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Chapter 14
The word of the Lord showed unto
Jeremie, concerning the *dearth of the fruits. Judah shall mourn,
men shall not go much more throw his gates: the land shall be no
more had in reputation, and the cry of Jerusalem shall break out.
The lords shall send their servants to fetch water, and when they
come to the wells, they shall find no water, but shall carry their
vessels home empty. They shall be ashamed and confounded, and shall
cover their heads. For the ground shall be dried up, because there
cometh no rain upon it. The plowmen also shall be ashamed, and shall
cover their heads. The Hind shall forsake the young fawn, that he
bringeth forth in the field because there shall be no grass. The
wild Asses shall stand in the Moss, and draw in their wind like
Dragons, their eyes shall fail for want of grass.
Doubtless our own wickedness reward us: But Lord do thou
according to thy name, though our transgressions an sins be many.
For thou art the comfort and help of Israel in time of trouble. Why
wilt thou be as a stranger in the Land, and as one that goeth over
the field, and cometh in only to remain for a night? Why wilt thou
make thyself a coward, and as it were a giant that yet may not help?
For thou art ours ( O' Lord ) and we bear thy name, therefore
forsake us not.
Then spake the Lord, concerning this people that have pleasure
to go nimbly with their feet, and leave not off, and therefore
displease the Lord: in so much, that he will now bring again to
remembrance all their misdeeds, and punish all their sins. Yee even
thus said the Lord unto me: Thou shall not pray to do this people
good. For though they fast, I will not hear their prayers. And
though they offer burnt offerings and sacrifices, yet will not I
accept them. For I will destroy them with the sword, hunger, and
pestilence. Then answered I: O' Lord God, the prophets say unto
them: Tush, ye shall see no sword, and no hunger shall come upon
you, but the Lord shall give you continual rest in this place.
And the Lord said unto me: The prophets preach lies unto them
in my name. I have not spoken with them, neither gave I them any
charge, neither did I send them: yet they preach unto you false
visions, charming vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart.
Therefore thus saith the Lord: As for those prophets that preach in
my name, ( whom I nevertheless have not sent ) and that say: Tush,
there shall neither battle, nor hunger be in this land: With sword
and with hunger shall those prophets perish, and the people to whom
they have preached shall be cast out of Jerusalem, die of hunger,
and be slain with the sword ( and their shall be no man to bury them
) both they and their wives, their sons and their daughters. For
thus will I pour their wickedness upon them. This shalt thou say
also unto them: Mine eyes shall weep without ceasing day and night.
For my people shall be destroyed with great harm, and shall perish
with great plague. For if I go into the field, lo, it lieth full of
slain men: If I come into the city, lo, they be all famished of
hunger.
Yee their prophets also and priests shall be lead in to an
unknown land.
Hast thou then utterly forsaken Juda? (said I ) Doest thou so
abhor Sion? Or hast thou so plagued us, that we can be healed no
more? We looked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the time of
health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble. We knowledge ( O' Lord
) all our misdeeds, and the sins of our fathers, that we have
offended thee. Be not displeased, O' Lord, for thy names sake,
forget not thy loving kindness: Remember the throne of thine honor,
break not the covenant, that thou hast made with us. Are there any
among the gods of the Gentiles, that send rain or give the showers
of heaven? Dost not thou it O' Lord our God, in whom we trust? Yee
Lord, thou dost all these things.
*dearth (scarce, shortage)
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Chapter 15
Then spake the Lord unto me, and
said: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart
to this people. Drive them away, that they may go out of my sight.
And if they say unto thee: Whither shall we go? Then tell them: The
Lord giveth you this answer: Some unto death, some to the sword,
some to hunger, some into captivity. For I will bring four plagues
upon them saith the Lord. The sword shall strangle them, the dogs
shall devour them, the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth
shall eat them up, and destroy them. I will scatter them about also,
in all kingdoms and lands to be plagued, because of Manasseh the son
of Hezekiah king of Juda, for the things that he did in Jerusalem.
