Lamentations 5 Cross References - Thomson

¹ Remember, Lord, what hath befallen us: look down ² and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is transferred to strangers; our houses to foreigners. ³ We are become orphans. Our father is no more. Our mothers are like widows. ⁴ Our water we have drunk for money. Our wood came by barter on our shoulders. ⁵ We have been persecuted. We have laboured and have had no rest. ⁶ Egypt laid to a hand; Assyria, till they were satisfied. ⁷ Our fathers sinned; they are no more. We have borne their transgressions. ⁸ Slaves have got dominion over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hand. ⁹ At the peril of our lives we must gather in our corn, because of the sword of the desert. ¹⁰ Our skin is black as an oven. They are shrivelled up by storms of famine. ¹¹ Our wives are humbled in Sion; our virgins in the cities of Juda. ¹² Our chiefs were hanged up by their hands; our elders were held in no esteem. ¹³ Our warriors took up a lamentation; and our youths fainted under a club. ¹⁴ Our elders have ceased to attend at the gates, and our chosen men have ceased from their songs. ¹⁵ The joy of our heart is at an end; our dance is turned into mourning. ¹⁶ Our crown is fallen from our head; alas for us! for we have sinned. ¹⁷ Because of this, grief is come upon us; our heart is full of sorrow: because of this, our eyes are dim. ¹⁸ On mount Sion, because it is desolate, foxes have walked about. ¹⁹ But thou, Lord, wilt inhabit it forever: thy throne is for all generations. ²⁰ Why wilt thou utterly forget us? Wilt thou leave1 us for length of days? ²¹ Turn us to thee, Lord, and we shall be turned and renew our days as heretofore. Because thou wast cast off, thou hast cast us off; thou hast been provoked against us to a high degree.

²⁵ And when Noe recovered from the wine and knew what his younger son had done to him,

² And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his family and who was ruler over all that he had, Put thy hand under my thigh,

¹³ Then they said, Thy servants were twelve brothers in the land of Chanaan. And lo! the youngest is now with our father; but the other is no more.

³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, Me you have bereaved of children. Joseph is gone. Symeon is gone. And will you take away Benjamin? All these things are against me.

¹¹ So he set task masters over them to afflict them with labours and they built for Pharao fortified cities, namely, Peitho and Ramesses and On, which is Heliopolis.

¹¹ And after a course of many years, when Moses was become great he went out to his brethren the children of Israel. And as he was observing their distress, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, who was one of his brethren the children of Israel.

⁵ and every first born in the land of Egypt shall die: from the first born of Pharao who sitteth on the throne, to the first born of the female slave who is at the grinding mill, including also the first born of all the cattle.

⁵ thou shalt not worship them; nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a zealous God, retributing to them who hate me the sins of fathers upon children to the third and fourth generation;

²⁴ and my wrath will be kindled, and I will slay you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.

⁵ And if thou seest thine enemy's ass fallen under his burden thou shalt not pass it by, but shalt raise it up with its load.

³⁶ And upon those of you who are left, I will bring a slavery, which shall reach their very hearts, in the land of their enemies. The sound of a leaf driven by the wind will scare them; and they shall flee like those who flee from a battle, and shall fall when none pursueth.

¹⁸ Thou shalt appoint for thyself judges, and promulgators of the law, in the cities which the Lord thy God giveth thee, in every tribe. And they shall administer just judgment to the people.

³⁰ Thou wilt take a wife, and another man shall have her. Thou wilt build a house, but shall not dwell therein. Thou wilt plant a vineyard, but shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

³⁰ Thou wilt take a wife, and another man shall have her. Thou wilt build a house, but shall not dwell therein. Thou wilt plant a vineyard, but shalt not gather the grapes thereof. ³¹ Thy ox will be slaughtered before thy face, and thou shalt not eat thereof. Thy ass will be taken from thee, and shall not be restored; thy flocks will be given to thine enemies, and there shall be none to help thee; ³² thy sons, and thy daughters, will be given to another nation, and thine eyes will melt in looking at them; there will be no strength in thy hand. ³³ A nation, which thou knowest not will eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy labours; and thou shalt be injured, and oppressed continually ³⁴ , and driven to madness at the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see. ³⁵ The Lord smite thee with a grievous boil on thy knees, and on thy legs, so that thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy feet to the crown of thy head. ³⁶ The Lord carry away thee, and thy rulers, whom thou mayst set over thee, to a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers knew, that thou mayst there serve other gods; stocks and stones; ³⁷ and be there for a bye word, and a proverb, and a public example to all the nations to which the Lord shall bring thee. ³⁸ There thou shalt carry out much seed into the field, and shalt bring little home, for the locust shall devour it; ³⁹ thou shalt plant a vineyard and dress it; but shalt not press out wine, nor regale thyself from it; for worms shall eat it up. ⁴⁰ Thou shalt have plantations of olive trees, in all thy borders, but shalt not be anointed with oil, for thine olive tree shall cast its fruit: ⁴¹ thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but shalt not have them with thee; for they shall go into captivity. ⁴² All thy trees and the products of thy land, shall be consumed with blasting. ⁴³ The stranger who is with thee shall rise higher and higher; but thou shalt fall lower and lower.

⁴³ The stranger who is with thee shall rise higher and higher; but thou shalt fall lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He shall lend to thee; and thou shalt not lend to him: He shall be head; and thou shalt be tail. ⁴⁵ All these curses shall actually come upon thee, and pursue thee, and overtake thee, until he root thee out, and utterly destroy thee because thou didst not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, and his rules of rectitude, which he commanded thee, ⁴⁶ And they shall be signs for thee, and wonders for thine offspring forever. ⁴⁷ Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with gladness, and with a good understanding, for the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies, whom the Lord will send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and thou shalt wear a yoke of iron on thy neck, until it utterly destroy thee.

