Jeremiah 12 Cross References - NSB

¹ Jehovah, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Indeed, I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed with impunity? ² You plant them, and they take root. They grow and bear fruit. You are near their lips, but far from their mind. ³ But, you know me, Jehovah. You see what I do and how in my heart I love you. Drag them away like sheep to be butchered. Guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered. ⁴ How long will our land be dry and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people. These people say: »God does not see what we are doing.« ⁵ Jehovah says: »Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you cannot even stand up in open country, how will you manage in the thicket by the Jordan?« ⁶ »Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you. They join in the attacks against you. Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words. ⁷ Jehovah says: »I have abandoned Israel. I have rejected my chosen nation. I have given the people I love into the power of their enemies. ⁸ »My chosen people have turned against me. Like a lion in the forest they have roared at me, and so I hate them. ⁹ »My chosen people are like a bird attacked from all sides by hawks. Call the wild animals to come and join in the feast! ¹⁰ »Many foreign rulers have destroyed my vineyard. They trampled down my fields and turned my beautiful land into a desert. ¹¹ »They made it a wasteland. It lies desolate before me. The whole land has become a desert, and no one cares. ¹² »Across the entire desert highlands people have come to plunder. Jehovah has sent war to destroy the entire land. No one can live in peace. ¹³ »My people planted wheat. They gathered weeds! They worked hard and got nothing for it. Because of my fierce anger their crops have failed.« ¹⁴ Jehovah says: »I have something to say about Israel's neighbors who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them. ¹⁵ »But after I have taken them away I will have mercy on them. I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country. ¹⁶ »If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear: As Jehovah lives, as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper. ¹⁷ »However if any nation will not obey I will completely uproot it and destroy it.« I, Jehovah, have spoken.

²⁵ »Surely you would not do that! Would you slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?«

⁴ Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. They hated Joseph and could not speak to him in a friendly way. ⁵ One time Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about it and they hated him even more. ⁶ He said: »Please listen to the dream I had. ⁷ »We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat. My sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it.« ⁸ »Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?« his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them. ⁹ Joseph had another dream and told his brothers: »I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.« ¹⁰ He also told the dream to his father. His father scolded him. »What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?« ¹¹ Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. His father kept thinking about the whole matter.

¹⁶ then this is what I will do to you: I will terrorize you with disease and fever. You will suffer from eye problems and depression. You will plant your crops and get nothing because your enemies will eat them.

³³ »‘I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted.

¹⁸ »We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his own land.

²⁰ »‘Help the other Israelites until they occupy the land Jehovah is giving them west of the Jordan and until Jehovah lets them live there in peace, just as he has done here for you. After that, you may return to the land I assigned to you.’

²⁰ »Respect Jehovah your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. ²¹ »He is your praise! He is your God! He performed for you those great and awesome things you saw with your own eyes.

³⁸ »You will plant many crops in your fields, but harvest little for locusts will destroy your crops.

³ he will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you from all the nations of the world where he has scattered you.

⁴ »He is the Rock! His work is perfect. For all His ways are just. He is a God of faithfulness and without evil. He is just and upright.

¹⁵ As they carried the ark into the Jordan and the feet of the priests dipped into the water, for Jordan is at food stage at the time of harvest.

⁷ »You will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them.

³ »Jehovah, Please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and truth. And consider my whole heart devoted to you. I have done what is good in your eyes.« Hezekiah wept bitterly.

² Jehovah sent raiding parties of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah as Jehovah predicted through his servants the prophets.

¹⁵ They crossed the Jordan River during its seasonal flooding at the beginning of the year and drove out all the people living in the lowlands on both the east and west banks.

¹⁷ »I well know, O my God, that you test everyone’s heart and are pleased with people of integrity. In honesty and sincerity I have willingly given all this to you. I have seen how your people who are gathered here have been happy to bring offerings to you.

¹⁵ »O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteousness is yours. We are only a small band that has been kept from death this day. See, we are before you in our sin. For no one may keep his place before you because of this.«

¹⁵ »But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow

⁷ »Why do the wicked live on, reach old age, and become mighty in power? ⁸ »Their children are established in their presence, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ »Their houses are safe and without fear, and no rod of God is upon them. ¹⁰ »Their bull breeds without fail and their cow calves and never miscarries. ¹¹ »They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance around. ¹² »They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. ¹³ »They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to the grave. ¹⁴ »They say to God: ‘Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways.’ ¹⁵ »Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what do we gain if we pray to him?

⁶ »The tents of marauders prosper and those who provoke God are secure in what God’s hand brings them.

³ »But I want to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.

¹⁰ »But He knows the way I walk. He has tried me. I shall come forth as gold.

⁹ Let the evil of the wicked come to an end. Establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.

⁵ Jehovah tests (examines) righteous and wicked people alike. He hates wicked people and the ones who love violence.

² People speak lies to one another. They speak with flattering lips and with double-heart. (Double Heart: They say one thing but mean another.)

⁸ »Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. ⁹ »You will rule them with an iron scepter. You will dash them to pieces like pottery!« ¹⁰ Listen you kings, be wise (show discernment) and be warned you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve Jehovah with deep respect and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed (happy) are all who take refuge (put trust) in him.

³ You have probed my heart. You have confronted me at night. You have tested me like silver, but you found nothing wrong. I have decided that my mouth will not sin.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) Vindicate me, O Jehovah, because I have walked with (a life-style of) integrity and I have trusted you without wavering.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) Do not be bothered by evildoers. Do not envy those who do wicked things.

⁷ One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts. All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.

²¹ would God not find out, since he knows the secrets in our hearts? ²² We are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck! ² I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's children.

³ I was envious of arrogant people when I saw the peace and prosperity that wicked people enjoy. ⁴ They suffer no pain. Their bodies are healthy. ⁵ They have no drudgery in their lives like ordinary people. They are not plagued with problems like mankind. ⁶ That is why arrogance is their necklace and violence covers them like clothing. ⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness, and their heart’s imagination run wild. ⁸ They ridicule. They speak maliciously. They speak arrogantly about oppression. ⁹ They set their mouth in the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth. ¹⁰ Therefore his people return here and here they drink waters of abundance. ¹¹ They ask: How does God know? And is there knowledge with the most High? ¹² Behold, these are the ungodly. They prosper in the world; they increase in wealth. ¹³ I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. ¹⁴ I have been plagued all day long, and chastened every morning. ¹⁵ If I say, I will speak thus; then, I would offend the generation of your children. ¹⁶ When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. ¹⁷ I understood their end when I went into the sanctuary of God. ¹⁸ Surely you set them in slippery places. You threw them down into destruction. ¹⁹ How are they destroyed, suddenly! They are utterly consumed with terrors. ²⁰ It is like waking up from a dream, O Jehovah. When you awake you will despise everything they represent. ²¹ My heart was grieved and I was pierced within. ²² I was so foolish and ignorant: I was like a beast before you. ²³ Nevertheless I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand. ²⁴ You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward you give me honor (glory). ²⁵ Who have I in heaven but you? I desire none on earth except you. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart fail: God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. ²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. ²⁸ It is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in Jehovah God, that I may declare all your works.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.

