Therefore will I mourne for
Moab
, for whole
Moabs
sake: my heart shall lament the men of Kirchares.
32 O thou vineyarde of Sabamah, I wyll weepe for thee as for Iazer: thy vine
braunches shall come ouer the sea vnto the sea of Iazer, the destroyer shal
breake into thy haruest and grape gathering.
33 Myrth and cheare shalbe taken away from the fertile fielde, and from the
lande of Moab: there shalbe no sweete wine in the presse, the treader shal haue
no stomacke to crye, yea there shalbe none to crye vnto him,
34 Whiche aforetyme were hearde from Hesbon to Eleale, and Iahaz, whiche lyfted
vp their voyce from Zoar vnto Horonaim, that bullocke of three yere olde: the
waters also of Nemrim shalbe dryed vp.
35 Moreouer, I will make
Moab
ceasse saith the Lorde, from the offeringes and censing that she hath made vnto
her gods in hye places.
36 Wherefore my heart mourneth for Moab like a crowde playing an heauie song,
and for the mens sake of Kirchares my heart mourneth also, euen as a pipe that
pipeth a dolefull song: for their riches which they haue gathered, shalbe
destroyed.
37 All heades shalbe shauen, and all beardes clipped of, all handes bounde, and
all loynes gyrded about with sackcloth.
38 Upon all the house toppes and streetes of
Moab
there shalbe lamentable mourning: for I wyl breake
Moab
lyke an vnprofitable vessell, saith the Lorde.
39 O howe is she destroyed? O howe mourneth she? O howe doth
Moab
hang downe her head and is ashamed? Thus shal
Moab
be a laughing stocke, and had in derision of all them that be rounde about her.
40 For thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, the enemie shall come fleeing as an Egle,
and spreade his winges vpon
Moab
.
41 They shall take the cities, and winne the strong holdes: then the mightie
mens heartes in
Moab
, shalbe lyke the heart of a woman trauayling with chylde.
42 And
Moab
shalbe made so desolate, that she shall no more be a people, because she hath
set vp her selfe against the Lorde.
43 Feare, pit, and snare, shall come vpon thee O Moab, saith the Lorde.
44 Whoso escapeth the feare, shall fall into the pit, and whoso getteth out of
the pit, shalbe taken in the snare: for I will bryng a yere of visitation vpon
Moab
, saith the Lorde.
45 They that are able to flee, shall stande vnder the shadowe of Hesbon, for
there shall go a fire out of Hesbon, and a flambe from Sion, and shall burne vp
that proude people of Moab, and the toppe of those seditious chyldren.
46 Wo be vnto thee O Moab, thou people of Chamos shalt perishe: yea thy sonnes
and daughters shalbe led away captiue.
47 Yet at the last wyll I bryng
Moab
out of captiuitie agayne saith the Lord: Thus farre is of the plague of
Moab
.
CHAPTER
49
1 As concerning the Ammonites, thus the Lorde saith: Hath Israel no chyldren? or
is he without any ayre? Why hath your kyng then taken Gad in? Wherefore doth his
people dwell in his cities.
2 Beholde therefore, the tyme commeth saith the Lord, that I wyll bring a noyse
of warre into Rabath of the Ammonites, and it shalbe layde on a desolate heape,
and her cities brent vp, and the Israelites shalbe lordes ouer those that had
them in possession afore saith the Lorde.
3 Hesbon shall mourne, for Ai shalbe rooted out of the grounde, [saith the Lorde]:
the citie of Rabbah shall crye out, and gyrde them selues with sackcloth, they
shall mourne and runne about the walles, for their kyng shalbe led away
prisoner, yea his priestes and princes with hym.
4 Wherfore gloriest thou in the valley? thy valley hath flowed away O thou
rebellious daughter, and thinkest thou that thou art so safe by reason of thy
treasure, that no man shall come to thee?
5 Beholde, I wyll bryng a feare vpon thee saith the Lorde God of hoastes, from
all those that be about thee, so that ye shalbe scattred euery man from another,
and no man shall gather them together agayne that be fled.
6 But after that, I will bryng the Ammonites also out of captiuitie agayne,
saith the Lorde.
7 Upon the Edomites hath the Lord of hoastes spoken on this maner: Is there no
more wysdome in Theman? Is there no more good counsayle among his people? Is
their wysdome then turned cleane to naught?
