The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O Jehovah, work for Thy name's sake, For many have been our backslidings, Against Thee we have sinned.

O Hope of Israel — its saviour in time of trouble, Why art Thou as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge?

Why art Thou as one dumb? As a mighty one not able to save? And Thou [art] in our midst, O Jehovah, And Thy name over us is called, leave us not.

Thus said Jehovah concerning this people: Well they have loved to wander, Their feet they have not restrained, And Jehovah hath not accepted them, Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin.

And Jehovah saith unto me: Thou dost not pray for this people for good,

When they fast, I hearken not unto their cry, And when they cause to ascend burnt-offering and present, I accept them not, For by sword, and by famine, And by pestilence, I am consuming them.

And I say, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, Lo, the prophets are saying to them: Ye do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.'

And Jehovah saith unto me: Falsehood the prophets are prophesying in My name, I did not send them, nor command them, Nor have I spoken unto them: A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the deceit of their own heart, they are prophesying to you.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land: By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed.

And the people to whom they are prophesying, Are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, Because of the famine, and of the sword, And they have none burying them, Them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, And I have poured out upon them this evil.

And thou hast said unto them this word: Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, [with] a great breach, Broken hath been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke.

If I have gone forth to the field, Then, lo, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, Then, lo, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down Unto a land that they knew not.

Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? Zion hath Thy soul loathed? Wherefore hast Thou smitten us, And there is no healing to us? Looking for peace, and there is no good, And for a time of healing, and lo, terror.

We have known, O Jehovah, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against Thee.

Do not despise, for Thy name's sake, Dishonour not the throne of Thine honour, Remember, break not Thy covenant with us.

Are there among the vanities of the nations any causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Art not Thou He, O Jehovah our God? And we wait for thee, for Thou — Thou hast done all these!

And Jehovah saith unto me: Though Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My soul is not toward this people, Send from before My face, and they go out.

And it hath come to pass, when they say to thee, Whither do we go out? that thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah: Those who [are] for death — to death, And those who are for the sword, to the sword, And those who are for famine, to famine, And those who are for captivity, to captivity.

And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour.

And I have given them for a trembling To all kingdoms of the earth, Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For that which he did in Jerusalem.

For who hath pity on thee, O Jerusalem? And who doth bemoan for thee? And who turneth aside to ask of thy welfare?

Thou — thou hast left Me — an affirmation of Jehovah, Backward thou goest, And I stretch out My hand against thee, And I destroy thee, I have been weary of repenting,

And I scatter them with a fan, in the gates the land, I bereaved, I have destroyed My people, From their ways they turned not back.

Its widows have been more to Me than the sand of the seas, I brought in to them — against the mother — A young man — a spoiler — at noon. I caused to fall upon her suddenly, wrath and trouble.

Languished hath the bearer of seven, She hath breathed out her spirit, Gone in hath her sun while yet day, It hath been ashamed and confounded, And their residue to the sword I give up before their enemies, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Woe to me, my mother, For thou hast borne me a man of strife, And a man of contention to all the land, I have not lent on usury, Nor have they lent on usury to me — All of them are reviling me.

Jehovah said, Did I not direct thee for good? Did not I intercede for thee in a time of evil, And in a time of adversity, with the enemy?

Doth one break iron — northern iron, and brass?

Thy strength and thy treasures For a prey I do give — not for price, Even for all thy sins, and in all thy borders.

And I have caused thine enemies To pass over into the land — Thou hast not known, For a fire hath been kindled in Mine anger, Against you it doth burn.

Thou, Thou hast known, O Jehovah, Remember me, and inspect me, And take vengeance for me of my pursuers, In Thy long-suffering take me not away, Know — I have borne for Thee reproach.

Thy words have been found, and I eat them, And Thy word is to me for a joy, And for the rejoicing of my heart, For Thy name is called on me, O Jehovah, God of Hosts.

I have not sat in an assembly of deriders, Nor do I exult, because of thy hand, — Alone I have sat, For [with] indignation Thou hast filled me.

Why hath my pain been perpetual? And my wound incurable? It hath refused to be healed, Thou art surely to me as a failing stream, Waters not stedfast.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah: If thou turnest back, then I bring thee back, Before Me thou dost stand, And if thou bringest out the precious from the vile, As My mouth thou art! They — they turn back unto thee, And thou dost not turn back unto them.

And I have made thee to this people For a wall — brazen — fenced, And they have fought against thee, And they do not prevail against thee, For with thee [am] I to save thee, And to deliver thee — an affirmation of Jehovah,

And I have delivered thee from the hand of evil doers, And I have ransomed thee From the hand of the terrible!

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

Thou dost not take to thee a wife, Nor hast thou sons and daughters in this place.

For thus said Jehovah, Of the sons and of the daughters who are born in this place, And of their mothers — those bearing them, And of their fathers — those begetting them in this land:

Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth.

For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies.

And died have great and small in this land, They are not buried, and none lament for them, Nor doth any cut himself, nor become bald for them.

Nor do they deal out to them for mourning, To comfort him concerning the dead, Nor cause them to drink a cup of consolations For his father and for his mother.

A house of banqueting thou dost not enter, To sit with them, to eat and to drink,

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing to cease from this place, Before your eyes, and in your days, The voice of joy, and the voice of rejoicing, The voice of bridegroom and voice of bride.

And it hath come to pass when thou declarest to this people all these words, and they have said unto thee, 'For what hath Jehovah spoken against us all this great evil? yea, what [is] our iniquity, and what our sin, that we have sinned against Jehovah our God?'

