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These are the wordes that the lord spake vnto Ieremie, what time as kyng Zedekias sent vnto him Phashur the sonne of Melchias, & Sophonias the sonne of Maasias priest, saying:

Aske counsayle at the Lorde [we pray thee] on our behalfe, for Nabuchodonozor the king of Babylon besiegeth vs: if the Lorde (peraduenture) wyll deale with vs according to his maruaylous power, and take hym from vs.

Then spake Ieremie: Geue Zedechias this aunswere.

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Beholde, I wyll turne backe the weapons that ye haue in your hands, wherwith ye fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldees, whiche besiege you rounde about the walles, and I wyll bryng them together into the middest of this citie.

And I my selfe will fight against you with an ouerstretched hande, and with a mightie arme, in great displeasure and terrible wrath:

And wyll smite them that dwell in this citie, yea both men and cattell shall dye of a great pestilence.

But after this (saith the Lorde) I shall deliuer Zedekias kyng of Iuda, and his seruauntes, his people, and such as are escaped in the citie from the pestilence, sworde, and hunger, into the power of Nabuchodonozor kyng of Babylon, yea into the handes of their enemies, into the handes of those that folowe vpon their liues, whiche shall smite them with the sworde, they shall not pitie them, they shal not spare them, they shall haue no mercy vpon them.

And vnto this people thou shalt say, thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I lay before you the way of life and death.

Whoso abideth in the citie, shall perishe, either with the sworde, with hunger, or pestilence: but whoso goeth out to holde on the Chaldees part that besiege it, he shall saue his lyfe, and shall winne his soule for a pray.

For I haue set my face against this citie (saith the Lorde) to plague it, and to do it no good: it must be geuen into the hande of the kyng of Babylon, and be brent with fire.

And vnto the house of the king of Iuda say thus: Heare the worde of the Lorde:

O thou house of Dauid, thus saith the Lorde: Minister righteousnesse and that soone, deliuer the oppressed from violent power, or euer my terrible wrath breake out lyke a fire and burne, so that no man may quenche it because of the wickednesse of your imaginations.

Behold, saith the Lord, I wyll come vpon thee that dwellest in the valleys, rockes, and fieldes, and say, tushe, who will make vs afraide? or who wil come into our houses?

For I wyll visite you saith the Lord, because of the wickednesse of your inuentions, and wyll kindle suche a fire in your wood, as shall consume all that is about you.

Thus saith the Lord: Go downe into the house of the kyng of Iuda, and speake there these wordes,

And say: Heare the worde of the Lorde thou king of Iuda that sittest in the kyngly seate of Dauid, thou and thy seruauntes, and thy people that goeth in and out at these gates.

Thus the Lord comaundeth: Kepe equitie and righteousnesse, deliuer the oppressed from the power of the violent, do not greeue nor oppresse the straunger, the fatherlesse, nor the widowe, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

And if ye kepe these thinges faythfullye, then shall there come in at the doore of this house, kinges to sit vpon Dauids seate, they shalbe caried in charrets, and ride vpon horses, both they and their seruauntes, and their people.

But if ye wyll not be obedient vnto these commaundementes, I sweare by mine owne selfe, saith the Lord, this house shalbe waste.

For thus hath the Lorde spoken vppon the kynges of Iuda: Thou Gilead art vnto me the head of Libanus: Shall I not make thee so waste as the cities that no man dwell in?

I wyll prepare a destroyer with his weapons for thee, to hewe downe thy especiall Cedar trees, and to cast them in the fire.

And all the people that go by this citie, shall speake one to another: Wherfore hath the Lorde done thus vnto this noble citie?

Then shall it be aunswered: Because they haue broken the couenaunt of the Lorde their God, and haue worshipped and serued straunge Gods.

Mourne not ouer the dead, and be not wo for them: but be sorie for hym that departeth away, for he commeth not agayne, and seeth his natiue countrey no more.

For thus saith the Lorde as touching Sellum the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda, whiche raigned after his father: When he is caried out of this place, he shall neuer come hyther agayne.

