Beginning

14 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, of the words of dryness. (The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremiah, about the drought.)

² Judah wailed, and the gates thereof fell down (and its cities fell down), and be made dark in [the] earth, and the cry of Jerusalem went up.

³ Greater men sent their less(er) men to (the) water; they came to draw water, and they found no water, (and) they brought again their vessels void; they were shamed and tormented, and they covered their heads,

⁴ for [the] destroying of the land, for rain came not in the land. (The) Earth-tillers were shamed, (and) they covered their heads.

⁵ For why and an hind calved in the field, and left her calves, for none herb was (for there was no grass);

⁶ and wild asses stood in rocks, and drew wind as dragons; their eyes failed, for none herb was. (and the wild donkeys stood on the high rocks, and drew up the wind like jackals; and their eyes failed, for there was no grass.)

⁷ If our wickednesses answer to us, Lord, do thou for thy name, for our turnings away be many; we have sinned against thee. (Our wickednesses witness against us, Lord, but do thou it for the sake of thy name, even though our turnings away, that is, our sins, be many; yea, we have sinned against thee.)

⁸ Thou abiding of Israel, the saviour thereof in the time of tribulation, why shalt thou be as a comeling in the land, and as a waygoer bowing [down] to dwell? (O hope of Israel, its Saviour in the time of trouble, why shalt thou be like a newcomer in the land, and like a waygoer bowing down to rest?)

⁹ why shalt thou be as a man of unstable dwelling, as a strong man that may not save? Forsooth, Lord, thou art in us, and thine holy name is called to help on us; forsake thou not us. (why shalt thou be like a person of unstable dwelling, like a strong man who cannot save? For Lord, thou art in the midst of us, and thy holy name is called on to help us/and we be called by thy name; do not thou abandon us.)

¹⁰ The Lord saith these things to this people, that loved to stir his feet, and rested not, and pleased not the Lord; now he shall have mind on the wickednesses of them, and he shall visit the sins of them. (The Lord saith these things to this people, who loved to stir their feet, that is, to go astray, and did not rest, and did not please the Lord; now he shall remember their wickednesses, and he shall punish them for their sins.)

¹¹ And the Lord said to me, Do not thou pray for this people into good. (And the Lord said to me, Do not thou pray for the well-being of this people.)

¹² When they shall fast, I shall not hear the prayers of them; and if they offer burnt sacrifices and slain sacrifices, I shall not receive them, for I shall waste them by sword and hunger and pestilence.

¹³ And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, [the] prophets say to them, Ye shall not see sword, and hunger shall not be in you, but he shall give to you very peace in this place. (And I said, O! O! O! Lord God, the prophets say to them, Ye shall not see a sword, and hunger shall not be among you, but he shall give you true peace in this place.)

¹⁴ And the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy falsely in my name; I sent not them (I did not send them), and I commanded not to them, neither I spake to them; they prophesy to you a false revelation, and a guileful divining, and the deceiving of their heart.

¹⁵ Therefore the Lord saith these things of the prophets that prophesy in my name, which I sent not, and say, Sword and hunger shall not be in this land; Those prophets shall be wasted by sword and hunger. (And so the Lord saith these things about the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I did not send, and who say, The sword and hunger shall not be in this land; Those prophets shall be destroyed by the sword and hunger.)

¹⁶ And the peoples, to which they prophesied, shall be cast forth in the ways of Jerusalem, for hunger and sword, and none there shall be, that shall bury them; they and the wives of them, the sons and the daughters of them; and I shall shed out on them their evil. (And the people, to whom they prophesied, shall be thrown forth on the ways of Jerusalem, because of hunger and the sword, and no one shall bury them, yea, they and their wives, and their sons and their daughters; and I shall pour out their own evil upon them.)

¹⁷ And thou shalt say to them this word, Mine eyes lead down a tear by night and day, and be it not still; for the virgin, the daughter of my people, is defouled by great defouling, with the worst wound greatly. (And thou shalt say to them this word, Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, and cease they not; for the virgin daughter of my people is defiled with great defiling, yea, so greatly with the very worst wounds.)

¹⁸ If I go out to [the] fields, lo! men be slain with sword; and if I enter into the city, lo! men be made lean for hunger (lo! people be made lean by hunger); also a prophet and a priest went into the land which they knew not.