⁴⁸ therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies, whom the Lord will send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and thou shalt wear a yoke of iron on thy neck, until it utterly destroy thee. ⁴⁹ The Lord will bring against thee a nation from afar; from the extremity of the earth, with the impetuosity of an eagle; A nation whose voice thou shalt not understand; ⁵⁰ a nation of an unblushing countenance, which will not respect the person of an elder, nor compassionate a youth. ⁵¹ And it shall devour the increase of thy cattle, and the products of thy land, so as not to leave thee corn, wine, oil, herds or flocks, until it hath destroyed thee, ⁵² and wasted thee in thy cities; until they have demolished thy high, and strong walls, in which thou hast placed thy confidence, throughout thy whole land. And when he shall afflict thee in thy cities which he hath given thee; ⁵³ in thy siege, and in the affliction, with which thine enemy shall afflict thee, thou shalt eat the offspring of thy body; the flesh of thy sons, and thy daughters, whom he gave thee. ⁵⁴ The tender, and very delicate man who is with thee, will look with an evil eye on his brother, and on the wife in his bosom, and the remaining children which may be left him, ⁵⁵ so as not to give one of them any of the flesh of his sons, which he may be eating, because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in that affliction of thine with which thine enemies will afflict thee, in all thy cities. ⁵⁶ And the tender, and very delicate woman among you, whose foot never ventured to tread the ground because of her delicateness, and effeminacy will look with an evil eye on her husband in her bosom, and on her son, and her daughter, ⁵⁷ even the female infant she bore, or the male child which she may have brought forth; for on the account of the want of all things, she will eat these secretly in thy siege, and in that affliction of thine with which thine enemy will afflict thee in thy cities. ⁵⁸ If thou wilt not hearken to do all the words of this law, which are written in this book, to fear this glorious, this wonderful name, The Lord Thy God, ⁵⁹ the Lord will make thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, wonderful beyond conception; he will make them great, and marvellous, and thy diseases sore, and lasting, ⁶⁰ and will bring upon thee all the affliction of Egypt; that grievous affliction which thou didst dread on their account, and they shall cleave to thee. ⁶¹ The Lord will also bring upon thee every sickness, and every plague, which is not written, and every one which is written in this book of the law, until he root thee out. ⁶² And you shall be left few in number, instead of being, as you were, like the stars of heaven for multitude. Because thou didst not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, ⁶³ therefore it shall come to pass, that as the Lord delighted in you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you, in rooting you out; and you shall be removed speedily from the land to which thou art going to take possession of it. ⁶⁴ And the Lord thy God will scatter thee among all the nations, from one extremity of the earth to the other; and thou shalt there serve other gods; stocks and stones, which neither thou, nor thy fathers have known. ⁶⁵ But even among these nations he will not give thee rest, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. Indeed the Lord will give thee there a strange trembling heart, and failing eyes, and a desponding soul,

⁶⁵ But even among these nations he will not give thee rest, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. Indeed the Lord will give thee there a strange trembling heart, and failing eyes, and a desponding soul,

⁶⁵ But even among these nations he will not give thee rest, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. Indeed the Lord will give thee there a strange trembling heart, and failing eyes, and a desponding soul, ⁶⁶ and thy life shall hang in suspence before thine eyes, and thou shalt be in terror, day and night, and have no assurance of thy life.

⁶⁶ and thy life shall hang in suspence before thine eyes, and thou shalt be in terror, day and night, and have no assurance of thy life. ⁶⁷ In the morning thou wilt say; How will it be with me in the evening! And in the evening thou wilt say, How may it be with me in the morning! on account of the terror of thy heart with which thou shalt be affrighted, and on account of the sights of thine eyes which thou shalt see. ⁶⁸ And the Lord will send thee back into Egypt, in ships, [by the way which I ordered thou shalt see it no more:] and thou shalt there be exposed to sale to your enemies, for bond men and bond women, and there will be no purchaser.

²⁷ The governance of God will protect thee When under the power of everlasting arms. He will drive out the enemy before thee, Saying, Be devoted to destruction!

¹¹ Then there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under the fir tree, which is at Ephratha, in the land of father Joas, the Esdrite. Now Gideon, his son, was beating out corn in the wine

²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and put out his eyes, and carried him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, and he was kept grinding in the prison house.

¹⁷ and said, Lord forbid that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men, who have gone at the risk of their lives? So he would not drink it. These exploits were performed by these three men.

⁷ I will assuredly remove Israel from the land which I gave them, and cast out of my sight this house which I have hallowed for my name; and Israel shall be a desolation and a bye word among all peoples; ⁸ and this stately house shall be reduced to such a condition that every one who passeth by it will be astonished and will, with expressions of pity, say, Why hath the Lord dealt thus with this land and with this house?

³⁷ Hearken to me, Lord! Hearken to me; and let this people know, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned the heart of this people back again.

¹⁵ And going thence he met Jonadab son of Rechab, coming to meet him. And when he had saluted him, Jehu said to him, Is thy heart right with my heart, as my heart is with thine? And when Jonadab said, It is: Jehu said to him. Give me thy hand. So he gave him his hand. Then he caused him to come up to him into the chariot,

³ and they informed me that the remnant of the captivity who were left, were in that country in great affliction and reproach, and that the walls of Jerusalem continued demolished, and that the gates thereof were burned with fire.

⁸ Remember, I beseech thee, the word which thou didst give in charge to Moses thy servant, saying, When you break covenant with me, and I scatter you among the nations;

¹⁹ But when Sanaballat the Aronite, and Tobia the servant the Ammonite and Gesem the Arab heard, they laughed at us, and came to us and said, What is this which you are doing? Are you going to rebel against the king?

⁴ Hear, our God, how we are made a laughing stock, and turn their reproach back on their own head, and make them an object of derision in a land of captivity,

¹ Now there was a great cry of the people and their wives, against their brethren the Jews. ² There were some who said, We with our sons and our daughters are many, therefore we will take corn that we may eat and live. ³ There were others who said, As for our fields and our vineyards and our houses, let us mortgage them that we may get corn and eat. ⁴ There were others who said, We have borrowed money to pay the king's tribute, and pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses, ⁵ and now our flesh is the same as that of our brethren, our sons the same as theirs, yet behold we are subjecting our sons and our daughters to be slaves, nay, some of our daughters are already subjected to bondage, and we have no means to redeem them, for our nobles have got our fields and our vineyards.