For he shall dye in the place wherevnto he is led captiue, and shall see this lande no more.

Wo worth hym that buyldeth his house with vnrighteousnesse, and his parlours with the good that he hath gotten by violence, which neuer recompenceth his neighbours labour, nor payeth hym his hyre:

Who thinketh in hym selfe, I wyll buylde me a wyde house and gorgious parlours, who causeth windowes to be hewen therin, and the seelinges and ioystes maketh he of Cedar, and painteth them with Sinoper.

Thinkest thou to raigne nowe that thou hast inclosed thy selfe with Cedar? Did not thy father eate and drinke and prosper well, as long as he dealt with equitie and righteousnesse?

Yea, when he helped the oppressed and poore to their right, then prospered he well: From whence came this, but onlye because he knewe me, saith the Lorde?

Neuerthelesse, as for thyne eyes and thyne heart they loke vpon couetousnesse, to shed innocent blood, to do wrong and violence.

And therefore thus saith the Lorde against Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda: They shall not mourne for hym [as they vse to do] Alas brother, alas sister: neither shall they say vnto him, Alas sir, alas for that noble prince.

But as an asse shall he be buried, corrupt, and be cast without the gates of Hierusalem.

Climbe vp the hyll of Libanus [O thou daughter Sion] lyft vp thy voyce vppon Basan, crye from all partes: for all thy louers are destroyed.

I gaue thee warning whyle thou wast yet in prosperitie: but thou saidest, I wyll not heare: And this maner hast thou vsed from thy youth, that thou wouldest neuer heare my voyce.

All thy heardmen shalbe driuen with the winde, and thy darlinges shalbe caryed away into captiuitie: then shalt thou be brought to shame and confusion, because of all thy wickednes.

Thou that dwellest vpon Libanus, and makest thy nest in the Cedar trees, O howe litle shalt thou be regarded when thy sorowe and panges come vppon thee, as vpon a woman trauayling with chylde?

As truely as I liue saith the Lorde, though Conanias the sonne of Iehoakim kyng of Iuda were the signet of my right hande, yet wyll I plucke him of.

And I wyll geue thee into the hande of them that seeke thy life, and into the power of them that thou fearest, euen into the power of Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon, and into the power of the Chaldees.

Moreouer, I wyll sende thee and thy mother that bare thee into a straunge lande where ye were not borne, and there shall ye dye.

But as for the lande that ye wyll desire to returne vnto, ye shall neuer come at it agayne.

This man Conanias shalbe lyke an image robbed and torne in peeces, and like a vessell wherein there is no pleasure: Wherefore both he and his seede shalbe sent away, and cast into a lande that they knowe not.

O thou earth, earth, earth, heare the worde of the Lorde,

Thus saith the Lorde, Write this man destitute of chyldren: for no prosperitie shall this man haue all his dayes, neyther shall any of his seede be so happie as to sit vpon the seate of Dauid, and to beare rule any more in Iuda.

Wo vnto the shepheardes that destroy and scatter my flocke, saith the Lorde.

Wherefore this is the saying of the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepheardes that feede my people, Ye scatter and thrust out my flocke, and loke not vpon them: therefore nowe wyll I visite the wickednesse of your imaginations, saith the Lorde.

And I wyll gather together the remnaunt of my flocke from all landes that I had driuen them vnto, and will bring them agayne to their foldes, that they may growe and increase.

I wyll set shepheardes also ouer them, whiche shall feede them: they shall no more feare and dread, and there shall none of them be loste, saith the Lorde.

Beholde, the tyme commeth saith the Lorde, that I wyll rayse vp the righteous braunche of Dauid, whiche kyng shall beare rule, and he shall prosper with wisdome, and shal set vp equitie and righteousnesse agayne in the earth.

In his tyme shall Iuda be saued, and Israel shall dwell without feare: and this is the name that they shall call hym, euen the Lorde our righteousnesse.

And therefore beholde the time commeth saith the Lorde, that it shalbe no more sayde, the Lorde liueth whiche brought the chyldren of Israel out of the lande of Egypt:

But the Lorde liueth which brought foorth and led the seede of the house of Israel out of the north lande, and from all countreys where I had scattred them: and they shal dwel in their owne lande agayne.