¹⁹ Whether thou casting away hast cast away Judah, either thy soul hath loathed Zion? why therefore hast thou smitten us, so that no health there is? We abided peace, and no good is; and we abided time of healing, and lo! troubling is. (Casting away, hast thou cast away Judah, or hath thy soul loathed Zion? and so why hast thou struck us, so that now there is no health?/so that now there is no deliverance? We waited for peace, but nothing good hath come; and we waited for a time of healing, or of deliverance, but lo! there is only a time of trouble.)

²⁰ Lord, we have known our unfaithfulness, and the wickednesses of our fathers, for we have sinned to thee. (Lord, we acknowledge our unfaithfulness, and the wickednesses of our forefathers, for we all have sinned against thee.)

²¹ Give thou not us into shame, for thy name, neither do thou despite to us; have thou mind on the seat of thy glory, make thou not void thy bond of peace with us. (Give thou us not unto shame, for the sake of thy name, nor despise thou us; remember thou the throne of thy glory, make thou not void thy covenant with us.)

²² Whether in graven images of heathen men be they that (can make) rain, either heavens may give rains? whether thou art not our Lord God, whom we abided? For thou madest all these things. (Can any of the carved idols of the heathen make rain, or can the heavens give out rain by themselves? art thou not the Lord our God, whom we have waited for? For thou madest all these things.)

15 And the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, (yet) my soul is not to(ward) this people; cast thou them out from my face, and go they out.

² That if they say to thee, Whither shall we go out? (And if they say to thee, Where shall we go?) thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, They that to death, to death, and they that to sword, to sword, and they that to hunger, to hunger, and they that to captivity, to captivity.

³ I shall visit on them four species, saith the Lord; a sword to slaying, and dogs for to rend, and volatiles of the air, and beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. (I shall punish them four ways, saith the Lord; with a sword for killing, and dogs for tearing apart, and birds of the air, and beasts of the earth, for devouring and for destroying.)

⁴ And I shall give them into fervor to all (the) realms of (the) earth, for Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, on all things which he did in Jerusalem (for all the things which he did in Jerusalem).

⁵ For why who shall have mercy on thee, Jerusalem, either who shall be sorry for thee, either who shall go to pray for thy peace?

⁶ Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou hast gone aback; and I shall stretch forth mine hand on thee, and I shall slay thee; I travailed praying. (Thou hast deserted me, saith the Lord, thou hast gone away; and I shall stretch forth my hand against thee, and I shall kill thee; I am weary of restraining myself.)

⁷ And I shall scatter them with a winnowing instrument in the gates of [the] earth; I killed, and lost my people (I killed, and destroyed my people), and nevertheless they turned not again from their ways.

⁸ The widows thereof be multiplied to me above the gravel of the sea; and I brought into them a destroyer in midday on the mother of a young man, I sent dread suddenly on [the] cities. (Its widows be multiplied by me, in number more than the sands of the sea; and I brought in upon them a destroyer at midday against the mothers of the young men, and I sent fear suddenly upon the cities.)

⁹ She was sick that childed seven, her soul failed; the sun went down to her, when day was yet. She was shamed, and was ashamed; and I shall give the residue thereof into sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord. (She was sick who gave birth to seven, her life failed; her sun went down, while it was still daylight. She was shamed, and was ashamed; and I shall give all the rest who be alive unto the sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord.)

¹⁰ My mother, woe to me; why engenderedest thou me a man of chiding, a man of discord in all the land? I lent not, neither any man lent to me; all men curse me(.),

¹¹ the Lord saith. No man believe to me, if thy remnants be not into good, if I run not to thee in the time of torment, and in the time of tribulation and of anguish, against the enemy. (The Lord saith, No one believe me, if it be not well with thy remnant, and if I do not run against the enemy for thee, in the time of torment, and in the time of trouble and of anguish.)

¹² Whether iron and metal shall be joined by peace to iron from the north? (Can iron be broken, especially the iron from the north, that is joined with bronze?)

¹³ And I shall give freely thy riches and thy treasures into ravishing, for all thy sins, and in all thine ends. (And I shall freely give thy riches and thy treasures for robbing, for all thy sins, and in all thy land.)

