A lamentation. JEREMIAH, V. 20 Destruction r upon destruction B. C. 612. is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a mo inent. r Ps.42.7. Eze.7.26. 21 How long shall I see the stand-s Mi.2.1. ard, and hear the sound of the Ro.16.19. trumpet? t Is.24.19. Eze.38.20. Hab.3.6. 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sot-u Is.5.25. tish children, and they have none, understanding; they are wise s to do evil, but to do good they have u Zep.1.3. no knowledge. 23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it w Ps.76.7. was withoutt form and void; and x Ho.4.3. the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I behold the mountains, and, y Eze.23.40. lo, they trembled, u and all the hills moved lightly. 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds v of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce w anger. 27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. eyes. 2 ch.22.20-22. La. 1.2, 19. a Is. 1.15. La. 1.17. (CHAP. 5.) a Ge.18.23, &c. Eze.22.30. Tit. 1.16. 2Ch.16.9. d ch.7.28. Is.9.13. Zep.3.1,2. 23 For a this shall the earth mourn,] and the heavens above be blacke because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: f Mat. 11.5. every city shall be forsaken, and g Mi.3.1. not a man dwell therein. e He. 12.9. 30 And when thou art spoiled, what h Ps.2.3. wilt thou do? Though thou clothi Ho.13.7. est thyself with crimson, though Am.5.18,19. thou y deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy 6 face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair: thy lovers z1 or, deserts. will despise thee, they will seek 2 strong. thy life. Eze.22.27. Zep.3.3. Jos.23.7. Zep.1.5. 30.11. P 2Ch.36.16. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish | as of her that bringeth forth her m ch.13.27. first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself," ver.29. that spreadeth her a hands, saying, ch.9.9. Wo is me now! for my soul is o ch.4.27. wearied because of murderers. CHAPTER V. The judgments of God upon the Jews for their perverseness. Reyes of Jerusalem, and see UN ye to and fro through the now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, ifa ye can ind a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. q Is.28.15. r ch.14.13, 15. • ch.20.9,11. t De.28.49. Is.5.25. 39.3,6. Judgments of God. 2 And though they say, b The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes c upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they d have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused e to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they f know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get ine unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they g have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken h the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf/ of the 1 evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are 2 increased. 7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they theu committed adultery, m and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not iny soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but o make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have beliedp the LORD, and said, It is not he, neither q shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophetsr shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, s and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, 1 will bring a nation t upon you from far, O house of Israel, Judgments of God. saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. JEREMIAH, VI. B. C. 612. u Le.26.16. v ver. 10. Ho.7.11. 16 Their quiver is as an open se-w De.29.24, pulchre, they are all mighty men. &c. 17 And they shall eat up u thine IKI.9.8,9. harvest, and thy bread, which thyr De.28.48. sons and thy daughters should eat: 3 heart, they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, z ch.10.7. saith the LORD, I will not make a full v end with you. y Is.6.9. Re. 15.4. a Ps.99.1. b Job 38.11. Pr.8.29. Ho.4.8. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore w doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have for- d Is.31.6. saken me, and served strange gods e De.11.13, in your land, so r shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's. f Ge.8.22. 20 Declare this in the house of 8 ch.3.3. Jacob, and publish it in Judah,| or, pry as foolers lie saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without 3 understanding; which y have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not : 4 14. in wait. 5 or, coop. Mi.1. 12. De.32.15. k ch.22.15-19. or, Astonish ment and filthiness. 22 Fear z ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble a at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound b of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot 1 Ho.6.10. pass it: and though the waves m Eze. 13.6. thereof toss themselves, yet canor, take into they not prevail; though they roar, their hands. yet can they not pass over it? n Mi.2.11. 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; c they are revoltedd and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, e both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth f unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25Your iniquities g have turned away these things and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men they 4 lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a 5 cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit : therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.h o De.32.29. La. 1.9. (CHAP. 6.) a Ne.3. 14. Eze.26.7,&c. 1 or, woman dwelling at home. c 2Ki.25.1. d ch.8.20. e Ca.2.17. 2or, pour out the engine of shot. f Is.57.20. g Eze.7.11, 23. h Pr.4.13. Zep.3.7. i Eze.23.18. 3 be loosed,or, disjointed. k Is.53.1. 1 Ac.7.51. 28 They are waxen fat, i they shine yea, they overpass the deeds m ch.20.8,9. of the wicked: they judge not k then ch.9.21. cause, the cause of the fatherless, o ch.8.10. yet they prosper; and the right of De.28.30. the needy do they not judge. Corruption of the Jews. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30 T6 A wonderful and horrible! thing is committed in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, m and the priests 7 bear rule by their means; and my people love n to have it so; and what will ye do in the end o thereof? CHAPTER VI. The enemies sent against Judah encourage themselves. OYE children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up for evil appeareth out of the north, b a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: a and great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch c their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Wo unto us! ford the day goeth away, for the shadowse of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and 2 cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7 Asf a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence g and spoil is heard in her; before me contínually is grief and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, h O Jerusalem, lesti my soul 3 depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. 9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets. 10 To whom k shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; m they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children n abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife o shall God's wrath proclaimed. JEREMIAH, VII. be taken, the aged with him that is B. C. 612. full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turn-p Mi.3.5, 11. ed unto others, with their fields and q ch.8.11,12. wives together: for I will stretch 4 bruise, or, out my hand upon the inhabitants breach. of the land, saith the LORD. 13 For from the least of them even r La.2.14. unto the greatest of them every ones ch.3.3. is given to covetousness; p and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the 4 hurt of the daughter of my peo-| ple slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when r there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed, s when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: thereforet they shall fall among them that fall at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask u for the old paths, v where is the good way, w and walk 2 therein, and ye shall find rest y for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen z over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not a hearken. 18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. t Pr.29.1. w Ca.1.7. x Col.2.6. z Eze.3.17. a Zec.7.11. c Pr.28.9. d Ps.50.7-9. e Eze.3.20. fver.1. g Is.5.30. i 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit b of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, c k ch.25.34. but rejected it. ch.4.10. Mi. 1.10. ¿ La.1.16. 20 To what purpose d cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? m ch.9.4. your burnt-offerings are not accept-n Is. 1.22,25. able, nor your sacrifices sweet un to me. 21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks e before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. 22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, f a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roarethg like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. or, Refuse. o Mat,5.13. (CHAP. 7.) a Is. 1.16,17. Mat.3.8. b Mi.3.11. Mat.3.9, 10. &c. f Eze.23.29. my name 24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish h hath taken hold of us, and g 2Ch.6.33. pain, as of a woman in travail. Exhortations to repentance. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword i of the enemy and fear is on every side. 26 TO daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow k thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, l us for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people,that thou mayest know and try their way. 28 They are all grievous revolters, walking m with slanders: they are n brass and iron: they are all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 5 Reprobate o silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them. CHAPTER VII. 1 Jeremiah is sent to call for true repentance. 8 God rejecteth their vain confidence. THE HE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend a your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Trust ye not b in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. 5 For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; 6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither c walk after other gods to your hurt: 7 Then d will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will e ye steal, murder,and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods, whom ye know not; me in this house, 1 which is called 10 And comef and stand before by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which g is called Obduracy of the Jews. JEREMIAH, VIII. by my name, become a den h of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. 12 But go ye now unto my place i which was in Shiloh, where k I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. B. C. 600. h Mat.21.13. i Jos. 18.1. k De. 12.11. ch.26.6. - 1Sa.4.11, &c. Ps.78.60,61. 13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising m 2Ch.36.15. m up early and speaking, n but yen Ne.9.29,30. heard not; and I called you, but o o Is.65.12. ye answered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast p you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.q 16 Therefore pray not r thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: fors I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 66.4. p 2Ki. 17.23. q Ps.78.67. Ho.9.3. 1Jno.5.16. s ch.15.1. 2 or, frame, or, workmanship. t 1Co. 10.22. u Am.5.21. v 1Sa. 15.22. Ps.40.6. 8 concerning the matter of. w Ex. 15.26. De.6.3. 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the x Ex. 19.5. women knead their dough, to makeį Le.26.3,12. cakes to the 2 queen of heaven,' y Ps.81.11,12. and to pour out drink-offerings un- 4 or, stubto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do t they provoke me to anger?! saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces? bornness. z ch.11.7,8. 