8 Get you hence, turne your backes, creepe downe into the deepe O ye citizens of
Dedan: for I wyll bryng destruction vpon Esau, yea and the day of his
visitation.
9 If the grape gatherers come vpon thee, shoulde they not leaue some grapes? If
the night robbers come vppon thee, shoulde they not take so much as they thought
were inough?
10 But I wyll make Esau bare, and discouer his secretes, so that he shall not be
able to byde them: His seede shalbe wasted away, yea his brethren and his
neighbours, and he hym selfe shall not be left behynde.
11 Thou shalt leaue thy fatherlesse chyldren behynde thee, and I wyll kepe them,
and thy wydowes shal take their comfort in me.
12 For thus hath the Lord spoken: Beholde, they that men thought were vnmeete to
drinke of the cuppe, haue drunken with the first, and thinkest thou then to be
free? No no, thou shalt neither be quit nor free: but thou must drinke also.
13 For why? I haue sworne by my selfe saith the Lorde, that Bozrah shall become
a wyldernesse, an open shame, a laughing stocke, and cursing, and all her cities
shalbe a continuall desert.
14 For I am perfectly infourmed of the Lorde, that he hath sent a message alredy
vnto the heathen: Gather you together, and go foorth agaynst her, make you redy
to battayle.
15 For lo, I wyll make thee but small among the heathen, and litle regarded
among men.
16 Thy hye stomacke, and the pryde of thy heart hath deceaued thee, because thou
doest dwell in the holes of stonye rockes, and hast the hye mountaynes in
possession: Neuerthelesse, though thy nest were as hye as the Egles, yet I wyll
cast thee downe saith the Lorde.
17 Moreouer, Idumea shalbe a wyldernesse, whoso goeth by it, shalbe abashed, and
wonder at all her miserable plagues.
18 Like as
Sodom
, Gomor, and the cities that lay there about, were turned vpside downe, saith
the Lorde: so shalt no body dwell in Idumea, and no man shall haue his
habitation there.
19 Beholde, lyke as the lion, so shall a destroyer come vp from the pleasaunt
medowes of Iordane, vnto the strong dwelling place, & when I haue made hym
quiet, I wyll make hym to flee from her, and all chosen men wyll I set in aray
against her: Who is lyke vnto me? what is he that wyll striue with me? what
sheephearde may stande in my handes?
20 Therefore heare the counsell of the Lorde that he hath taken vpon Idumea, and
his purpose that he hath deuised vpon the citizens of Theman: The least of the
flocke shall trayle them, and looke what fayre habitation they haue, they shall
make it waste, and them selues also.
21 At the noyse of their fall the earth shall quake, the crye of their voyce
shalbe hearde vnto the red sea.
22 Beholde, the enemie shall come and flee vp hyther lyke as it were an Egle,
and spreade his winges vpon Bozrah: then shall the heartes of the worthyes in
Edom
, be as the heart of a woman trauayling of chylde.
23 Upon
Damascus
, Hemath, and Arphad, shall come confusion: for they shal heare euyll tidinges,
they shalbe tossed to and fro like the sea that can not stand styll.
24
Damascus
shalbe sore afraide, and shal flee: trembling commeth vpon her, sorowe and
payne shall ouertake her, as a woman trauayling of chylde.
25 But howe happeneth it that the famous citie, the citie of my ioy, is not
spared?
26 Her young men shal fal in the streetes, and all her men of warre shalbe taken
away in that tyme, saith the Lorde of hoastes.
27 I wyll kindle a fire in the walles of
Damascus
, whiche shall consume the
palace
of
Benhadad
.
28 As for Cedar and the kyngdome of Hazor, whom Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
smote, the Lord hath spoken thus vpon them: Aryse, and get you vp vnto Cedar,
and destroy the people towarde the east.
29 Their tentes and their flockes shall they take away, yea their hanginges and
their vessels, their camels also shall they
cary
away with them: they shall crye to them, feare is on euery syde.
30 Flee, get you farre away, creepe into caues, that ye may dwell there O ye
inhabiters of Hazor saith the Lorde: for Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
hath holden a counsell concerning you, and concluded his deuice against you.