²¹ »When you did these things, I remained silent. That made you think I was like you. I will argue my point with you and lay it all out for you to see.

⁴ I have sinned against you, especially you. I have done what you consider evil in your sight. So you hand down justice when you speak, and you are blameless when you judge.

⁵⁹ When God heard, he became furious. He greatly abhorred Israel. ⁶⁰ He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among humans.

⁸ You brought a vine from Egypt. You forced out the nations and planted it. ⁹ You cleared the ground for it so that it took root and filled the land. ¹⁰ Its shade covered the mountains. Its branches covered the mighty cedars.

⁷ Wicked people sprout like grass and all troublemakers flourish. Yet they will be destroyed forever.

³ O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked exult? ⁴ They utter speech. They speak arrogantly. All troublemakers brag about themselves.

¹¹ It reached out with its branches to the Mediterranean Sea. Its shoots reached the Euphrates River. ¹² Why did you break down the stone fences around this vine? All who pass by are picking its fruit. ¹³ Wild boars from the forest graze on it. Wild animals devour it. ¹⁴ O God, commander of armies, come back! Look from heaven and see! Come to help this vine. ¹⁵ Take care of what your right hand planted, the son you strengthened for yourself. ¹⁶ The vine has been cut down and burned. Let them be destroyed by the threatening look on your face.

¹⁵ He said: »Do not touch my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.«

³⁵ Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did. ³⁶ They worshiped their idols, which became a trap for them.

⁴⁷ Rescue us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from the nations so that we may give thanks to your holy name and make your praise our glory.

³⁴ and fertile ground into a layer of salt because of the wickedness of the people living there.

¹³⁷ You are righteous, O Jehovah. Your judgments are upright.

⁷⁵ I know, O Jehovah, that your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

¹⁷ Jehovah is righteous in all his ways. He is kind in all his deeds.

³² »Sin and self-satisfaction bring destruction and death to stupid fools.

¹¹ My son, do not despise Jehovah’s discipline or be weary of his correction.

¹ ([Psalm of David]) O Jehovah, you have searched me and you know me. ² You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thought from afar. ³ You inspect my path and my lying down. You are intimately acquainted with my ways. ⁴ Even before I speak words from my tongue, behold, O Jehovah, You know it all.

²³ Examine me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious (troubled) (painful) (disturbing) thoughts.

¹⁰ If you fail in time of trouble your strength is small.

²⁵ When he speaks kind words do not believe him. There are seven abominations in his heart.

² It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. That is the end for all men and the living takes it to heart.

⁸ (The Beloved) »If you do not know, O you fairest among women, follow the footsteps of the flock. Feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.

⁶ Jehovah, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob, because they are filled with Eastern influences. They practice witchcraft like the Philistines, and they make deals with foreigners.

¹ Let me sing to my loved one a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hill. ² He dug the soil all around and removed its stones. He planted it with the choicest vine. And he built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he expected it to produce good grapes, but it only produced worthless ones. ³ »Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me! ⁴ »What more could have been done for my vineyard than what I have already done for it? When I waited for it to produce good grapes, why did it produce only sour, wild grapes? ⁵ »Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge and break down the wall that protects it. I will let wild animals eat it and trample it down. ⁶ »It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor cultivated. It will be covered with thorns and briars. I will command the clouds not to send rain.« ⁷ I am Jehovah of Hosts (All Powerful)! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with care. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.

¹¹ Then it will happen in that day that Jehovah will again recover the second time with his hand the remnant of his people. They will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ¹² He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the outcast ones of Israel. He will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. ¹³ Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart. Those who harass Judah will be destroyed. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. ¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. ¹⁵ Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt. He will wave his hand, his mighty Spirit, over the (Euphrates) River. He will strike it into seven streams and make men walk over on dry land. ¹⁶ There will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people who will be left. This will be as it was for Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

²³ In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. ²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. ²⁵ Jehovah of Hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed is Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

¹³ »These people praise me with their words,« said Jehovah, »but they never draw near to me in their hearts (deepest thoughts). Their reverence for me comes from the repetitious tradition of men.

¹ »Suffer you unwilling children,« says Jehovah. »You pursue a purpose that is not mine. You make a covenant sacrifice without my Spirit. You add sin to sin. ² »You go to Egypt for help without asking for my advice. You want Egypt to protect you. You put your trust in Egypt's military might. ³ »The safety of Pharaoh will be your shame and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation. ⁴ »Their princes are at Zoan and their ambassadors arrive at Hanes. ⁵ »Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot help them. They cannot help. They can only offer shame and reproach.« ⁶ THE PROPHESY ABOUT THE BEASTS OF THE NEGEV (southern land): The Negev is a land of distress and anguish. Lions and lionesses live there. Vipers and poisonous snakes live there. They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels to a nation that cannot help them.

¹ How horrible it will be for those who go to Egypt for help! Cursed are those who rely on very strong warhorses, who depend on many chariots. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel. They do not seek Jehovah. ² He is wise and can bring about disaster. He does not take back his words. He rises against wicked people and against those who help troublemakers. ³ The Egyptians are humans, not God. Their horses are flesh and blood, not spirit. Jehovah will stretch out his powerful hand (extend his power). The one who gives help will stumble. The one who receives help will fall. Both will die together. ⁴ This is what Jehovah said to me: »A lion, even a young lion, growls over its prey when a crowd of shepherds is called to fight it. It is not frightened by their voices or disturbed by the noise they make. So Jehovah of Hosts will come to fight for Mount Zion and on its hill.

¹⁸ This wickedness is like a brushfire. It burns not only briers and thorns but the forests, too. It sends up vast clouds of smoke. ¹⁹ The land is blackened by the fury of Jehovah of Hosts. The people are fuel for the fire, and no one spares anyone else. ²⁰ They slice off what is on the right hand, but they will still be hungry. In the end they will even eat the flesh of their own arms (offspring) (turn upon themselves). ²¹ Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, Ephraim will feed on Manasseh, and both will devour Judah. But even then Jehovah’s anger will not be satisfied. His hand is still poised to unleash his power.

¹⁷ It will come about at the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and will play the wanton woman with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. ¹⁸ The money she earns by commerce will be dedicated to Jehovah. She will not store it away, but those who worship Jehovah will use her money to buy the food and the clothing they need.

⁶ Jehovah’s sword is covered with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of rams' kidneys. Jehovah will receive a sacrifice in Bozrah, a huge slaughter in the land of Edom.

²⁵ So he made us feel the force of his anger and suffer the violence of war. Like fire his anger burned throughout Israel. Yet we never knew what was happening. We learned nothing at all from it.