Who shall then have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? Who shall be
sorry for thee? Or who shall make intercession, to obtain peace for
thee? seeing thou goest from me, and turnest backward, sayeth the
Lord? Therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and I will
not be entreated. I will scatter thee abroad with the fan on every
side of the land: I will waste my people and destroy them, for they
have had no lust to turn from their own ways. I will make their
widows more in number, then the sands of the sea. Upon the mothers
of their children, I shall bring a destroyer in the noon day.
Suddenly and unawares, shall I send a fear upon their cities. She
that hath born seven children, shall have none, her heart shall be
full of sorrow.
The Sun shall fail her in the clear day, when she shall be
confounded and faint for her very heaviness. As for those that
remain, I will deliver them unto the sword of their enemies, sayeth
the Lord. O mother, alas that ever thou didest bear me, an enemy and
hated of the whole land: Though I never lent nor received upon
usury, yet all men speak evil upon me. And the Lord answered me:
Lead not I thee then unto good? Come not I unto thee, when thou art
in trouble: and help thee, when thine enemy oppresseth thee? Doth
one iron hurt another, or one metal that cometh from the North,
another? As for your riches and treasure, I will give them out in to
a pray, not for any money, but because of all your sins, that ye
have done in all your coasts. And i will bring you with your enemies
in to a land, that ye know not: for the fire that is kindled in my
indignation, shall burn you up.
O' Lord ( said I then ) thou knowest all things, therefore
remember me, and visit me, deliver me from my persecutors: Receive
not my cause in thy long wrath, yet thou knowest, that for thy sake
I suffer rebuke. When I had found thy words, I ate them up greedily:
they have made my heart joyful and glad for I call upon thy name, O'
Lord God of Hosts. I dwell not among the scorners, neither is my
delight therin: but I dwell only in the fear of thy hand, for thou
hast filled me with bitterness. Shall my heaviness endure forever?
Are my plagues then so great that they may never be healed? Wilt
thou be as a water, that falleth, and can not continue? Upon these
words, thus said the Lord unto me: If thou wilt turn again, I shall
set thee in my service: and if thou wilt take out the thing that is
precious from the vile, thou shalt be even as my own mouth. They
shall convert unto thee, but turn not thou unto them: and so shall I
make thee a strong wall of steel against these people. They shall
fight against thee, but they shall not prevail. For I myself will be
with thee, to help thee, and deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I
will rid thee out of the hands of the wicked, and deliver thee out
of the hand of Tyrants.
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Chapter 16
Moreover, thus
sayeth the Lord unto me: Thou shalt take thee no wife, ner beget
children in this place. For the children that are born in this
place, of their mothers that have borne them, and their fathers that
have begotten them in this land, Thus sayeth the Lord: They shall
die an horrible death: and no man shall mourn for them, ner bury
them, but they shall lie as dung upon the earth: They shall perish
through the sword, and hunger, and their bodies shall be meat for
the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth. Again, thus saith the
Lord: Go not unto them that come together for to mourn and weep: for
I have taken my peace from this people ( saith the Lord ) yee my
favor and my mercy. And in this land shall they die, old and young,
and shall not be buried: no man shall beweep them, no man shall clip
or shave himself for them.
There shall not one man visit another, to mourn with them for
their dead, or to comfort them. One shall not offer another the cup
of consolation to forget their heaviness for father and mother. Thou
shalt not go into their feast house, to sit down, much less to eat
or drink with them. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of
Israel: Behold, I shall take away out of this place, the voice of my
mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the
bride: yee and that in your days, that ye may see it.
Now when thou showest this people all these words, and they
say unto thee: Wherefore hath the Lord devised all this great plague
for us? Or what is the offense and sin, that we have done against
the Lord our God? Then make thou them this answer: Because your
fathers have forsaken me, ( saith the Lord ) and have cleaved unto
strange gods, whom they have honored and worshiped: but me they have
forsaken, and have not kept my law. And yee with your shameful
blasphemes, have exceeded the wickedness of your fathers. For every
one of you followeth the froward and evil imagination of his own
heart, and is not obedient unto me.