¹⁵ those daily allowances with which they who were before me had loaded them, and which they had exacted from them in bread and wine, to the amount at least of forty didrachms of silver. They indeed who had been displaced, tyrannised over the people; but as for me I did not do so; because I feared God.

³⁶ Behold we are now slaves, and as for this land which thou gavest to our fathers to eat the fruits thereof, and the good things thereof, behold we are slaves in it; ³⁷ and its abundant fruits belong to those kings whom for our sins thou hast set over us, and who have dominion over our bodies, and who can do with our cattle what they please, so that we are in great affliction.

⁴ Let their children be but far from safety, and insulted at the gates of minors, there will then be none to deliver them.

⁷ Remember therefore that my life is but a breath; and that mine eyes shall never return again to see good. ⁸ The eye of him who seeth me now shall not see me again. Thine eyes are upon me and I am gone.

²¹ Why hast thou not made an oblivion of my transgression; or a purification for my sin? Now therefore let me depart into the earth: and when thou risest in the morning, I am no more.

⁷ For thou knowest that I am not impious: but who can deliver out of thy hands?

⁹ Remember that thou hast made me of clay, and art turning me again into mould.

⁷ For mine eyes are dim with sorrow, and I am closely besieged by all.

⁹ He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head.

⁷ when I walked early through the city; and a seat was set for me in the streets! ⁸ The young when they saw me hid themselves; and all the aged stood up. ⁹ The nobles forbore talking and put their finger on their mouth. ¹⁰ And while they who heard me were blessing me, their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. ¹¹ When the ear heard me it blessed me; and the eye when it saw me, turned aside: ¹² for I saved the poor from the hand of the mighty; and assisted the orphan who had no helper. ¹³ The blessing of him who was perishing came upon me: and the mouth of the widow blessed me. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness and cloathed myself with justice as with a mantle. ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to those in distress; and the cause which I knew not I searched out. ¹⁷ And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous; and plucked the prey from betwixt their teeth.

¹ But now the meanest have me in derision: now, those undertake to admonish me; whose fathers I held in contempt: whom I did not think worthy the dogs of my flocks.

³⁰ My skin is become very black; and my bones are burning with heat. ³¹ My kithara is turned into mourning, and my song to wailing for myself.

¹⁰ let my wife gratify another, and mine infant children be dishonoured.

⁷ Mine eye is troubled with indignation: I am grown old among all mine enemies.

² perhaps he like a lion may tear my soul; if there be none to redeem; none to deliver.

⁷ But the Lord will endure forever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment;

¹⁶ Let the Lord reign for ever and ever! Perish ye nations out of his land!

¹ For the conclusion. A Psalm by David. How long, Lord, wilt thou forget me? For ever? How long wilt thou turn away thy face from me?

¹⁰ the Lord will cause that which was deluged to be inhabited: and the Lord will sit enthroned king forever.

¹¹ Thou didst turn my mourning into joy; thou didst rend in pieces my sackcloth and gird me with gladness,

⁹ Pity me, Lord, for I am afflicted: with indignation mine eye was troubled; my soul and all within me.

⁹ And hast thou now cast us off and put us to shame, and wilt not go forth with our armies!

¹³ Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours; a scoff and derision to those around us. ¹⁴ Thou hast made us a by word among the nations; a shaking of the head among the tribes. ¹⁵ All the day long, my confusion is before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, ¹⁶ because of a reproacher's and a defamer's voice; and by reason of an enemy and an avenger.

²⁴ Why turnest thou away thy face forgetting our distress and our affliction?

⁶ Thy throne, God, is forever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of rectitude.

²² Now then, consider this, ye who forget God; lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver.

¹ For the conclusion. For those who are still to be changed. For a monumental inscription. By David, for instruction, when he had burned Syrian Mesopotamia, and Syrian Sobal; and Joab had returned, when he smote in the valley of Salt, twelve thousand. GOD, thou didst cast us off and destroy us; thou wast angry, but hast had compassion on us. ² Thou hast shaken the land and troubled it. Heal the breaches of it; for it hath been shaken.

³ I am weary with crying; my throat is hoarse; and mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

¹ Of understanding. By Asaph. O GOD, why hast thou utterly cast off? Why is thy wrath extreme against the sheep of thy pasture? ² Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old; this portion of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed; this mount Sion on which thou hast dwelt. ³ Lift up thy hands against their perpetual haughtiness; for all that the enemy hath wickedly done in thy Holies.

¹⁰ How long O God, shall the enemy reproach? Shall the adversary blaspheme thy name forever? ¹¹ Why dost thou withdraw thy hand? Let thy right hand be ever out of thy bosom.

⁷ Will the Lord cast off forever, and will he no more be favourable? ⁸ Will he entirely cut off mercy, from generation to generation? ⁹ Will God forget to be gracious? Will he in his anger restrain his compassion? ¹⁰ Then I said, I have now made a beginning; this is the change of the right hand of the Most High.

¹ A Psalm by Asaph. GOD, nations are come into thine inheritance: they have polluted thy holy temple. They have made Jerusalem a depository for summer fruits. ² They have given the carcasses of thy servants to be meat for the birds of the air; the flesh of thy saints, to the wild beasts of the earth.

⁴ We are become a reproach to our neighbours; A scoff and a derision to them around us. ⁵ How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire forever?

¹² Retribute to these neighbours of ours; into their bosom seven fold; their reproach, with which they have reproached thee, Lord.

³ Turn us, God; and let thy face shine; and we shall be saved.

⁷ Lord, the God of hosts, bring us back; and let thy face shine and we shall be saved.

¹⁹ Lord, the God of hosts, bring us back: and let thy face shine and we shall be saved.