5 were. 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord a Ho.4.16. GOD; Behold, mine anger and my b Ne.9.17,29. fury shall be poured out upon this c ch.16.12. place, upon man, and upon beast, d ch.32.33. Exhortation to mourn. tion z of their evil heart, and 5 went backward, a and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened b their neck: they did worse c than their fathers. 27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thon shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. 28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeveth not the voice of the LORD their God, nord receiveth 6 correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. 29 Cut off e thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which ƒ is called by my name, to pollute it. 31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, g which is in the valley of the son of Hianom, to burn their sons h and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it 7 into my heart. 32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for i they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. 33 And the carcasses of this peo and upon the trees of the field, and 6 or,instruc-ple shall be meat for the fowls of upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. 21 T Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put u your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. e Job 1.20. Mi.1.16. ƒ 2Ki.21.4,7. Eze.8.5,&c. g 2K1.23.10. h Ps. 106.38. upon. ich. 19.6,11. Eze.6.5,&c. k De.28.26. 22 For v I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, 3 concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: 23 But this thing commanded I Ps.79.2. them, saying, Obey w my voice, and 1 Is.24.7,8. Ir will be your God, and ye shall Ho.2.11. be my people and walk ye in all m Le.26.33. the ways that I have commanded Is.3.26. you, that it may be well unto you. 24 Buty they hearkened not, nor (CHAP. 8.) inclined their ear, but walked in a Eze.37.1. tire counsels and in the 4 imagina-. the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. 34 Then will I cause to ceasel from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.m CHAPTER VIII. 1 The calamity of the Jews: 4 Their impenitency upbraided. T that time, saith the LORD, A they shall bring out the bones a of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the in Calamity of the Jews. JEREMIAH, IX. habitants of Jerusalem, out of their B. C. 600. graves: 2 And they shall spread them be- b2Ki.23.5. fore the sun, and the moon, and all c 2Ki.9.37. the host of heaven, b whom they d Re.9.6. have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked,andwhom theyhave songht, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be dung c upon the face of the earth. 3 And death d shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall hei turn away, and not return? 5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse e to return. 6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. 7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtlef and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. 8 How do ye say, We are wise, g and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly 1 in vain h made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. 92 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and 3 what wisdom i is in them? 10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, k from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. 11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, l peace; when there is no peace. e Jno.5.40. sume. n Ho.2.8.9. t s Ps.58.4.5. 7 upon. v Ps. 135.21. w Is.33.22. Joel 3.6. 12. a ch.46.11. b Mat.9.11, 12. gone up. give my La.2.11. 3.48. b ch.5.7.8. 12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed,neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time m of their visitation they d Is.59.3,4. shall be cast down, saith the LORD. e Jude 3. 13 41 will surely consume them, f2Ti.3.13. saith the LORD: there shall be nog Ho.4.1-3. grapes on the vine, nor figs on the 2 or, friend. fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; The prophet's lamentation. and the things that I have given them shall pass n away from them, 14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given o us water of 5 gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We looked p for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! 16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: q the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong r ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and 6 all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. 17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, s and they shall bite you, saith the LORD. 18 When t I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint 7 in me. 19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, because of them that dwell in a far u country: Is not the LORD in Zion? v is not her king w in her? Why have they provoked a me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? 20 The harvest is past, y the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; z astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 Is there no balm a in Gilead? is there no physician b there? why then is not the health of the daugliter of my people 9 recovered? CHAPTER IX. Jeremiah lamenteth the Jews for their manifold sins. H1 that my head were waters, Odine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep a day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, b an assembly of treacher ous men.c 3 And they bend their tongues d like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant e for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed f from evil to evil, and they g know not me, saith the LORD. 4 Take ye heed every one of his 2 neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. |