cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the LORD. CHAP. XVII.

1 The captivity of Judah for her sin. b Trust in God is

1.

1TH

blessed.

HE sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

2. Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

3. O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

4. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

5. Thus saith the LORD, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD:

6. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is:

8. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10. I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

11. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

15. Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

16. As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee; neither have I desired the woful day, thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

17. Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

18. Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

19. Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20. And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

21. Thus saith the LORD, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath-day, neither do ye any work; but hallow ye the sabbathday, as I commanded your fathers.

23. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

24. And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, but hallow the sabbath-day, to do no work therein;

25. Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever.

13. O LORD, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

14. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

27. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

1. T from the LORD, saying,

2. Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there will I cause thee to hear my words.

3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

17. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy: I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

18. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet: come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

19. Give heed to me, O LORD, and

6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.

7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy

it:

8. If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto

them.

9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it:

10. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.

11. Now, therefore, go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every

one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

12. And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

13. Therefore thus saith the LORD, Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things? the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

14. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

15. Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burnt incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths in a way not cast up;

16. To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing: every one that passeth

20. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

21. Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

22. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

23. Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee: deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

CHAP. XIX.

The desolation of the Jews for their sins foretold.

1.THUS saith the LORD, Go, and get a

potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests,

2. And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;

3. And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever hear eth, his ears shall tingle.

4. Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

5. They have built also the high places of

Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burntofferings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 6. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of slaughter.

7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives; and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

8. And I will make this city desolate, and a hissing: every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss, because of all the plagues thereof.

9. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

11. And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Even so will I break this people, and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place else to bury.

12. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make their city as Tophet:

13. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the ⚫ houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled, as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burnt incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.

14. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house, and said to all the people,

15. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city, and upon all her towns, all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

CHAP. XX.

Pashur, smiling Jeremiah, receiveth a new name, and a fearful doom.

NOW Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who was also the chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in

the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

3. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.

4. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5. Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thy house, shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

7. O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

8. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily.

9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

10. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

11. But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

12. But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

LORD; for he hath delivered the soul of the 13. Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the poor from the hand of evil-doers.

let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

15. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

16. And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noon-tide;

17. Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

CHAP. XXI.

1 Zedekiah sendeth to inquire the event of Nebuchadrezzar's war. 3. A hard siege foretold.

1.THE word cam, when King HE word which came unto Jere

Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

2. Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous from us. orks, that he may go up from them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah,

4. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

5. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.

6. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.

7. And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

8. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

10. For I have set my face against this city, for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD; it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

11. And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD: 12. O house of David, thus saith the LORD, Execute judgment in the morning," and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

13. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saithe town on us or who shall enter saith the LORD; which say, Who shall

speak there this word,

2. And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates;

3. Thus saith the LORD, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

4. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings, sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

6. For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah, Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

8. And many nations shall pass by this