⁴ Turn us, God of our salvation, and turn away thy wrath from us. ⁵ Be not angry with us forever. Wilt thou extend thy wrath to all generations?

³⁹ Hast thou made void the covenant with thy servant: and profaned his sanctuary to the ground?

⁴⁶ How long, Lord, wilt thou turn away? Shall thy wrath burn like fire forever?

⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants; that of many nations, which I retain in my bosom; ⁵¹ that with which thine enemies, O Lord, have reproached; with which they have reproached the redemption of thine anointed one.

² Before the mountains were brought forth; or the earth or the world was formed: even from everlasting to everlasting thou existest.

³ How long shall sinners, O Lord; how long shall sinners boast? ⁴ Shall they declaim and utter injustice? Shall all the workers of iniquity speak?

¹² But thou, Lord, endurest forever; and the memorial of thee to all generations.

²⁵ Thou Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands. ²⁶ They shall perish; but thou wilt endure: they shall all wax old like a garment; and like a mantle thou wilt fold them up and they shall be changed: ²⁷ but as for thee, thou art the same; and thy years shall have no end.

⁸³ Though I became like a leathern bag in frost; I did not forget thy statutes.

³ Have mercy on us, Lord; have mercy on us; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. ⁴ Our soul is filled exceedingly; we are the scoff of the prosperous and the contempt of the haughty.

¹³ Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion, throughout all generations.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever; thy God, Sion, throughout all generations.

³⁴ Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sins diminish tribes.

²² a servant when he reigneth; a fool when filled with meat;

⁵ What! must you persisting in iniquity be smitten still more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint:

⁷ Your land is a desert: your cities are burnt with fire. As for your country, before your eyes strangers are devouring it; and it is laid waste, being subdued by foreign tribes.

¹ Behold now the Sovereign Lord of hosts will remove, from Jerusalem and from Judea, all stay and support of every kind; the stay of bread and the stay of water; ² the giant and mighty man and warrior; judge and prophet; instructor and elder; ³ the captain of fifty, and honourable counsellor; the skilful architect and intelligent scholar:

⁹ Because their glory is now humbled; and the shame of their countenance is risen up against them: their sin therefore, like the Sodomites, they proclaimed and openly avowed. ¹⁰ Alas for their souls! Because they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, saying, "Let us bind the just one, for he is disagreeable to us;" let them therefore eat the fruits of their deeds. ¹¹ Alas for the wicked! according to the works of his hands evils shall befal him. my people!

¹⁷ and they who have been plundered shall be fed like bulls, and lambs shall graze the waste places of them who have been removed.

¹⁶ And their infants shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; and their houses shall be plundered and their wives ravished.

⁷ The wine will mourn, the vineyard will mourn, and all that were merry hearted will sigh. ⁸ The mirth of the tabrets hath ceased, the sound of the kithara is no more. ⁹ They are confounded: they have drunk no wine. The palm wine was bitter to them who drank it. ¹⁰ Every city is desolated: the houses will be shut up that none may enter. ¹¹ Raise the mournful cry every where for the wine. A stop is put to all the joy of the land; all the joy of the land is gone.

¹ "AH rebellious children! saith the Lord, you have formed a design, but not by me: and thou hast made convenants, but not by my spirit, that you may add sins to sins. ² They are setting out to go down to Egypt, without having consulted me; to be assisted by Pharao and protected by the Egyptians. ³ For the protection of Pharao will be your shame, and a disgrace to them who have trusted in Egypt. ⁴ Because generals are unwelcome messengers at Tanis, ⁵ they shall labour in vain with a people who will be of no service for assistance; but for a shame and disgrace. ⁶ This is the vision of the four footed beasts in the desert; A lion and a lion's whelp were in distress and difficulty; and from them went the asps and the brood of flying serpents, who carried their wealth on asses and camels to a nation which could not profit them.

¹ ALAS! They went down to Egypt for help! They trusted in horses and chariots; for they have many and their cavalry is very numerous; and did not rely on the Holy One of Israel, nor did they ask counsel of the Lord. ² Therefore he in his wisdom brought evils on them: and that his word may not be slighted, he will rise up against the houses of wicked men and against this hope of theirs which is vain ³ against an Egyptian; a man, not a god; against the flesh of horses in which there is no help. When the Lord shall lay his hand upon them, then shall these helpers fail and be all destroyed together.

¹³ In this land of my people shall spring up the thorn and the briar, and joy shall be taken from every dwelling. ¹⁴ O rich city! houses wholly forsaken! They shall abandon city, riches, lovely houses; and until the age the villages shall be dens; the joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks,

¹⁴ Like a swallow so let me twitter; and like a turtle dove so let me moan; for mine eyes were too weak to look up to the vault of heaven; to the Lord who hath rescued me

¹³ from the beginning; and there is none who can rescue out of my hands. I will act; and who can prevent it;

² Take a millstone and grind corn. Doff thy veil; uncover thy grey locks. Make bare thy leg: wade through rivers.

⁶ I was angry with my people: thou didst pollute my heritage, I delivered them into thy hand: and thou didst shew them no mercy. The yoke of the aged thou madest very heavy,

⁹ and multiplied thy fornication with them, and hast done it with many who are far from thee; and hast sent ambassadors beyond thy borders; and humbled thyself even to Hades;

⁶ It is not such a fast as this that I have chosen, saith the Lord. But loose every bond of iniquity; dissolve the obligations of onerous contracts; set at liberty them who are oppressed, and tear in pieces every unjust stipulation in writing:

¹⁸ that we may inherit a little of thy holy mountain.

⁹ be not angry with us to the uttermost; nor remember forever our sins: but, O, look down now upon us; for we are all thy people.

⁹ be not angry with us to the uttermost; nor remember forever our sins: but, O, look down now upon us; for we are all thy people. ¹⁰ The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert: Sion is become like a desert; Jerusalem, for a curse. ¹¹ The house, our sanctuary; even that glory which our fathers blessed, is utterly burnt up with fire, and all our glorious things are in ruins; ¹² yet for all these things, thou, Lord, hast refrained, and been silent. Thou hast humbled us exceedingly.