31 Aryse and get you vp against yonder rythe and carelesse people saith the
Lorde, whiche haue neither gates nor doore barres, but dwell alone.
32 Their camels shalbe a pray, and the droues of their cattell driuen awaye:
Moreouer, those wil I scatter towarde all the wyndes, and to the farthest partes
of the worlde, yea from all the sides therof will I bryng their destruction,
saith the Lorde.
33 Hazor also shalbe a dwelling for dragons, and an euerlasting wyldernesse, so
that no body shall dwell there, and no man shall haue there his habitation.
34 These are the wordes that the Lord spake to the prophete Ieremie concerning
Elam
, in the beginning of the raigne of Zedekias kyng of Iuda.
35 Thus saith the Lord of hoastes, Beholde, I wyl breake the bowe of
Elam
, their principall strength.
36 And vpon
Elam
I wyll bryng the foure windes from the foure quarters of heauen, and wyll
scatter them against the same foure wyndes: and there shalbe no people, but some
of
Elam
shall flee vnto them.
37 For I wyll cause
Elam
to be afraide of their enemies, and of them that seeke their liues, and wyll
bryng vpon them a mischiefe, euen my wrath saith the Lorde: And I wyll persecute
them with the sworde so long tyll I haue brought them to naught.
38 I wyll set my throne in
Elam
, I wyll destroy both the kyng and princes from thence saith the Lorde:
39 But in processe of tyme I wyll bryng
Elam
out of captiuitie agayne, saith the Lorde.
CHAPTER
50
1 The wordes that the Lorde spake vnto the prophete Ieremie, cocerning Babylon
and the lande of the Chaldees:
2 Preache among the gentiles, let your voyce be hearde, make a token, crye out,
kepe no scilence, but say, Babylon is wonne, Bel is confounded, and Merodach is
ouercome, yea their gods be brought to shame, and their images burst in peeces:
3 For out of the north there doth come a people against her, which shall make
her lande so waste that no body shall dwell therin, neither man nor beast, for
they shall flee and depart from thence.
4 In those dayes, and at that tyme saith the Lorde, the chyldren of
Israel
shall come, they and the children of Iuda, weeping and making haste, and shal
seeke the Lorde their God.
5 They shall aske the way to Sion, thither shall they turne their faces, saying:
Come, and we wyll cleaue to the Lorde in a couenaunt that neuer shalbe broken.
6 My people haue ben a lost flocke, my sheepheardes haue deceaued them, and haue
made them go astray vpon the hylles, they haue gone from the mountayne to the
litle hyl, and forgotten their folde.
7 All they that came vpon them haue deuoured them, and their enemies said, We
haue made no fault agaynst them, for they haue displeased the Lorde, [yea euen
the Lorde which is] the habitation of their righteousnesse, and the hope of
their fathers.
8 Flee from
Babylon
, and depart out of the lande of the Chaldees, and be ye as the rammes that go
before the flocke.
9 For lo, I wyll wake vp an hoast of people from the northren lande, & bryng
them vpon
Babylon
, these shal lay siege to it, and winne it: their arrowes shall not misse, like
as a cunnyng archer shooteth not wrong.
10 And the Chaldees shalbe spoyled, and all they that spoyle them, shalbe
satisfied saith the Lorde:
11 Although ye were so chearfull & glad, to treade downe myne heritage, and
fulfylled your pleasures as the calues in the grasse, and triumphed ouer them
like bulles [when ye had gotten the victorie]
12 Your mothers shalbe sore confounded, and they that bare you shall come to
shame, she shalbe the least set by among the nations, voyde, wasted, & dryed
vp.
13 No man shalbe able to dwell there for the feare of the Lorde, but she shalbe
whole desolate: all they that go by
Babylon
, shall stande styll & be abashed, and shall wonder at all her plagues.
14 Go foorth in your aray agaynst
Babylon
rounde about all ye that can handle bowes, shoote at her, spare no arrowes: for
she hath sinned agaynst the Lorde.
15 Crye out agaynst her rounde about, she shall yelde her selfe, her foundations
shall fall, and her walles shall come downe, for it shalbe the vengeaunce of the
Lorde, yea vengeaunce shalbe taken of her: and as she hath done, so deale ye
with her.
