Day 299 of 730

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

²"Thus says the Lord who does it, the Lord who forms it to establish it; the Lord is his name:

³'Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you do not know.'

⁴For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword;

⁵while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city:

⁶'Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.

⁷I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

⁸I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.

⁹This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.'

¹⁰"Thus says the Lord: 'Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, "It is waste, without man and without animal," even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; who bring thanksgiving into the house of the Lord." For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord.

¹²Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

¹³In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them,' says the Lord.

¹⁴'Behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: "The Lord our righteousness."

¹⁷For thus says the Lord: "David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually."'"

¹⁹The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰"Thus says the Lord: 'If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;

²¹then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

²²As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.'"

²³The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴"Do not consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'The two families which the Lord chose, he has cast them off?' Thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

²⁵Thus says the Lord: 'If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

²⁶then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.'"

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:

²"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

³and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.'

⁴Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says the Lord concerning you, 'You shall not die by the sword;

⁵you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, saying, "Ah Lord!" for I have spoken the word,' says the Lord."'"

⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

⁷when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

⁸The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

⁹that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.

¹⁰All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that none should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:

¹¹but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

¹²Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

¹³"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴"At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you": but your fathers did not listen to me, neither inclined their ear.

¹⁵You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

¹⁶but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.

¹⁷Therefore thus says the Lord: "You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;

¹⁹the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.

²¹Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have gone away from you.

²²Behold, I will command, says the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."'"

¹Praise Yah! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the holy ones.

²Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

³Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.

⁵Let the holy ones rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.

⁶May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

⁷To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;

⁸To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

⁹to execute on them the written judgment. All his holy ones have this honor. Praise Yah!

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?"

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The Lord has made even both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good," says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore do not keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won't be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, "I will pay back evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the Lord's lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.