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ارميا 44

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1 الكلمة التي صارت الى ارميا من جهة كل اليهود الساكنين في ارض مصر الساكنين في مجدل وفي تحفنحيس وفي نوف وفي ارض فتروس قائلة.

2 هكذا قال رب الجنود اله اسرائيل. انتم رأيتم كل الشر الذي جلبته على اورشليم وعلى كل مدن يهوذا فها هي خربة هذا اليوم وليس فيها ساكن

3 من اجل شرهم الذي فعلوه ليغيظوني اذ ذهبوا ليبخروا ويعبدوا آلهة اخرى لم يعرفوها هم ولا انتم ولا آباؤكم.

4 فارسلت اليكم كل عبيدي الانبياء مبكرا ومرسلا قائلا لا تفعلوا امر هذا الرجس الذي ابغضته.

5 فلم يسمعوا ولا امالوا اذنهم ليرجعوا عن شرهم فلا يبخروا لآلهة اخرى.

6 فانسكب غيظي وغضبي واشتعلا في مدن يهوذا وفي شوارع اورشليم فصارت خربة مقفرة كهذا اليوم.

7 فالآن هكذا قال الرب اله الجنود اله اسرائيل. لماذا انتم فاعلون شرا عظيما ضد انفسكم لانقراضكم رجالا ونساء اطفالا ورضعا من وسط يهوذا ولا تبقى لكم بقية.

8 لاغاظتي باعمال اياديكم اذ تبخرون لآلهة اخرى في ارض مصر التي اتيتم اليها لتتغربوا فيها لكي تنقرضوا ولكي تصيروا لعنة وعارا بين كل امم الارض.

9 هل نسيتم شرور آبائكم وشرور ملوك يهوذا وشرور نسائهم وشروركم وشرور نسائكم التي فعلت في ارض يهوذا وفي شوارع اورشليم.

10 لم يذلّوا الى هذا اليوم ولا خافوا ولا سلكوا في شريعتي وفرائضي التي جعلتها امامكم وامام آبائكم

11 لذلك هكذا قال رب الجنود اله اسرائيل. هانذا اجعل وجهي عليكم للشر ولأقرض كل يهوذا.

12 وآخذ بقية يهوذا الذين جعلوا وجوههم للدخول الى ارض مصر ليتغربوا هناك فيفنون كلهم في ارض مصر. يسقطون بالسيف وبالجوع يفنون من الصغير الى الكبير بالسيف والجوع يموتون ويصيرون حلفا ودهشا ولعنة وعارا.

13 واعاقب الذين يسكنون في ارض مصر كما عاقبت اورشليم بالسيف والجوع والوبإ.

14 ولا يكون ناج ولا باق لبقية يهوذا الآتين ليتغربوا هناك في ارض مصر ليرجعوا الى ارض يهوذا التي يشتاقون الى الرجوع لاجل السكن فيها لانه لا يرجع منهم الا المنفلتون

15 فاجاب ارميا كل الرجال الذين عرفوا ان نساءهم يبخّرن لآلهة اخرى وكل النساء الواقفات محفل كبير وكل الشعب الساكن في ارض مصر في فتروس قائلين

16 اننا لا نسمع لك الكلمة التي كلمتنا بها باسم الرب

17 بل سنعمل كل امر خرج من فمنا فنبخر لملكة السموات ونسكب لها سكائب كما فعلنا نحن وآباؤنا وملوكنا ورؤساؤنا في ارض يهوذا وفي شوارع اورشليم فشبعنا خبزا وكنا بخير ولم نر شرا.

18 ولكن من حين كففنا عن التبخير لملكة السموات وسكب سكائب لها احتجنا الى كل وفنينا بالسيف والجوع.

19 واذ كنا نبخر لملكة السموات ونسكب لها سكائب فهل بدون رجالنا كنا نصنع لها كعكا لنعبدها ونسكب لها السكائب

20 فكلم ارميا كل الشعب الرجال والنساء وكل الشعب الذين جاوبوه بهذا الكلام قائلا

21 أليس البخور الذي بخرتموه في مدن يهوذا وفي شوارع اورشليم انتم وآباؤكم وملوككم ورؤساؤكم وشعب الارض هو الذي ذكره الرب وصعد على قلبه.