16 Roote out the sower from
Babylon
, & hym that handleth the sicle in haruest: for feare of the sworde of the
enemie euery man shall get hym to his owne people, and euery man shall flee to
his owne lande.
17
Israel
is a scattered flocke, the lions haue dispearsed them: First the kyng of the
Assyrians deuoured them, last of all this Nabuchodonozor king of
Babylon
hath brused all their bones.
18 Therfore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, Beholde, I wyll
visite the kyng of Babylon and his kyngdome, as I haue visited the kyng of the
Assyrians,
19 And wyll bryng Israel agayne to his pleasaunt pasture, that he may feede vpon
Charmel and Basan, and be satisfied vpon the mount of Ephraim and Galaad.
20 In those dayes and at the same tyme saith the Lorde, yf the offence of
Israel
be sought for, there shal none be founde, yf men enquire for the sinne of Iuda,
there shalbe none: for I wyll be mercifull vnto them whom I suffer to remayne.
21 Go downe [O thou auenger] into the enemies lande, and visite them that dwell
therin: downe with them, & smite them vpon the backes saith the Lorde, do
accordyng to all that I haue commaunded thee.
22 There is gone about the lande a crye of a slaughter and great murther [namelye
on this maner]
23 Howe happeneth it that the hammer of the whole worlde is thus broken and
brused in sunder? Howe chaunceth it that
Babylon
is become a wildernesse among the heathen [on this maner?]
24 I my selfe haue layde a snare for thee, and thou art taken vnawares, thou art
trapped and snared: for why? thou hast contended agaynst the Lorde.
25 The Lorde hath opened his house of ordinaunce, and brought foorth the weapons
of his wrath: for the thyng that is done in the land of the Chaldees, it is the
Lorde of hoastes worke.
26 Come agaynst her, for this is her ende, breake vp her chestes, threshe her as
ye threshe corne, destroy her that nothyng shalbe left.
27 Slay all their mightie souldiers, and put them to death: Wo be vnto them, for
the day and tyme of their visitation is at hande.
28 [Me thynke] I heare [alredy] a crye of them that be fled and escaped out of
the lande of Babylon, which shewe in Sion the vengeaunce of the Lorde our God,
the vengeaunce of his temple, [yea a voyce of them that crye agaynst Babylon]
29 Call vp all the archers agaynst Babylon, pitch your tentes rounde about her,
that none escape, recompence her as she hath deserued, and accordyng as she hath
done, so deale with her agayne: for she hath set vp her selfe agaynst the Lorde,
agaynst the holy one of Israel.
30 Therfore shall her young men fall downe in the streetes, and all her men of
warre shalbe rooted out in that day saith the Lorde.
31 Beholde, I speake vnto thee O thou proude saith the Lorde God of hoastes, for
thy day shall come, euen the tyme of thy visitation.
32 And the proude shall stumble and fall, and no man shall helpe hym vp, I wyll
burne vp his cities with fire, and it shall consume all that is rounde about hym.
33 Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, The children of
Israel
and Iuda suffer violence together, all they that haue them in captiuitie kepe
them fast, and wyll not let them go.
34 But their auenger and redeemer is mightie, whose name is the Lorde of hoastes,
he shall maynteyne their cause, he shal make the lande shake, and iudge them
that dwell therin, [one with another]
35 The sworde shal come vpon the Chaldees saith the Lorde, vpon them that dwell
in
Babylon
, vpon their princes, and vpon their wise men.
36 The sworde vpon their soothsayers, as for those they shall become fooles: the
sworde vpon their worthies, so that they shall stande in feare.
37 The sworde vpon their horsemen and charrettes, and vpon all the comon people
that dwell among them, so that they shall all become lyke women: The sworde vpon
their treasure, so that it shalbe stollen away.
38 A drought vpon their waters, so that they shalbe dryed vp: for the lande
worshippeth images, and delighteth wonderfully in idols.
39 Therfore shall wylde beastes,
Lamia
, and Cat of mountaynes, and Estreches dwell therin: for there shall neuer man
dwell there, neither shall any man haue his habitation there for euermore.
40 Like as God destroyed Sodome and Gomorre, with the cities that lay there
about saith the Lorde: so shall no man dwell there also, neither shall any man
haue there his habitation.
41 Beholde, there shall come a people from the north with a great bonde of men,
and many kynges shall stande vp from the endes of the earth.
