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The 1527 Original Word of God In English


God's Truth To Us

 

 

The Book of the Prophet Jeremie

Chapters 1-6 | 7-13 | 14-21 | 22-27 | 28-32 | 33-39 | 40-47 | 48-end | Next Book


 

Chapter 7

      These are the words that God spake unto Jeremie: Stand under the gates of the Lords house, and cry out these words there, with a loud voice, and say: Hear the word of the Lord all ye of Judah, that go in this door, to honor the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel. Amend your ways and your counsels, and I will let you dwell in this place. Trust not in the false lying words, saying: saying here is the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lord.
      For if ye amend your ways and your counsels, if ye will judge right between a man and his neighbor: If ye will not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow: if ye will not shed innocent blood in this place: if ye will not cleave to strange gods to your own destruction: then will I let you dwell in this place, yee in the land that I gave afore time unto your fathers forever. But take heed, yee trust in counsels, that beguile you and do you no good. For when ye have stolen, murdered, committed *advoutry, and *penury: When ye have offered unto Baal, following strange and unknown gods: Then come ye, and stand before me in this house, which hath my name given unto it, and say: Tush, we are absolved quiet, through we have done all these abominations.
      What? Think you this house that beareth my name, is a den of thieves? And these things are not done privately, but before mine eyes, sayeth the Lord. Go to my place in *Siloh, where unto I gave my name afore time, and look well what I did to the same place for the wickedness of my people of Israel. And now, though ye have done all these deeds ( sayeth the Lord ) and I myself rose up ever by times to warn you and to commune with you, yet would ye not hear me: I called, ye would not answer. And therefore even as I have done to Siloh, so will I do to this house, that my name is given unto ( and that ye put your trust in ) ye unto the place that I have given to you and your fathers. And I shall thrust you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren the whole seed of Ephraim.
      Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people, thou shalt neither give thanks, nor bid prayer for them : thou shalt make no intercession to me for them for in no wise will I hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem? The children gather sticks, the fathers kindle fire, the mothers knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven.
      They pour out drink offerings unto strange gods, to provoke me to wrath: How be it they hurt not me ( saith the Lord ) but rather confound, and shame themselves.
      And therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, my wrath and my indignation shall be poured out upon this place, upon men and cattle upon the trees in the field and upon and all the fruit of the land, and it shall burn so, that no man may quench it.
      Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Yee heap up your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh. But when I brought your fathers out of Egypt, I spake no word unto them of burntofferings and sacrifices: but this I commanded them, saying: hearken and obey my voice, and I shall be your God, and ye shall be my people: so that ye walk in all the ways, which I have commanded you, that ye may prosper.
      But they were not obedient, they inclined not their ears there unto, but went after their own imaginations and after the motions of their own wicked heart, and so turned themselves away, and converted not unto me. And this have they done, from the time that your fathers came out of Egypt, unto this day.
      Nevertheless, I sent unto them my servants all the prophets: I rose up early and sent them word, yet would they not hearken, ner offer me their ears, but were obstinate and worse than their fathers. And thou shalt now speak all these words unto them, but they shall not hear thee: thou shalt cry upon them, but they shall not answer thee. Therefore shalt thou say unto them: this is the people, that neither heareth the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth his correction. Faithfulness and truth is clean rooted out of their mouth.
      Wherefor cut off thine hair, and cast it away, take up a complaint in the whole land for the Lord shall cast away, and scatter the people, that he is displeased withal. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord. They have set up their abominations, in the house that hath my name, and have defiled it. They have also builded an altar at Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hennom: that they might burn their sons and their daughters, which I never commanded them, neither came it ever to my thought. And therefore behold, the days shall come ( saith the Lord ) that it shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the children of Hennom, but the valley of the slain, for in Topheth, they shall be buried, because they shall else have no room. Yee the dead bodies of this people shall be eaten up of the fowls of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, and no man shall fraie (scare) them away. And as for the voice of mirth and gladness of the cities of Judah, and Jerusalem the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: I will make them cease, for the land shall be desolate.