Therefore will I cast you out of this land in to a land that
ye and your fathers know not: and there shall ye sever strange gods
day and night, there will I show you no favor. Behold therefore (
sayeth the Lord ) the days are come, that it shall no more be said:
The Lord liveth, which brought the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt: but it shall be said, the Lord liveth, that brought
the children of Israel from the North, and from all lands that I
scattered them. For I will bring them again in to the land, that I
gave unto their fathers.
Behold, ( sayeth the Lord ) I will send out many fishers to
take them, and after that will I send out many hunters to hunt them
out, from all mountains and hills and out of the caves of stones.
For mine eyes behold all their ways, and they can not be hid from my
face, neither can their wicked deeds be kept close out of my sight.
But first will I sufficiently reward their shameful blasphemes and
sins wherewith they have defiled my land: Namely, with their
stinking Idols and abominations, wherewith they have filled mine
heritage. O' Lord, my strength, my power, and refuge in time of
trouble. The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the
world, and say: Verily our fathers have cleaved unto lies, their
Idols are but vain and unprofitable. How can a man make those his
gods, which are not able to be gods. And therefore I will once teach
them, sayeth the Lord, I will show them my hand and my power, that
they may know, that my name is the Lord.
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Chapter 17
Your sin ( O ye of the tribe of
Judah ) is written in the table of your hearts, and graven so upon
the edges of your altars with a pen of iron and with an adamant
claw: that your children also may think upon your altars, woods,
thick trees, high hills, mountains and fields. Wherefore, I will
make all your substance and treasure be spoiled, for the great sin
that ye have done upon your high places throughout all the coasts of
your land. Ye shall be cast out also from the heritage, that I gave
you. And I will subdue you under the heavy bondage of your enemies,
in a land that ye know not. For ye have ministered fire to my
indignation, which shall burn evermore. Thus saith the Lord: Cursed
be the man that putteth his trust in man, that taketh flesh for his
arm: and he, whose heart departeth from the Lord. He shall be like
the *heeth that groweth in the wilderness. As for the good thing
that is for to come, he shall not see it : but dwell in a dry place
of the wilderness, in a salt and unoccupied land. O blessed is the
man, that putteth his trust in the Lord, and whose hope is in the
Lord himself. For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the
water side: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the
heat can not harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And
though there grow but little fruit because of drought, yet is he not
careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit. Among all
things living, man hath the most disceitful and unsearchable heart.
Who shall then know it? Even I the Lord search out the ground
of the heart, and try the reins, and reward every man according to
his ways, and according to the fruit of his counsels.
The disceitful maketh a nest, but bring forth no young: He
cometh by riches, but not righteously. In the midst of his life he
must leave them behind him, and at the last be found very fool. But
thou ( O' Lord ) whose throne is most glorious, excellent and most
adequate, which dwelleth in the place of our holy rest: Thou art the
comfort of Israel. All they that forsake thee, shall be confounded:
all they that depart from thee, shall be written in earth, for they
have forsaken the Lord the very *condite of the waters of life.
Heal me, O' Lord, and I shall be whole: save me, and I shall
be saved, for thou art my praise. Behold, these men say unto me:
Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come. Where as I nevertheless
leading the flock in thy ways, have compelled none by violence. For
I never desired any mans death, this knowest thou well. My words
also are right before thee. Be not now terrible unto me, O' Lord,
for thou art he in whom I hope, when I am in peril. Let my
persecutors be confounded, but not me: let them be afraid, and not
me. Thou shalt bring upon them the time of their plague, and shall
destroy them right sore.
