31:36. If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever.
31:37. Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast away all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
31:38. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hanameel even to the gate of the corner.
31:39. And the measuring line shall go out farther in his sight upon the hill Gareb: and it shall compass Goatha,
31:40. And the whole valley of dead bodies, and of ashes, and all the country of death, even to the torrent Cedron, and to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, the Holy of the Lord: it shall not be plucked up, and it shall not be destroyed any more for ever.
Jeremias Chapter 32
Jeremias by God's commandment purchases a field of his kinsman: and prophesies the return of the people out of captivity: and the everlasting covenant God will make with his church.
32:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord in the tenth year of Sedecias king of Juda: the same is the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor.
32:2. At that time the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremias the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Juda.
32:3. For Sedecias king of Juda had shut him up, saying: Why dost thou prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it?
32:4. And Sedecias king of Juda shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans: but he shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon: and he shall speak to him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes.
32:5. And he shall lead Sedecias to Babylon: and he shall be there till I visit him, saith the Lord. But if you will fight against the Chaldeans, you shall have no success.
32:6. And Jeremias said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
32:7. Behold, Hanameel the son of Sellum thy cousin shall come to thee, saying: Buy thee my field, which is in Anathoth, for it is thy right to buy it, being next akin.
32:8. And Hanameel my uncle's son came to me, according to the word of the Lord, to the entry of the prison, and said to me: Buy my field, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and thou art next of kin to possess it. And I understood that this was the word of the Lord.
32:9. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that is in Anathoth: and I weighed him the money, seven staters, and ten pieces of silver.
32:10. And I wrote it in a book and sealed it, and took witnesses: and I weighed him the money in the balances.
32:11. And I took the deed of the purchase that was sealed, and the stipulations, and the ratifications with the seals that were on the outside.
32:12. And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neri the son of Maasias in the sight of Hanameel my uncle's son, in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, and before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
32:13. And I charged Baruch before them, saying:
32:14. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Take these writings, this deed of the purchase that is sealed up, and this deed that is open: and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
32:15. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Houses, and fields, and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
32:16. And after I had delivered the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neri, I prayed to the Lord, saying:
32:17. Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, behold thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great power, and thy stretched out arm: no word shall be hard to thee:
32:18. Thou shewest mercy unto thousands, and returnest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: O most mighty, great, and powerful, the Lord of hosts is thy name.
32:19. Great in counsel, and incomprehensible in thought: whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam, to render unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his devices.
32:20. Who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even until this day, and in Israel, and amongst men, and hast made thee a name as at this day.
32:21. And hast brought forth thy people Israel, out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, and with great terror.
32:22. And hast given them this land which thou didst swear to their fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.
32:23. And they came in, and possessed it: but they obeyed not thy voice, and they walked not in thy law: and they did not any of those things that thou didst command them to do, and all these evils are come upon them.
32:24. Behold works are built up against the city to take it: and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, by the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken, is all come to pass, as thou thyself seest.
32:25. And sayest thou to me, O Lord God: Buy a field for money, and take witnesses, whereas the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans?
32:26. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
32:27. Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh: shall any thing be hard for me?
32:28. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it.
32:29. And the Chaldeans that fight against this city, shall come and set it on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon whose roofs they offered sacrifice to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath.
32:30. For the children of Israel, and the children of Juda, have continually done evil in my eyes from their youth: the children of Israel who even till now provoke me with the work of their hands, saith the Lord.
32:31. For this city hath been to me a provocation and indignation from the day that they built it, until this day, in which it shall be taken out of my sight.
32:32. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Juda, which they have done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
32:33. And they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: when I taught them early in the morning, and instructed them, and they would not hearken to receive instruction.
32:34. And they have set their idols in the house, in which my name is called upon, to defile it.
32:35. And they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to consecrate their sons and their daughters to Moloch: which I commanded them not, neither entered it into my heart, that they should do this abomination, and cause Juda to sin.