42 They beare bowes and bucklers, cruell are they and vnmercifull: their voyce
roreth like the ragyng sea, they ryde vpon horses, and come weaponed to fight
agaynst thee O Babylon.
43 Assoone as the king of
Babylon
heare tell of them, his handes shall waxe feeble, sorowe and heauinesse shall
come vpon him as a woman trauayling with chylde.
44 Beholde, like as the lion commeth vp from the swellyng of Iordane vnto the
dennes of Ethan, so wyll I dryue them foorth, and make them runne agaynst her:
But whom shall I choose out and ordayne to such a thyng? for who is like me? or
who wil striue with me? or what sheephearde may stande agaynst me?
45 Therfore here the counsayle that the Lorde hath geuen vpon Babylon, and the
deuice that he hath taken vpon the lande of the Chaldees, The least among the
people shall drawe them out, and loke what pleasaunt houses they haue, they
shall lay them waste.
46 The noyse at the wynnyng of
Babylon
shall moue the earth, and the crye shalbe hearde among the gentiles.
CHAPTER
51
1 Thus hath the Lorde sayde: Behold, I wyll rayse vp a perilous wynde agaynst
Babylon
, & her citizens that beare euyl wyll against me.
2 I wyll sende also into
Babylon
fanners to fanne her out, and to destroy her lande: for in the day of her
trouble they shalbe about her on euery syde.
3 Moreouer [the Lorde wyll say] vnto the the bowmen, & to them that aduaunce
them selues in their armoure: Ye shall not spare her young men, kyll downe all
her hoast.
4 Thus the slayne shall fall downe in the lande of the Chaldees, and the wounded
in the streetes.
5 As for
Israel
and Iuda they shall not be forsaken of their God of the Lord of hoastes, yea
for the holy one of
Israels
sake haue the Chaldees fylled their lande full of sinne.
6 Flee away from
Babylon
, euery man saue his lyfe, that ye be not rooted out with her wickednesse: for
the tyme of the Lordes vengeaunce is come, yea he shall rewarde her agayne.
7
Babylon
hath ben in the Lordes hande a golden cuppe, that maketh all landes drunken: of
her wine haue all people drunken, therfore are they out of their wittes.
8 But sodaynly is
Babylon
fallen and destroyed: mourne for her, bryng plasters for her woundes, yf she
may peraduenture be healed agayne.
9 We woulde haue made Babylon whole say they, but she is not recouered, therfore
wyll we let her alone, and go euery man into his owne countrey: for her
iudgement is come into heauen, and is gone vp to the cloudes.
10 The Lorde hath brought foorth our righteousnesse: and therfore come on, we
wyll shewe in Sion the worke of the Lorde our God.
11 Make sharpe the arrowes, and multiplie your shieldes: for the Lorde shall
rayse vp the spirite of the kyng of the Medes, which hath alredy a desire to
destroy
Babylon
: this shalbe the vengeaunce of the Lorde, & the vengeaunce of his temple.
12 Set vp tokens vpon the walles of Babylon, make your watch strong, set your
watchmen in araye, yea holde priuie watches, and yet for all that shall the
Lorde go foorth with his deuice which he hath taken vpon them that dwell in
Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest by the great waters, O thou that hast so great treasure
and riches, thine ende is come, and the reckenyng of thy wynnynges.
14 The Lorde of hoastes hath sworne by hym selfe, that he wyll ouerwhelme thee
with men lyke grashoppers in number, whiche with a courage shall crye alarum
alarum agaynst thee:
15 Yea euen the Lorde of hoastes that with his power made the earth, with his
wisdome prepared the round world, and with his discretion spread out the heauens.
16 Assoone as he letteth his voyce be hearde, the waters in the ayre waxe
fierce: he draweth vp the cloudes from the endes of the earth, he turneth the
lightnynges to rayne, he bryngeth the wyndes out of their secrete places.
17 [If they be esteemed] by their wisdome, all men are become fooles: confounded
be all the casters of images, for the thing that they make, is but deceipt, and
hath no breath.
18 Uayne is it and an erronious worke, and in the tyme of visitation it shall
perishe.
19 The portion of Iacob is none such: but he that made all thinges whose name is
the Lorde of hoastes, he is the rodde of his enheritaunce.