 

*penury (to cause poverty)
*advoutry: prefix "a" meaning not or without, devout: devotion; plain hearted to God, caused others to be devoted to something other than the living God. see James 2 for adultery.
*Shiloh = "place of rest"

 

 

 

Chapter 8

      At the same time, saith the Lord: the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests, and prophets, yee and the bones of the citizens of Jerusalem, shall be brought out of their graves and layed against the Sun, the Moon and all the heavenly host: whom they loved, whom they served, whom they ran after, whom they sought and worshipped. They shall neither be gathered together ner buried, but shall lay upon the earth, to their shame and despising.
      And all that remain of this wicked generation, shall desire rather to die than to live: wheresoever they remain, and where as I scatter them, saith the Lord of Hosts.
      This shalt thou say unto them also: Thus saith the Lord: Do men fall also, that they arise not up again? And turn they so far away, that they never convert? Wherefore then is this people and Jerusalem gone so far back, that they turn not again. They are ever the longer the more obstinate, and will not be converted.
      For I have looked, and considered: but there is no man that speaketh a good word: there is no man that taketh repentance for his sin, that will so much as say: wherefore have I done this? But every man ( as soon as he is turned back ) runneth forth still, like a wild horse in battle. The Stork knoweth his appointed time, the Turtledove, the Swallow and the Crane consider the time of travail: but my people will not know the time of the punishment of the Lord. How dare ye say then: we are wise, we have the law of the Lord among us?
      Behold, the deceitful pen of the scribes, setteth forth lies: therefore shall the wise be confounded, they shall be afraid and taken: for lo, they have cast out the word of the Lord: what wisdom can then be among them? Wherefore, I will give their wives unto aliens, and their fields to destroyers.
      From the lowest to the highest, they follow all filthy lucre: and from the Prophet unto the priest, they deal with all lies. Nevertheless, they heal the hurt of my people with sweet words, saying peace, peace where there is no peace at all.
      *Fie for shame, how abominable things do they? and yet they be not ashamed, yee they know no shame.
      Wherefore in the time of their visitation, they shall fall among dead bodies, sayeth the Lord.
      Moreover I will gather them in ( sayeth the Lord ) so that there shall not be one grape upon the vine, neither one fig upon the fig tree, and the leaves shall be plucked off.
      Then will I cause them to depart, and say: why prolong we the time? Let us gather ourselves together, and go into the strong city, there shall we be in rest: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water mixed with gall, to drink: because we have sinned against him.
      We looked for peace, and we fair not the better, we waited for the time of health, and lo, there is nothing but trouble.
      Then shall the noise of his horses be heard from Dan, the whole land shall be afraid at the neighing of his strong horses: for they shall go in, and devour the land, with all that is in it: the cities, and those that dwell therin. Moreover, I will send Cockatrices and serpents among you

(which will not be charmed) and they shall bite you sayeth the Lord.
      Sorrow is come upon me, and heaviness vexeth my heart: for lo, the voice of the crying of my people is heard from a far country: Is not the Lord in Sion? Is not the king in her? Wherefore then have they grieved me ( shall the Lord say ) with their images and foolish strange fashions? The harvest is gone, the Summer hath an end, and we are not helped. I am sore vexed, because of the hurt of my people: I am heavy and abashed, for there is no more *Tryacle at Gilaad, and there is no Physician, that can heal the hurt of my people.

 

Fie = used to express distaste or disapproval.
Tryacle = speech of sentiment, or medicine, antidote against poison. molasses.