32:36. And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to this city, whereof you say that it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence:
32:37. Behold I will gather them together out of all the lands to which I have cast them out in my anger, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation: and I will bring them again into this place, and will cause them to dwell securely.
32:38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
32:39. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all days: and that it may be well with them, and with their children after them.
32:40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not cease to do them good: and I will give my fear in their heart, that they may not revolt from me.
32:41. And I will rejoice over them, when I shall do them good: and I will plant them in this land in truth, with my whole heart, and with all my soul.
32:42. For thus saith the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil: so will I bring upon them all the good that I now speak to them.
32:43. And fields shall be purchased in this land: whereof you say that it is desolate, because there remaineth neither man nor beast, and it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
32:44. Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be written, and sealed, and witnesses shall be taken, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Juda, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: for I will bring back their captivity, saith the Lord.
Jeremias Chapter 33
God promises reduction from captivity, and other blessings: especially the coming of Christ, whose reign in his church shall be glorious and perpetual.
33:1. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying:
33:2. Thus saith the Lord, who will do, and will form it, and prepare it, the Lord is his name.
33:3. Cry to me and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things, and sure things which thou knowest not.
33:4. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Juda, which are destroyed, and to the bulwarks, and to the sword.
33:5. Of them that come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my wrath, and in my indignation, hiding my face from this city because of all their wickedness.
33:6. Behold I will close their wounds and give them health, and I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace and truth.
The prayer of peace... That is, the peace and welfare which they pray for.
33:7. And I will bring back the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of Jerusalem: and I will build them as from the beginning.
33:8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me: and I will forgive all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and despised me.
33:9. And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for them.
33:10. Thus saith the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast: in the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem, which are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast)
33:11. The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say: Give ye glory to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring their vows into the house of the Lord: for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord.
33:12. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place that is desolate without man, and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
33:13. And in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: and in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda shall the flocks pass again under the hand of him that numbereth them, saith the Lord.
33:14. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Juda.
33:15. In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth.
33:16. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one.
33:17. For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.
There shall not be cut off from David, etc... This was verified in Christ, who is of the house of David; and whose kingdom in his church shall have no end.
33:18. Neither shall there be cut off from the priests and Levites a man before my face to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifices, and to kill victims continually.
Neither shall there be cut off from the priests, etc... This promise relates to the Christian priesthood; which shall also continue for ever: the functions of which (more especially the great sacrifice of the altar) are here expressed by the name of holocausts, and other offerings of the law, which were so many figures of the Christian sacrifice.
33:19. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
33:20. Thus saith the Lord: if my covenant, with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season:
33:21. Also my covenant with David my servant may be made void, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests my ministers.
33:22. As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites my ministers.
33:23. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
33:24. Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised my people, so that it is no more a nation before them?
Two families, etc... Viz., the families of the kings and priests.
33:25. Thus saith the Lord. If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth:
33:26. Surely I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them.
Jeremias Chapter 34
The prophet foretells that Sedecias shall fall into the hands of Nabuchodonosor: God's sentence upon the princes and people that had broken his covenant.
34:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying:
34:2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
34:3. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
34:4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword.
34:5. But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.
Die in peace... That is, by a natural death.
34:6. And Jeremias the prophet spoke all these words to Sedecias the king of Juda in Jerusalem.
34:7. And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities.
34:8. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:
34:9. That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them, to wit, over the Jews their brethren.
34:10. And all the princes, and all the people who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.
34:11. But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.
34:12. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
34:13. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
34:14. At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.
34:15. And you turned to day, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother: and you made a covenant in my sight, in the house upon which my name is invocated.
34:16. And you are fallen back, and have defiled my name: and you have brought back again every man his manservant, and every man his maidservant, whom you had let go free, and set at liberty: and you have brought them into subjection to be your servants and handmaids.
34:17. Therefore thus saith the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty every man to his brother and every man to his friend: behold I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth.
34:18. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not performed the words of the covenant which they agreed to in my presence, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof:
34:19. The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:
34:20. And I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.