¹⁷ Hath not thy forsaking me, saith the Lord thy God, brought these things upon thee? ¹⁸ Now therefore what hast thou to do with the way to Egypt? Is it to drink the water of Geon? Or what hast thou to do in the way to the Assyrians? Is it to drink the water of rivers? ¹⁹ Let this apostacy of thine correct thee. And thy wickedness work conviction in thee. And know and see how bitter a thing it is to forsake me, saith the Lord thy God.

³⁶ Because thou hast made very light of repeating thy journies, therefore thou shalt be made ashamed of Egypt, as thou hast been, of Assyria:

¹⁸ thy ways and thy devices have done these things to thee. It is owing to thy wickedness that they are bitter; that they have reached thy very heart.

¹² therefore their houses shall be transferred to others; their fields and their wives together. Because I will stretch forth my hand against the inhabitants of this land, saith the Lord;

³⁴ And I will cause to cease from the cities of Juda and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness; the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the whole land shall be a desolation."

¹⁸ with incurable wounds, which shall pain your throbbing hearts.

¹¹ I will indeed deliver up Jerusalem to captivity and make it a den for jackals; and the cities of Juda an uninhabitable desolation.

¹⁸ [J] Say to the king and the rulers: Humble yourselves and sit on the ground; for from your head is taken your crown of glory.

¹⁹ hast Thou utterly rejected Juda and is Thy soul alienated from Sion? Why hast Thou smitten us, and there is no cure for us? We waited for peace, and there was no good; for a time of healing, and behold trouble! ²⁰ We acknowledge, O Lord, our sins and the iniquities of our fathers; that we have sinned against Thee.

²⁰ We acknowledge, O Lord, our sins and the iniquities of our fathers; that we have sinned against Thee. ²¹ O be appeased for Thy name's sake. Destroy not the throne of Thy glory; remember, O dissolve not Thy covenant with us.

¹ Then the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My soul is not towards them. Send away this people and let them go. ² And if they say to thee, Whither shall we go? then thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord, such as are for pestilence, to pestilence, and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. ³ For I will send against them four kinds of avengers, saith the Lord, the sword to slay; and the dogs to tear; and the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the air to devour and destroy. ⁴ And I will deliver them up to distress in all the kingdoms of the earth, on account of Manasses son of Ezekias king of Juda-for all that he did in Jerusalem. ⁵ Who will pity thee, Jerusalem? or who will bemoan thee? or who will turn aside to inquire after thy welfare?

⁸ Their widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea. Against a mother I have brought soldiers-misery at noon-day. Upon her I have cast suddenly terror and consternation.

¹⁵ [p] O Lord, remember me and visit me and save me from them, who are persecuting me past forbearance. Consider how I have for Thy sake borne reproach from them who despise my words.

⁹ for thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Behold I am about to remove out of this place, before your eyes and in these your days, the sound of joy and the sound of mirth, the voice of the bride groom and the voice of the bride.

¹² and you have done evil worse than your fathers; and lo! you walk every one after the desires of your wicked heart, that you may not hearken to Me:

³ [Omitted]

²¹ For this cause deliver up their sons to famine and give them up in multitudes to the sword. Let their wives become childless and widows; and the husbands be cut off by pestilence and their young men fall by the sword in battle.

¹⁰ And I will destroy from among them the sound of joy and the sound of gladness; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the odour of myrrh and the light of the lamp.

⁹ Thou shalt be put to death, because thou hast prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, "This house shall be like Selo, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitants." And all the people were assembled against Jeremias in the house of the Lord.

² Thus said the Lord, Make thee chains and yokes and put them about thy neck;

⁸ And the nation and the kingdom; all who will not submit their neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon, them I will visit with sword and famine, said the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.

¹¹ But the nation which shall submit its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and work for him, that nation I will leave in its own hand. It laboureth for him and it shall dwell therein. ¹² So I spoke to Sedekias king of Juda according to all these words, saying, Submit your neck to work for the king of Babylon. For these men prophesy falsehoods to you;

¹⁴ For thus said the Lord, I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all the nations, that they may work for the king of Babylon."

⁴ For I will rebuild thee, and thou shalt be rebuilt. virgin of Israel, again thou shalt take thy timbrel, and go forth with a congregation of rejoicers.

¹⁵ There was heard at Rama a sound of lamentation and weeping and wailing; Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

¹⁸ I have heard the voice of Ephraim moaning, "Thou hast chastised me and I have been chastised. I like a bullock was uninstructed, bring me back that I may return; for thou art the Lord my God.

²³ For thus saith the Lord, Again they shall use this form of words in the land of Juda and in his cities when I have brought back his captivity, "Blessed be the Lord on his righteous, his holy mountain." ²⁴ It shall be used by them who dwell in the cities of Juda and in all his land, and shall be repeated by the husbandman and among the flocks. ²⁵ For I have satisfied with drink every thirsty soul; and every soul that was hungry I have filled.

²⁹ In those days they shall no more say, "Our fathers ate a sour grape and the childrens' teeth are set on edge."

³⁹ And I will give them another way and another heart that I may be always feared and may be for good to them and their children after them. ⁴⁰ And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, which I will not turn away from them; and I will put my fear in their heart, that they may not apostatise from me;

¹⁰ Thus said the Lord, In the place which you say is a desert without men and beasts; in the cities of Juda and in the streets of Jerusalem which have been desolate so as to have neither man nor beast,

¹³ In the cities of the hilly country and in the cities of Sephela, and in the cities of Nageb and in the land of Benjamin and in those around Jerusalem and in the cities of Juda, flocks shall again pass under the hand of him that counteth them, said the Lord.

