Ifrael called by promises, and exhorted to repentances these things unto thee; this is thy wicked. nefs, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. JEREMIAH. CHA P. IV. God calleth Ifrael by his promifes: 3 he exharteth Judah to repentance. frael, faith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my fight, then fhalt thou not remove. IF thou wilt return, 2 And thou shalt fwear, The LORD liveth, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations thall blefs themselves in him, and in him fhall they glory. 3 For thus faith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerufalem, Break up your fallow ground, and fow not among thorns. 4 Circumcife yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of jerufalem: left my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerufalem; and fay, blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and fay, Aflemble yourfelves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 6 Set up the flandard toward Zion: retire, ftay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great deftruction. 7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land defolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant. 8 For this gird you with fackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. 9 And it thall come to pafs at that day, faith the LORD, that the heart of the king fhall pe. rith, and the heart of the princes; and the priefts thall be astonished, and the prophets ihall wonder. 10 Then faid I, Ah Lord God! furely thou haft greatly deceived this people and Jerufalem, faying, Ye thall have peace; whereas the fword reacheth unto the foul. 11 At that time fhall it be faid to this people and to Jerufalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanfe. 19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou haft heard, O my foul, the found of the trum pet, the alarm of war. 20 Deftruction upon deftruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: fuddenly are my tents fpoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 21 How long fhall I fee the ftandard, and hear the found of the trumpet? 22 For my people is toolith, they have not known me; they arefottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wife to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was with. out form and void; and the heavens, and they bad no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly, 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were filed. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the prefence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. 27 For thus hath the LORD faid, The whole land fhall be tefolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this fhall the earth mourn, and the heavens above l black: because I have fpo ken it, I have purpofed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city thall flee for the noife of the horfemen and bowmen; they shall go in. to thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city hall be forfaken, and not a man dwell therein, 30 And when thou art fpoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clotheft thyself with crimson, though thou deckett thee with orna. ments of gold, though thou remeft thy face with painting, in vain thalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will defpife thee, they will feek thy life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her firft child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, faying, Woe is me now! for my foul is wearied because of mur. СНАР. У. derers. 12 Even a full wind from thofe places fhall come unto me: now alfo will I give fentence The judgments of God upon the Jews for their against them. 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots pall be as a whirlwind: his hor. fes are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! tor 14 O Jerufalem, wash thine heart from 15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publishetk affliction from mount Ephraim. 16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerufalem, that watch ers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 17 Askeepers of a field, are they against her round about; because the hath been rebellious again me, faith the LORD. 8 Thy way and thy doings have procured manifold corruptions. RUN ye to and fro through the fireets of Jerufalem, and fee now, and know, and feek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that feeketh the truth; and I will par don it. 2 And though they fay, The Load liveth; furely they fwear falfely. 3 OLORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth! Thou haft itricken them, but they have not grieved; thou haft confumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I faid, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and God's anger against the Jews, Their enemies encouraged. 23 But this people hath a revolting and a re. bellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Chap. vi. will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but thefe have altogether broken the yoke, and burit the bonds. 6 Wherefore a lion out of the foreft fhall Day them, and a wolf of the evenings fhall fpoil them, a leopard fhall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their tranfgref fions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 7 How thall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forfaken me, and fworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed. adultery, and affembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houfes. 8 They were as fed horfes in the morning: every one neighed after his neigh bour's wife. Shall I not vifit for these things? faith the I.ORD: and thall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this? to Go ye up upon her walls, and defroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S. II For the house of Ifrael and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherouily against me, faith the LORD. 12 They have belied the LORD, and faid, It is not he; neither hall evil come upon us; neither shall we fee fword nor famine: 13 And the prophets thall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus fhall it be unto them. one wherefore thus faith the LORD God of hofts, Because ye fpeak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it hall devour them. 15 LO, I will bring a nation upon you from far, houfe of Ifrael, faith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whofe language thou knoweit not, neither understandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open fepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And they hall eat up thine harveft, and thy bread, which thy fons and thy daughters fhould eat: they thall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou truftedit, with the fword. 18 Nevertheless, in thofe days, faith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye fhall fay, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us! then halt thou aufwer them, Like as ye have forfaken me, and ferved ftrange gods in your land; fo fhall ye ferve trangers in a land that is not your's. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, faying, 21 Hear now this, Ofoolish people, and without underftanding, which have eyes, and fee not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? faith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my prefence, which have placed the fand for the bound of the fea by a pepetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof tofs themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? 