34:21. And Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you.
34:22. Behold I will command, saith the Lord, and I will bring them again to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without an inhabitant.
Jeremias Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites condemns the disobedience of the Jews. The reward of the Rechabites.
35:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord in the days of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, saying:
35:2. Go to the house of the Rechabites: and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers of the treasures, and thou shalt give them wine to drink.
Rechabites... These were of the race of Jethro, father in law to Moses.
35:3. And I took Jezonias the son of Jeremias the son of Habsanias, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites.
35:4. And I brought them into the house of the Lord, to the treasure house of the sons of Hanan, the son of Jegedelias the man of God, which was by the treasure house of the princes, above the treasure of Maasias the son of Sellum, who was keeper of the entry.
35:5. And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups: and I said to them: Drink ye wine.
35:6. And they answered: We will not drink wine: because Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying: You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your children, for ever:
35:7. Neither shall ye build houses, nor sow reed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any: but you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the face of the earth, in which you are strangers.
35:8. Therefore we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all things that he commanded us: so as to drink no wine all our days: neither we, nor our wives, nor our sons, nor our daughters:
35:9. Nor to build houses to dwell in, nor to have vineyard, or field, or seed:
35:10. But we have dwelt in tents, and have been obedient according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
35:11. But when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up to our land, we said: Come, let us go into Jerusalem from the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and from the face of the army of Syria: and we have remained in Jerusalem.
35:12. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
35:13. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Go, and say to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not receive instruction, to obey my words, saith the Lord?
35:14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, by which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have prevailed: and they have drunk none to this day, because they have obeyed the commandment of their father: but I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and you have not obeyed me.
35:15. And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending and saying: Return ye every man from his wicked way, and make your ways good: and follow not strange gods, nor worship them, and you shall dwell in the land, which I gave you and your fathers: and you have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened to me.
35:16. So the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have constantly kept the commandment of their father, which he commanded them: but this people hath not obeyed me.
35:17. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will bring upon Juda, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not heard: I have called to them, and they have not answered me.
35:18. And Jeremias said to the house of the Rechabites: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done all that he commanded you:
35:19. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: There shall not be wanting a man of the race of Jonadab the son of Rechab, standing before me for ever.
Jeremias Chapter 36
Jeremias sends Baruch to read his prophecies in the temple; the book is brought to king Joakim, who burns it. The prophet denounces his judgment, and causes Baruch to write a new copy.
36:1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, that this word came to Jeremias by the Lord, saying:
36:2. Take thee a roll of a book, and thou shalt write in it all the words that I have spoken to thee against Israel and Juda, and against all the nations from the day that I spoke to thee, from the days of Josias even to this day.
36:3. If so be, when the house of Juda shall hear all the evils that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his wicked way: and I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin.
36:4. So Jeremias called Baruch the son of Nerias: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the Lord, which he spoke to him, upon the roll of a book.
36:5. And Jeremias commanded Baruch, saying: I am shut up, and cannot go into the house of the Lord.
Shut up... Not that the prophet was now in prison; for the contrary appears from ver. 19, but that he kept himself shut up, by reason of the persecutions he had lately met with. See chap. 26.
36:6. Go thou in therefore, and read out of the volume, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people in the house of the Lord on the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the hearing of all Juda that come out of their cities:
36:7. If so be they may present their supplication before the Lord, and may return every one from his wicked way: for great is the wrath and indignation which the Lord hath pronounced against this people.
36:8. And Baruch the son of Nerias did according to all that Jeremias the prophet had commanded him, reading out of the volume the words of the Lord in the house of the Lord.
36:9. And it came to pass in the fifth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that were come together out of the cities of Juda to Jerusalem.
36:10. And Baruch read out of the volume the words of Jeremias in the house of the Lord, in the treasury of Gamarias the son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people.
36:11. And when Micheas the son of Gamarias the son of Saphan had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
36:12. He went down into the king's house to the secretary's chamber: and behold all the princes sat there, Elisama the scribe, and Dalaias the son of Semeias, and Elnathan the son of Achobor, and Gamarias the son of Saphan, and Sedecias the son of Hananias, and all the princes.