²⁸ »That is why I will corrupt the leaders of the holy place. I will claim Jacob for destruction. I will set up Israel for ridicule.«

⁶ He says: »It is a small thing that you are my servant. You will raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light to the nations that my salvation will reach to the end of the earth.«

² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

⁵ »I will give to those within my Temple and its walls a memorial and a name that is better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. ⁶ »Foreigners have become allied with Jehovah, to serve Jehovah, to love the name of Jehovah, and to worship him. They keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and hold fast to my covenant.

²¹ »Present your case,« says Jehovah. »Set forth your arguments, says Jacob’s King.

²³ »I have bound myself with an oath. A word has gone out from my righteous mouth that will not be recalled. Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will swear allegiance.

⁸ »You have never heard about them. You have never known about them. Your ears have never been open to hear them before. I know that you have acted very treacherously and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.

⁹ Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!

¹ The righteous perishes and no man takes it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil.

²¹ My God has said: »There is no peace for the wicked.«

¹⁶ Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of (amen, so be it) truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Jehovah will come with fire and with his chariots like a thunderstorm. He will pay them back with his burning anger and punish them with flames of fire. ¹⁶ Jehovah will judge with fire, and he will judge all people with his sword. Jehovah will strike many people dead.

³ »‘»Israel was dedicated (consecrated) to Jehovah. It was the best part of the harvest. All who consumed it became guilty, and disaster struck them,«’« says Jehovah.

¹⁵ »Young lions have roared at them. Young lions have turned the land into waste. The cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

² »Lift up your eyes to the bare hills and see. You have had sex with men in every place. You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled (corrupted) (profaned) the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

¹⁰ »Even after all this, Israel's treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart. She was deceitful,« says Jehovah.

¹⁷ »At that time, they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Jehovah will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways. ¹⁸ »Then the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own inheritance. ¹⁹ »I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations. I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from me.

²³ »Truly the sound from the hills and mountains is the noise of false worship. Truly Jehovah our God will be our salvation. ²⁴ »Ever since we were young, the shameful worship of Baal has taken everything our ancestors worked for, their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters. ²⁵ »We must lie down in our shame and let our humiliation cover us. Ever since we were young, we and our fathers have sinned against Jehovah our God. We have not obeyed Jehovah our God.«

² if you take the oath, as Jehovah lives in an honest, fair, and right way, then the nations will be blessed, and in him they will glory.«

¹¹ Then it will be said to these people and to Jerusalem: »A hot wind from the heights will blow in the desert toward my people. It will not be a wind that winnows or cleanses. ¹² »It will be a stronger wind than that. It will come from me. Now, I will pass sentence on them. ¹³ »The enemy comes up like clouds. His chariots are like a raging wind. His horses are swifter than eagles. How horable it will be for us! We will be destroyed!« ¹⁴ »O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart so that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you? ¹⁵ »A message is heard from Dan. A report of disaster comes from the mountains of Ephraim.

²⁵ I see that there are no people, and every bird has flown away. ²⁶ I see that the fertile land has become a desert. Its cities are torn down because of Jehovah and his burning anger.

²⁸ »The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black. I have spoken, and I have determined it. I will not change my plans, and I will not turn back!«

² Even though you claim to worship Jehovah, you do not mean what you say.

¹¹ »The house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with me,« says Jehovah.

¹³ »The prophets are as wind! The word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!«

²⁷ »Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit. That is why they become powerful and rich. ²⁸ »They grow big and fat. Their evil deeds have no limits. They have no respect for the rights of others. They have no respect for the rights of orphans. But they still prosper. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

³¹ ‘Prophets prophesy falsehoods. Priests rule under the prophets' directions, and my people love this. But what will you do when the end comes?’«

³ Shepherds and their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their tents around her. They will pasture each in his place.

⁸ »Be warned, O Jerusalem, I will be alienated from you. I will make you desolation, a land not inhabited.«

¹⁴ »Consider what I will do to the house that is called by my name. It is the house in which you trust. It is the place I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

²⁰ Therefore the Lord Jehovah says: »My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn and not be quenched.«

²⁹ ‘Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.’

³³ »The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth. No one will frighten them away.

⁴ »Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor. Do not trust any brother because every brother deals craftily (cunningly), and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

¹⁰ I will cry and weep for the mountains. I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness. They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them. No one can hear the sound of cattle. Birds and cattle have fled. They are gone. ¹¹ I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. It will be a gathering place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolation, without inhabitant.

¹⁹ A voice of wailing is heard from Zion: »How we are ruined! We are put to great shame for we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.« ²⁰ Listen to the word of Jehovah, you women, and open your ears to hear his words. Teach your daughters how to cry. Teach your neighbors funeral songs. ²¹ Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces. Death has cut down the children in the streets and the young men in the market places.

²² The report has arrived. Listen! An incredible uproar is coming from the land of the north. Its army will destroy Judah's cities and make them homes for jackals.

²⁵ Pour out your fury on the nations who do not know you and on people who do not worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.

¹² »Nations and kingdoms that do not serve you will be destroyed. The nations will definitely be ruined.

¹⁸ Your holy people possessed the land for a little while. Our enemies have trampled on your holy place.

¹⁵ »What right do these people I love have to be in my house when they do so many deceitful things? Can the meat from their sacrifices turn tragedy away from them? They exult (celebrate) when they do evil.

¹⁷ »Jehovah of Hosts planted you. He has pronounced disaster on you. This is because of the evil things that Israel and Judah have done. They have made him infuriated by burning incense as an offering to Baal.

¹⁹ I was like an unquestioning lamb brought to the slaughter. I did not know that they were plotting against me. They were saying: »Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we will not be reminded of him anymore.«

¹⁹ I was like an unquestioning lamb brought to the slaughter. I did not know that they were plotting against me. They were saying: »Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we will not be reminded of him anymore.« ²⁰ O Jehovah of Hosts, you are a fair judge. You test motives and thoughts. I want to see you take revenge on them. For that reason I presented my case to you.

²⁰ O Jehovah of Hosts, you are a fair judge. You test motives and thoughts. I want to see you take revenge on them. For that reason I presented my case to you. ²¹ This is what Jehovah says: »The people of Anathoth want to kill you. They say: Do not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, or we will kill you.«

⁴ How long will our land be dry and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people. These people say: »God does not see what we are doing.« ⁵ Jehovah says: »Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you cannot even stand up in open country, how will you manage in the thicket by the Jordan?« ⁶ »Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you. They join in the attacks against you. Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words.

⁶ »Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you. They join in the attacks against you. Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words. ⁷ Jehovah says: »I have abandoned Israel. I have rejected my chosen nation. I have given the people I love into the power of their enemies. ⁸ »My chosen people have turned against me. Like a lion in the forest they have roared at me, and so I hate them.

¹⁴ Jehovah says: »I have something to say about Israel's neighbors who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them. ¹⁵ »But after I have taken them away I will have mercy on them. I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country. ¹⁶ »If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear: As Jehovah lives, as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper. ¹⁷ »However if any nation will not obey I will completely uproot it and destroy it.« I, Jehovah, have spoken.