¹⁴ And I shall bring thine enemies from the land which thou knowest not; for (a) fire is kindled in my strong vengeance, and it shall burn on you.

¹⁵ Lord, thou knowest, have thou mind on me, and visit me, and deliver me from them that pursue me; do not thou take me (away) in thy patience, know thou, that I suffered shame for thee. (Lord, thou knowest, remember thou me, and visit me, and rescue me, or save me, from those who pursue me; yea, in thy patience, do not thou take me away, that is, do not let me perish, and know thou, that I have suffered shame for thee.)

¹⁶ Thy words be found, and I ate those; and thy word was made to me into joy, and into gladness of mine heart; for thy name, Lord God of hosts, is called to help on me (for thy name, the Lord God of hosts, is called on to help me/for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts).

¹⁷ I sat not in the council of players, and I had glory for the face of thine hand; I sat alone, for thou filledest me with bitterness. (I sat not in the company of scorners, or of mockers, and I took no glory with them/and I made not merry with them; because of thy hand, or in obedience to thee, I sat alone; for thou hast filled me with anger.)

¹⁸ Why is my sorrow made everlasting, and my wound despaired (to heal?), (why) forsook (it) to be cured? it is made to me, as a leasing of unfaithful waters (it is made to me like a lie, like summer waters that fail, or that dry up).

¹⁹ For this thing the Lord saith these things (to me), If thou turnest (back to me), (then) I shall turn (back to) thee, and thou shalt stand before my face (again); and if thou partest precious thing from vile thing, (then) thou shalt be as my mouth (again); and they shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them (and if thou separatest precious words from vile ones, then thou shalt be like my mouth again; and the people shall return to thee, and thou shalt not need to go to them).

²⁰ And I shall give thee into a brazen wall and strong to this people (And I shall make thee like a strong bronze wall to this people), and they shall fight against thee, and they shall not have the victory; for I am with thee, to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

²¹ And I shall deliver thee from the hand of the worst men, and I shall again-buy thee from the hand of strong men. (And I shall rescue, or shall save, thee from the hands, or the power, of the wicked, and I shall buy thee back from the hands, or the power, of the strong.)

16 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

² Thou shalt not take a wife, and sons and daughters shall not be to thee in this place.

³ For the Lord saith these things on sons and daughters, that be engendered in this place, and on the mothers of them, that engendered them, and on the fathers of them, of whose generation they be born in this land. (For the Lord saith these things about the sons and daughters, who be begotten in this place, and about their mothers, who begat them, and about their fathers, from whose generation they be born in this land.)

⁴ They shall die by deaths of sicknesses, they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth, and they shall be wasted by sword and hunger; and the carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles of heaven, and to [the] beasts of the earth. (They shall die by the death of sicknesses, but they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be like a mound of dung upon the face of the earth, and they shall be wasted by the sword and by hunger; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, or of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)

⁵ For the Lord saith these things, Enter thou not into an house of feast, neither go thou to bewail, neither comfort thou them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, and (my) mercy and merciful doings.

⁶ And great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall be bewailed; and they shall not cut themselves, neither baldness shall be made for them.

⁷ And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort on a dead man, and they shall not give to them drink of a cup, to comfort on their father and mother. (And they shall not break bread among themselves with him who mourneth, to comfort him over the dead, and they shall not give a drink from a cup to anyone, to comfort them over the loss of even their father or their mother.)

⁸ And thou shalt not enter into the house of (the) feast, that thou sit with them, and eat, and drink.

⁹ For why the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall take away from this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness (and the voice of happiness), the voice of the spouse, and the voice of spousess.

¹⁰ And when thou shalt tell all these words to this people, and they shall say to thee, Why spake the Lord all this great evil on us? what is our wickedness, either what is our sin which we sinned to our Lord God? (And when thou shalt tell all these things to this people, and they shall say to thee, Why spoke the Lord all this great evil against us? what is our wickedness, or what is our sin which we sinned against the Lord our God?)

¹¹ thou shalt say to them, For your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after alien gods, and served them, and worshipped them, and they forsook me, and kept not my law. (thou shalt say to them, For your forefathers deserted me, saith the Lord, and went after strange, or foreign, gods, and served them, and worshipped them, yea, they deserted me, and did not keep, or obey, my law.)