36:13. And Micheas told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read out of the volume in the hearing of the people.
36:14. Therefore all the princes sent Judi the son of Nathanias, the son of Selemias, the son of Chusi, to Baruch, saying: Take in thy hand the volume in which thou hast read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Nerias took the volume in his hand, and came to them.
36:15. And they said to him: Sit down and read these things in our hearing. And Baruch read in their hearing.
36:16. And when they had heard all the words, they looked upon one another with astonishment, and they said to Baruch: We must tell the king all these words.
36:17. And they asked him, saying: Tell us how didst thou write all these words from his mouth.
36:18. And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink.
36:19. And the princes said to Baruch: Go, and hide thee, both thou and Jeremias, and let no man know where you are.
36:20. And they went in to the king into the court: but they laid up the volume in the chamber of Elisama the scribe: and they told all the words in the hearing of the king.
36:21. And the king sent Judi that he should take the volume: who bringing it out of the chamber of Elisama the scribe, read it in the hearing of the king, and of all the princes that stood about the king.
36:22. Now the king sat in the winter house, in the ninth month: and there was a hearth before him full of burning coals.
36:23. And when Judi had read three or four pages, he cut it with the penknife, and he cast it into the fire, that was upon the hearth, till all the volume was consumed with the fire that was on the hearth.
36:24. And the king and all his servants that heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.
36:25. But yet Elnathan, and Dalaias, and Gamarias spoke to the king, not to burn the book: and he heard them not.
36:26. And the king commanded Jeremiel the son of Amelech, and Saraias the son of Ezriel, and Selemias the son of Abdeel, to take up Baruch the scribe, and Jeremias the prophet: but the Lord hid them.
36:27. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, after that the king had burnt the volume, and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremias, saying:
36:28. Take thee again another volume: and write in it all the former words that were in the first volume which Joakim the king of Juda both burnt.
36:29. And thou shalt say to Joakim the king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast burnt that volume, saying: Why hast thou written therein, and said: The king of Babylon shall come speedily, and shall lay waste this land: and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
36:30. Therefore thus saith the Lord against Joakim the king of Juda: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night.
He shall have none, etc... Because his son Joachin or Jechonias, within three months after the death of his father, was carried away to Babylon, so that his reign is not worthy of notice.
36:31. And I will punish him, and his seed and his servants, for their iniquities, and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Juda all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they have not heard.
36:32. And Jeremias took another volume, and gave it to Baruch the son of Nerias the scribe: who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the book which Joakim the king of Juda had burnt with fire: and there were added besides many more words than had been before.
Jeremias Chapter 37
Jeremias prophesies that the Chaldeans, who had departed from Jerusalem, would return and burn the city. He is cast into prison. His conference with Sedecias.
37:1. Now king Sedecias the son of Josias reigned instead of Jechonias the son of Joakim: whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon made king in the land of Juda.
37:2. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land did obey the words of the Lord, that he spoke in the hand of Jeremias the prophet.
37:3. And king Sedecias sent Juchal the son of Selemias, and Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest to Jeremias the prophet, saying: Pray to the Lord our God for us.
37:4. Now Jeremias walked freely in the midst of the people: for they had not as yet cast him into prison. And the army of Pharao was come out of Egypt: and the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem, hearing these tidings, departed from Jerusalem.
37:5. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, saying:
37:6. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Juda, who sent you to inquire of me: Behold the army of Pharao, which is come forth to help you, shall return into their own land, into Egypt.
37:7. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
37:8. Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your souls, saying: The Chaldeans shall surely depart and go away from us: for they shall not go away.
37:9. But if you should even beat all the army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left of them some wounded men: they shall rise up, every man from his heart, and burn this city with fire.