 

 

 

Chapter 9

      O Who will give my head water enough, and a well of tears for mine eyes: that I might weep night and day, for the slaughter of my people? Would God that I had a cottage some where far from folk, that I might leave my people, and go from them: for they be all *advoutrers and a shrinking sort. They bend their tongues like bows, to shoot out lies: As for the truth, they may nothing away with all in the world. For they go from one wickedness to another, and hold nothing of me, sayeth the Lord.
      Yee one must keep himself from another, no man may safely trust his own brother: for one brother undermineth another, and one neighbor begileth another. Yee one dissesembleth with another, and they deal with no truth. They have practiced their tongues to lie, and taken great pains to do mischief. They have set their stole in the midest of deceit, and for very disassembling falsehood they will not know me, sayeth the Lord.
      Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts: behold, I will melt them, and try them, for what should I do else to my people? Their tongues are like sharp arrows, to speak disceate. With their mouth they speak peaceably to their neighbor, but privately they lay wait for him. Should I not punish them for these things, sayeth the Lord? Or should I not be avenged of any such people as this? Upon the mountains will I take up a lamentation and sorrowful cry, and a mourning upon the fair plains of the wilderness: Namely, how they are so burnt up, that no man goeth there any more: Yee a man shall not hear one beast cry there.
      Birds and cattle are all gone from thence. I will make Jerusalem also an heap of stones, and a den of venomous worms. And I will make the cities of Judah so waste, that no man shall dwell therin. What man is so wise, as to understand this? Or to whom hath the Lord spoken by mouth, that he may show this, and say: O thou land, why perisheth thou so? Wherefore art thou burnt up, and like a wilderness, that no man goeth through? Yee the Lord himself told the same unto them, that forsook his law, and kept not the thing that he had given them in the commandment, neither lived thereafter: but followed the wickedness of their own hearts, and served strange gods, as their fathers had taught them.
      Therefore, thus sayeth the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with worm wood, and give them gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they ner their fathers have known: and I will send a sword among them, to persecute them, until I bring them to naught. Moreover, thus saith the Lord of Hosts: look that ye call for mourning wives, and send for wise men: that they come shortly, and sing a mourning song of you: that the tears may fall out of our eyes, and that our eye lids may gush out of water.
      For there is a lamentable noise heard of Sion: O how are we so sore destroyed? O how are we so piteously confounded? We must forsake our own natural country, and we are shot out of our own lodgings. Yet hear the word of the Lord ( O ye women ) and let your ears regard the words of his mouth: that ye may learn your daughters to mourn, and that every one may teach her neighbouress, to make lamentation. Namely thus: Death is climbing up in at our windows, he is come into our houses, to destroy the child before the door, and the young man in the street.
      But tell thou plainly, thus saith the Lord: The dead bodies of them shall lay upon the ground, as the dung upon the field, and as the hay after the mower, and there shall be no man to take them up. Moreover, thus saith the Lord: Let not the wise man rejoice in his wisdom, ner the strong man in his strength, neither the rich man in his riches: But who so will rejoice, let him rejoice in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth me: for I am the Lord, which do mercy, equity and righteousness upon the earth. Therefore have I pleasure in such things, saith the Lord. Behold, the time cometh, ( saith the Lord ) that I will visit all them, whose foreskin is uncircumcised. The Egyptians, the Jews, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the shaven Madianites, that dwell in the wilderness. For all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

 

*advouterer: prefix "a" meaning not or without, devout: devotion; plain hearted to God see James 2 for adultery

 

 

 