⁶ [Omitted] ⁷ [Omitted]

⁹ and Godolias sword to them and their men, saying, Be not afraid of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be better for you. ¹⁰ As for me, behold I reside before you, at Massepha to meet the Chaldeans who may come against you. But as for you, collect wine and summer fruits and oil and lay them up in your vessels and dwell in the cities which you have taken possession of. ¹¹ All the Jews also who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and those in Idumea and in all that country, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Juda and had set Godolias son of Achikam over them, ¹² came to Godolias into the land of Juda to Massepha, and collected wine and summer fruits in great abundance, and oil.

¹ Now it came to pass that in the seventh month Ismael son of Nathanias son of Eleasa of the royal family and ten chief men with him came to Godolias at Massepha and they there ate bread together. ² And Ismael arose and the ten chiefs who were with him, and smote Godolias whom the king of Babylon had set over the land, ³ and all the Jews who were with him at Massepha and all the Chaldeans who were found there. ⁴ And it happened that on the second day after he had slain Godolias and it was not generally known, ⁵ there came eighty men from Sychem and from Salem and from Samaria, with their beards shaven and their clothes rent and in deep mourning, with manna and frankincense in their hands, to make an offering for the house of the Lord. ⁶ And Ismael went out to meet them as they were proceeding on in their journey weeping, and said to them, Come to Godolias. ⁷ And when they were come into the midst of the city he slew them at the pit. ⁸ But there were ten men among them who said to Ismael, Do not kill us; for we have treasures in a field, wheat and barley, honey and oil. So he forbore and did not kill them among their brethren. ⁹ Now the pit, into which Ismael threw all that he had slain, was that great pit which king Asa had made for fear of Baasa king of Israel. This Ismael filled with the slain. ¹⁰ And Ismael carried away all the people who were left at Massepha and the king's daughters whom the chief cook had committed to the care of Godolias son of Achikam; and fled towards the borders of the Anmonites.

¹⁸ for fear of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them because Ismael had slain Godolias whom the king of Babylon had set over the land.

¹⁴ "We will not abide in this land; for we will go to the land of Egypt, that we may not see war nor hear the trumpet's sound, nor pine for want of bread; and we will dwell there."

¹⁶ the sword of which you are afraid shall find you in the land of Egypt; and the famine which you wish to avoid shall follow and overtake you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

¹² Behold I am setting my face to destroy all the remnant in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword and by famine and die, both small and great: and they shall be for reproach and for destruction and for a curse. ¹³ For I will visit those settled in Egypt as I visited Jerusalem with sword and with famine, ¹⁴ so that none of this remnant of Juda who dwell in Egypt, shall be saved to return to the land of Juda, to which they earnestly hope to return, save those only who have made their escape thither.

⁵ Why are they daunted, and falling back? Because their mighty men will be cut down, they fled amain; they rallied not, being hemmed in on all sides, saith the Lord.

¹⁵ you must needs subdue her. Her hands are weakened; her bulwarks have fallen, and her wall is undermined. Because it is a vengeance from the Lord; execute vengeance on her. As she hath done, do ye to her.

¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedekias before his eyes. He slew also all the chiefs of Juda at Deblatha. ¹¹ Then he put out the eyes of Sedekias and bound him with chains. And the king of Babylon led him to Babylon and committed him to the slave prison where he continued till the day of his death.

¹³ and burned the house of the Lord and the king's house. He burned also with fire all the public buildings of the city and every stately house.

²⁵ and a eunuch who was over the men of war, and seven men of renown who attended in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the armies, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty chief men, of the people of the country, who were found in the city. ²⁶ These Nabuzardan the chief cook, took and brought to the king of Babylon at Deblatha. ²⁷ And the king of Babylon slew them at Deblatha in the land of Aimath.

¹ After Israel was carried into captivity, and Jerusalem was laid waste; Jeremias sat down and wept, and sung this song of woe over Jerusalem, and said. How solitary sitteth the city which was full of people! she who was abundant among nations is become like a widow! the empress of provinces is become tributary!

⁴ The highways of Sion mourn; because none attend her festivals. All her gates are desolate. Her priests groan bitterly. Her virgins are carried away; and she is by herself in bitterness.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became unstable as a wave. By all that honoured her she hath been humbled, for they saw her nakedness, while she sighing turned away her face.

¹³ From his loftiness he hath sent a fire; he brought it in among my bones. He hath spread a net for my feet and turned me backwards. He hath made me desolate and full of sorrow, all the live long day. ¹⁴ He hath kept a watch on my transgressions. They are wreathed round my hands. They have reached up to my neck. My strength is enfeebled. For into my hands the Lord hath sent pains. I cannot stand.

¹⁸ [s] The Lord is righteous; for against his express commandment I rebelled. Hear I beseech you all ye peoples and behold my sorrow! my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. ¹⁹ I called on my lovers; but they with false excuses deceived me. My priests and my elders expired in the city, because they sought food to support their lives, but found none. ²⁰ Look, O Lord! because of my distress my bowels are troubled; and my heart within me is distracted, because I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword, and at home death have bereaved me of children.

²² let all their wickedness come before thee. Make search for them as they have made search for all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is afflicted with grief.

¹ Oh! how the Lord hath in his wrath covered with darkness the daughter of Sion! he hath cast down, from heaven, upon the earth, the glory of Israel; and hath not remembered his own footstool.

⁸ He turned back to destroy the wall of the daughter of Sion; he stretched out a measuring line: he withdrew not his hand from destruction; so the outer wall mourned and the inner wall languished with it. ⁹ Her gates were dashed to the ground: he destroyed and broke to pieces her bars, her king and her chiefs among the nations. Law is no more; and her prophets saw not a vision from the Lord. ¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Sion sat on the ground. They were silent. They heaped dust on their heads; they girded themselves with sackcloth. He humbled to the ground the virgin princesses in Jerusalem. ¹¹ Mine eyes failed with tears; my heart was astounded. My glory was poured on the ground for the distress of the daughter of my people when the infant and suckling expired in the streets of the city.

¹⁵ All that passed by clapped their hands for thee, they expressed the sound of pity and shaked their heads for the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this, say they, the city, the crown of joy of the whole earth!