37:10. Now when the army of the Chaldeans was gone away from Jerusalem, because of Pharao's army,
37:11. Jeremias went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin: and to divide a possession there in the presence of the citizens,
37:12. And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the gate, who was there in his turn, was one named Jerias, the son of Selemias, the son of Hananias: and he took hold of Jeremias the prophet, saying: Thou art fleeing to the Chaldeans.
37:13. And Jeremias answered: It is not so, I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Jerias took Jeremias and brought him to the princes.
37:14. Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremias, and they beat him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for he was chief over the prison.
37:15. So Jeremias went into the house of the prison, and into the dungeon: and Jeremias remained there many days.
37:16. Then Sedecias the king, sending, took him: and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there, thinkest thou, any word from the Lord? And Jeremias said. There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.
37:17. And Jeremias said to king Sedecias: In what have I offended against thee, or thy servants, or thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison?
37:18. Where are your prophets that prophesied to you, and said: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land?
37:19. Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king: let my petition be accepted in thy sight: and send me not back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
37:20. Then king Sedecias commanded that Jeremias should be committed into the entry of the prison: and that they should give him daily a piece of bread, beside broth, till all the bread in the city were spent: and Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.
Jeremias Chapter 38
The prophet at the instance of the great men is cast into a filthy dungeon: he is drawn out by Abdemelech, and has another conference with the king.
38:1. Now Saphatias the son of Mathan, and Gedelias the son of Phassur, and Juchal the son of Selemias, and Phassur the son of Melchias heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying:
38:2. Thus saith the Lord: Whosoever shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live.
38:3. Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
38:4. And the princes said to the king. We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.
38:5. And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing.
38:6. Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.
38:7. Now Abdemelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch that was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremias in the dungeon: but the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin.
38:8. And Abdemelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying:
38:9. My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.
38:10. Then the king commanded Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and draw up Jeremias the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
38:11. So Abdemelech taking the men with him, went into the king's house that was under the storehouse: and he took from thence old rags, and old rotten things, and he let them down by cords to Jeremias into the dungeon.
38:12. And Abdemelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremias: Put these old rags and these rent and rotten things under thy arms, and upon the cords: and Jeremias did so.
38:13. And they drew up Jeremias with the cords, and brought him forth out of the dungeon. And Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.
38:14. And king Sedecias sent, and took Jeremias the prophet to him to the third gate, that was in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremias: I will ask thee a thing, hide nothing from me.
38:15. Then Jeremias said to Sedecias: If I shall declare it to thee, wilt thou not put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken to me.
38:16. Then king Sedecias swore to Jeremias, in private, saying: As the Lord liveth, that, made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor will I deliver thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life.
38:17. And Jeremias said to Sedecias: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: If thou wilt take a resolution and go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire: and thou shalt be safe, and thy house.
38:18. But if thou wilt not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
38:19. And king Sedecias said to Jeremias: I am afraid because of the Jews that are fled over to the Chaldeans: lest I should be delivered into their hands, and they should abuse me.
38:20. But Jeremias answered: They shall not deliver thee: hearken, I beseech thee, to the word of the Lord, which I speak to the, and it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live.
38:21. But if thou wilt not go forth, this is the word which the Lord hath shewn me:
38:22. Behold all the women that are left in the house of the king of Juda, shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon: and they shall say: Thy men of peace have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee, they have plunged thy feet in the mire, and in a slippery place and they have departed from thee.
Thy men of peace... Viri pacifici tui. That is thy false friends promising thee peace and happiness, and by their evil counsels involving thee in misery.
38:23. And all thy wives, and thy children shall be brought out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape their hands, but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and he shall burn this city with fire.
38:24. Then Sedecias said to Jeremias: Let no man know these words, and thou shalt not die.
38:25. But if the princes shall hear that I have spoken with thee, and shall come to thee, and say to thee: Tell us what thou hast said to the king, hide it not from us, and we will not kill thee: and also what the king said to thee:
38:26. Thou shalt say to them: I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not command me to be carried back into the house of Jonathan, to die there.