22 ولم يستطع الرب ان يحتمل بعد من اجل شر اعمالكم من اجل الرجاسات التي فعلتم فصارت ارضكم خربة ودهشا ولعنة بلا ساكن كهذا اليوم.

23 من اجل انكم قد بخرتم واخطأتم الى الرب ولم تسمعوا لصوت الرب ولم تسلكوا في شريعته وفرائضه وشهاداته من اجل ذلكم قد اصابكم هذا الشر كهذا اليوم.

24 ثم قال ارميا لكل الشعب ولكل النساء اسمعوا كلمة الرب يا جميع يهوذا الذين في ارض مصر.

25 هكذا تكلم رب الجنود اله اسرائيل قائلا. انتم ونساؤكم تكلمتم بفمكم واكملتم باياديكم قائلين اننا انما نتمم نذورنا التي نذرناها ان نبخر لملكة السموات ونسكب لها سكائب فانهنّ يقمن نذوركم ويتممن نذوركم.

26 لذلك اسمعوا كلمة الرب يا جميع يهوذا الساكنين في ارض مصر. هانذا قد حلفت باسمي العظيم قال الرب ان اسمي لن يسمى بعد بفم انسان ما من يهوذا في كل ارض مصر قائلا حيّ السيد الرب.

27 هانذا اسهر عليهم للشر لا للخير فيفنى كل رجال يهوذا الذين في ارض مصر بالسيف والجوع حتى يتلاشوا.

28 والناجون من السيف يرجعون من ارض مصر الى ارض يهوذا نفرا قليلا فيعلم كل بقية يهوذا الذين أتوا الى ارض مصر ليتغربوا فيها كلمة ايّنا تقوم

29 وهذه هي العلامة لكم يقول الرب اني اعاقبكم في هذا الموضع لتعلموا انه لا بد ان يقوم كلامي عليكم للشر.

30 هكذا قال الرب. هانذا ادفع فرعون حفرع ملك مصر ليد اعدائه وليد طالبي نفسه كما دفعت صدقيا ملك يهوذا ليد نبوخذراصر ملك بابل عدوه وطالب نفسه

   

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Arcana Coelestia #5897

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5897. 'To establish for you a remnant on the earth' means the middle and inmost part of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'a remnant' as forms of good coupled with truths and inwardly stored away by the Lord in a person, dealt with in 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 1050, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342; in this case the middle and inmost part of the Church is meant. The description 'middle and inmost part' is used because what is inmost in a person occupies the middle of the natural, where inmost things and relatively internal ones coexist. In general, where there is a series of things following one another consecutively, and another series in which they spread out and coexist, as they do in the natural, the inmost of that series are one and the same as those in the middle or centre of the second series. Such is the way that inmost things arrange themselves within more external ones. 'To establish for you a remnant on the earth 'implies that an inmost part of the Church will exist among the sons of Jacob. Not that they themselves were to be in that inmost part but that a representative of the Church, to all outward appearance a real Church, was to be established among them, where also the Word was to exist. These are the things that are meant by 'a remnant' when the expression refers to the Church understood separately from the nation.

[2] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'the remnant', and also to 'the ones who are left'; but so far these two expressions have been taken in a purely literal way to mean a remnant or those that are left of a people or nation. The fact that forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in the interior man are meant in the spiritual sense has remained totally unknown till now. Examples of this meaning occur in the following places:

In Isaiah,

On that day the branch of Jehovah will be honour and glory, and the fruit of the land will be magnificence and an adornment for the escape of Israel. And it will happen, that he who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone who has been written for life in Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:2-3.

Those who remained in Zion and those who were left in Jerusalem were never made holy, nor were they 'written for life' any more than anyone else. Plainly therefore 'those who remained' and 'those who were left' mean things that are holy and that have been 'written for life'; and these things are forms of good joined to truths that have been stored away by the Lord in the interior man.