Chapter 10

      Hear the word of the Lord, that he speaketh unto thee, O thou house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not learn after the manner of the Heathen, and ye shall not be afraid for the tokens of heaven: for the Heathen are afraid of such: yee all the customs and laws of the Gentiles are nothing, but vanity. They hew down a tree in the wood with the hands of the workman, and fashion it with the axe: they cover it over with gold or silver, they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not. It standeth as still as the palm tree, it can neither speak nor go, but must be borne. Be ye not afraid of such, for they can do neither good nor evil. But there is none like unto thee, O' Lord, and great is the name of thy power. Who would not fear thee? Or what king of the Gentiles would not obey thee?
      For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is none that may be likened unto thee. They are all together unlearned and unwise. All their conning is but vanity: namely, wood, silver, which is brought out of Tharsis, and beaten to plates: and gold from Ophir, a work that is made with the hand of the craftsman and the caster, clothed with yellow silk and scarlet: even so is the work of their wise men altogether. But the Lord is a true God, a living God, and an everlasting king. If he be wroth, the earth shaketh: all the Gentiles may not abide his indignation.
      As for their gods, it may well be said of them: they are gods, that made neither heaven ner earth: therefore shall they perish from the earth, and from all things under heaven. But ( as for our God ) he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdom hath he finished the whole compass of the world, with his discretion hath he spread out the heavens. At his voice the waters gather together in the air, he draweth up the clouds from the utmost parts of the earth: he turneth lighting to rain, and bringeth forth the winds out of their treasures: His wisdom maketh all men fools. And confounded be all the casters of images, for that they cast, is but a vain thing, and hath no life. The vain craftsmen with their works, that they in their vanity hath made, shall perish one with another in the time of visitation. Nevertheless, Jacobs portion is not such: but it is he, that hath made all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The Lord of Hosts is his name. Put away thine uncleanness out of the land, thou that art in the strong cities. For thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will now thrust out the inhabitors of this land a great way off, and trouble them of such a fashion, that they shall no more be found.
      Alas how am I hurt? Alas, how painful are my scourges unto me? For I consider this sorrow by myself, and I must suffer it. My tabernacle is destroyed, and all may coards are broken. My children are gone from me, and can no where be found. Now have I none to spread out my tent, or to set up my hangings. For the herdsmen have done foolishly, that they have not sought the Lord. Therefore have they dealt unwisely with their cattle, and all are scattered abroad. Behold, the noise is hard at hand, and the great sedition out of the north: to make the cities of Juda a wilderness, and a dwelling place for dragons. Now I know ( O' Lord ) that it is not in mans power to order his own ways, or to rule his own steps and goings. Therefore chasten thou us, O' Lord, but with favor and not in thy wrath, bring us not utterly to naught. Pour out thine indignation rather upon the Gentiles, that know thee not, and upon the people that call not on thy name: And that because they have consumed, devoured and destroyed Jacob, and have rooted out his glory.

 

 

 