² Judah mourns and its gates collapse. The people of Judah are filled with bereavement as they sit on the ground. Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.

² »When they ask you where they should go, say to them: This is what Jehovah says: Those who are to die will die. Those who are to die in wars will die in wars. Those who are to die in famines will die in famines. Those who are to die in captivity will die in captivity. ³ »I will appoint over them four kinds of punishment, declares Jehovah. I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds of the air and animals of the earth to devour and destroy.

¹⁸ Let those who persecute me be put to shame. Do not let me be put to shame. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them a day of disaster. Crush them with twofold destruction!

⁷ »At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.

²¹ Therefore, give their children over to famine and deliver them up to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death and their young men struck down by the sword in battle. ²² Let an outcry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring raiders upon them. For they have dug a pit to capture me and hidden snares for my feet. ²³ Yet You, O Jehovah, know all their deadly designs against me. Do not forgive their iniquity or blot out their sin from your sight. But may they be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger!

⁸ »I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters.

⁹ so I am going to send for all the families from the north. I will also send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,« says Jehovah. »I will bring the families from the north to attack this land, its people, and all these surrounding nations. I am going to destroy them and turn them into something terrible, something ridiculed, and something permanently ruined.

²⁸ »I watched over them to uproot them and tear them down, to ruin and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up. I will plant them,« says Jehovah.

³⁷ ‘I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely.

¹⁷ »This is what Jehovah says: ‘You did not obey me. You have not freed your relatives and neighbors. Now I am going to free you,’ declares Jehovah. ‘I will free you to die in wars, plagues, and famines. I will make all the kingdoms of the world horrified at the thought of you.

¹⁰ For I have heard the whispering of many: »Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!« All my trusted friends are watching for my fall. They say: »Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him and take our revenge on him.«

¹² Yet, O Jehovah of Hosts you test the righteous. You see the mind and the heart. Let me see your vengeance on them for to you I have revealed my cause.

¹ »Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!« Says Jehovah.

¹⁰ The land is full of adulterers! The land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil and their might is not right.

³⁷ »The peaceful pastures are destroyed by Jehovah’s burning anger. ³⁸ »He has left his lair like a lion. Their land has been ruined because of the heat of the oppressor, because of the fury of his anger.«

⁸ As soon as I had finished saying all that Jehovah commanded me to say, they grabbed me and shouted: »You ought to be killed for this!

²⁶ The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But Jehovah had hidden Baruch and Jeremiah.

⁴ The officials went to the king and said: »This man must be put to death. By talking like this he is making the soldiers in the city lose their courage. He is doing the same thing to everyone else left in the city. He is not trying to help the people. He only wants to hurt them.« ⁵ King Zedekiah answered: »Very well, then, do what you want to with him. I cannot stop you.« ⁶ So they took me and let me down by ropes into Prince Malchiah's well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.

³ When Jerusalem was captured, all the high officials of the king of Babylon came and took their places at the Middle Gate, including Nergal Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, Sarsechim, and another Nergal Sharezer.

⁴ »Say this to Baruch: ‘This is what Jehovah says: »I will tear down what I have built. I will uproot what I have planted throughout the earth.

⁶ »You cry out: Sword of Jehovah, how long will you keep on fighting? Go back into your sheath. Stay there and rest!

¹ This is what the Lord Jehovah said about [MOAB]: »Pity the people of Nebo. Their town is destroyed! Kiriathaim is captured, its mighty fortress torn down, and its people put to shame. ² »The splendor of Moab is gone. The enemy has captured Heshbon and plot to destroy the nation of Moab. The town of Madmen will be silenced. Armies will march against it.

¹⁵ »‘Moab and its cities are destroyed. Its finest young men have been slaughtered. ‘I am the king, the Lord Jehovah, and I have spoken!

⁹ »I am going to stir up an alliance of strong nations from the north and bring it against Babylon. Those nations will take up positions against Babylon. Babylon will be captured from the north. Its enemy's arrows will be like skilled soldiers who don't come back empty-handed. ¹⁰ »The Babylonians will become the prize. All who loot them will get everything they want,« declares Jehovah. ¹¹ »You are happy and excited. You have looted the people who belong to me. You dance around like calves on the grass and neigh like stallions. ¹² »But your mother will be greatly ashamed. The woman who gave birth to you will be disgraced. Babylon, you will be the least important nation. You will become a parched desert. ¹³ »No one will live in Babylon because of Jehovah’s anger. It will be completely abandoned. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and hiss at all its wounds. ¹⁴ »Take up your positions around Babylon, all you archers with bows. Shoot at it and do not save any arrows. For the people of Babylon have sinned against Jehovah. ¹⁵ »Shout a war cry against them on every side. They will surrender. Their towers will fall and their walls will be torn down. Since this is Jehovah’s vengeance, take revenge against them. Do to them what they did to others. ¹⁶ »Do not allow anyone in Babylon to plant or harvest. Everyone will turn to his own people and flee to his own homeland because of the enemies' swords. ¹⁷ »The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

²⁷ Kill all their young bulls. Let them go to be slaughtered. How horrible it will be for them when their time has come, the time for them to be punished.

⁴⁴ »I will suddenly chase them from their places like a lion coming out of the jungle along the Jordan River into pastureland. I will appoint over Babylon whomever I choose. Who is like me? Who can challenge me? Is there any leader who can stand up to me?«

⁴ »They will be wounded and die in the streets of their cities. ⁵ I, the Lord Jehovah, have not abandoned Israel and Judah, even though they have sinned against me, the Holy One of Israel.

³³ »I am the All-Powerful Jehovah, the God of Israel, and I make this promise: Soon Babylon will be leveled and packed down like a threshing place at harvest time. ³⁴ »The people of Jerusalem say: King Nebuchadnezzar made us panic. That monster (big snake) filled up with our treasures, leaving us empty. He gobbled down what he wanted and spit out the rest. ³⁵ »The people of Babylon harmed some of us and killed others. Now Jehovah will make them pay.

³⁸ »They will roar together like young lions. They will growl like lions' cubs.

⁴⁷ »‘In the future, however, I will make good things happen to Moab. It will be prosperous again,’ says Jehovah. As of now the judgement of Moab.’«

¹ This is what Jehovah says about the people of [AMMON]: »Does Israel not have any children? Does it not have any heirs? Why has the god Milcom taken over the inheritance of Gad's descendants? Why do Milcom's people live in Gad's cities?«

⁶ »‘Afterward, I will return the captives of Ammon,’ declares Jehovah.« ⁷ This is what Jehovah of Hosts says about Edom: »Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has wisdom disappeared from your people? Has their wisdom vanished?

¹⁹ »Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan River up to the green pastureland, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me?«

³⁹ »‘Afterward, I will return the captives of Elam,’« declares Jehovah.