[3] In the same prophet,

On that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob that escaped will no more lean on him that smote them; but they will lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. Isaiah 10:20-22.

'The remnant' is not used to mean the remnant of any people or nation, as may be recognized from the fact that in the Word, especially the prophetical part, 'Israel' has not been used to mean Israel, or 'Jacob' to mean Jacob; both are used to mean the Church and what constitutes the Church. This being so, 'the remnant' is not used to mean a remnant of Israel and Jacob but the truths and forms of good that constitute the Church. When the expressions 'remnant of the people' and 'those left of the nation' are used they do not mean a remnant of any people or those that are left of any nation, for 'people' in the internal sense means truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and 'nation' forms of good, 1259, 1260, 1416. The reason why this has remained unknown and seems strange - that 'a remnant' means truths and forms of good - is that the literal sense, especially where it takes the form of history, draws the mind away and powerfully withholds it from contemplating such ideas.

[4] In the same prophet,

Then there will be a highway for the remnant of the people, which will be left from Asshur, as there was for Israel through the sea when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

In a similar way 'those left from Asshur' are people who have not been corrupted by means of perverted reasonings; for 'Asshur' means such reasonings, see 1186. In the same prophet,

On that day Jehovah Zebaoth will be a crown of adornment and a tiara of beauty for the remnant of His people. Isaiah 18:5.

In the same prophet,

Moreover, those that are left of the house of Judah and who escape will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. Isaiah 37:31-32.

In the same prophet,

He will eat butter and honey, everyone that is left in the midst of the land. Isaiah 7:22.

In Jeremiah,

I will gather the remnant of My flock from all lands where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their fold to give birth and to multiply. Jeremiah 23:3.

In the same prophet,

The people which were left from the sword found grace in the wilderness, when He went to give rest to him, to Israel. Jeremiah 31:2.

'The people which were left from the sword in the wilderness' were those who were called the young children - those who were led into the land of Canaan after all the rest had died. These 'young children' were those who were left', by whom were meant forms of good embodying innocence; and the leading of those people into Canaan represented incorporation into the Lord's kingdom.

[5] In Ezekiel,

I will cause some to be left, in that you will have some who will have escaped the sword among the nations when you are dispersed in the earth Then those of that escape will remember Me among the nations where they will be captives. Ezekiel 6:8-9.

The reason why the forms of good and the truths stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly were represented by the ones who were left or were a remnant among the nations where they were dispersed and made captives is that a person is constantly among evils and falsities, held in, captivity by them; for evils and falsities are what is meant by 'the nations'. When separated from the internal man the external man is altogether among them, and unless the Lord gathered forms of good and truth together, which are instilled into a person at various stages during the course of his life, he could not possibly be saved. Without remnants salvation comes to none.

[6] In Joel,

It will happen, that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will escape. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be an escape, as Jehovah has said, and among those that are left whom Jehovah is calling. Joel 2:32.

In Micah,

The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest. Micah 5:8.

In Zephaniah,

The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity or speak any lie; nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. They will feed and rest, with none making them afraid. Zephaniah 3:13.

These words describe the character of the remnant, a character which the people who were called Israel never possessed, as is well known. From this also it is evident that 'the remnant' has some other meaning, and this, it is plain, is forms of good and truth since these are what 'do not do iniquity, do not speak any lie, and no deceitful tongue is found in their mouth'.

[7] In Zechariah,

The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. This will be a marvel in the eyes of the remnant of My people. Now I will not be as in former days to the remnant of this people. For this will be the seed of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. I will make the remnant of this people the heirs of all those things. Zechariah 8:5-6, 11-12.

'The remnant' here is called 'the seed of peace' and they are ones in possession of truths derived from good, the fruitfulness of which truths is described by the statement that the vine will give its fruit, the land its increase, and the heavens their dew.