38:27. So all the princes came to Jeremias, and asked him: and he spoke to them according to all the words that the king had commanded him: and they left him: for nothing had been heard.
38:28. But Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison, until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and it came to pass that Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremias Chapter 39
After two years' siege Jerusalem is taken. Sedecias is carried before Nabuchodonosor, who kills his sons in his sight, and then puts out his eyes. Jeremias is set at liberty.
39:1. In the ninth year of Sedecias king of Juda, in the tenth month, came Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
39:2. And in the eleventh year of Sedecias, in the fourth month, the fifth day of the month, the city was opened.
39:3. And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Neregel, Sereser, Semegarnabu, Sarsachim, Rabsares, Neregel, Serezer, Rebmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.
39:4. And when Sedecias the king of Juda and all the men of war saw them, they fled: and they went forth in the night out of the city by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls, and they went out to the way of the desert.
39:5. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them: and they took Sedecias in the plain of the desert of Jericho, and when they had taken him, they brought him to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath: and he gave judgment upon him.
39:6. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias, in Reblatha, before his eyes: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Juda.
39:7. He also put out the eyes of Sedecias: and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon.
39:8. And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the houses of the people with fire, and they threw down the wall of Jerusalem.
39:9. And Nabuzardan the general of the army carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained.
39:10. But Nabuzardan the general left some of the poor people that had nothing at all, in the land of Juda, and he gave them vineyards, and cisterns at that time.
39:11. Now Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had given charge to Nabuzardan the general concerning Jeremias, saying:
39:12. Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm: but as he hath a mind, so do with him.
39:13. Therefore Nabuzardan the general sent, and Nabuzardan, and Rabsares, and Neregel, and Sereser, and Rebmag, and all the nobles of the king of Babylon,
39:14. Sent and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, that he might go home, and dwell among the people.
39:15. But the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Go, and tell Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying:
39:16. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will bring my words upon this city unto evil, and not unto good: and they shall be accomplished in thy sight in that day.
39:17. And I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men whom thou fearest:
39:18. But delivering, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword: but thy life shall be saved for thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord.
Jeremias Chapter 40
Jeremias remains with Godolias the governor; who receives all the Jews that resort to him.
40:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that Nabuzardan the general had let him go from Rama, when he had taken him, being bound with chains, among all them that were carried away from Jerusalem and Juda, and were carried to Babylon.
40:2. And the general of the army taking Jeremias, said to him: The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place,
40:3. And he hath brought it: and the Lord hath done as he hath said: because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to his voice, and this word is come upon you.
40:4. Now then behold I have loosed thee this day from the chains which were upon thy hands: if it please thee to come with me to Babylon, come: and I will set my eyes upon thee: but if it do not please thee to come with me to Babylon, stay here: behold all the land is before thee, as thou shalt choose, and whither it shall please thee to go, thither go.
40:5. And come not with me: but dwell with Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Juda: dwell therefore with him in the midst of the people: or whithersoever it shall please thee to go, go. And the general of the army gave him victuals and presents, and let him go.
40:6. And Jeremias went to Godolias the son of Ahicam to Masphath: and dwelt with him in the midst of the people that were left in the land.
40:7. And when all the captains of the army that were scattered through the countries, they and their companions, had heard that the king of Babylon had made Godolias the son of Ahicam governor of the country, and that he had committed unto him men and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, them that had not been carried away captive to Babylon:
40:8. They came to Godolias to Masphath: and Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and Johanan, and Jonathan, the sons of Caree, and Sareas the son of Thanehumeth, and the children of Ophi, that were of Netophathi, and Jezonias the son of Maachati, they and their men.
40:9. And Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan swore to them and to their companions, saying: Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
40:10. Behold I dwell in Masphath, that I may answer the commandment of the Chaldeans that are sent to us: but as for you, gather ye the vintage, and the harvest, and the oil, and lay it up in your vessels, and abide in your cities which you hold.
40:11. Moreover all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judea, and that he had made Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan ruler over them:
40:12. All the Jews, I say, returned out of all the places to which they had fled, and they came into the land of Juda to Godolias to Masphath: and they gathered wine, and a very great harvest.