Chapter 11

      This is another Sermon, which the Lord commanded Jeremie for to preach, saying: Hear the words of the covenant, and speak unto all Judah, and to all them that dwell at Jerusalem. And say thou unto them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Cursed be every one that is not obedient unto the words of this covenant: which I commanded unto your fathers, what time as I brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Be obedient unto my voice, and do according to all that I commanded you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God, and will keep my promise, that I have sworn unto your fathers: Namely, that I would give them a land which floweth with milk and honey, as ye see, it is come to pass unto this day. Then answered I, and said. Amen. It is even so O' Lord, as thou sayest.
      Then the Lord said unto me again: preach this in the cities of Juda and round about Jerusalem, and say: Hear the words of this covenant, that ye may keep them. For I have diligently exhorted your fathers, ever since I brought them out of the Land of Egypt unto this day. I gave them warning by times, saying: hearken unto my voice: Nevertheless, they would not obey me, nor inclined their ears unto me, but followed the wicked imaginations of their own hearts. And therefore have I accused them as transgressors of all the words of this covenant, that I gave them to keep, which they (not with understanding ) have not kept.
      And the Lord said unto me: It is found out, that whole Israel and all these citizens of Jerusalem are gone back. They have turned themselves to the blasphemes of their forefathers, which had no lust to hear my word. Even like wise have these also followed strange gods, and worshiped them. The house of Israel and Juda have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers.
      Therefore thus sayeth the Lord: Behold I will send a plague among you, which ye shall not be able to escape: and though ye cry unto me, I will not hear you. Then shall the towns of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem go, and call upon their gods unto whom they made their oblations: but they are not able to help them in the time of their trouble. For as many cities as thou hast, O Judah, so many gods hast thou also: And look how many streets there be in thee ( O Jerusalem ) so many shameful altars have ye set up, to offer upon them unto Baal. But pray not thou for this people, bid neither praise nor prayer for them, for though they cry unto me in their trouble, yet I will not hear them.
      O thou beloved, why doest thou so shameful great blasphemies in my house? even as though that holy flesh might absolve thee, specially when thou hast made boast of thy wickedness. The Lord called thee a green olive tree, a fair one, a fruitful one, a goodly one: but now that there is so a contrary report of thee abroad, he will burn thee up, and destroy thy branches. For the Lord of hosts that planted thee hath devised a plague for thee ( O thou house of Israel and Judah ) for the evil that ye have done to provoke him to wrath, in that ye did service unto Baal.
      This ( O' Lord ) have I learned of thee, and understand it, for thou hast showed me their imaginations. But I ( as a meek lamb ) was carried away to be slain: not knowing, that they had devised such a counsel against me saying: We will destroy his meat with wood, and drive him out of the land of the living: that his name shall never be thought upon. Therefore I will beseech thee now ( O' Lord of Hosts ) thou righteous judge, thou that tryest the reins and the hearts: let me see the avenged of them, for unto thee have I committed my cause. The Lord therefore spake thus of the citizens of Anathoth, that sought to slay me, saying: Preach not unto us in the name of the Lord, or else thou shalt die of our hands. Thus ( I say ) spake the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit you. Your young men shall perish with the sword, your sons and daughters shall utterly die of hunger, so that none shall remain. For upon the citizens of Anathoth will I bring a plague, the year of their visitation.

 

 

 

Chapter 12

      O' Lord, thou art more righteous, then that I should dispute with thee: Nevertheless, let me talk with thee in things reasonable. How happeneth it, that the way of the ungodly is so prosperous? and that it goeth so well with them, which ( without any shame ) offend and live in wickedness? Thou plantest them, they take root, they grow, and bring forth fruit. They boast much of it, yet doest thou not punish them. But thou Lord ( to whom I am well known ) thou that hast seen, and proved my heart, take them away, like as a flock is carried to the slaughter house, and appoint them for the day of slaughter.
      How long shall the land mourn, and all the herbs of the field perish, for the wickedness of them that dwell therin?
      The cattle and the birds are gone, yet say they: tush, God will not destroy us utterly.
      Seeing thou art weary in running with the footmen, how wilt thou then run with the horses? In a peaceable sure land thou mayest be safe, but how wilt thou do in the furious pride of Jordane? For thy brethren and thy kindred have all together despised thee, and cried out upon thee in thy absence. Believe them not, though they speak fair words to thee. As for me ( say I ) I have forsaken mine own dwelling place, and left mine heritage. My life also that I love so well, have I given into the hands of mine enemies. Mine heritage is become unto me, as a Lion in the wood. It cried out upon me, therefore have I forsaken it. Mine heritage is unto me, as a speckled bird, a bird of diverse colors is upon it. Go hence, and gather all the beasts of the field together, that they may eat it up.
      Diverse herdsmen have broken down my vineyard, and trodden upon my portion. Of my pleasant portion, they have made a wilderness and desert. They have layed it waste and now that it is waste, it sigheth unto me. Yee the whole land is lieth waste, and no man regardeth it. The destroyers come over the *heeth every way , for the sword of the Lord shall consume from the one end of the land to the other, and no flesh shall have rest. They shall sow wheat, and reap thorns. They shall take heritage into possession, but it shall do them no good. And ye shall be confounded of your own winnings, because of the great wrath of the Lord.
      Thus saith the Lord upon all mine evil neighbors, that lay hand on mine heritage, which I have given my people of Israel: Behold, I will pluck them ( namely Israel ) out of their land, and put out the house of Juda from among them. And when I have rooted them out, I will be at one with them again, and will have mercy upon them: and bring them again, every man to his own heritage, and to his own land. And if they ( namely that trouble my people ) will learn the ways of them, to swear by my name: The Lord liveth ( like as when they learned my people to swear by Baal ) then shall they be reckoned among my people. But if they will not obey, then I will root out the same folk, and destroy them, sayeth the Lord.