24 Neither fay they in their heart," Let us now fear the LORD our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his feafon: he referveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25Your iniquities have turned away thefe things, and your fins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait as he that fetteth fnares; they fet a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, fo are their houfes full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine; yea, they overpafs the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the caufe, the caufe of the father. lefs, yet they profper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall not vifit for these things ? faith the LORD: Shall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this? 30 A wonderful and horrible thing is com mitted in the land; 31 The prophets prophefy falfely, and the prients bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it fo: and what will ye do in the end thereof? CHAP VI. The enemics fent against Judah, 4 encour YE children Benjamin, gather yours lem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. 3 Tac epherds with their flocks fhall come unto her; they hall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye war against her; arife, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us? for the day goeth away, for the fhadows of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arife, and let us go by night, and let us deftroy her palaces. 6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts faid, Hew ye down trees, and caft a mount again Jerufalem: this is the city to be visited; the is wholly opprethon in the midit of her. 7 As a fountain cafteth out her waters, fo fhe catteth out her wickedness: violence and fpoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds. 8 Be thou inftructed, O Jerufalem, left my foul depart from thee; left I make thee defo late, a laud not inhabited. 9 Thus faith the LORD of hosts, They fhall thoroughly glean the remnant of Ifrael as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grap. gatherer into the baskets. Ic To whom shall I fpeak, and give warn ing, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcifed, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD: I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, aud God's wrath preclaimed. JEREMIA H. upon the affembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife hall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houfes fhail be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will ftretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, faith the LORD. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; nd from the prophet even unto the prieit every one dealeth falfely. 14 They have healed alfo the hurt of the daughter of my people flightly, faying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they afhamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all afhamed, neither could they blush: therefore they thall fall among them that fall: at the time that I vifit them they fhall be caft down, faith the LORD. 16 Thus faith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and fee, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye thall find rent for your fouls. But they aid, We will not walk therein. 17 Alfo I fet watchmen over you, faying, Pearken to the found of the trumpet. But they fail, We will not hearken. 18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, becaufe they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but reject. ed it. 20 To what purpofe cometh there to me inccufe from Sheba, and the fweet cane from a fur country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your facrifices iwcer unto me. 21 Therefore thus faith the LORD, Behold, I will lay tumbling blocks before this people, and the ia hers and the fons together thall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend thall perish. 22 Thus faith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great ration fhall be raised from the fides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the fea; and they ride upon korfes, fet in array as men for war gainst thee, O daughter of Zion. 24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguifh hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the fword of the enemy and fear is on every fide. 26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with fackcloth, and wallow thyself in afhes; make thee mourning, as for an only fon, mot bitter lamentation: for the fpoiler thall fud. denly come upon us. 27 I have let thee for a tower and a for. trefs among my people, that thou mayeft Know and try their way. 28 They are all grievous revolters, walk ing with flanders: they are brafs and iron; they are all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned, the lead is confumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Reprobate filver shall men call them, becaufe the L.GRD hath rejected them. Exhortations to repentance. Jeremiah is fent tocalifortrue repentance: 8 be rejecleth their vain confidence. THE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, faying, 2 Stand in the gate of the LORD's houfe, and proclaim there this word, and fay, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at thefe gates to worthip the LORD. 3 Thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Ifrael, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will caufe you to dwell in this place. 4 Truft ye not in lying words, faying, The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, are these. 5 For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; 6 If ye opprefs not the ftranger, the father. lefs, and the widow, and thed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: 7 Then will I caufe you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 Behold, ye truft in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 will ye fteal, murder, and commit adul tery, and fwear falfely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; 10 And come and ftand before me in this houte, which is called by my name, and fay, We are delivered to do all these abomina tions? 11 Is this houfe which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, faith the LORD. 12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I fet my name at the firal, and fee what I did to it for the wickednes of my people frael. 13 And now, because ye have done all thefe works, faith the LORD, and Ifpake unto you, rifing up early and fpeaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye anfwered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye truft, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. 15 And I will caft you out of my fight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole feed of Ephraim. 16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, nei. ther make interceffion to me: for I will not hear thee. 17 Seeft thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the ftreets of Jeru falem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? faith the Lokn: do they not provoke themselves to the confufion of their own faces? 20 Therefore thus faith the Lord Gon; Be. hold, mine anger and my fury fhall be pour ed out upon this place, upon man, and upon 1 1 beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it thall burn, and thall not be quenched. 21 Thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Ifrael; Put your burnt offerings unto your facrifices, and eat fleth. 22 For I fpake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or facrifices: 23 But this thing commanded I them, fayIng, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. 24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counfels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, I have even fent unto you all my fervants the prophets, daily rifing up early and fending them: 26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. 27 Therefore thou shalt fpeak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt alfo call unto them; but they will not answer thee. 28 But thou shalt fay unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perithed, and is cut off from their mouth. 29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerufalem, and caft it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forfaken the generation of his wrath. 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my fight, faith the LORD: they have fet their abominations in the houfe which is called by my name, to pollute it. 31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the fon of Hinnom, to burn their fons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. 