20 Thou hast ben mine hammer and weapons for warre: for with thee haue I broken
the people in peeces, and with thee haue I destroyed kyngdomes.
21 Through thee I haue beaten to powder horse and horsemen, yea the charrettes
and such as sate vpon them.
22 Through thee I haue broken man and woman, olde and young, bacheler and mayden.
23 Through thee I haue destroyed the sheepheard and his flocke, the husbandman
and his cattell, the princes and the rulers.
24 Therfore wyll I rewarde the citie of
Babylon
, and all the inhabitauntes of
Chaldea
, with all the euyll which they haue done vnto Sion, yea that ye your selues
shall see it, saith the Lorde.
25 Beholde I come vpon thee thou noysome hyll saith the Lorde, thou that
destroyest all landes, I wyll stretch out my hand ouer thee, and cast thee downe
from the stony rockes, and wyll make thee a burnt hyll,
26 So that neither corner stones shalbe taken any more out of thee: but waste
and desolate shalt thou lye for euermore saith the Lorde.
27 Set vp a token in the lande, blowe the trumpets among the heathen, prouoke
the nations agaynst her, call the kyngdomes of Ararat, Menni, and Ascanez,
agaynst her, set the prince agaynst her, bryng as great a sort of terrible
horses agaynst her as yf they were grashoppers.
28 Prepare against them the people of the Medes, with their kynges, princes, and
all their chiefe rulers: yea and the whole lande that is vnder hym.
29 The lande also shall shake and be afrayde when the deuice of the Lorde shall
come foorth agaynst Babylon, to make the lande of Babylon so waste that no man
shal dwel any more therin.
30 The worthyes of
Babylon
shall leaue the battayle and kepe them selues in strong holdes, their strength
hath failed them, they shalbe lyke women, their dwellyng places shalbe burnt vp,
their barres shalbe broken.
31 One purseuaunt shall meete another, yea one poste shall come by another, to
bryng the kyng of
Babylon
tidinges that his citie is taken on euery syde,
32 The foordes occupied, the fennes burnt vp, and the souldiers sore afrayde.
33 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel, The daughter of
Babylon hath ben in her tyme lyke as a threshyng floore, but shortly shall her
haruest come.
34 Nabuchodonozor the kyng of
Babylon
hath deuoured and destroyed me, he hath made me an emptie vessell, he swalowed
me vp lyke a dragon, and fylled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me
out.
35 My substaunce wherof he hath spoyled me, and the thyng that was left me which
he hath caryed away, crye out against Babylon saith the daughter that dwelleth
in Sion, yea and my blood also agaynst the Chaldees, saith Hierusalem.
36 Therfore thus saith the Lorde, Beholde I wyll defende thy cause, and auenge
thee, I wyll drynke vp her sea, and drye vp her water sprynges.
37
Babylon
shall become an heape of stones, a dwellyng place for dragons, a fearefulnesse
and wonderyng, and no man shall dwell there.
38 They shall rose together lyke lions, and as the young lions when they be
angry, so shall they bende them selues.
39 In their heate I shall geue them a dinner, and they shalbe drunken for ioy:
then shall they sleepe an euerlastyng sleepe, and neuer wake, saith the Lorde.
40 I shall
cary
them downe to be slayne lyke sheepe, lyke weathers and goates:
41 O howe was Sesach wonne? O howe was the glorie of the whole lande taken? howe
happeneth it that
Babylon
is so wondred at among the heathen?
42 The sea is risen ouer
Babylon
, & hath couered her with her great waues.
43 Her cities are layde waste, the lande lyeth vnbuilded and voyde, it is a
lande where no man dwelleth, and where no man trauyleth through.
44 Moreouer, I wyll visite
Bell
at
Babylon
, & the thyng that he hath swalowed vp, that same shall I plucke out of his
mouth: the gentiles also shall runne no more vnto hym, yea and the walles of
Babylon
shall fall.
45 O my people, come out of
Babylon
, that euery man may saue his life from the fearfull wrath of the Lorde.
46 Be not faynt hearted, and feare not at euery rumoure that shalbe hearde in
the lande: for euery yere bryngeth newe tidinges, and in the yere folowing newe
tidinges, and robbyng in the lande, and lorde vpon lorde.
