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Chapter 28
But in the
fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth
Month, It happened, that Hananiah the son of Assur the prophet of
Gabaon, spake to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the
priests and of all the people, and said. Thus sayeth the Lord of
hosts the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of
Babylon, and after two year will I bring again into this place, all
the ornaments of the Lords house, that Nabuchodonosor king of
Babylon carried away from this place unto Babylon. Yee I will bring
again Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah himself, with all
the prisoners of Judah ( that are carried unto Babylon ) even into
this place, saith the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon.
Then the prophet Jeremie gave answer unto the prophet Hananiah,
before the priests and before all the people that were present in
the house of the Lord. And the prophet Jeremie said: Amen, the Lord
do that, and grant the thing, which thou hast prophesied: that he
may bring again all the ornaments of the Lords house, and restore
all the prisoners from Babylon in to the place. Nevertheless,
hearken thou also, what I will say, that thou and all the people may
hear: The prophets that were before us in times past, which
prophesied of war, or trouble, or pestilence either of peace, upon
many nations and great kingdoms, were proved by this ( if God had
sent them in very deed ) when the thing came to pass, which that
prophet told before.
And Hananiah the prophet took the chain from the prophet
Jeremies neck, and brake it and with that said Hananiah, that all
the people might hear: Thus hath the Lord spoken: Even so will I
break the yoke of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, from the neck of
all nations, yee and that within this two year. And so the prophet
Jeremie went his way. Now after that Hananiah the prophet had taken
the chain from the prophet Jeremies neck, and broken it: The word of
the Lord came unto the prophet Jeremie saying: Go, and tell Hananiah
these words: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast broken the chain of
wood, but instead of wood thou shalt make chains of iron. For thus
saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: I will put a yoke of iron
upon the neck of all this people, that they may serve Nabuchodonosor
the king of Babylon, yee and so shall they do. And I will give him
the beasts in the field. Then said the prophet Jeremie unto the
prophet Hananiah: Hear me ( I pray thee ) Hananiah: The Lord hath
not sent thee, but thou bringest this people into a false belief.
And therefore thus saith the Lord: behold, I will send thee out of
the land, within a year thou shalt die because thou hast falsely
spoken against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year
in the seventh Month.
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Chapter 29
This is the Copy of the letter,
that Jeremie the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the prisoners: the
Senators, priests, prophets, and all the people, whom Nabuchodonosor
had led unto Babylon: after that time that king Jechoniah, and his
Queen, his chamberlains the princes of Judah and Jerusalem the
workmasters of Jerusalem were departed thither. Which letter Elasah
the son of Saphan and Gamariah the son of Helkiah did bear, whom
Zedekiah the king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nabuchodonosor the
king of Babylon: These were the words of Jeremies letter:
Thus hath the Lord of hosts the God of Israel spoken unto all
the prisoners, that were led from Jerusalem unto Babylon: build you
houses to dwell therin: plant you gardens, that ye may enjoy the
fruits thereof: take you wives, to bear you sons and daughters:
provide wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, that
they may get sons and daughters, and that ye may multiply there.
Labor not to be few, but seek after peace and prosperity of the
city, wherein ye be prisoners, and pray unto God for it. For in the
peace thereof, shall your peace be. For thus saith the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel: Let not those prophets and soothsayers that be
among you deceive you: and believe not your own dreams. For why,
they preach you lies in my name, and I have not sent them, saith the
Lord.
But thus saith the Lord: When ye have fulfilled seventy years
at Babylon, I will bring you home, and of mine own goodness I will
carry you hither again to this place. For I know what I have devised
for you saith the Lord. My thoughts are to give you peace, and not
trouble ( which I gave you already ) and that ye might have hope
again. Ye shall cry unto me, ye shall go and call upon me, and I
shall hear you. Ye shall seek me and find me, Yee, if so be that ye
seek with your whole heart, I will be found of you, ( saith the Lord
) and will deliver you out of prison, and gather you together again
out of all places wherein I have scattered you, saith the Lord: and
will bring you again to the same place, from whence I caused you to
be carried away captive.
But where as ye say, that God hath raised you up prophets at
Babylon: Thus hath the Lord spoken ( concerning the king that
sitteth in the stool of David, and all the people that dwell in this
city, your brethren that are not gone with you into captivity ) Thus
( I say ) speaketh the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send a sword,
hunger and pestilence upon them, and will make them like untimely
figs, that may not be eaten for bitterness. And I will persecute
them with the sword, with hunger and death.