¹ She sits alone. She was a town full of people! Once great among the nations she has become like a widow! She who was a princess among the countries has come under the yoke of forced labor! ² She weeps bitterly in the night. Her cheeks are wet from crying. Her lovers offer no comfort. Her friends have been false to her. They have become her enemies. ³ Judah has been taken away as a prisoner because of trouble and hard work. She dwells among the nations. There is no rest for her. Her attackers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. ⁴ The roads to Zion are sad. No one comes to the holy meeting. All her doorways are desolate. Her priests are sighing out of sorrow. Her virgins are troubled, and it is bitter for her. ⁵ Her enemies are at ease and her foes have become her masters. Jehovah (YHWH) sends her sorrow because of the great number of her sins. Young children have gone away as prisoners before the attacker.

¹⁰ The hand of her enemies is stretched out over all her desired things. She sees the nations come into her holy place. Whom you gave orders that they were not to come into the meeting of your people. ¹¹ Her people are sighing and looking for bread. They have given their desired things for something to eat to give them life. »See, O Jehovah, and take note. She has become a thing of shame.«

¹ In his anger Jehovah covered Zion with clouds of darkness. He changed its heavenly splendor into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his footstool. ² Without mercy Jehovah destroyed every village in Judah. He tore down the forts that defended the land. He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers. ³ In his burning anger he cut down every horn (strength) (power) of Israel. He turned his right hand back from before the enemy. He has put a fire in Jacob devouring and destroying all around. ⁴ He bends his bow for the attack. He takes his place with his hand ready. In his hate he puts to death all those pleasing to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion. He poured out his rage just like fire. ⁵ Jehovah has become like an enemy fighting against her, sending destruction on Israel. He has sent destruction on all her great houses, turning his strong places into waste. He increases the grief and the sorrow of the daughter of Judah. ⁶ He violently takes away his tent, as from a garden. And he lays waste his meeting-place. Jehovah has taken away the memory of feast and Sabbath in Zion. In the passion of his wrath he is against king and priest. ⁷ Jehovah rejected his altar and disowned his holy place. He gave up into the hands of the attacker the walls of her great houses. Their voices have been loud in the house of Jehovah as in the day of a holy meeting. ⁸ It is Jehovah’s purpose to turn the wall of the daughter of Zion into waste. His line has been stretched out. He has not kept back his hand from destruction. He has sent sorrow on tower and wall. They have become feeble together. ⁹ Her gates have gone down into the earth. He destroyed her locks and bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where there is no law. Her prophets have had no vision from Jehovah. ¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion are seated on the earth and keep silent. They throw dust on their heads. They are clothed in sackcloth. The heads of the virgins of Jerusalem are brought down to the earth. ¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping. I am in torment. My heart is pulled out of me to the ground because my people are destroyed. Because of the young children and babies at the breast who are falling without strength in the open squares of the town. ¹² They say to their mothers: »Where is grain and wine?« When they are falling like the wounded in the open squares of the town. Their life is drained out while on their mother’s breast. ¹³ What example am I to give you? What comparison am I to make for you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What am I to make equal to you, so that I may give you comfort, O virgin daughter of Zion? Your destruction is great like the sea. Who is able to make you well? ¹⁴ The visions your prophets have seen for you are false and foolish! They have not made you fully aware of your sin so your fate might be changed. They have seen for you false words, driving you away. ¹⁵ All who go by make a noise with their hands at you. They make hisses, shaking their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. They say: »Is this the town that was the crown of everything beautiful, the joy of all the earth?« ¹⁶ All your enemies are opening their mouths wide against you. They hiss and whistle through their teeth and say: »We have made a meal of her. Certainly this is the day we have been looking for. It has come and we see it.« ¹⁷ Jehovah accomplished his purpose. He accomplished what he said he would with the orders he gave in the days that are past. He tore down and shows no compassion. He causes your enemies to rejoice. He lifted up the horn (power) of your adversaries. ¹⁸ Let your cry go up to Jehovah: »O wall of the daughter of Zion let your weeping be flowing down like a stream day and night. Give yourself no rest. Do not let your eyes hold back the drops of sorrow. ¹⁹ »Rise up! Cry out in the night at the beginning of the night watches. Let your heart be flowing out like water before the face of Jehovah. Lift up your hands to him for the life of your young children who are falling down starving in every street.« ²⁰ Look, O Jehovah! Why are you punishing us like this? Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved! Priests and prophets are killed in the Temple! ²¹ Both young and old lie dead in the streets. Enemy swords kill young men and women. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger. ²² You invited my enemies to hold a festival of terror all around me. No one could escape on that day of your anger. They murdered my children, whom I had raised and loved.

² »You should burn one-third of the hair in the fire at the center of the city when the siege is over. Take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city. The remaining one third you shall scatter to the wind. I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

² »Son of man, the Lord Jehovah says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. ³ ‘»The end is now upon you and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. ⁴ ‘»I will not look on you with pity or spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and the detestable practices among you. THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM JEHOVAH.’ ⁵ »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘Disaster! An unheard-of disaster is coming. ⁶ ‘»The end has come! The end has come! It has become active against you. It has come! ⁷ ‘»Doom has come upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near. There is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. ⁸ ‘»I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. ⁹ ‘»I will not look on you with pity or spare you (my eye will not feel sorry for you). I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I, Jehovah, who strikes the blow. ¹⁰ ‘»The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth. The rod has budded, and arrogance has blossomed! ¹¹ ‘»Violence has grown into a weapon for punishing wickedness. None of the people will be left. None of that crowd, none of their wealth, and nothing of value will be left. ¹² ‘»The time is coming. The day is near. Buyers will not rejoice, and sellers will not mourn, because my fury will be against the whole crowd. ¹³ ‘»Sellers will not live long enough to buy back what they have sold. The visions against that crowd will not change. Because of their sins, none of the people will live.

²⁰ ‘»Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why Jehovah has made their wealth repulsive to them. ²¹ ‘»I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, and they will defile it.

¹⁷ ‘»What if I bring a war against that country by saying I will let a war go throughout this country. And then I destroy the people and the animals in it.

³⁶ »You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. ³⁷ »So I, the Lord Jehovah, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness.

⁵ »‘»Then it took a seedling from that country and planted the seedling in fertile soil. The eagle planted the seedling like a willow where there was plenty of water. ⁶ »‘»The plant sprouted and grew into a low vine that spread over the ground. Its branches turned upward toward the eagle. Its roots grew downward. Thus it became a vine, producing branches and growing shoots. ⁷ »‘»There was another large eagle with large wings and many feathers. Now, the vine stretched its roots toward this eagle and sent its branches toward the eagle so that the eagle could water it. The vine turned away from the garden where it was planted. ⁸ »‘»It was planted in good soil beside plenty of water so that it could grow branches, bear fruit, and become a wonderful vine.«’ ⁹ »Say, ‘The Lord Jehovah says: »Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it and all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. ¹⁰ »‘»Though it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it, wither on the beds where it grew?«’«

¹⁰ ‘»Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water. It was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water. ¹¹ ‘»Its branches were strong and fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches. ¹² ‘»It was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel. It was stripped of its fruit. Its strong branches withered and fire consumed them.