40:13. Then Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the army, that had been scattered about in the countries, came to Godolias to Masphath.
40:14. And they said to him: Know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon hath sent Ismahel the son of Nathanias to kill thee. And Godolias the son of Ahicam believed them not.
40:15. But Johanan the son of Caree, spoke to Godolias privately in Masphath, saying: I will go, and I will kill Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and no man shall know it, lest he kill thee, and all the Jews be scattered, that are gathered unto thee, and the remnant of Juda perish.
40:16. And Godolias the son of Ahicam said to Johanan the son of Caree: Do not this thing: for what thou sayst of Ismahel is false.
Jeremias Chapter 41
Godolias is slain: the Jews that were with him are apprehensive of the Chaldeans.
41:1. And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismahel the son of Nathanias, the son of Elisama of the royal blood, and the nobles of the king, and ten men with him, came to Godolias the son of Ahicam into Masphath: and they ate bread there together in Masphath.
41:2. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias arose, and the ten men that were with him, and they struck Godolias the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan with the sword, and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
41:3. Ismahel slew also all the Jews that were with Godolias in Masphath, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the soldiers.
41:4. And on the second day after he had killed Godolias, no man yet knowing it,
41:5. There came some from Sichem, and from Silo, and from Samaria, fourscore men, with their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and mourning: and they had offerings and incense in their hand, to offer in the house of the Lord.
41:6. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias went forth from Masphath to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and when he had met them, he said to them: Come to Godolias, the son of Ahicam.
41:7. And when they were come to the midst of the city, Ismahel the son of Nathanias, slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him.
41:8. But ten men were found among them, that said to Ismahel: Kill us not: for we have stores in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. And he forbore, and slew them not with their brethren.
41:9. And the pit into which Ismahel cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he slew because of Godolias, is the same that king Asa made, for fear of Baasa the king of Israel: the same did Ismahel the son of Nathanias fill with them that were slain.
41:10. Then Ismahel carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Masphath: the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Masphath: whom Nabuzardan the general of the army had committed to Godolias the son of Ahicam. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias took them, and he departed, to go over to the children of Ammon.
41:11. But Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, heard of the evil that Ismahel the son of Nathanias had done.
41:12. And taking all the men, they went out to fight against Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and they found him by the great waters that are in Gabaon.
41:13. And when all the people that were with Ismahel, had seen Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, they rejoiced.
41:14. And all the people whom Ismahel had taken, went back to Masphath: and they returned and went to Johanan the son of Caree.
41:15. But Ismahel the son of Nathanias fled with eight men, from the face of Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon.
41:16. Then Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom they had recovered from Ismahel the son of Nathanias, from Masphath, after that he had slain Godolias the son of Ahicam: valiant men for war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs whom he had brought back from Gabaon.
41:17. And they departed, and sat as sojourners in Chamaam, which is near Bethlehem: in order to go forward, and enter into Egypt,
41:18. From the face of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ismahel the son of Nathanias had slain Godolias the son of Ahicam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land of Juda.
Jeremias Chapter 42
Jeremias assures the remnant of the people, that if they will stay in Juda, they shall be safe; but if they go down into Egypt, they shall perish.
42:1. Then all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan the son of Caree, and Jezonias, the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near:
42:2. And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.
42:3. And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do.
42:4. And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you.
42:5. And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.
42:6. Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.
Good or evil... That is, agreeable or disagreeable.
42:7. Now after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.
42:8. And he called Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.
42:9. And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:
42:10. If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.
I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you... That is, I am appeased, as I have sufficiently punished you, and now I am reconciled with you.
42:11. Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
42:12. And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land.
42:13. But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God,
42:14. Saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt: where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.
42:15. For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there:
42:16. The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.
42:17. And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.
42:18. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.
42:19. This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.
42:20. For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
42:21. And now I have declared it to you this day, and you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.
42:22. Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.
Jeremias Chapter 43