I will deliver them up to be vexed of all the Kingdoms, to be
cursed, abhorred, laughed to scorn, and put to confusion of all the
people, among whom I have scattered them: and that because they have
not been obedient unto my commandments. ( saith the Lord ) which I
sent unto them by my servants the prophets. I stood up early, and
sent unto them, but they would not hear, saith the Lord. Hear
therefore the word of the Lord, all ye prisoners, whom I sent from
Jerusalem unto Babylon: Thus hath the Lord of hosts the God of
Israel spoken, of Ahab the son of Colaiah, and of Zedekiah the son
of Maasiah, which prophesy lies unto you in my name: Behold, I will
deliver them into the hand of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon,
that he may slay them before your eyes. And all the prisoners of
Judah that are in Babylon, shall take upon them this term of
cursing, and say: Now God do unto thee, as he did unto Zedekiah and
Ahab, whom the King of Babylon roasted in fire, Because they sinned
shamefully in Israel.
For they have not only defiled their neighbors wives, but also
preached lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them.
This I testify, and assure, saith the Lord. But as for Semaiah the
Nehelamite thou shalt speak unto him: Thus sayeth the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel: Because thou hast sealed letters under thy name
unto all the people that is at Jerusalem, and to Sophoniah the son
of Maasaih the priest yee and sent them to all the priests: wherein
thou writest thus unto him: The Lord hath *ordened thee to be priest
instead of Jehoiada the priest, that thou should be chief in the
house of the Lord above all prophets, and preachers, and that thou
mightest put them in prison, or in the stocks. Now happeneth it
then, that thou hast not reproved Jeremie of Anathoth, which never
leaveth of his prophecing. And beside all this, he hath sent us word
unto Babylon, and told us plainly, that our captivity shall long
endure: that we should build us houses to dwell therin, and to plant
us gardens, that we might eat the fruit thereof. Which letter
Sophoniah the priest did read, and let Jeremie the prophet hear it.
Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremie, saying: Send word
to all them that be in captivity, on this manner: Thus hath the Lord
spoken concerning Semeiah the Nehelamite: Because that Semeiah hath
prophesied unto you without my commission, and brought you into a
false hope, therefore thus the Lord doth certify you: Behold, I will
visit Semeiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: so that none of his
shall remain among this people, and none of them shall see the good,
that I will do for this people, saith the Lord. For he hath preached
falsely of the Lord.
*ordened (ordered, ordained)
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Chapter 30
These are the words that the
Lord showed Jeremie, saying: Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel:
Write up diligently all the words, that I have spoken unto thee, in
a book. For lo, the time cometh ( saith the Lord ) that I will bring
again the prisoners of my people of Israel and Judah, saith the
Lord: For I will restore them unto the land, that I gave to their
fathers, and they shall have it in possession.
Again, these words spake the Lord, concerning Israel and
Judah: Thus saith the Lord: We hear a terrible cry, fear and
disquietness. For what else does this signify, that I see? Namely,
that all strong men smite, every man his hand upon his loins, as a
woman in the pain of her travail. Who ever saw a man travail with
child? Enquire there after, and see. Yee all their faces are
marvelous pale.
Alas for this day, which is so dreadful, that none may be
likened unto it: and alas for the time of Jacobs trouble, from the
which he shall yet be delivered. For in that day, saith the Lord, I
will take his yoke from off thy neck, and break thy bonds. They
shall no more serve strange Gods under him, but they shall do
service unto God their Lord, and to David their King, whom I will
raise up unto them. And as for thee, O my servant Jacob, fear not (
saith the Lord ) and be not afraid, O Israel. For lo, I will help
thee also from far, and thy seed from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob shall turn again, he shall be in rest, and have a
prosperous life, and no man shall make him afraid. For I am with
thee, to help thee, saith the Lord. And though I shall destroy all
the people, among whom I have scattered thee, yet will I not destroy
thee, but correct thee, and that with discretion. For I know, that
thou art in no wise without *faute. Therefore thus saith the Lord: I
am sorry for thy hurt and thy wounds. There is no man to meddle with
thy cause: or to bind up thy wounds: there may no man help thee.
All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and care nothing for thee.
For I have given thee a cruel stroke, and chastened thee roughly:
and that for the multitude of thy misdeeds, for thy sins have had
the over hand. Why makest thou moan for thy harm? I myself have pity
of thy sorrow, but for the multitude of thy misdeeds and sins, I
have done this unto you.