²⁰ Look, O Lord, and see. For whom hast thou caused such a search to be made? Shall women eat the fruit of their womb! The cook hath made search! Shall infants at the breast be butchered? Wilt thou slay in the sanctuary of the Lord, priest and prophet?

⁴ He hath made my flesh and my skin old; he hath broken my bones.

¹⁹ I recollected because of mine affliction. When by reason of persecution, my bitterness and gall shall be remembered;

⁶¹ Thou hast heard their reproach; all their charges against me;

⁸ Their visage became blacker than soot. They are not distinguished in the streets. Their skin is shrivelled to their bones. They are withered. They are become like a stick.

¹³ Because of the sins of her prophets; the iniquities of her priests; of them who were shedding innocent blood, in the midst of her,

¹⁶ The presence of the Lord was their portion; he will no more look upon them: they paid no respect to the presence of priests; on prophets they had no compassion.

¹⁹ They who pursue us are swifter than eagles in the air; they overtook us on the mountains. They lay in wait for us in the desert.

⁹ Provide therefore for thyself wheat and barley and beans and lentiles and millet and rye and put them into an earthen vessel and make them into loaves for thyself according to the number of the days which thou liest on thy side, to be eaten in the course of a hundred and ninety days. ¹⁰ And thou shalt eat thy bread by weight, twenty shekels a day. From time to time thou shalt eat it: ¹¹ and thou shalt drink water by measure, namely the sixth of an hin to be drunk at stated times. ¹² And thou shalt eat the loaves baked like barley cakes on the hearth, and thou shalt bake them in their sight with a fire made of human ordure and ¹³ shalt say, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, So shall the children of Israel eat impure meats among the nations. ¹⁴ Upon this I said, Not so: Lord God of Israel, seeing my soul hath not been polluted with impurity. Even from my birth to this day I have not eaten what died of itself, or was torn by wild beasts, nor hath any tainted flesh ever entered my mouth. ¹⁵ Thereupon he said to me, Behold I have given thee the dung of cattle instead of human ordure that thou mayst bake thy loaves with it. ¹⁶ Moreover he said to me, son of man, Behold I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem and they shall eat bread by weight and with scantiness; and they shall drink water by measure and with faintness; ¹⁷ that they may be in want of bread and water and perish, one and all, and be wasted away for their iniquities.

¹⁷ All hands shall be enfeebled and all thighs stained with filth. ¹⁸ And they shall gird on sackcloth; and amazement shall cover them. And shame shall be on all their faces: and on every head, baldness. ¹⁹ Their silver shall be thrown in the streets; and their gold shall be disregarded. Their souls shall not be satisfied; nor shall their bellies be filled: because the punishment of their iniquities is come. ²⁰ With their choice apparel which was laid by for ostentation; even with this they adorned the images of their abominations; therefore I have given it to them for defilement; ²¹ even into the hand of strangers I will deliver it for plunder, and to be a spoil for the ravagers of the earth; and they shall defile it.

²¹ even into the hand of strangers I will deliver it for plunder, and to be a spoil for the ravagers of the earth; and they shall defile it. ²² And I will turn away my face from them; and they shall pollute the places under my peculiar inspection, and come into them unobserved, and profane them

²⁴ therefore I will turn back their tumultuous power, and their holy things shall be polluted.

¹⁹ and I will give them another heart and put a new spirit in them; and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh ²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and execute them. And they shall be my people and I will be their God.

¹⁸ Son of man, thou shalt eat thy bread with sorrow and drink water with tribulation and affliction, ¹⁹ and thou shalt say respecting the people of that land, Thus saith the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, They shall eat their loaves with scantiness, and drink water with astonishment, that the land may be wasted with the fulness thereof;

¹⁸ As he hath dishonoured an oath, by breaking a covenant, [when lo! he had given his hand] and hath done all these things to him, he shall not escape.

² Son of man why have you this proverb among the children of Israel, saying, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the childrens teeth are set on edge."

⁷ And if they say to thee, Why art thou groaning? Then thou shalt say, Because of the news: for it is coming: and every heart shall be broken, and all hands enfeebled; and all flesh and every spirit shall faint; and all thighs shall be polluted with filth. Behold it is coming! saith the Lord."

¹⁵ See that thy heart be not broken, though the fainty be multiplied at every gate. They are delivered up to the slaughter of the sword. It is well made for slaughter. It is well made to glitter.

²⁶ Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast pulled off the coronet, and put on the imperial diadem. It shall not be such. Thou hast debased what was high and exalted what was low.

¹² In thee they received bribes to shed blood. In thee they took interest and usury, and thou hast completed thy wickedness by oppression. And me thou hast forgotten, saith the Lord. ¹³ Now when I lay my hand on thee to destroy thee, for what thou hast done and for the blood which hath been shed in thee; ¹⁴ will thy heart endure? Will thy hands be strong in the day I deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken and I will perform. ¹⁵ I will scatter thee among the nations and disperse thee through the countries, and when thine impurity shall be consumed out of thee, ¹⁶ I will take possession of thee in the sight of all the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹³ And he will put an end to the multitude of thy musicians; and the sound of thy psalteries shall no more be heard.

²⁵ then I will sprinkle upon you pure water, and you shall be cleansed from all your impurities and from all your idols; and when I have cleansed you, ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh: ²⁷ And I will put my spirit in you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and to keep my judgments and practise them.

³⁷ Thus saith Adonai the Lord, Still that they may do this, the house of Israel must seek me;

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to me saying, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Now they say, "Our bones are become dry. Our hope is gone. We are wasted to a shadow."

⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and this kingdom of his shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces, and blow away all those kingdoms and shall itself stand forever.

¹⁴ And to him was given the government and the honour and the kingdom; and all the peoples, tribes and languages are to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall never pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.

²⁷ For the kingdom and the dominion and the majesty of the kings who are under the whole heaven, is given to the holy ones of the Most High. And his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all the governments shall serve and obey him.