¹² ‘»It was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel. It was stripped of its fruit. Its strong branches withered and fire consumed them. ¹³ ‘»Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.

²² »Therefore, O Oholibah, the Lord Jehovah says: ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated. I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ ‘»They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. ²⁵ ‘»I will set my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears. Your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters. The fire will consume your survivors.

²¹ »Speak to the house of Israel. Tell them Jehovah says: ‘I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and your delight. Your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.

¹ Jehovah continued to speak his word to me: ² »Son of man set your face (give attention) toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. ³ »Tell the Ammonites: ‘Hear the word of the Lord Jehovah! The Lord Jehovah says: »Because you said, Aha! Against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴ »‘»I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. ⁵ »‘»I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the Ammonites a resting place for flocks. So you will know that I am Jehovah.«’« ⁶ »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced in your scorn against the land of Israel, ⁷ ‘»I have stretched out my hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you. Therefore, you will know that I am Jehovah.’ ⁸ »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because Moab and Seir say, »Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations, ⁹ therefore, I am going to deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim, ¹⁰ and I will give it for a possession along with the Ammonites to the sons of the east, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations. ¹¹ »‘»Thus I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am Jehovah.’ ¹² »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred grievous guilt, and avenged themselves upon them, ¹³ therefore the Lord Jehovah says: ‘I will also stretch out my hand (exert my power) against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. I will lay it waste! From Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword. ¹⁴ ‘I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath. They will know my vengeance, declares the Lord Jehovah.«’ ¹⁵ »The Lord Jehovah says: Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and scorn and have taken vengeance to destroy with everlasting enmity, ¹⁶ therefore the Lord Jehovah says: ‘I will stretch out my hand (exert power) against the Philistines. I will even cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. ¹⁷ »‘»I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. They will know that I am Jehovah when I lay my vengeance on them.«’«

²⁵ »‘The Lord Jehovah says: »When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, I will make known my holiness in them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob.

³⁰ »Son of man, your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of their homes. They are saying to each other: ‘Let's go and hear the word that has come from Jehovah.’ ³¹ »Then they come to you, as if they are still my people, and they sit down in front of you. They listen to what you say, but they do not do it. They say that they love me, but in their hearts they chase dishonest profits.

³¹ »Then they come to you, as if they are still my people, and they sit down in front of you. They listen to what you say, but they do not do it. They say that they love me, but in their hearts they chase dishonest profits.

¹² »As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for my sheep and will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ »I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. I will feed them by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

¹ The word of Jehovah continued to come to me: ² »Son of man, set your face (commit yourself) against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it. ³ »Say this, ‘the Lord Jehovah says: »I am against you, Mount Seir! I will stretch out my hand (exert my power) against you and make you a desolation and a waste. ⁴ »‘»I will lay waste your cities and you will become desolated. Then you will know that I am Jehovah. ⁵ »‘»Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword (to die by warfare) at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end.«’ ⁶ »‘Therefore as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah: I will give you over to bloodshed (death), and bloodshed (death) will pursue you. Since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ »‘I will make Mount Seir a waste and desolation. I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. ⁸ »‘I will fill its mountains with those who have been killed. Those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and ravines. ⁹ »‘I will make you an everlasting desolation! Your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Jehovah!’ ¹⁰ »For the reason that you have said: ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although Jehovah was there. ¹¹ ‘Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord Jehovah, ‘I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy, what you showed because of your hatred against them. I will make myself known among them when I judge you. ¹² »‘Then you will know that I, Jehovah, have heard all your insults you have spoken against the mountains of Israel. You said: ‘They are laid desolate. They are given to us for food.’ ¹³ »‘You have spoken arrogantly against me and have continuously spoken against me. And I have heard it!’ ¹⁴ »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘As all the earth rejoices, I will make you desolated. ¹⁵ »As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolated, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am Jehovah.’«

²⁴ »I will take you from the nations and gather you from every country. I will bring you back to your own land.

²¹ »Tell them: ‘The Lord Jehovah says: »I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from everywhere and bring them to their own land.

¹⁷ »As for you, son of man, the Lord Jehovah says: ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: »Assemble and come, gather from every side to my sacrifice that I am going to sacrifice for you. It is a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ »‘You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.«’ ¹⁹ »‘You will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk; from my sacrifice I have sacrificed for you.«’ ²⁰ »‘You will be glutted at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.

²⁷ »I will bring them back from the other nations and gather them from the countries of their enemies. Many nations will see that I am holy.’ ²⁸ »‘My people will know that I am Jehovah their God. I sent them into captivity among the nations, and I brought them back again to their land. I left none of them behind.

⁴ »The first was like a LION. It had eagle's wings. I watched till the wings were pulled off. It was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon two feet like a man. A man's heart and mind was given to it. ⁵ »Look, a second beast, like a BEAR. It was raised up on one side. Three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. They said to it, ‘Arise and devour much flesh.’ ⁶ »I saw another beast. It was like a LEOPARD. It had four wings as a bird on its back. The beast also had four heads. Dominion (ruling authority) was given to it. ⁷ »After this I saw more visions in the night. I saw a FOURTH BEAST terrible and powerful, and exceedingly strong! It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from the beasts that came before it. It had ten horns! ⁸ »I looked at the horns and another one, a little horn came. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man. It had a mouth that spoke great (domineering) (boastful) things. The three first horns were plucked up roots and all.

¹¹ »The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, and will leave the land of Jezreel. It will be a great day for Jezreel.«

³ Therefore the land will mourn. All the inhabitants are weak. The beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea will also perish.

⁷ »Like Adam, they have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there.

¹⁵ »All Ephraim's wickedness began in Gilgal. I hated the people there. I will force them out of my Temple because of their wickedness. I will not love them anymore. All their officials are rebellious.

¹⁵ »Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast and call a solemn assembly.

² »I will gather all nations! I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage, Israel. They have scattered my people among the nations and they have divided up my land.

² He said: »Jehovah (YHWH) roars from Zion! He utters his voice from Jerusalem! The pastures of the shepherds mourn for lack of water. The top of Carmel withers.« ³ »I will not hold back punishment,« said Jehovah, »For the many transgressions of Damascus. This is because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron. ⁴ »I will send fire to the house of Hazael and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. ⁵ »I will destroy the lock (bar) at the gate of Damascus, and annihilate the inhabitant from the valley of Aven. He who holds the scepter (imperial authority) from the house of Eden and the people of Syria will go into captivity to Kir,« said Jehovah. ⁶ Jehovah said: »I will not withdraw punishment from Gaza for they transgressed many times. They captured all the people and delivered them to Edom. ⁷ »I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza. It will devour the palaces there. ⁸ »I will destroy the inhabitant of Ashdod. I will kill the king of Ashkelon (who holds the scepter). I will direct my power against Ekron. The remnant of the Philistines will perish,« said the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. ⁹ Jehovah continued: »For the many transgressions of Tyre I will not withdraw punishment! They captured all the people and delivered them to Edom. They did not remember the brotherly covenant. ¹⁰ »I will send fire on the walls of Tyre. It will devour the palaces.« ¹¹ Jehovah declared: »For three and four transgressions of Edom, I will not withdraw punishment. He pursued his brother with the sword. He showed no compassion but was driven with anger and eternal wrath. ¹² »I will send a fire upon Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.« ¹³ Jehovah also said: »For the many transgressions of the children of Ammon I will not withdraw the punishment. They have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border. ¹⁴ »I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah and devour its palaces. The battle cry in the day of battle will be heard and a storm in the day of the windstorm. ¹⁵ »Their king and his princes will go into captivity,« said Jehovah.