My heart breaketh in my body, because of the false prophetes all my bones shake, I am become like a drunken man that by the reason of wine can take no rest, for very feare of the Lorde and his holy wordes.

Because the lande is full of adulterers, and thorowe swearing it mourneth, and the pleasaunt pastures of the desert are dryed vp: yea the way that men take is wicked, and their power is nothing right.

For the prophetes and the priestes them selues are polluted hypocrites, and their wickednesse haue I founde in my house, saith the Lorde.

Wherefore their way shalbe slipperie in the darknesse, wherein they may stacker and fall: for I wyll bryng a plague vpon them, euen the yere of their visitation, saith the Lorde.

I haue seene folly among the prophetes of Samaria, that preached for Baal, and deceaued my people of Israel.

I haue seene also among the prophetes of Hierusalem foule adultrie, and presumptuous lyes: they take the most shamefull men by the hande, flattering them, so that they can not returne from their wickednes: all these with their citizens are vnto me as Sodom, and as the inhabitours of Gomorre.

Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes concerning these prophetes: Beholde, I wyll feede them with wormewood, and make them drinke the water of gall: For from the prophetes of Hierusalem is hypocrisie come into all the lande.

And therfore the Lorde of hoastes geueth you this warning: Heare not the wordes of the prophetes that preache vnto you and deceaue you, truely they reache you vanitie: for they speake the meaning of their owne heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lorde.

They say vnto them that despise me, The Lorde hath spoken it, tushe, ye shall prosper right well: and vnto all them that walke after the lust of their owne heart, they say, tushe, there shall no misfortune happen you.

For who hath sitten in the counsayle of the Lorde, that he hath hearde and vnderstande what he is about to do? who hath marked his deuice, and hearde it?

Beholde, the stormie weather of the Lorde [that is] his indignation, shall go foorth, and a violent whirlewinde shall fall downe vpon the head of the vngodly.

And the wrath of the Lorde shall not turne agayne, vntill he perfourme and fulfill the thought of his heart: and in the latter dayes ye shall knowe his meaning.

I haue not sent these prophetes [saith the Lorde] and yet they ranne, I haue not spoken to them, and yet they preached.

But if they had continued in my counsayle, they had opened to my people my wordes, and they had turned my people from their euyll wayes, and wicked imaginations.

Am I then God that seeth but the thing whiche is nye at hande, and not that is farre of, saith the Lorde?

May any man hide him selfe so, that I shall not see hym saith the Lorde? do not I fulfill heauen and earth saith the Lorde?

I haue hearde well inough what the prophetes say that preache lyes in my name, saying, I haue dreamed, I haue dreamed.

Howe long wyll this continue in the prophetes heart to tell lies, and preache the craftie subtiltie of their owne heart?

Whose purpose is with the dreames that euery one tell, to make my people forget my name, as their fathers dyd when Baal came vp.

The prophete that hath a dreame, let hym tell it, and he that vnderstandeth my worde, let hym shewe it faythfully: for what hath chaffe and wheate to do together saith the Lorde?

Is not my worde like a fire saith the Lorde? and like an hammer that breaketh the harde stone?

Therefore thus saith the Lodre: beholde, I wyll vpon the prophetes that steale my worde priuilie from euery man.

Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against the prophetes that make tongues tender to speake, and to say, The Lorde hath saide it.

Beholde, here am I saith the Lorde, against those prophetes that dare prophecie lying dreames, and deceaue my people with their vanities and inconstant deuices, yet I neuer sent nor commaunded them: They shall do this people no good at all, saith the Lorde.

If this people, eyther any prophete or priest aske thee, and say: What is the burthen of the Lord? Thou shalt say vnto them: what burthen? I wyll forsake you saith the Lorde.

And the prophete, priest, or people that vseth this tearme, The burthen of the Lorde: him wyll I visite, and his house also.

But thus shall ye say euery one to another, and euery man to his brother: what aunswere hath the Lorde geuen? or what is the Lordes commaundement?

And as for the burthen of the Lorde, ye shall speake no more of it, for euery mans owne worde is his burthen: because ye haue altred the wordes of the liuing God, the Lorde of hoastes, our God.

Thus shall euery man say to the prophetes: what aunswere hath the Lorde geuen thee? or what saith the Lorde?

And not once to name the burthen of the Lorde. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Forasmuch as ye haue vsed this terme (the burthen of the Lord) where as I notwithstanding sent vnto you and forbad you to speake of the Lordes burthen:

Beholde therefore, I wyll take you vp as a burthen, and wyl cast you farre of from my presence, yea and the citie also that I gaue you and your fathers:

And wyll bryng you to an euerlasting confusion, and into a shame that shall neuer be forgotten.

The Lorde shewed me a vision: Beholde, there stode two maundes of figges before the temple of the Lorde, after that Nabuchodonozar kyng of Babylon had led away captiue Iechonias the sonne of Iehoakim kyng of Iuda, the mightie men also of Iuda, with the workemasters and cunning men of Hierusalem vnto Babylon.

In the one maunde were very good figges, euen like those that be first ripe: in the other maunde were very naughtie figges, whiche might not be eaten they were so euyll.

Then sayd the Lord vnto me: What seest thou Ieremie? I sayde, figges, whereof some be very good, and some so euyll that no man may eate them.

Then came the worde of the Lorde vnto me, after this maner:

Thus saith the Lorde the God of Israel, Like as thou knowest the good figges: so shall I knowe the men led away, whom I haue sent out of this place into the lande of the Chaldees for their profite:

And I wyll set mine eyes vpon them for the best, for I wyll bryng them agayne into this lande, I wyll buylde them vp, and not breake them downe, I wyll plant them, and not roote them out.

And I wyll geue them an heart to knowe howe that I am the Lorde: They shalbe my people, and I wyll be their God: for they shall returne vnto me with their whole heart.

And like as thou knowest the naughtie figges whiche may not be eaten they are so euyll: euen so wyll I, saith the Lorde, cause Zedechias the kyng of Iuda, yea and all his princes, and the residue of Hierusalem that remaine ouer in this lande, and them also that dwell in Egypt, to be vexed and plagued in all kyngdomes and landes.

And I wyll make them to be a reprofe, a common byworde, a laughing stocke and shame in al the places where I shall scatter them.

I wyll sende the sworde, hunger, and pestilence among them, vntyll I haue cleane consumed them out of the lande that I gaue vnto them and their fathers.

A Sermon that was geuen vnto Ieremie vppon all the people of Iuda, in the fourth yere of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda (that was in the first yere of Nabuchodonozor kyng of Babylon.)

Which sermon Ieremie the prophete made vnto all the people of Iuda, and to all the inhabitours of Hierusalem, on this maner.

From the thirteenth yere of Iosias the sonne of Amon kyng of Iuda vnto this present day (that is euen twentie and three yeres) the worde of the Lord hath ben committed vnto me, and so I haue spoken vnto you, I haue risen vp early, I haue geuen you warning in season: but ye woulde not heare me.

Though the Lord hath sent his seruauntes all the prophetes vnto you in season, yet would ye not obay, ye would not encline your eares to heare.

He sayde: Turne againe euery man from his euill way, and from your wicked imaginations, and so shall ye dwell for euer in the lande that the Lord promised you and your forefathers.

And go not after straunge gods, serue them not, worship them not, and anger me not with the workes of your owne handes, then wyll I not punishe you.

Neuerthelesse, ye woulde not heare me saith the Lorde, but haue prouoked me to anger with the workes of your handes, to your great harme.

Wherefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Because ye haue not hearkened vnto my worde,

Lo, I wyll sende out and call for all the people that dwell in the north saith the Lorde, and wyll prepare Nabuchodonozar the kyng of Babylon my seruaunt, and wyll bryng them vpon this lande, and vpon all that dwell therin, and vpon all the people that are about them, and wyll vtterly roote them out: I wyll make them amased, a mockage, and a continuall desert.

Moreouer, I wyll take from them the voyce of gladnesse and solace, the voyce of the bridegrome and the bride, the noyse of the milstones, and the light of the cressets.

And this whole lande shall become a wildernesse and astonished: and these nations shal serue the king of Babylon threscore yeres and ten.

When the threscore and ten yeres are expired, I wil visite all the wickednesse of the kyng of Babylon and his people saith the Lorde, yea and the lande of the Chaldees, and wyll make it a perpetuall wildernesse,

And wyll fulfill all my wordes vpon that lande whiche I haue deuised against it: yea all that is written in this booke, whiche Ieremie hath prophecied of all people.

So that they also shalbe subdued vnto diuers nations and great kynges, for I will recompence them according to their deedes and workes of their owne handes.

For thus hath the Lorde God of Israel spoken vnto me: take this wine cup of indignation fro my hande, that thou mayest cause all people to whom I sende thee, for to drinke of it.

That when they haue drunken therof, they may be madde and out of their wittes, when the sworde commeth that I wyll sende among them.

Then toke I the cuppe from the Lordes hande, and made all people to drinke thereof vnto whom the Lorde had sent me:

But first the citie of Hierusalem, and all the cities of Iuda, their kinges and princes, to make them desolate, amased, despised, and hissed at, and cursed, according as it is come to passe this day:

Yea and Pharao the kyng of Egypt, his seruauntes, his princes, and his people altogether one with another:

And all kinges of the lande of Hus, all kinges of the Philistines lande, Ascalon, Azah, Accaron, and the remnaunt of Asdod,

The Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites,

All the kinges of Tyrus and Sidon, the kinges of the Isles that are beyonde the sea,

Dedan, Thema, Buz, and all them that dwell in the vttermost partes of the worlde,

All the kinges of Arabia, and [generally] all the kinges that dwell in the desert,

All the kinges of Zimri, al the kinges of Elam, all the kinges of the Medes,

All the kinges towarde the north, whether they be farre or nye, euery one against his neighbour, yea and all the kyngdomes that are vpon the whole earth: and the kyng of Sesach shall drinke also after them.

Therfore say thou vnto them, This is the commaundement of the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Drinke and be drunken, spewe and fall, that ye neuer arise, and that thorowe the sworde whiche I wyll sende among you.

But yf they wyll not receaue the cup of thy hande, and drynke it, then tell them, thus doth the Lorde of hoastes threaten you, Drynke it you shall, and that shortly?

For lo, I begyn to plague the citie that my name is geuen vnto, thinke ye then that I will leaue you vnpunished? ye shall not go quite: for why? I call for a sworde vpon all the inhabitours of the earth, saith the Lorde of hoastes.

Therfore tell them all these wordes, and say vnto them: The Lorde shall crye from aboue, and his voyce shalbe hearde from his holy habitation, with a great noyse shal he crie from his court regall: he shall geue a great voyce like the grape gatherers, and the sounde therof shalbe hearde vnto the endes of the worlde.

For the Lorde hath a iudgement to geue vpon all people, and wyll holde his court of iustice with all fleshe, and wyll deliuer the vngodly to the sworde, saith the Lorde.

For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, Beholde, a miserable plague shall go from one people to another, and a great stormie water shall arise from all the endes of the earth.

And the same day shall the Lord him selfe slay them from one ende of the earth to another: there shal no mone be made for any of them, none gathered vp, none buryed: but shall lye as dunge vpon the grounde.

Mourne O ye sheepheardes, and crye, sprinckle your selues with asshes O ye rammes of the flocke: for the tyme of your slaughter and breache is fulfylled, and ye shall fall lyke vessels that were much set by.

The sheepheardes shall haue no way to flee, and the rammes of the flocke shall not escape.

Then shall the sheepheardes crye horribly, and the rammes of the flocke shall mourne: for the Lorde hath consumed their pasture,

And their best fieldes lye dead, because of the horrible wrath of the Lorde.

They haue forsaken their foldes like as a lion: for their lande is waste because of the spoylers furious crueltie, and of his fearefull indignation.