Again, thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go stand under the
gate, where through the people and the kings of Juda go out and in,
yee under all the gates of Jerusalem, and say unto them: Hear the
word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all thou people of Juda, and
all ye citizens of Jerusalem, that go through this gate: Thus the
Lord commandeth: Take heed for your lives, that ye carry no burden
upon you in the Sabbath, to bring it through the gates of Jerusalem:
ye shall bear no burden also out of your houses in the Sabbath, as I
commanded your fathers. How be it they obeyed me not, neither
harkened they unto me: but were obstinate and stubborn, and neither
obeyed me, nor received my correction. Nevertheless, if ye will hear
me (sayeth the Lord ) and bear no burden in to the city through this
gate upon the Sabbath: If ye will hallow the Sabbath, so that ye do
no work therin: then shall there go through the gates of this city,
kings and princes, that shall sit upon the stool of David: They
shall be carried upon chariots, and ride upon horses, both they and
their princes. Yee whole Juda and all the citizens of Jerusalem
shall go here through, and this city shall ever be the more and more
inhabited. There shall come men also from the cities of Judah, from
about Jerusalem, and from the land of Ben Jamin, from the plain
fields, from the mountains and from the wilderness: which shall
bring burntofferings, sacrifices, oblations, and incense, and offer
up thanksgiving in the house of the Lord. But if ye will not be
obedient unto me, to hallow the Sabbath: so that ye will bear your
burdens through the gates of Jerusalem upon the Sabbath: Then shall
I set fire upon the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall burn up the
houses of Jerusalem, and no man shall quench it.
*heeth (low shrub) *condite (conduit: fountain )
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Chapter 18
This is another
communication, that God had with Jeremie, saying: Arise, and go down
to the potters house, and there shall I tell thee more of my mind:
Now when I came to the Potters house, I found him making his work
upon a wheel. The vessel that the Potter made of clay, brake among
his hands: So he began anew, and made another vessel, according to
his mind. Then said the Lord thus unto me: May not I do with you, as
this Potter doth, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord? Behold, ye
house of Israel: ye are in my hand, even as the clay in the Potters
hand.
When I take in hand to root out, to destroy, or to waste away
any people or kingdom: if that people ( against whom I have thus
devised ) convert from their wickedness: Immediately, I repent of
the plague, that I devised to bring upon them. Again. When I take in
hand, to build, or to plant a people or a kingdom: if the same
people do evil before me, and hear not my voice: Immediately, I
repent of the good, that I devised to do for them.
Speak now therefore unto whole Juda, and to them that dwell at
Jerusalem: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am devising a plague for
you, am taking a thing in hand against you.
Therefore let every man turn from his evil way, take upon you
the thing that is good, and do right. But they say: No more of this,
we will follow our own imaginations, and do every man according to
the wilfulness of his own mind.
Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ask among the Heathen, if any
man hath heard such horrible things, as the Daughter of Sion hath
done. Shall not the snow ( that melteth upon the stony rocks of
Libanus ) moisten the fields? Or may the springs of waters be so
graven away, that they run no more, give moistness, ner make
fruitful? But my people hath so forgotten me that they have made
sacrifice unto vain Gods. And while they followed their own ways
they are come out of the high street, and gone in to a foot way not
used to be trodden. Where through they have brought their land into
an everlasting wilderness and scorn: So that whosoever traveleth
thereby, shall be abashed, and wag their heads. With an East wind
will I scatter them, before their enemies. And when their
destruction cometh, I will turn my back upon them, but not my face.
Then said they: come, let us imagine something against this Jeremie.
Yee this did even the priests, to whom the law was committed: the
Senators, that were the wisest and the prophets, which wanted not
the word of God. Come ( say they ) let us cut out his tongue, and
let us not regard his words. Consider me, O' Lord, and hear the
voice of mine enemies. Do they not recompense evil for good, when
they dig a pit for my soul? Remember , how that I stood before thee,
to speak for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Therefore let their children die of hunger, and let them be
oppressed with the sword. Let their wives be robbed of their
children, and become widows: let their husbands be slain, let their
young men be killed with the sword in the field. Let the noise be
heard out of their houses, when the murderer cometh suddenly upon
them: For they have digged a pit to take me, and layed snares for my
feet. Yet Lord, thou knowest all their counsel, that they have
devised, to slay me. And therefore forgive them not their
wickedness, and let not their sin be put out of thy sight: but let
them be judged before thee as the guilty: This shall thou do unto
them in the time of thy indignation.