⁶ And when she conceived again and bore a daughter, he said to him, "Call her name, Not compassionated; for I will no longer continue to have compassion on the house of Israel, but will set myself against them.

¹⁰ and I will now disclose her impurity before her lovers; and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

¹³ When Ephraim saw his disorder and Juda felt his pain, though Ephraim went to the Assyrians, and sent ambassadors to king Iarim; yet he could not heal you, nor could your pain be assuaged;

¹¹ [J] Ephraim indeed was like a silly dove which had no understanding; he called upon Egypt: and they went to the Assyrians.

³ They did not dwell in the land of the Lord: Ephraim became an inhabitant of Egypt; therefore among the Assyrians they shall eat unclean things.

¹ But this Ephraim is an evil spirit, he pursued a blasting wind the whole day. He multiplied emptiness and vanity. Though he made a covenant with the Assyrians, yet oil went continually to Egypt.

³ Assur cannot save us. We will no more mount horses; we will no more say to the works of our hand, "You are our gods." He who is in thee will compassionate the fatherless.

⁴ Some of you are sleeping on beds of ivory and lolling at ease on their couches, and eating kids from the flocks, and from the herds calves fed with milk: ⁵ some are dwelling: on the sound of musical instruments; as if they thought it fixed and not fleeting. ⁶ Some are drinking filtered wine and anointing themselves with most precious ointment and have no feeling for the affliction of Joseph. ⁷ Now for this cause, from being a government of mighties they shall be captives, and the neighing of horses shall be taken away from Ephraim.

¹⁰ And I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into songs of lamentation. And I will bring sackcloth on every loin and baldness on every head, and cause a mourning for him like that for a beloved, and for them with him, like that of a day of sorrow.

¹² therefore because of you, Sion shall be ploughed like a field; and Jerusalem shall be like a temporary building for summer fruits; and the mountain of the house shall be for a grove of a forest.

¹³ therefore I will begin with smiting thee; I will make thee desolate for thy sins.

¹² Art not thou from everlasting? Lord, my God, my Holy One! let us not die. Thou, Lord, hast appointed this for judgment: and formed it that its correction may work conviction in me.

² Lord, I have heard the report of thee and am terrified; I have considered thy works and am struck with amaze. In the midst of two living beings thou wilt be known; when the years draw nigh thou wilt be acknowledged; when the time is come thou wilt be pointed out: when my soul is troubled, in wrath remember mercy.

¹³ their wealth shall be for plunder; and their houses, for desolation. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; and though they plant vineyards; they shall not drink the wine thereof;

⁵ As for your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, will they live forever?

³ But thus saith the Lord, I will return to Sion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord Almighty, a holy mountain. ⁴ Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Again old men and matrons shall sit in the streets of Jerusalem, every one with his staff in his hand, for multitude of days; ⁵ and the streets of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets. ⁶ Thus saith the Lord Almighty, If this shall appear impossible in the view of the remnant of this people in these clays; shall it also be impossible in my view, saith the Lord Almighty?

⁶ Therefore I will no more spare the inhabitants of this land, saith the Lord. Now behold I deliver up the men, every one into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and I will not deliver out of their hand.

² I will indeed gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women polluted. And the half of the city shall go forth into captivity. As for the remainder of my people they shall not be utterly cut off. From this city,

⁴ and the sacrifice of Juda and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

²⁹ Take upon you my yoke and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

⁴ For they bind up heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men's shoulders: but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

³² As for you then, fill up the measure of your fathers. ³³ Serpents! brood of vipers! how can you escape the punishment of hell? ³⁴ For this, behold I am about to send you prophets, wise men and Scribes: and some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; ³⁵ that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Verily I say to you, All these things will come upon this generation.

⁴² Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest to thy kingdom.

¹⁰ Now therefore why do ye try God, to put upon the neck of the disciples, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear?

¹⁷ Now to the king of the ages; the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, be honour and glory, for the ages of the ages. Amen.

¹⁵ which, in his own proper times will be displayed by him, who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and the lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone hath immortality, who inhabiteth light inaccessible, whom no man hath seen, or can see, to whom be honour and everlasting dominion. Amen.

⁸ but with respect to the son, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: The sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of rectitude: ⁹ Thou didst love righteousness and hate iniquity, Therefore God, thy God anointed thee With the oil of joy above thy associates!" ¹⁰ Again, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of thy hand. ¹¹ They shall perish, but thou wilt endure. They shall all wax old like a garment, ¹² And like a mantle thou wilt fold them up and they shall be changed :But as for thee, thou art the same And thy years shall have no end".

⁸ Be not led away by various and strange doctrines, for it is better to have the heart strengthened with favour than with meats which have not profited those versed in them.

⁹ Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into grief; and your joy into con fusion of face. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will exalt you. Speak not, brethren, against one another. He who speaketh against a brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh against law, and judgeth law. Now if thou judgest law, thou art not a doer of law, but a judge.

⁴ For if God spared not angels who sinned, but confining them in Tartarus, chains of darkness, delivered them up to be kept for judgment ⁵ and if he spared not the old world, but preserved eight persons, including Noah, the proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought a deluge on the world of ungodly men ⁶ and when he condemned to destruction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes, and making them a publick example to future impious men,

⁴ John to the seven congregations which are in Asia; favour be to you, and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before his throne;

⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end," saith the Lord, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

¹⁷ And when I saw him I fell at his feet as one dead. Whereupon he laid his right hand on me, and said to me, "Fear not. I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ even he who liveth. Though I was dead yet behold I am alive, and live for the ages of the ages, Amen. And I have the keys of the mansion of the dead, and of death.

¹⁰ Be not terrified at what thou art about to suffer. Behold the devil will soon cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and ye will have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

¹¹ Behold I am coming quickly. Hold fast what thou hast, that none may take thy crown.

²² And the sound of harpers and of musicians and of pipers and of trumpeters shall no more be heard in thee. And no artist of any kind shall ever be found in thee again. And the sound of a millstone shall never be heard in thee again;