47 And lo the tyme commeth that I will visite the images of
Babylon
, and the whole lande shalbe confounded, yea and her slayne shall lye in the
middest of her.
48 Heauen and earth with all that is therin shal reioyce ouer
Babylon
, when the destroyers shal come vpon her from the north, saith the Lorde.
49 Like as
Babylon
hath beaten downe and slayne many out of
Israel
, so shall there fall many, and be slayne in all her kingdome.
50 Ye that haue escaped the sworde, haste you, stande not styl, remember the
Lord a farre of, and thynke vpon Hierusalem.
51 For we are ashamed to heare the blasphemies, our faces were couered with
shame, because the straunge aliauntes came into the sanctuarie of the Lorde.
52 Wherfore, beholde saith the Lorde, the tyme commeth that I wyll visite the
images of
Babylon
, and through the whole lande they shall mourne and fall.
53 Though Babylon clymed vp into heauen, and kept her power on hye, yet shall I
sende her destroyers saith the Lorde.
54 A piteous crye [shalbe hearde] from Babylon, and a great miserie from the
lande of the Chaldees:
55 When the Lorde destroyeth Babylon, & whe he driueth out the high stomacke
and proude boastyng, wherwith they haue ben as furious as the waues of the great
water fluds, and made great crakes with their wordes:
56 For the destroyers shall come vpon her, euen vpon Babylon, which shall take
their worthies, and breake their bowes: for the God of recompence, euen the
Lorde shall sufficiently recompence them.
57 Yea [saith the Lorde] I wyll make their princes, their wise men, their chiefe
rulers, their nobles, and their worthies drunken, so that they shall sleepe an
euerlastyng sleepe and neuer wake: thus saith the kyng whose name is the Lorde
of hoastes.
58 Moreouer, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, The thicke wall of
Babylon
shalbe broken, and her hye gates shalbe burnt vp, & the thyng that the
Gentiles & the people haue wrought with great trauayle & labour, shall
come to naught, and be consumed in the fire.
59 This is the charge that Ieremie the prophete gaue vnto Saraiah the sonne of
Neriah, the sonne of Maasiah, when he went towarde
Babylon
with Zedekiah the kyng of Iuda, in the fourth yere of his raigne: nowe this
Saraiah was a peaceable prince.
60 Ieremie wrote in a booke al the miserie that shoulde come vpon
Babylon
, yea and all these sermons that be written agaynst
Babylon
.
61 And gaue Saraiah this charge: When thou commest vnto
Babylon
, see that thou reade these wordes,
62 And say, O Lord thou art determined to roote out this place, so that neither
people nor cattell shall dwell there any more, but to lye waste for euer.
63 And when thou hast read out the booke, bynde a stone to it, and cast it in
the middest of Euphrates,
64 And say, Euen thus shall Babylon sincke, & be thrust downe with the
burthen of trouble that I wyll bryng vpon her: so that she shall neuer come vp
agayne. Thus farre are the preachynges of Ieremie.
CHAPTER
52
1 Zedekiah was one and twentie yeres olde whe he was made king, and raigned
eleuen yeres in Hierusale: his mothers name was Hamutal, Ieremies daughter of
Libna.
2 He liued wickedly before the Lorde, euen as Iehoakim did:
3 For the Lorde was angry at Hierusalem and Iuda, so long tyll he had cast them
out of his presence: and Zedekiah fell from the kyng of
Babylon
.
4 But in the ninth yere of his raigne, in the tenth moneth, the tenth day of the
moneth, it happened that Nabuchodonozor the king of Babylon, with all his hoast,
came before Hierusalem, and besieged it, and made bulwarkes rounde about it.
5 And this besiegyng of the citie endured vnto the eleuenth yere of kyng
Zedekiah.
6 And in the fourth moneth, the ninth day of the moneth, there was a great
hunger in the citie, that there were no more victuals for the people of the
lande.
7 So all the souldiers brake away, and fled out of the citie by night through
the way of the port, betweene the two walles by the kynges garden: (Nowe the
Chaldees had compassed the citie rounde about) yet went these men their way
through the wildernesse.
8 And so the Chaldees folowed vpon them, and toke Zedekiah the kyng in the
fielde of Iericho, when his hoast was runne from hym.