 

*heeth (low shrub)

 

 

 

Chapter 13

      Moreover, thus said the Lord unto me: go thy way, and get thee a linen breech, and gird it about thy loins, and let it not be wet. Then I got me a breech, according to the commandment of the Lord, and put it about my loins. After this, the Lord spake unto me again: Take the breech that thou hast prepared and put it about thee, and get up, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it in a hole of the rock. So went I, and hid it, as the Lord commanded me. And it happened long after this, that the Lord spake unto me: Up, and get thee to Euphrates, and set the breech from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then went I to Euphrates, and digged up, and took the breech from the place from where I had hid it: and, behold, the breech was corrupt, so that it was profitable for nothing.
      Then said the Lord unto me: Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I corrupt the pride of Judah, and the high mind of Jerusalem. This people is a wicked people, they will not hear my word, they follow the wicked imaginations of their own heart, and hang upon strange Gods, them have they served and worshiped: and therefore they shall be as this breech, that serveth for nothing. For as straightly as a breech lieth upon a mans loins, so straightly did I bind the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Juda unto me, sayeth the Lord: that they might be my people: that they might have a gorgeous name: that they might be in honor: but they would not obey me. Therefore lay this riddle before them, and say: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Every pot shall be filled with wine. And they shall say: thinkest thou we know not, that every pot shall be filled with wine? Then shalt thou say unto them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I shall fill all the inhabitors of this land with drunkenness, the Kings that sit upon Davids stool, the Priests and Prophets, with all that dwell at Jerusalem. And I will *shute them one against another, yee the fathers against the sons, sayeth the Lord.
      I will not pardon them, I will not spare them, ner have pity upon them: but destroy them. Be obedient, give ear, take no destain at it, for it is the Lord himself that speaketh. Honor the Lord your God herein, or he take his light from you, and or ever your feet stumble in darkness at the hill: lest when ye look for the light, he turn it into the shadow and darkness of death. But if ye will not hear me, that give you secret warning, I will mourn from my whole heart for your stubbornness. Piteously will I weep, and the tears shall gush out of mine eyes. For the Lords flock shall be carried away captive. Tell the king and the rulers: Humble yourselves, set you down low, for the crown of your glory shall fall from your head. The cities toward the south shall be shut up, and no man shall open them. All Juda shall be carried away captive, so that none shall remain.
      Lift up your eyes, and behold them, that come from the North: Like a fat flock shall they fall upon thee. To whom will thou make thy moan, when they come upon thee, as on a woman travailing with child? And if thou wouldest say then in thine heart: Wherefore come these things upon me? Even for the multitude of thy blasphemes, shall thy hinder parts and thy feet be discovered. For like as the man of Inde may change his skin, and the cat of the mountains her spots: so may ye that be exercised in evil, do good. Therefore will I scatter you, like as the stubble that is taken away with the south wind. This shall be your portion, and the portion of your measure, where with ye shall be rewarded of me, saith the Lord: because ye have forgotten me, and put your trust in deceitful things. Therefore shall I turn thy clothes over thy head, and discover thy thighs, that thy privates may be seen, thy *advoutry, thy deadly malice, thy beastliness, and thy shameful whoredom. For upon the fields and hills I have seen thy abominations. Wo be unto thee ( O Jerusalem ) when wilt thou ever be cleansed any more?

 

*shute: shut; as shut out, or shoot at, as in darts of the accuser.
*advoutry: prefix "a" meaning not or without, devout: devotion; plain hearted to God, being devoted to something or some one else. see James 2 for adultery

 

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