Then thou hast said unto them: Because that your fathers have forsaken Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, And go after other gods, and serve them, And they bow themselves to them, And Me have forsaken, and My law not kept,

Ye also have done evil above your fathers, And lo, ye are walking each after the stubbornness of his evil heart, So as not to hearken unto Me.

And I have cast you from off this land, On to a land that ye have not known, Ye and your fathers, And ye have served there other gods by day and by night, Where I do not give to you grace.

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it is not said any more: 'Jehovah liveth, who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'

But, 'Jehovah liveth, who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of the north, And out of all the lands whither He drove them,' And I have brought them back to their land, That I gave to their fathers.

Lo, I am sending for many fishers, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they have fished them, And after this I send for many hunters, And they have hunted them from off every mountain, And from off every hill, and from holes of the rocks.

For Mine eyes [are] upon all their ways, They have not been hidden from My face, Nor hath their iniquity been concealed from before Mine eyes.

And I have recompensed a first — A second time — their iniquity and their sin, Because of their polluting My land, With the carcase of their detestable things, Yea, their abominable things have filled Mine inheritance.

O Jehovah, my strength, and my fortress, And my refuge in a day of adversity, Unto Thee nations do come from the ends of earth, And say, Only falsehood did our fathers inherit, Vanity, and none among them is profitable.

Doth man make for himself gods, And they — no gods?

Therefore, lo, I am causing them to know at this time, I cause them to know My hand and My might, And they have known that My name [is] Jehovah!

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, Graven on the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars,

As their sons remember their altars and their shrines, By the green tree, by the high hills.

O My mountain in the field — thy strength, All thy treasures — for a prey I give, Thy high places for sin in all thy borders.

And thou hast let go — even through thyself, Of thine inheritance that I gave to thee, And I have caused thee to serve thine enemies, In a land that thou hast not known, For a fire ye have kindled in Mine anger, Unto the age it doth burn.

Thus said Jehovah: Cursed [is] the man who doth trust in man, And hath made flesh his arm, And from Jehovah whose heart turneth.

And he hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

Blessed [is] the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.

Crooked [is] the heart above all things, And it [is] incurable — who doth know it?

I Jehovah do search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, [Is] one making wealth, and not by right, In the midst of his days he doth forsake it, And in his latter end — he is a fool.

A throne of honour on high from the beginning, The place of our sanctuary,

The hope of Israel [is] Jehovah, All forsaking Thee are ashamed, And 'My apostates' in the earth are written, For they have forsaken Jehovah, A fountain of living waters.

Heal me, O Jehovah, and I am healed, Save me, and I am saved, for my praise [art] Thou.

Lo, they are saying unto me: 'Where [is] the word of Jehovah? pray, let it come.'

And I hastened not from feeding after Thee, And the desperate day I have not desired, Thou — Thou hast known, The produce of my lips, before Thy face it hath been,

Be not Thou to me for a terror, My hope [art] Thou in a day of evil.

Let my pursuers be ashamed, and let not me be ashamed — me! Let them be affrighted, and let not me be affrighted — me! Bring in on them a day of evil, And a second time [with] destruction destroy them.

Thus said Jehovah unto me: 'Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem,

and thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,

Thus said Jehovah, Take ye heed to yourselves, And ye bear not a burden on the day of rest, Nor have ye brought [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Nor do ye take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest, Yea, any work ye do not do, And ye have sanctified the day of rest, As I have commanded your fathers.

And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction.

And it hath been, if ye certainly hearken unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, So as not to bring in a burden By the gates of this city on the day of rest, And to sanctify the day of rest, So as not to do in it any work —

Then entered by the gates of this city have kings and princes, Sitting on the throne of David, Riding in a chariot, and on horses, They, and their princes, the man of Judah, And inhabitants of Jerusalem, And this city hath remained to the age.

And they have come in from cities of Judah, And from suburbs of Jerusalem, And from the land of Benjamin, And from the low country, And from the hill-country, and from the south, Bringing in burnt-offering, and sacrifice, And present, and frankincense, And bringing praise [to] the house of Jehovah.

And if ye do not hearken unto me to sanctify the day of rest, And so as not to bear a burden, And to come in at the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest, Then I have kindled a fire in its gates, And it hath consumed the high places of Jerusalem, And it is not quenched!'

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

Rise, and thou hast gone down [to] the potter's house, and there I cause thee to hear My words;

and I go down [to] the potter's house, and lo, he is doing a work on the stones,

and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he hath turned and he maketh it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

And there is a word of Jehovah to me, saying:

As this potter am I not able to do to you? O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah. Lo, as clay in the hand of the potter, So [are] ye in My hand, O house of Israel.

The moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy,

And that nation hath turned from its evil, Because I have spoken against it, Then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it.

And the moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant,

And it hath done the evil thing in Mine eyes, So as not to hearken to My voice, Then I have repented of the good That I have spoken of doing to it.

And now, speak, I pray thee, unto men of Judah, And against inhabitants of Jerusalem, Saying: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am framing against you evil, And devising against you a device, Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way And amen your ways and your doings.

And they have said, It is incurable, For after our own devices we do go, And each the stubbornness of his evil heart we do.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ask, I pray you, among the nations, Who hath heard like these? A very horrible thing hath the virgin of Israel done.

Doth snow of Lebanon Cease from the rock of the field? Failed are the cold strange waters that flow?

But My people have forgotten Me, to a vain thing they make perfume, And they cause them to stumble in their ways — paths of old, To walk in paths — a way not raised up,