⁸ The Lord Jehovah has sworn by himself. Jehovah, the God of Hosts declares: »I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.

⁴ »Though they go into the captivity of their enemies I will command the sword, and it will slay them. I will set my eyes against them for evil, and not for good.

¹⁴ »I will bring my people Israel back from captivity. They will rebuild the cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, and drink the wine. They will also make gardens and eat their fruit.

¹⁴ »I will bring my people Israel back from captivity. They will rebuild the cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, and drink the wine. They will also make gardens and eat their fruit. ¹⁵ »I will plant them upon their own land and they will no more be plucked up out of their land that I have given them.« Jehovah your God has spoken.

⁷ »O Jehovah, righteousness belongs to you! Shame belongs to us this day! To the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.

⁴ »After he appears his kingdom will be broken. It will be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion as he ruled. His kingdom will be plucked up, even for others besides these.

¹⁰ »The field is laid waste, the land mourns. The grain is destroyed, the new wine dried up, the oil fails. ¹¹ »Be ashamed you farmers. Cry you vinedressers. The wheat, the barley and the harvest of the field have perished. ¹² »The vine and the fig tree fail. The pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field have dried up. Joy has withered away from the sons of men. ¹³ »Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth you ministers of my God! The meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from the House of your God. ¹⁴ »Sanctify a fast! Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the House of Jehovah your God. Call out to Jehovah. ¹⁵ »Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is near! Destruction will come from the Almighty! ¹⁶ »Is not the food consumed before our eyes? Is joy and gladness removed from the House of our God? ¹⁷ »The seeds rot under dirt clods. The storehouses are desolate. The barns are torn down because the grain has dried up.

¹⁰ »You will be covered with shame for the violence done to your brother Jacob. You will be destroyed and disgraced for a very long time. ¹¹ »In that day you stood on the other side! In that day strangers carried away his wealth. Foreigners entered his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem! It was as if you were one of them! ¹² Do not look on the day of your brother’s disaster. Do not rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction! Do not speak proudly in the day of distress. ¹³ »Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity! Do not look on their affliction in the day of their tragedy! Do not loot their wealth in the day of their disaster. ¹⁴ »Do not stand in the way of those who escape and do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. ¹⁵ »The Day of Jehovah draws near upon all the nations. It will be done to you just as you have done. Your dealings will return upon you head! ¹⁶ »Just as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink! Continually: Yes they will drink, and swallow down, and will be as though they had never existed.

¹⁵ »You will sow and not reap. You will tread the olives, but will not be anointed with oil! And you will grow the grapes but you will not drink the wine.

⁵ Do not put your faith in your neighbor. Do not trust a friend! Guard your lips from her who lies in your bosom (is your intimate companion). ⁶ The son dishonors the father. The daughter rises up against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own house.

⁴ The law is paralyzed and justice is never delivered. The wicked surround the righteous and deliver perverted justice.

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look at evil. You cannot look at perversity. Why do you look at treacherous persons and not act? Why do you keep quiet when the wicked destroy the man who is more righteous? ¹⁴ Why do you make men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them? ¹⁵ He brings them all up with the hook. He gathers them away in his net. He gladly gathers them and rejoices. ¹⁶ He offers sacrifices and burns incense to his fishing net. For it is through this their catch is great and the food is plentiful. ¹⁷ Will they keep on emptying their nets and keep on destroying nations without mercy?

¹³ »Is it for Jehovah of Hosts that the peoples labor for the fire? Do the nations weary themselves for vanity?

¹⁷ The fig tree will not flourish. There will be no fruit on the vines. The labor of the olive will fail and the fields will yield no food! The flock will be cut off from the fold and there will be no herd in the stalls.

⁵ »I will remove those who bow down to worship the host of heaven on the housetops and those who bow down and swear to Jehovah and yet swear by Malcolm.

⁸ »I have heard the reproach of Moab and the taunting by the children of Ammon. They have reproached my people. They behave arrogantly at the border.« ⁹ »Just as I live,« said Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, »Moab will be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah. They will be possessions of nettles and salt pits. They will be deserted forever! My people will plunder them and the remnant of my nation will take possession of their land. ¹⁰ »They will have this instead of their pride. This is because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of Hosts.

¹² »You Ethiopians (Cushites) will be slain by my sword!

⁵ Jehovah is righteous within her. He will do no wrong. He brings justice to the dawn of the morning. He does not fail! Yet the unjust know no shame.

¹⁹ »I will deal at that time with all your oppressors. I will save the lame and gather the outcast. I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. ²⁰ »At that time I will bring you in! At that time I will gather you together. I will give you a name (honor) and praise among all the peoples of the earth! This will happen when I gather back your captive ones before your very eyes,« declares Jehovah.

⁶ »You sow much and reap little. You eat but you do not have enough! You drink and yet you are not filled. You clothe yourselves but you are not warm. You earns wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.«

¹⁶ »You would go to a pile of grain looking for twenty bushels, but there would be only ten. You would go to draw fifty gallons of wine from a vat and find only twenty. ¹⁷ »I struck you with scorching winds, mildew and hail to ruin everything you tried to grow,« declared Jehovah, »but you still did not repent.

¹⁵ ‘And I am very angry with the nations that are at ease (secure). I was but a little angered and they caused my anger to grow into fury.’«

⁸ »Jehovah of Hosts proclaims: ‘He sent me after glory! He sent me to the nations that plundered you. For he that touches you touches the pupil of his eye.’

¹¹ »Many nations will join themselves to Jehovah in that day, and will be my people! I will dwell in the your midst, and you will know that Jehovah of Hosts has sent me to you.«

⁵ »Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying: ‘For the past seventy years did you fast for me when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months?

⁶ »I will strengthen the house of Judah. I will save the house of Joseph and I will bring them back. I will have mercy upon them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off. For I am Jehovah, their God, and I will hear them! ⁷ »They of Ephraim will be like a mighty man! Their heart will rejoice as if from wine. Their children will see it, and rejoice! Their heart will be glad in Jehovah. ⁸ »I will whistle for them, and gather them. I have redeemed them and they will increase the same as they have increased. ⁹ »I will sow them among the peoples! They will remember me in far countries. They will live with their children and return. ¹⁰ »I will once again bring them out of the land of Egypt. I will gather them out of Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon and a place will not be found for them. ¹¹ »He will pass through the sea of affliction and will strike the waves in the sea. The depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be removed and the scepter of Egypt will depart. ¹² »I will strengthen them in Jehovah and they will walk in his name,« declared Jehovah.