And therefore all they that devour thee, shall be devoured,
and all thine enemies shall be led in to captivity. All they that
make thee waste, shall be wasted themselves: and all those that rob
thee, will I make also to be robbed. For I will give thee thy health
again and make thy wounds whole, sayeth the Lord: because they
reviled thee, as one cast away and despised, O Sion.
For thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will set up Jacobs tents
again, and defend his dwelling place. The city shall be builded in
her old estate, and their houses shall have their right foundation.
And out of them shall go thanksgiving, and the voice of joy.
I will multiply them, and they shall not minish: I shall endue
them with honor, and no man shall subdue them. Their children shall
be as aforetime, and their congregation shall continue in my sight.
And all those that vex them shall I visit.
A captain also shall come of them, and a prince shall spring
out from the middest of them: him will I challenge to myself, and he
shall come unto me. For what is he, that giveth over his heart to
come unto me? sayeth the Lord. Ye shall be my people also, and I
will be your God. Behold, on the other side shall the wrath of the
Lord break out as a stormy water, as a mighty whistle wind: and
shall fall upon the heads of the ungodly.
The terrible displeasure of the Lord shall not leave off,
until he have done, and performed the intent of his heart, which in
the latter days ye shall understand. At the same time ( sayeth the
Lord ) shall I be the God of all the generations of Israel, and they
shall be my people.
*faute (fault, the lack of something better).
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Chapter 31
Thus saith the
Lord: The people of Israel which escaped in the wilderness from the
sword, found grace to come to their rest. Even so shall the Lord now
also appear unto me from far, and say: I love thee with an
everlasting love, therefore do I spread my mercy before thee. I will
repair thee again ( O thou daughter Israel ) that thou mayest be
fast and sure. Thou shalt take thy tabrets again, and go forth with
them, that lead the dance.
Thou shalt plant vines again upon the hills of Samaria, and
the grape gathers shall plant and sing.
And when it is time, the watchmen upon the mount of Ephraim
shall cry: Arise, let us go up unto Sion to our Lord God, for thus
saith the Lord: Rejoice with gladness because of Jacob, cry unto the
head of the Gentiles: speak out, sing, and say: the Lord shall
deliver his people, the remnant of Israel, and make them whole.
Behold, I will bring them again from out of the north land,
and gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the
lame that are among them, with the women that be great with child,
and such as also be delivered: and the company of them that come
again, shall be great.
They departed from hence in heaviness, but with joy will I
bring them hither again. I will lead them by the rivers of water in
a straight way, where they shall not stumble: For I will be Israels
father, and Ephraim shall be my firstborn.
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye Gentiles, preach in the Isles,
that lay far off, and say: He that hath scattered Israel, shall
gather him together again, and shall keep him as a shepherd doth his
flock. For the Lord shall redeem Jacob, and rid from the hand of the
violent. And they shall come, and rejoice upon the hill of Sion, and
shall have plenteous of goods, which the Lord shall give them:
Namely, wheat, wine, oil, young sheep and calves. And their
conscience shall be as a well watered garden, for they shall no
longer be hungry.
Then shall the maid rejoice in the dance, yee both young and
old folks. For I will turn their sorrow to gladness, and will
comfort them and make them joyful, even from their hearts. I will
pour plenteousness upon the hearts of the priests, and my people
shall be satisfied with good things, saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord: The voice of heaviness, weeping and
lamentation came up in to heaven: even of Rachel mourning for her
children, and would not be comforted because they were away.
But now saith the Lord: Leave off from weeping, and crying,
withhold thine eyes from tears, for thy labor shall be rewarded,
saith the Lord. And they shall come again out of the land of their
enemies: Yee even thy posterity shall have consolation in this (
sayeth the Lord ) that thy children shall come again into their own
land.
Moreover I have heard Ephraim, that was led away captive,
complain on this manner: O' Lord, thou hast corrected me, and thy
chastening have I received, as a untamed calf. Convert thou me, and
I shall be converted, for thou art my Lord God. Yee as soon as thou
turnest me, I shall reform me myself: and when I understand, I shall
smite upon my thigh. For verily I have committed shameful things: O
let my youth bear this reproof and confusion.
Upon this complaint, I thought thus by my self: Is not Ephraim
my dear son? Is he not the child? with whom I have had all mirth and
pastime? for since the time that i first communed with him, I have
him ever in remembrance: therefore my heart driveth me unto him,
gladly and lovingly will I have mercy upon him, sayeth the Lord. Get
the watchman, provide teachers for thee set thine heart upon the
right way, that thou shouldest walk, and turn again ( O thou
daughter of Israel ) turn again to these cities of thine. How long
wilt thou go astray, O thou shrinking daughter? For the Lord will
work a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man.
