The judgments of God. 1 food. ner of house will ISAIAH, 66. the LORD, and their offspring with them. 24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. CHAPTER 66. 1 The glorious God will be served in humble sincerity. 5 He comforteth the humble with the marvellous generation, 10 and with the gracious benefits of the church. 15 God's severe judgments against the wicked. 19 The Gentiles shall have an holy church, 24 and see the damnation of the wicked. THUS saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the what man-earth is my footstool: 2where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. * what place shall be 3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. 5¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies. 7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. 4 8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 5 The enlargement of Zion. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. 6 10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, love her: rejoice for joy with her, and be glad with her, all ye that all ye that mourn for her: satisfied with the breasts of her 11 That ye may suck, and be consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. that cause to bring forth 17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the 7 behind one midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. 18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come. 8 the time that I will gather all nations and cometh tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 9 20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon 9 nations. swift beasts, to my holy mountain 10 dromeJerusalem, saith the LORD, as the daries, children of Israel bring an offering | in a clean vessel into the house of 21 And I will also take of them The almond rod and the caldron. that from one new moon to another, the LORD and for Levites, saith before me, saith the LORD. 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, 24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me : for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. 1 Now THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH CHAPTER 1. 1 The time, 8 and the calling of Jeremiah. Tof Hilkiah, of the priests that 2 To whom the word of the LORD 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will 2 watch over hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time. saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. from 14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, lo, I will call all the fami- 7¶ But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. 17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. The people's former love, 1 be held guilty; 2 rulers over to CHAPTER 2. JEREMIAH, 2. 1 God, having shewed his former kindness, expostulateth with the Jews their causeless revolt, 9 beyond any example. 14 They are the causes of their own calamities. 20 The sins of Judah. 31 Her confidence is rejected. MOREOVER the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase all that devour him shall 1 offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. 4 Hear ve the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 2 8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. 9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. 3 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forIsaken me the fountain of living and unexampled apostasy. waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 14 ¶ Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? 15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. 16 Also the children of Noph Memphis and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. 17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast for saken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? * 5 18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? 5 River? 19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 8 20 ¶ For of old time I have thou hast broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress : when upon every 7 serve; high hill and under every green for tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 9 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much lye, sope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, 10 the know w what thou hast done: thou Baalim? art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind "at 11 in her her pleasure: in her occasion who desire; can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. 25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings,' their That is, the Nile. †That is, the Euphrates. ‡ Or, The backsliding of the people. 1 broken loose; 2 How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! 3 innocent poor: thou didst not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things. 4 those in whom thou trustest, JEREMIAH, 3. princes, and their priests, and their 27 Saying to a stock, Thou art 28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. 30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. Judah worse than Israel. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? 5 Will he reserve his anger for retain 6 ¶ The LORD said also unto me 1 32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. 33 2 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. 35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. 36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. CHAPTER 3. 1 God's great mercy in Judah's vile whore- The promises of the gospel to the penitent and become another man's, shall he 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 7 spoken thus, but hast done Exhortation to repentance. 1 Return 2 a husband * shepherds 14 Turn, O backsliding child- | God, we and our fathers, from our ren, saith the LORD; for I am 2 mar-youth even unto this day, and have ried unto you and I will take you not obeyed the voice of the LORD one of a city, and two of a family, our God. and I will bring you to Zion: 15 And I will give you "pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; 5 it be made neither shall that be done any 4 miss 6 stubbornness 7 the nations? * from following me. 9 hare heights, 10 because 11 the shame ful thing more. 4 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the "imagination of their evil heart. LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, 2 And thou shalt swear, The and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. 3¶ For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and Sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheri-lish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow 5 Declare ye in Judah, and pubtance unto your fathers. ye the trumpet in the land: 14 cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 21 A voice was heard upon the 9 high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: 1 for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. 23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our not wander, and wilt liveth, swear, As the LORD 18 then shall the nations Zion; 15 retire, stay not: for I will 15 flee for 6 Set up the standard toward bring evil from the north, and a safety, great destruction. 7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the 16 Gentiles is on his way; he is gone 16 nations forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall tant. be laid waste, without an inhabi cloth, lament and howl: for the 8 For this gird you with sackfierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. |