[8] The remnants that are meant in the spiritual sense become so sealed off through evil living and false convictions that they cease to be seen any longer. And they are destroyed when from affection truth has first been accepted and then from affection afterwards denied; for when this happens truth and falsity become mixed together, and this is called profanation. Such remnants are referred to in the Word in the following places: In Isaiah,

He will remove man (homo); and the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isaiah 6:12-13.

'Ten' means remnants, see 576, 1906, 2284. In the same prophet,

I will kill your root with famine, and it will kill the ones of you who are left. Isaiah 14:30.

'This refers to the Philistines, meaning those who have a knowledge of cognitions but do not live in accordance with them, 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413. The ones who are left are called a 'root' because forms of good and truth which make man truly human spring from remnants as their root. Therefore 'He will remove man', as stated in the quotation from Isaiah immediately above, means a destroying of remnants.

[9] In Jeremiah,

The young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine, and they will not have any remnant. Jeremiah 11:22-23.

This has to do with the men of Anathoth. In the same prophet,

I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, so that all are consumed; and none will escape, nor will any of the remnant of Judah be left, who have gone to dwell in the land of Egypt. Jeremiah 44:12, 14, 28.

The reason why people from Judah could not sojourn in Egypt or reside there, and why they were so strictly forbidden to do so, was that the tribe of Judah represented the Lord's celestial Church, and celestial people have no desire at all to know facts meant by 'Egypt'. For everything they know grows out of celestial good present with them and that good would perish if they were to resort to factual knowledge. Indeed since celestial good is present with members of the Lord's celestial kingdom, and celestial truth is charity whereas spiritual truth is faith, they refuse even to speak of faith, for fear that they may come down from good and look back, see, 202, 337, 2715, 3246, 4448. These matters are also what is meant by the prohibition,

He who is on the housetop must not go down to take anything out of his house, and he who is in the field must not turn back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:17, 18.

See just above in 5895. Those same matters are likewise meant by the words in Luke 17:32, 'Remember Lot's wife' - she looked back and became a pillar of salt. About looking and turning back, see 2454, 3652.

[10] The utter destruction of nations with not a single person left represented the condition among them when iniquity was so complete that no goodness or truth at all, nor thus any remnant, was surviving, as in Moses,

They struck down Og the king of Bashan, and all his sons, and all his people, until they did not leave him any remainder. Numbers 21:35; Deuteronomy 3:3.

[11] In the same author,

They took all Sihon's cities, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, and the women, and the young children; they did not leave any remainder. Deuteronomy 2:34.

And there are other places where one reads about the utter destruction of nations.

The situation with remnants - or forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly - is this: Goodness and truth are implanted in a person when he seeks them with affection and so in freedom. When this happens angels from heaven draw nearer and link themselves to that person. Their link with him is what causes the forms of good coupled with truths to come to exist in the person interiorly. But when external interests occupy the person's attention, as when he is engaged in worldly and bodily pursuits, the angels depart; and once they have departed not a trace of those forms of good and truth is apparent. Nevertheless because such a link has been effected once, this person now has the capability of being linked to angels and so to the goodness and truth residing with them. But this linking does not take place any more often or fully than the Lord pleases, who controls the situation as is entirely best for that person's life.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Deuteronomy 28

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1 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:

2 and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

3 You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

4 You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

6 You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

7 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

8 Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

9 Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.

10 All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you.

11 Yahweh will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.

12 Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

13 Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do [them],

14 and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.

16 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed.

18 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed.

19 You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

20 Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

21 Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

22 Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.

23 Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.

24 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.

25 Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.

27 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

28 Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.

30 You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.

31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.

32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.

33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don't know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;

34 so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

35 Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.

37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away.

38 You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worm shall eat them.

40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast [its fruit].

41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.

42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.

43 The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.

44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:

46 and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.

47 Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.

49 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;

50 a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

51 and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52 They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you.

53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

54 The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

57 and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

58 If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;

59 then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

60 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you.

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

63 It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.

64 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

65 Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;

66 and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.

67 In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

68 Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.