For thus sayeth the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: It will
come thereto, that when I have brought Juda out of captivity, these
words shall be heard in the land and in his cities: The Lord, which
is the fair bridegroom of righteousness, make thee fruitful O thou
holy hill: And there shall dwell Juda, and all her cities, the
shepherds and husbandmen: For I shall feed the hungry soul, and
refresh all faint hearts. When I hear this I came again to myself,
and mused, like as I had been waked out of a sweet sleep.
Behold ( sayeth the Lord ) the days come, that I will sow the
house of Israel and the house of Juda with men and with cattle. Yee
it shall come thereto, that like as I have gone about in times past
to root them out, to scatter them, to break them down, to destroy
them and chasten them: Even so will I also go diligently about, to
build them up again, and to plant them, saith the Lord.
Then shall it no more be said: the fathers have eaten a sour
grape, and the childrens teeth are set on edge: for every one shall
die for his own misdeed, so that who so eateth a sower grape, his
teeth shall be set on edge.
Behold, the days come ( saith the Lord ) that I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
not after the covenant that I made with their fathers, when I took
them by the hand, and led them out of the land of Egypt: which
covenant they brake, wherefore I punished them sore, saith the Lord:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will plant my law in
their inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
And from thenceforth shall no man teach his neighbor or his
brother, and say: Know the Lord: But they shall all know me, from
the lowest unto the highest, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their misdeeds, and will never remember their sins any more. Thus
saith the Lord which give the sun to be a light for the day, and the
moon and stars to shine in the night: which moveth the sea, so that
the floods thereof wax fierce: his name is the Lord of hosts. Like
as this ordinance shall never be taken out of my sight, saith the
Lord: So shall the seed of Israel never cease, but all way be a
people before me.
However, thus saith the Lord: like as the heaven above 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 seed of Israel,
for that they have committed, saith the Lord. Behold the days come
saith the Lord, that the city of the Lord shall be enlarged from the
town of Hananeel, unto the gate of the corner wall. From thence
shall be the right measure be taken before her unto the hill top of
Gareb, and shall come about Gaath, and the whole valley of the dead
carcasses, and of the ashes, and all Ceremoth unto the brook of
Cedron: and thence unto the corner of the horse gate toward the
East, whereas the Sanctuary of the Lord also shall be set. And when
it is now builded, and set up of this fashion it shall never be
broken, nor cast down any more.
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Chapter 32
These words spake the Lord unto
Jeremy, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the
eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, what time as the king of Babylons
Host layed siege unto Jerusalem. But Jeremy the prophet lay bound in
the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judahs house:
where Zedekiah king of Judah caused him to be layed, because he had
prophesied of this manner: Thus saith the Lord: Behold: I will
deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, which shall
take it. As for Zedekiah king of Judah, he shall not be able to
escape the Caldees, but surely he shall come into the hands of the
king of Babylon: which shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and one
of them shall look another in the face. And Zedekiah shall be
carried unto Babylon, and there shall he be, until the time that I
visit him, saith the Lord. But if thou takest in hand to fight
against the Caldees, thou shalt not prosper.
And Jeremy said: Thus hath the Lord spoken unto me: Behold,
Hananeel the son of Selum thine Uncles son shall come unto thee, and
require thee to redeem the land, that lieth in Anathoth unto
thyself: for by reason of kindred it is thy part to redeem it, and
to buy it out.
And so Hananeel mine uncles son came to me in the court of the
prison
( according to the word of the Lord ) and said unto me: Buy my land
( I pray thee ) that lieth in Anathoth in the country of Ben Jamin:
for by heritage thou hast right to loose it out for thyself,
therefore redeem it. Then I perceived, that this was the commandment
of the Lord, and so I loosed the land from Hananeel of Anathoth, my
Uncles son, and weighed him there the money: even seven *sicles, and
ten silver pens.
I cause him also to make me a writing, and to seal it, and
called record thereby, and weighed him there the money upon the
weights. So I took the evidence with the copy ( when it was orderly
sealed and read over ) and I gave the evidence unto Baruch the son
of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hananeel my cousin,
and in the presence of the witnesses, that be named in the evidence,
and before all the Jews that were thereby in the court of the
prison.
I charged Baruch also before them, saying: The Lord of Hosts
the God of Israel commandeth thee, to take this sealed evidence with
the copy, and lay it in an earthen vessel, that it may long
continue.
For the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel hath determined, that
houses, fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
Now when I had delivered the evidence unto Baruch the son of
Neriah, I besought the Lord, saying: O' Lord God, It is thou that
hast made the heaven and earth with thy great power and high arm,
and there is nothing too hard for thee. Thou showest mercy upon
thousands, thou recompenses the wickedness of the fathers, into the
bosom of the children come after them.
Thou art the great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of
Hosts: great in counsel, and infinite in thought: Thine eyes look
upon all the ways of mens children, to reward every one after his
way, and according to the fruits of his inventions: Thou hast done
great tokens and wonders in the land of Egypt, ( as we see this day
) upon the people of Israel and upon those men: to make thy name
great, as it is come to pass this day: Thou hast brought thy people
of Israel out of the land of Egypt, with tokens, with wonders, with
a mighty hand, with a stretched out arm and with great terribleness:
and hast given them this land, like as thou haddest promised unto
their fathers: Namely, that thou wouldest give them a land, that
floweth with milk and honey.
Now when they came therin, and possessed it, they followed not
thy voice, and walked not in thy law: but all that thou commandedst
them to do, that have they not done, and therefore come all these
plagues upon them.
Behold, there are bulwarks made now against the city, to take
it: and it shall be won of the Caldees that besiege it, with sword,
with hunger and death, and look what thou hast spoken, that same
shall come upon them.
For lo, all things are present unto thee: Yet sayest thou unto
me ( O' Lord God) and commandest me, that I shall loose a piece of
land unto myself, and take witness thereto: and yet in the mean
season the city is delivered in to the power of the Caldees.
Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying: Behold, I am
the Lord God of all flesh, is there any thing then too hard for me?
Therefore thus saith the Lord: behold, I shall deliver this city
into the power of the Caldees, and into the power of Nabuchodonosor
the King of Babylon, they shall take it in: For the Caldees shall
come, and win this city, and set fire upon it, and burn it: with the
gorgeous houses, in whose parlors they have made sacrifice unto
Baal, and poured drink offerings unto strange Gods, to provoke me
unto wrath.
For seeing the children of Israel, and the children of Judah
have wrought wickedness before me ever from their youth up, what
have they else done, but provoked me with the works of their own
hands? saith the Lord.
Or, what hath this city been else, but a provoking of my
wrath, ever since the day that I builded it, unto this hour? Wherein
I cast it out of my sight, because of the great blasphemes of the
children of Israel and Judah, which they have done to provoke me:
yee they, their kings, their princes, their Priests, their Prophets,
whole Judah, and all the citizens of Jerusalem.
When i stood up early, and taught them and instructed them,
they turned their backs to me, and not their faces. They would not
hear, to be reformed and correct. They have set their Gods in the
house, that is hallowed unto my name, to defile it. They builded
high places for Baal in the valley of the children of Hennom, to vow
their sons and daughters unto Molech: which I never commanded them,
neither came it ever in my thought, to make Judah sin with such
abomination.
Moreover thus hath the Lord God of Israel spoken, concerning
this city, which
( as ye yourselves confess ) shall be delivered into the hand of the
king of Babylon, when it is won with the sword, with hunger and with
pestilence. Behold, I will gather them together from all lands,
wherein I have scattered them in my wrath, in my fearful and great
displeasure: and will bring them again unto this place, where they
shall dwell safely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their
God.
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may
fear me all the days of their life, that they and their children
after them may prosper. And I will set up an everlasting covenant
with them, Namely: that I will never cease to do them good, and that
I will put my fear in their hearts, so that they shall not run away
from me.
Yee I will have a lust and pleasure to do them good, and
faithfully to plant them in this land, with my whole heart and with
all my soul.
For thus saith the Lord: Like as I have brought all this great
plague upon this people: so will I also bring upon them all the
good, that I have promised them. And men shall have their
possessions in this land, whereof ye say now, that it shall neither
be inhabited of people ner cattle, but be delivered into the hands
of the Caldees. Yee land shall be bought for money, and evidences
made there upon and sealed before witnesses in the land of Ben Jamin,
and round about Jerusalem: in the cities of Judah, in the cities
that are upon the mountains, and in them that lie beneath, yee and
in the cities that are in the desert. For I will bring their
prisoners hither again, saith the Lord.
*sicles (shekels; unit of money ),
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Chapters
1-6 |
7-13
| 14-21 |
22-27
| 28-32 |
33-39
| 40-47 |
48-end
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