32 Therefore, behold, the days come, faith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the fon of Hinnom, but, The valley of flaughter: for they fhall bury in Tophet till there be no place. 33 And the carcafes of this people fhall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beafts of the carth; aut none thall tray them away. 34 Then will I caufe to ceafe from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerufalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladnefs, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land thall be defolate. CHAP. VIII. The Jews'calamity: 4 their impenitency upbraided: 13 their judgment bewed: 18 their defperate eftate bewailed. At that time, faithts of the kingsyfju bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants /of Jerufalem, out of their graves: And they shall spread them before the Their impenitency. fun, and the moon, and all the hoft of hea ven, whom they have loved, and whom they have ferved, and atter whom they have walked, and whom they have fought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. 3 And death thall be chofen rather than life by all the refidue of them that remain of this evil farnily, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, faith the LORD of hosts. 4 Moreover, thou fhalt fay unto them, Thus faith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arife? Shall he turn away, and not return? 5 Why then is this people of Jerufalem slidden back by a perpetual backiliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. 6 I hearkened and heard, but they fpake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, faying, What have I done? Every one turned to his courfe, as the horse ruiheth into the battle. 7 Yea, the ftork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow obferve the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. 8 How do ye fay, We are wife, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the fcribes is in vain. 9 The wife men are ashamed, they are dif mayed and taken: 1o, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that fhall inherit them: tor every one from the leaft even unto the greatest is given to covetoufnefs; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falfely. 11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people flightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 12 Were they athamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all aihamed, neither could they bluth: theretore fhall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, faith the LORD. 13 I will furely confume them, faith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf fhail fade; and the things that I have given them hall pats away from them. 14 Why do we fit till? Affemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be filent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to filence, and given us water or gall to drink, because we have finned a gain't the LORD. 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! 16 The fnorting of his horfes was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the found of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the tand, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein, 17 For, behold, I will fend ferpents, cocka. trices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, faith the LORD. 18 When I would comfort myself again forrow, my heart is faint in me. Jeremiah lamenteth for the fins of the Fears. of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: JEREMIAH. 20 The harveft is part, the fummer is end- 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my peopie am I hurt; I am black; aftonishment hath Taken hold on me. 22 is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no 1 The Jews lamented for their manifold fins, H that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the flain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodg ing place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an aflembly of trea chercus men. 3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, faith the LORD. 4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and truit ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly fupplant, and every neighbour will walk with flanders." And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not fpeak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themfe.ves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is in the midit of deceit; through deceit they refufe to know ue, faith the LORD. 7Therefore thus faith the LORD of hofts, Behold, I will meit them, and try them; for how fhall I do for the daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue is as an arrow fhot out; it fpeaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. 94 Shall I not visit them for these things? faith the LORD: Shall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this? 10 For the mountains will I take up a weep ing and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, fo that none can pafs through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beaft are fled; they are gone. 11 And I will make Jerufalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah defolate, without an inhabitant. 12 Who is the wife man that may understand this? and tubo it be to whom the mouth of the LORD hath fpoken, that he may declare it, for what the land peritheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none paffeth through? 13 And the LORD faith, Because they have foríaken my law which I fet betere them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walk ed therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination 15 Therefore thus faith the LORD of hofts, the God of Ifrael; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will fcatter them alfo among the hea then, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will fend a fword after them, till 1 have confumed them. 17 Thus faith the LORD of hosts, Conf. der ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and fend for cunning women, that they may come: 18 And let them make hafle, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids guth out with waters. 19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we fpoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have foriaken the land, because our dwellings have caft us out. 20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. 21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. 22 Speak, Thus faith the LORD, Even the carcafes of men fhall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the har veftman, and none thall gather them. 23 Thus faith the LORD, Let not the wife man glory in his wifdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he underftandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercife loving kindness, judgment, and righteoufnefs, in the earthi tor in there things I delight, faith the LORD. 25 Behold, the days come, faith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circum. cifed with the uncircumcifed 26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmoft corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all thefe nations are uncir cumcifed, and all the houfe of Ifrael are uncircumcifed in the heart. CHAP. X. The unequal comparison of God and idols. 19 The poil of the tabernacle by foolife paflors. EAR ye the word which the LORD fpeak. eth unto you, O house of Ifrael: 2 Thus faith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not difmayed at the figns of heaven; for the heathen are difmayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain : for one cutteth a tree out of the foreft, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. 4 They deck it with filver and with gold: they fatten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but fpeak not: they muft needs be borne, becaufe they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither alfo is it in them to do good. 6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto |