Study Desk

Come out of Hierusalem, ye strong chyldre of Beniamin blowe vp the trumpettes ye Thecuites, set vp a token vnto Bethcaran: for a plague & a great miserie appeareth out from the north.

I wyll liken the daughter Sion to a faire and tender woman, and to her shall come the shepheardes with their flockes.

Their tentes shall they pitche rounde about her, and euery one shall feede in his place.

Make battayle against her [shall they say] aryse, let vs go vp whyle it is yet day: Alas the day goeth away, and the night shadowes fall downe.

Arise, let vs go vp by night, and destroy her strong holdes.

For thus hath the Lorde of hoastes commaunded, Hewe downe her trees, and set vp bulwarkes against Hierusalem: for the tyme is come that this citie must be punished, for in her is all maliciousnesse.

Like as a conduite spouteth out waters, so she spouteth out her wickednesse: Robberie and vnrighteousnesse is hearde in her, sorowe and woundes are euer there in my sight.

Amende thee (O Hierusalem) lest I withdrawe my heart from thee, and make thee desolate, and thy lande also, that no man dwell in it.

For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: The residue of Israel shalbe gathered as the remnaunt of grapes: and therefore turne thyne hande agayne into the basket, like the grape gatherer.

But vnto whom shall I speake? whom shall I warne that he may take heede? Their eares are so vncircumcised, that they may not heare: beholde, they take the worde of God but for a scorne, and haue no lust therto.

And therefore I am so full of thyne indignation O Lorde, that I may suffer no lenger, but shed it out vpon the chyldren that are without, and vpon all young men: yea the man must be taken prisoner with the wife, and the aged with the creeple.

Their houses with their landes and wiues shalbe turned into straungers: for I wyll stretche out mine hand vpon the inhabitours of this lande, saith the Lorde.

For from the least to the most they hang all vpon couetousnesse: and from the prophete vnto the priest, they go about falshood and lyes.

And beside that, they heale the hurt of my people with sweete wordes, saying, Peace, peace: when there is no peace at all.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abhomination? Truly nay, they be past shame, and therefore they shall fall among the slayne: and in the houre when I shall visite them, they shalbe brought downe saith the Lorde.

Thus saith the Lorde, Go into the streetes, consider and make inquisition for the olde way, and if it be the good and right way, then go therein, that ye may finde rest for your soules: but they say, we wyll not walke therin.

Moreouer, I wyl set watchmen ouer you, and therefore take heede vnto the voyce of the trumpet: but they say, we wyll not take heede.

Heare therefore ye gentiles, and thou congregation shalt know what I haue deuised for them.

Heare thou earth also: behold, I wyll cause a plague to come vpon this people, euen the fruite of their owne imaginations, for that they haue not ben obedient vnto my wordes and to my lawe, but abhorred them.

Wherefore bryng ye me incense from Saba, and sweete smelling calamus from farre countreys? your burnt offeringes displease me, and I reioyce not in your sacrifices.

And therefore thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, I wyll lay stumbling blockes among this people, and there shall fall at them the father with the chyldren, one neighbour shall perishe with another.

Thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, there shall come a people from the north, and a great people shal arise from the endes of the earth.

With bowes and with dartes shall they be weaponed, it is a rough and fearce people, & an vnmercifull people: their voyce roareth like the sea, thei ride vpon horses well appointed to the battaile against thee O daughter Sion.

The fame of them haue we hearde, our armes are feeble, heauinesse and sorowe is come vpon vs, as vpon a woman trauayling with chylde.

Let no man go foorth into the fielde, let no man come vpon the hye streete: for the sworde and feare of the enemie is on euery side.

Wherfore gyrde a sackcloth about thee O thou daughter of my people, sprinkle thy selfe with ashes: mourne and weepe bitterly as vpon thyne onlye beloued sonne, for the destroyer shall sodainly fall vpon vs.

Thee haue I set for a strong towre [O thou prophete] and a well fensed wall among my people, to seeke out and to trye their wayes.

For they are all stubborne apostates and fallen away, walking deceiptfully, they are cleane brasse and iron, for they hurt and destroy euery man.

The bellowes are brent in the fire, the leade is not moulten, the melter melteth in vayne, for the euill is not taken away from them.

Therefore do they call them naughtie siluer, because the Lorde hath cast them out.

These are the wordes that God spake vnto Ieremie, saying:

Stande vnder the gate of the Lordes house, & crye out these wordes there with a loude voyce, and say, Heare the word of the Lorde all ye of Iuda, that go in at this doore to worship the Lorde:

Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Amende your wayes and your counsels, and I wyll let you dwell in this place.

Trust not in false lying words, saying: Here is the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lorde:

But rather in deede amende your wayes and counsels, and iudge right betwixt a man and his neighbour,

Oppresse not the straunger, the fatherlesse, and the widowe, shed not innocent blood in this place, cleaue not to straunge gods to your owne destruction:

Then wyll I let you dwell in this place, yea in the land that I gaue afore tyme to your fathers for euer.

But take heede, ye trust in lying tales, that beguile you and do you no good.

For when ye haue stollen, murthered, committed adultrie and periurie, when ye haue offered vnto Baal, folowing straunge and vnknowen gods: shall ye be vnpunished?

Yet then come ye and stande before me in this house (whiche hath my name geuen vnto it) and say, tushe, we are absolued quite, though we haue done all these abhominations.

What, thinke you this house that beareth my name, is a denne of thieues? And yet I see what you thinke, saith the Lorde.

Go to my place in Silo, wherevnto I gaue my name aforetyme, and looke well what I did to the same place for the wickednesse of my people of Israel.

And now seing ye haue done all these deedes saith the Lorde, and I my selfe rose vp euer betimes to warne you and to commune with you, yet would ye not heare me, I called, ye would not aunswere:

Therefore, euen as I haue done vnto Silo, so wyll I do to this house that my name is geuen vnto, and that you put your trust in, yea vnto the place that I haue geuen to you and your fathers:

And I shal thrust you out of my sight, as I haue cast out all your brethren the whole seede of Ephraim.

Therfore thou shalt not pray for this people, thou shalt neither geue thankes nor bid prayer for them: make thou no intercession for them, for in no wise will I heare thee.

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Iuda, and in the streetes of Hierusalem?

The chyldren gather stickes, the fathers kindle the fire, the wome kneade the dough to bake cakes for the queene of heauen: they powre out drinke offeringes vnto straunge gods, to prouoke me vnto wrath.

Howbeit they hurt not me saith the Lord, but rather confounde and shame them selues.

And therefore thus saith the Lorde God: Beholde, my wrath and indignation shalbe powred out vpon this place, vpon men and cattell, vpon trees in the fielde, and fruite of the lande: and it shall burne, so that no man may quench it.

Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel: Heape vp your burnt offeringes with your sacrifices, and eate the fleshe.

For when I brought your fathers out of Egypt, I spake no worde vnto them of burnt offeringes and sacrifices:

But this I commaunded them, saying, Hearken and obay my voyce, and I shalbe your God, and ye shalbe my people, so that ye walke in al the wayes whiche I haue commaunded you, that ye may prosper.

But they were not obedient, they inclined not their eares there vnto: but went after their owne imaginations, and after the motions of their owne wicked heart, and so turned them selues away, and conuerted not vnto me.

And this haue they done from the tyme that your fathers came out of Egypt, vnto this day: Neuerthelesse, I sent vnto you all my seruauntes the prophetes, I rose vp early, and sent you worde.

Yet woulde they not hearken nor offer me their eares, but were obstinate, and worse then their fathers.

And thou shalt nowe speake all these wordes vnto them, but they shall not heare thee: thou shalt crye vpon them, but they shall not aunswere thee.

Therefore shalt thou say vnto them, This is the people that neither heareth the voyce of the Lorde their God, nor receaueth his correction: faythfulnesse and trueth is cleane rooted out of their mouth.

Wherefore cut of thine heere, O Hierusalem, and cast it away, take vp a complaint on hye: for the Lorde hath cast away and forsaken the people that he is displeased withall.

For the chyldren of Iuda haue done euyll in my sight, saith the Lorde: they haue set vp their abhominations in the house that hath my name, and haue defiled it:

They haue also buylded an aulter at Topheth, whiche is in the valley of the chyldren of Hennom, that they might burne their sonnes and daughters in fire: whiche I neuer commaunded them, neither came it euer in my thought.

And therfore beholde the dayes shall come (saith the Lorde) that it shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the chyldren of Hennom, but the valley of slaughter: for in Topheth they shall be buried, because they shall els haue no roome.

Yea the dead bodyes of this people shalbe eaten vp of the foules of the ayre, and wylde beastes of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

And as for the voyce of mirth and gladnesse of the cities of Iuda and Hierusalem, the voyce of the bridegrome and of the bride, I wyll make them ceasse: for the lande shalbe desolate.

At the same tyme saith the Lorde, the bones of the kinges of Iuda, the bones of his princes, the bones of the preachers and prophetes, yea and the bones of the citizens of Hierusalem, shalbe brought out of their graues,

And layde against the sunne, the moone, & all the heauenly hoast, whom they loued, whom they serued, whom they ranne after, whom they sought and worshipped: they shall neither be gathered together nor buried, but shall lye as dunge vpon the earth.

And all they that remaine of this wicked generation, shal desire rather to die then to liue, whersoeuer they remaine, and where as I scatter them, saith the Lorde of hoastes.

Thus shalt thou say vnto them also: Thus saith the Lorde, Do men fall so, that they arise not vp againe? or if Israel repent, wyll not God turne againe to them?

Wherefore then is this people of Hierusalem gone so farre backe, that they turne not againe? They are euer the longer the more obstinate, and wyll not be conuerted.

For I haue loked and considered, but there is no man that speaketh a good worde, there is no man that taketh repentaunce for his sinne, that wyll so muche say, what haue I done? but euerie man turneth to his owne course, like a fierce horse headlong to the battaile.

The Storke in the ayre knoweth his appointed tyme, the Turtle doue, the Swallowe and the Crane consider the tyme of their trauayle: but my people wyll not knowe the tyme of the punishment of the Lorde.

Howe dare ye say then, we are wyse, we haue the lawe of the Lorde among vs? Truely in vayne hath he prepared his penne, and vainely haue the writers written it.

Therefore shall the wyse be confounded, they shalbe afraide and taken: for lo, they haue cast out the worde of the Lorde, what wisdome can then be among them?

Wherfore I wyl geue their wiues vnto aliauntes, and their fields to destroyers: For from the lowest vnto the hyest they folowe filthy lucre, and from the prophete vnto the priest they deale all with lies.

Neuerthelesse, they heale the hurt of my people very slenderly, saying, peace, peace: where there is no peace at all.

Fye for shame, howe abhominable thinges do they? and yet they be not ashamed, yea they knowe of no shame: Wherefore in the tyme of their visitation they shal fal among the dead bodies, and be ouerthrowne, saith the Lorde.

Moreouer, I wyll consume them in deede (saith the Lorde) so that there shall not be one grape vpon the vine, neither one figge vpon the figge tree, and the leaues shalbe pluckt of: and the thing that I haue geuen them, shalbe taken from them.

Why prolong we the time? Let vs gather our selues together, and go into the strong citie, there shall we be in rest: for the Lorde our God hath put vs to scilence, and geuen vs water mixt with gall to drinke, because we haue sinned against hym.

We loked for peace, and we fare not the better, we wayted for the tyme of health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.

The noyse of his horses is heard from Dan, the whole lande is afraide at the neighing of his strong horses: for they are come in, and haue deuoured the lande, withall that is in it, the cities, and those that dwell therin.

Moreouer, I wyll sende cockatrices and serpentes among you (whiche wyl not be charmed) and they shall bite you, saith the Lorde.

I woulde haue had comfort against sorowe: but sorowe is come vpon me, and heauinesse vexeth my heart.

For lo, the voyce of the crying of my people is hearde, [for feare of them that come] from a farre countrey: Is not the Lord in Sion? Is not her king in her? Wherefore then haue they greeued me [shall the Lorde say] with their images, and foolishe straunge fashions of a forraine god?

The haruest is gone, the sommer hath an ende, and we are not helped.

I am sore vexed, because of the hurt of my people, I am heauie and abashed:

Is there not triacle at Gilead? Is there no phisitio there? why then is not the health of my people recouered?

O who wyll geue my head water inough, and a wel of teares for mine eyes, that I may weepe night and day for the slaughter of my people?

Woulde God that I had a cottage somewhere farre from folke, that I might leaue my people and go from them, for they be all adulterers and a shrinking sort.

They bend their tongues like vowes to shoote out lyes, they waxe strong vppon earth: As for the trueth, they may nothing away withall in the worlde, for they go from one wickednes to another, and wyll not knowe me, saith the Lorde.

Yea, one must kepe hym selfe from another, no man may safely trust his owne brother: for one brother vndermindeth another, one neighbour beguileth another.

Yea, one dissembleth with another, and they deale with no trueth: They haue practised their tongues to lye, and taken great paynes to do mischiefe.

Thou sittest in the middes of a deceiptfull people, which for very dissembling falshood wyll not knowe me, saith the Lorde.

Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Beholde, I wyll melt them and trye them: for what shoulde I els do to my people?

Their tongues are like sharpe arrowes to speake deceipt: with their mouth they speake peaceablie to their neighbour, but priuilie they lay wayte for hym.

Should I not punishe them for these thinges, saith the Lorde? or shoulde I not be auenged of any suche people as this?

Upon the mountaines wyl I take vp a lamentation and a sorowfull crye, and a mourning vpon the faire places of the wildernesse: Namely, howe they are so brent vp, that no man goeth there any more, yea a man shall not heare one beast crye there: byrdes and cattell are all gone from thence.

I wyl make Hierusalem also an heape of stones, & a den of venemous wormes: and I wyll make the cities of Iuda so waste, that no man shall dwel therin.

What man is so wise as to vnderstand this? or to whom hath the Lorde spoken by mouth, that he may shewe this, and say: O thou lande, why perishest thou so? wherfore art thou so brent vp, and like a wildernesse that no man goeth thorowe?

Yea the Lorde hym selfe tolde the same vnto them that forsoke his lawe, and kept not the thing that he gaue them in commaundement, neither liued thereafter:

But folowed the wickednesse of their owne heartes, & serued straunge gods as their forefathers taught them.

Therefore thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel: Beholde, I wyll feede this people with wormewood, and geue them gall to drinke.

I wyll scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers haue knowen: and I wyll send a sworde among them to persecute them, vntyll I bring them to naught.

Moreouer, thus saith the Lorde of hoastes: Beware of the vengeaunce that hangeth ouer you, and call for mourning wiues, and sende for wyse women, that they come shortly,

And sing a mourning song of vs, that the teares may fall out of our eyes, and that our eye liddes may gushe out of water.

For there is a lamentable noyse heard of Sion: O howe are we so sore destroyed? O howe are we so pitiously confounded? We must forsake our owne naturall countrey, and we are shut out of our owne lodginges.

Yet heare the worde of the Lorde (O ye women) and let your eares regarde the wordes of his mouth: that ye may learne your daughters to mourne, and that euery one may teache her neighbour to make lamentation

[Namely thus] Death is climing vp in at our windowes, he is come into our houses, to destroy the chylde before the doore, and the young man in the streete.

But tell thou playnely, thus saith the Lord: The dead bodyes of men shall lye vpon the ground as the dunge vpon the fielde, and as the handfull after the mower, and there shalbe no man to take them vp.

Thus saith the Lorde: Let not the wise man reioyce in his wisdome, nor the strong man in his strength, neither the riche man in his riches:

But who so wyll reioyce, let hym reioyce in this, that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lorde whiche do mercy, equitie, and righteousnesse vpon the earth: therfore haue I pleasure in suche thinges, saith the Lorde.

Beholde the time commeth (saith the Lord) that I will visite all them whose foreskinne is vncircumcised, and the circumcised,

The Egyptians, the Iewes, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the shauen Madianites that dwel in the wildernesse: for all the gentiles are all vncircumcised in the fleshe, but all the house of Israel are vncircumcised in the heart.

Heare the worde of the Lord that he speaketh vnto thee, O thou house of Israel.

Thus saith the Lord: ye shal not learne after the maner of the heathen, and ye shall not be afraide for the tokens of heauen: for the heathen are afraide of suche.

Yea all the customes and lawes of the gentiles are nothing but vanitie: They hewe downe a tree in the wood with the handes of the workeman, and fashion it with the axe.

They couer it ouer with golde or siluer, they fasten it with nailes and hammers, that it moue not.

It standeth as stiffe as the Palme tree, it can neither speake nor go one foote, but must be borne: Be not ye afraide of suche, for they can do neither good nor euill.

But there is none lyke vnto thee O Lorde, and great is the name of thy power.

Who would not feare thee, O king of the gentiles? for thyne is the dominion: for among all the wise men of the gentiles, and in all their kingdomes, there is none that may be likened vnto thee.

They are altogether brutishe and vnwise in this one thing: wood is the teaching of vanitie.

Siluer is brought out of Tharsis, and beaten to plates, and gold from Ophir, a worke that is made with the hande of the craftesman, and they are clothed with yelowe silke and scarlet: all these are the worke of cunning men.

But the Lorde is a true God, a liuing God, and an euerlasting kyng: if he be wroth, the earth shaketh, all the gentiles may not abide his indignation.

[As for their gods] thus shall you say to them, they are no gods that made neither heauen nor earth, therfore shall they perishe from the earth, and from all thinges vnder heauen.

But [as for our God] he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdome doth he order the whole compasse of the worlde, with his discretion hath he spread out the heauens.

At his voyce the waters gathered together in the ayre, he draweth vp the cloudes from the vttermost partes of the earth, he turneth lightning to raine, and bringeth foorth the windes out of their treasures.

His wisdome maketh all men fooles, and confounded be casters of images: for that they cast, is but a vayne thing, and hath no life.

The vayne craftesmen with their workes that they in their vanitie haue made, shall perishe one with another in time of visitation.

Neuerthelesse, Iacobs portion is none such: but it is he that hath made all thinges, and Israel is the rod of his inheritaunce: the Lorde of hoastes is his name.

Gather vp thy wares out of the land, thou that art in the strong place.

For thus saith the Lorde: beholde, I wyll now throwe as with a stone sling, the inhabiters of this land at this once, and I wyll bring trouble vpon them, that they shall proue true the wordes that I haue spoken by the prophetes.

Alas howe am I hurt? alas howe paynefull are my scourges vnto me? for I consider this sorowe by my selfe, and I must suffer it.

My tabernacle is destroyed, and all my cordes are broken, my chyldren are gone fro me, & can no where be founde: Nowe haue I none to spreade out my tent, nor to set vp my hanginges.

For the heardmen are become foolishe, and they haue not sought the Lorde: therefore haue they dealt vnwisely with their cattell, and all are scattered abrode.

Beholde, the noyse is harde at hande, and great sedition out of the north, to make the cities of Iuda a wildernesse, and a dwelling place for dragons.

Nowe I knowe (O Lord) that it is not in mans power to order his owne wayes, or to rule his owne steppes and goinges.

Therefore chasten thou me O Lord, but with fauour, and not in thy wrath, lest thou bring me vtterly to naught.

Powre out thyne indignation vpon the gentiles that knowe thee not, and vpon the people that call not vpon thy name, and that because they haue consumed, deuoured, and destroyed Iacob, and haue made his habitation waste.