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Chapter 19
Moreover, thus
said the Lord unto Jeremie. Go thy way, and buy thee an earthen
pitcher, and bring forth the Senators, and the chief priests in to
the valley of the children of Hennom, which lieth before the port
that is made of brick, and show them there the words, that I shall
tell thee, and say thus unto them: Hear the word of the Lord, ye
kings of Judah, and ye citizens of Jerusalem: Thus saith the Lord of
Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring such a plague upon
this place, that the ears of all who hear it , shall glow. And that
because they have forsaken me, and unhallowed this place, and have
offered in it unto strange gods: whom neither they, their fathers,
ner the kings of Judah have known. They have filled this place also
with the blood of innocents, for they have set up an altar unto
Baal, to burn their children for a burntoffering unto Baal, which I
neither commanded, ner charged them, neither thought once thereupon.
Behold therefore, the time cometh ( saith the Lord ) that this
place shall no more be called Topheth, ner the valley of the
children of Hennom, but the valley of slaughter. For in this place
will I slay the Senators of Juda and Jerusalem, and kill them down
with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and of them that seek
their lives. And their dead carcasses will I give to be meat for the
fowls of the air, and beasts of the field. And I will make this city
so desolate, and despised: that whoso goeth thereby, shall be
abashed and jest upon her, because of all the plagues.
I will feed them also with the flesh of their sons and
daughters. Yee every one shall eat up another in the besieging and
straightness, wherewith their enemies ( that seek their lives )
shall keep them in. And the pitcher thou shalt break in the sight of
the men, that shall be with thee, and say unto them: Thus saith the
Lord of Hosts: Even so will I destroy this people and city: as a
Potter breaketh a vessel, that cannot be made whole again.
In Topheth shall they be buried, for they shall have none
other place. Thus will I do unto this place also, saith the Lord,
and to them that dwell therin: yee I will do to this city as unto
Topheth. For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of
Judah are defiled, like as Topheth, because of all the houses, in
whos parlors they did sacrifice unto all the host of heaven, and
poured out drink offerings unto strange gods. And so Jeremie came
from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in
the court of the house of the Lord, and spake to all the people:
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring
upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I
have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would
not obey my warnings.
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Chapter 20
When Phashur the priest, the son
of Emer, chief in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremie preach so
steadfastly: he Jeremie, and put him in the stocks, that are by the
high gate of Ben Jamin, in the house of the Lord. The next day
following Phashur brought Jeremie out of the stocks again. Then said
Jeremie unto him: The Lord shall call thee no more Phashur ( that is
excellent and increasing ) but Magor ( that is fearful and afraid )
everywhere. For thus saith the Lord: behold, I will make thee
afraid, thee thy self and all that favor thee: which shall perish
with the sword of their enemies, even before thy face.
And I will give whole Judah under the power of the king of
Babylon, which shall carry some unto Babylon prisoners, and slay
some with the sword. Moreover, all the substance of this land, all
their precious and gorgeous works, all costliness, and all the
treasure of the Kings of Judah: will I give in to the hands of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and carry them unto Babylon. But as
for thee ( O Phashur ) thou shalt be carried unto Babylon with all
thine household, and to Babylon shalt thou come, where thou shalt
die, and be buried: thou and all thy favorers, to whom thou hast
preached lies. *O' Lord, thou makest me weak, but thou refresheth
me, and make me strong again. All the day long am I despised, and
laughed to scorn of every man: because I have now preached long
against malicious Tyranny, and showed them of destruction. For the
which cause they cast the word of the Lord in my teeth, and rake me
ever to the worst.