9 So they caryed the kyng away prisoner to Reblath, vnto the kyng of
Babylon
in the lande of Hemath, where he gaue iudgement vpon hym.
10 The kyng of
Babylon
also caused Zedekias sonnes to be slayne before his face, yea and put all the
princes of Iuda to death at Reblath.
11 Moreouer, he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, & caused hym to be bounde with
two chaynes, to be caryed vnto
Babylon
, and let him lye in prison tyl he dyed.
12 Nowe the tenth day of the fifth moneth, in the nineteenth yere of
Nabuchodonozor kyng of
Babylon
, Nabuzaradau the chiefe captayne, and the kyng of Babylons seruauntes came vnto
Hierusalem,
13 And burnt vp the house of the Lorde: he burnt vp also the kynges palace, all
the houses, and all the gorgeous buildinges in Hierusalem.
14 And the whole hoast of the Chaldees that were with the chiefe captayne, brake
downe all the walles of Hierusalem rounde about.
15 As for the poore people, and such folke as was yet left in the citie, which
also were fallen to the kyng of Babylon, yea and what people as yet remayned,
Nabuzaradan the chiefe captayne caryed them away prisoners.
16 But the poore people of the countrey did Nabuzaradan the chiefe captayne
leaue in the lande, to occupie the vineyardes and fieldes.
17 The Chaldees also brake the brasen pyllers that were in the house of the
Lord, yea the seate and the brasen lauer that was in the house of the Lorde, and
caryed all the mettall of them vnto Babylon.
18 They toke away also the chalderns, shouels, fleshhokes, sprinklers, spoones,
and all the brasen vessels that was occupied in the seruice.
19 With the basons, cole pannes, sprinklers, pottes, candlestickes, spoones, and
cuppes, wherof some were of golde, and some of siluer.
20 The chiefe captayne toke also the two pillers, the lauer, the twelue brasen
bullockes that stoode vnder the seat which king Solomon made in the house of the
Lorde: and all the vessels conteyned so much mettal that it might not be waied.
21 For euery piller was eyghteene cubites hye, and the rope that went about it
was twelue cubites and foure fingers thicke, and rounde.
22 Nowe vpon the rope were brasen knoppes, and euery knoppe was fiue cubites hye,
and vpon the knoppes were hoopes, and pomgranates round about of cleane brasse.
23 After this maner were both the pillers fashioned with ye pomgranates, wherof
there were an hundred ninetie and sixe, which hanged vpon the hoopes rounde
about.
24 The chiefe captayne also toke Saraiah the hye priest, and Sophoniah that was
chiefe next hym, & the three kepers of the doore:
25 He toke out of the citie a chaumberlaine which was captaine of the souldiers,
and seuen men that were the kinges seruauntes, which were founde in the citie:
and Sopher a captaine that vsed to muster the men of warre, with threescore men
of the countrey that were taken in the citie:
26 These Nabuzaradan the chiefe captaine toke, and caryed them to the king of
Babylon vnto Reblath:
27 And the kyng of Babylon caused them to be put to death at Reblath in the
lande of Hemath: And thus Iuda was ledde away captiue out of his owne lande.
28 This is the summe of the people whom Nabuchodonozor led away captiue: in the
seuenth yere of his raigne he caryed away of the Iewes three thousande twentie
and three,
29 In the eyghteenth yere Nabuchodonozor caryed away from Hierusalem eyght
hundred thirtie and two persons,
30 In the three and twentie yere of Nabuchodonozor, Nabuzaradan the chiefe
captayne toke away seuen hundred fourtie and fiue Iewes, prisoners. The whole
summe of the prisoners is foure thousande and sixe hundred.
31 In the thirtie and seuenth yere after that Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda was
caryed away, in the fiue and twentith day of the twelft moneth, Euilmerodach
kyng of Babylon (the same yere that he raigned) gaue Iehoakim the kyng of Iuda
his pardon, and let hym out of prison,
32 And spake louyngly to hym, and set his throne aboue the thrones of the other
kynges that were with hym in Babylon.
33 He chaunged also the clothes of his prison, yea and did eate with hym all his
life long.
34 And he had a continuall lyuyng geuen hym of the kyng of Babylon, euery day a
certayne thyng alowed hym, all the dayes of his life, vntyll he dyed.
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