¹² But also ye wrought worse than your fathers; for lo! each man goeth after the shrewdness of his evil heart, that he hear not me. (And ye have wrought worse than your forefathers; for lo! each person goeth after the depravity of his own evil heart, so that they do not listen to, or obey, me.)

¹³ And I shall cast you out of this land, into the land which ye and your fathers know not; and ye shall serve there to alien gods day and night, which shall not give rest to you. (And I shall throw you out of this land, into the land which ye and your forefathers know not; and there ye shall serve strange, or foreign, gods day and night, and I shall not show you any mercy/and I shall not show you any favour.)

¹⁴ Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; (And so lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, As the Lord liveth, who led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt;)

¹⁵ but, The Lord liveth, that led [out] the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all lands to which I casted them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to the fathers of them. (but, As the Lord liveth, who led out the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands to which I threw them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to their forefathers.)

¹⁶ Lo! I shall send many fishers to them, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after these things I shall send many hunters to them, and they shall hunt them from each mountain, and from each little hill, and from the caves of stones.

¹⁷ For mine eyes be on all the ways of them; those ways be not hid from my face, and the wickedness of them was not privy from mine eyes.

¹⁸ And I shall yield first the double wickednesses and [the] sins of them, for they defouled my land in the slain beasts of their idols, and filled mine heritage with their abominations. (And first I shall make them yield double for their wickednesses and their sins, for they defiled my land with the slain beasts for their idols, and filled my inheritance with their abominations.)

¹⁹ Lord, my strength, and my stalworthness, and my refuge in the day of tribulation, heathen men shall come to thee from the farthest places of (the) earth, and shall say, Verily our fathers held a leasing in possession, vanity that profited not to them. (Lord, my strength, and my stalwartness, and my refuge in the day of trouble, the heathen shall come to thee from the farthest places of the earth, and shall say, Truly our forefathers inherited only lies, yea, vain, or useless, idols that profited them nothing.)

²⁰ Whether a man shall make gods to himself? (Can a man make gods for himself?) and those be no gods.

²¹ Therefore lo! I shall show to them by this while, I shall show to them mine hand, and my strength; and they shall know, that the name to me is [the] Lord (and they shall know, that my name is the Lord).

17 The sin of Judah is written with an iron pointel, in a nail of adamant; it is written on the breadth of the heart of them, and in the horns of the altars of them. (The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, with an adamant point; it is written on the breadth of their hearts, and on the corners of their altars.)

² When the sons of them bethink on their altars, and [maumet] woods, and on the trees full of boughs, (While their sons and daughters worship at their altars, and in their sacred woods, by the trees full of branches, in the high mountains,)

³ making sacrifice in the field in high mountains, I shall give thy strength and all thy treasures into ravishing, thine high things for sins in all thine ends. (and make sacrifice in the fields, I shall give thy wealth and all thy treasures to robbing, or for spoils, and thy high places, or thy hill shrines, for more sins, in all thy terms, or in all thy land.)

⁴ And thou shalt be left alone from thine heritage which I gave to thee (And thou shalt be taken away from thy inheritance which I gave thee); and I shall make thee to serve thine enemies, in the land which thou knowest not; for thou hast kindled (a) fire in my strong vengeance, it shall burn till into without end.

⁵ The Lord saith these things, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and setteth flesh his arm, and his heart goeth away from the Lord. (The Lord saith these things, Cursed is the person who trusteth in people, and maketh any flesh his source of power and security, and his heart goeth away from the Lord.)

⁶ For he shall be as brooms in desert, and he shall not see, when good shall come; but he shall dwell in dryness in desert, in the land of saltness, and unhabitable. (For he shall be like the heather in the wilderness, and he shall not see, when good shall come; but he shall live in the dryness of the desert, yea, in an uninhabitable and salty land.)

⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord (Happy is the person who trusteth in the Lord), and the Lord shall be his trust.

⁸ And he shall be as a tree, which is planted over waters, which sendeth his roots to moisture; and it shall not dread, when heat shall come; and the leaf thereof shall be green, and it shall not be moved in the time of dryness, neither any time it shall fail to make fruit. (And he shall be like a tree, which is planted by the waters, which sendeth out its roots to moisture; and it shall not have any fear, when the heat shall come; and its leaves shall be green, and it shall not be moved in the time of drought, nor at any time shall it fail to make fruit.)