Wherefore, I thought from henceforth, not to speak of him, ner
to preach any more in his name. But the word of the Lord was a very
burning fire in my heart and in my bones, which when I would have
stopped, I might not. For why, I Heard so many *derisions and
blasphemes, yee even of my own companions, and such as were
conversant with me: which went about, to make me afraid, saying:
upon him, let us go upon him, to fear him, and make him hold his
tongue: that we may over come him, and be avenged of him.
But the Lord stood by me, like a mighty giant: therefore my
persecutors fell, and could do nothing. They shall be sore
confounded, for they have done unwisely, they shall have everlasting
shame. And now, O' Lord of Hosts, thou righteous searcher ( which
knowest the reins and the very hearts: ) let me see them punished,
for unto thee I commit my cause.
Sing unto the Lord, and praise him, for he hath delivered the
soul of the oppressed, from the hand of the violent. Cursed be the
day, wherein I was born: unhappy be the day, wherein my mother
brought me forth. Cursed be the man, that brought to my father the
tidings, to make him glad, saying: thou hast gotten a son. Let it
happen unto that man, as to the cities which the Lord turned upside
down ( when he had heard long the wicked rumor of them ) because he
slew me not, as soon as I came out of my mothers womb, and because
my mother was not my grave herself, that the birth might not have
come out, but remained still in her. Wherefore came I forth out of
my mothers womb? To have experience of labor and sorrow? and to lead
my life with shame?
*O' Lord, thou makest me weak, but thou refresheth me, and make me
strong again. ( kjv and other bibles of man = hast deceived me, and
I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed:)
*derisions (object of ridicule)
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Chapter 21
These are the
words that the Lord spake unto Jeremie, what time as King Zedekiah
sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Sophaniah the son of
Maasiah priest saying: Ask counsel at the Lord ( we Pray thee ) of
our behalf, for Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon beseigeth us, if
the Lord ( peradventure ) will deal with us, according to his
marvelous power, and take him from us.
Then spake Jeremie. Give Zedekiah this answer. Thus saith the
Lord God of Israel: behold, I will turn back the weapons, that ye
have in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon
and the Caldees, which besiege you round about the walls, and I will
bring them together into the midst of this city, and I myself will
fight against you, with an outstretched hand, and with a mighty arm,
in great displeasure and terrible wrath: and will smite them, that
dwell in this city, yee both man and cattle shall die of the
pestilence.
And after this ( saith the Lord ) I shall deliver Zedekiah the
king of Judah, and his servants, his people, ( and such as are
escaped in the city, from the pestilence, sword, and hunger ) into
the power of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon: yee into the hands of
their enemies, into the hands of those that follow upon their lives,
which shall smite them with the sword: they shall not pity them,
they shall not spare them, they shall have no mercy upon them.
And unto this people thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord:
behold, I lay before you the way of life and death. Whoso abideth in
this city, shall perish: either with the sword, with hunger, or with
pestilence. But whoso goeth out to hold on the Caldees part, that
besiege it, he shall save his life, and shall win his soul for a
prey. For I have set my face against this city ( saith the Lord ) to
plague it, and to do it no good. It must be given into the hand of
the king of Babylon, and be burnt with fire.
And unto the house of the king of Judah, say thus: Hear ye the
word of the Lord: ( O house of David ) for thus saith the Lord:
Minister righteousness, and that soon, deliver the oppressed from
the violent power: or ever my terrible wrath break out like a fire,
and burn so, that no man may quench it, because of the wickedness of
your imaginations. Behold, ( sayeth the Lord ) I will come upon you
that dwell in the valleys, rocks and fields, and say: Tush, who will
make us afraid? or who will come into our houses? For I will visit
you ( sayeth the Lord ) because of the wickedness of your
inventions, and will kindle such a fire in the wood, as shall
consume all, that is about you. |
Chapters
1-6 |
7-13
| 14-21 |
22-27
| 28-32 |
33-39
| 40-47 |
48-end
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