⁸ »And I eliminated the three shepherds in one month. I was tired of them, and they also abhorred me (found me repugnant).

² »I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes trembling to the people in the nations nearby. Judah will also be attacked when they attack Jerusalem. ³ »It will happen in that day! I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight for all the people. All who lift it will be severely injured. All the nations of the earth will gather against her.« ⁴ »In that day,« said Jehovah, »I will strike every horse with terror and his rider with madness! I will watch the house of Judah. Every horse of the people will be struck with blindness.

¹⁶ »Every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ »There will be no rain on those who do not go to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts. ¹⁸ »If the family of Egypt does not go it will not be upon them. There will be the plague and Jehovah will strike the nations that do not go to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ »This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

² »You must honor me by your actions. If you will not listen to what I say, and give glory and honor to my name, I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. I have already put a curse on you. Your blessings are cursed already because you do not take my command seriously.

¹⁵ »We call arrogant people happy. Evil people test God’s patience with their wicked deeds. They not only get away with it, they also prosper.«

²¹ »People will hand over their brothers to be put to death. Parents will oppose children and children will oppose parents, causing them to be put to death.

⁸ »‘These people honor me with their lips, but their heart (innermost thoughts) is far from me.

¹⁶ They sent their disciples with the Herodians to Jesus. They said: »Teacher we know you are truthful. You teach the way of God in truth. And you are not partial to the influence of men. ¹⁷ »Tell us what you think? Is it lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar, or not?« ¹⁸ Jesus perceived their wickedness. He said: »Why do you test me, you hypocrites?

²¹ »There will be great tribulation. It will be greater than any has ever been from the beginning of the world until now. ²² »Unless those days are shortened, no flesh will be saved. For the sake of the chosen ones (selected individuals), those days will be shortened.

⁶ He told them: »Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites. It is written: ‘This people honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me.

¹² They tried to capture him but feared the crowd. They perceived that he spoke the illustration against them. So they left him and went away.

²⁷ »Bring my enemies that do not want me to rule over them and kill them in front of me.«

⁹ He told the people an illustration: »A man planted a vineyard. He rented it to tenants and went to another country for a long time. ¹⁰ »At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters to collect fruit of the vineyard. The renters beat him, and sent him away empty. ¹¹ »He sent another servant who was also treated shamefully, beaten and sent away empty. ¹² »A third servant was sent. They wounded him and threw him out. ¹³ »The owner of the vineyard said, what should I do? I will send my beloved son. Maybe they will respect him. ¹⁴ »When the renters saw him they reasoned that this is the heir, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. ¹⁵ »They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy the renters and will give the vineyard to others. When they heard it, they said, God forbid!

¹⁴ »Do not think about what you will say before it happens.

²⁴ »They will be killed by the edge of the sword. Some will be led captive into all the nations. The people of the nations will tread down Jerusalem until the time of the Nations is fulfilled.

⁵ For his brothers did not express active faith in him.

¹⁷ The third time Jesus said to him: »Simon, son of John, do you have affection for me?« Peter was grieved. Because he said to him the third time, do you have affection for me? Peter replied: »Lord, you know all things; you know I have affection for you!« Jesus said to him: »Feed my sheep.«

²² The crowd rose up against them. The magistrates ripped their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.

¹² When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.

²⁴ A man named Demetrius, a silversmith made silver shrines of Diana. He brought a lot of business to the craftsmen. ²⁵ They gathered together along with similar related workmen, and said: »Sirs, You know we receive a good income from this business. ²⁶ »You see and hear that Paul, in Ephesus and throughout all Asia, has persuaded and turned away many people. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. ²⁷ »There is danger that our trade will lose its good name. The temple of the great goddess Artemis (Diana) would then become useless. The goddess who is worshiped in all Asia would be robbed of her divine majesty.« ²⁸ When they heard this they were filled with anger. They shouted: »Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.« ²⁹ The city was filled with the confusion. They rushed with one accord into the theatre and seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.

²⁸ They shouted: »Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place; and moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple, and defiled this holy place.« ²⁹ They had previously been with him in the city Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the Temple. ³⁰ The entire city was aroused, and the people ran together from all directions. They laid hold on Paul and dragged him out of the Temple. Immediately the doors were shut.

⁵ If our unrighteousness defines God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his anger is he? I speak in human terms. ⁶ Not at all! For how will God judge the world?

²¹ You are now ashamed of the fruit you had at that time. For the results of these things is death.

²² For we know that the whole creation groans and is in pain together until now.

¹⁷ Some of the branches are broken off. You, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them. Therefore you partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree with them.

¹¹ It is written: As I live, says Jehovah, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will acknowledge (confess to) Jehovah. (Isaiah 45:23)

⁹ For we are fellow workers together with God. You are God's field under cultivation. You are God's building.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens. You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and of the household of God. ²⁰ You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus is the chief corner stone. ²¹ In him each building fits together and grows into a »holy Temple for Jehovah.« (Zechariah 6:12) ²² In Christ you are assembled together as a place for God’s Spirit to dwell.

⁸ They will render vengeance to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the good news of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁶ They profess that they know God; but deny him by their works! They are detestable, disobedient, and not approved for any good work.

³ Consider him who endured such contrary talk by sinners against him. You should not get tired and give up in your mind (heart). ⁴ You have not yet resisted by shedding blood in your striving against sin.

⁵ You lived in luxury on the earth, and take your pleasure; you nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.

⁴ You came to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and precious with God. ⁵ You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ The scriptures say: »I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, chosen and precious (Isaiah 28:16). He who believes in him will not be disappointed (shamed).«

⁶ The scriptures say: »I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, chosen and precious (Isaiah 28:16). He who believes in him will not be disappointed (shamed).« ⁷ This precious value is for those who believe. But for the unbeliever: »The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone.« ⁸ It is a stone that people stumble over, and a large rock that people find offensive. They stumble because they are disobedient to the word. To this end they were appointed.

¹² Beloved ones do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, for it comes upon you like a test, as though some strange thing were happening to you.

²⁰ If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence toward God.

⁴ Another horse that was red went out: and power was given to him who sat on it to take peace from the earth. He was given a great sword so that men could kill one another.

¹⁶ »The ten horns that you saw on the beast will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

¹⁶ He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, »King of Kings« and »Lord of Lords«! ¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice to all the fowls that fly in midheaven: »Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God;

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice to all the fowls that fly in midheaven: »Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God; ¹⁸ »that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military commanders, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.«

¹⁸ »that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military commanders, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.« ¹⁹ I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army. ²⁰ The beast was captured, and with him the false prophet that performed signs before him, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the one who sat on the horse. All the birds were filled with their flesh.

² »Do not measure the court outside the temple for it is given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.