⁹ The heart of man is shrewd, and unsearchable; who shall know it? (Each person’s heart is depraved, and unknowable; who can understand it?)

¹⁰ I am the Lord seeking the heart, and proving the reins, either kidneys, and I give to each man after his way, and after the fruit of his findings. (I am the Lord searching the minds, and proving the hearts, and I give to each person after his own ways, and after the fruit of his own deeds.)

¹¹ (As) A partridge nourished those things which she breeded not; (so) he made riches, and not in doom (Like a partridge nourished those young which she did not bring forth, so he made riches, but not justly); in the midst of his days he shall forsake them, and in his last time he shall be unwise.

¹² The seat of glory of highness was at the beginning the place of our hallowing, the abiding of Israel. (The throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary, the abiding of Israel.)

¹³ Lord, all they that forsake thee, shall be shamed; they that go away from thee, shall be written in [the] earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, a vein of quick waters. (Lord, all they who desert thee, shall be ashamed; they who go away from thee, shall vanish like words written in the sand, for they have deserted the Lord, the vein, or the spring, of living waters.)

¹⁴ Lord, heal me, and I shall be healed; make thou me safe, and I shall be safe (save thou me/rescue thou me, and I shall be saved); for thou art my praising.

¹⁵ Lo! they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? come it.

¹⁶ And I am not troubled, following thee shepherd, and I desired not the day of man, thou knowest. That that went out of my lips was rightful in thy sight.

¹⁷ Be thou not to dread to me; thou art mine hope in the day of torment. (Be thou not a terror to me, that is, something to fear; thou art my hope on the day of torment.)

¹⁸ Be they shamed, that pursue me, and be I not shamed; dread they, and dread not I; bring in on them a day of torment, and defoul thou them by double defouling. (Be they shamed, who pursue me, and let me not be shamed; let them fear, and let me not be afraid; bring in upon them a day of torment, and defile thou them with double defiling.)

¹⁹ The Lord saith these things to me, Go thou, and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah enter [in], and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰ And thou shall say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the dwellers of Jerusalem, that enter [in] by these gates. (And thou shall say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter in by these gates.)

²¹ The Lord God saith these things, Keep ye your souls, and do not ye bear burdens in the day of sabbath (and do not ye carry any burdens on the day of sabbath), neither bring (them) in by the gates of Jerusalem.

²² And do not ye cast burdens out of your houses in the day of sabbath (And do not ye carry any burdens out of your houses on the day of sabbath), and ye shall not do any work; hallow ye the day of sabbath, as I commanded to your fathers.

²³ And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, but they made hard their noll, that they should not hear me, and that they should not take chastising. (But they did not listen, nor bowed down their ear, but they stiffened their necks, or were stubborn, so that they would not listen to me, so that they could receive my discipline, or my correction.)

²⁴ And it shall be, if ye hear me, saith the Lord, that ye bear not in burdens by the gates of this city in the day of sabbath, and if ye hallow the day of sabbath, that ye do not work therein, (And it shall be, if ye listen to, or obey, me, saith the Lord, so that ye do not carry in burdens by the gates of this city on the day of sabbath, and if ye hallow the day of sabbath, so that ye do no work on it,)

²⁵ kings and princes sitting on the seat of David shall enter [in] by the gates of this city, and ascending in chariots and horses; they, and the princes of them, the men of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited without end. (then kings and princes sitting on the throne of David shall enter in by the gates of this city, and shall come in chariots and on horses; they, and their princes, and the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited forever.)

²⁶ And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the compass of Jerusalem (and from all around Jerusalem), and from the land of Benjamin, and from [the] field places, and from [the] hilly places, and from the south, bearing burnt sacrifice, and slain sacrifice, and incense; and they shall bring offering(s) into the house of the Lord.

²⁷ Forsooth if ye hear not me, that ye hallow the day of sabbath, and that ye bear not a burden, and that ye bring not in by the gates of Jerusalem in the day of sabbath, I shall kindle fire in the gates thereof; and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. (But if ye do not listen to me, so that ye hallow the day of sabbath, and so that ye do not carry a burden, and so that ye do not bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem on the day of sabbath, then I shall kindle a fire in its gates; and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.)