¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, hath this word been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

² `Thus said Jehovah unto me, Make to thee bands and yokes,

³ And thou hast put them on thy neck, and hast sent them unto the king of Edom, and unto the king of Moab, and unto the king of the sons of Ammon, and unto the king of Tyre, and unto the king of Zidon, by the hand of messengers who are coming in to Jerusalem, unto Zedekiah king of Judah;

⁴ And thou hast commanded them for their lords, saying, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel,

⁵ Thus do ye say unto your lords, I -- I have made the earth with man, and the cattle that [are] on the face of the earth, by My great power, and by My stretched-out arm, and I have given it to whom it hath been right in Mine eyes.

⁶ `And now, I -- I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and also the beast of the field I have given to him to serve him;

⁷ And served him have all the nations, and his son, and his son's son, till the coming in of the time of his land, also it; and done service for him have many nations and great kings.

⁸ And it hath come to pass, the nation and the kingdom that do not serve him -- Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon -- and that which putteth not its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, I lay a charge on that nation -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- till I consume them by his hand.

⁹ `And ye, ye do not hearken unto your prophets, and unto your diviners, and unto your dreamers, and unto your observers of clouds, and unto your sorcerers who are speaking unto you, saying, Ye do not serve the king of Babylon, --

¹⁰ For falsehood they are prophesying to you, so as to remove you far from off your ground, and I have driven you out, and ye have perished.

¹¹ And the nation that causeth its neck to enter into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and hath served him -- I have left it on its ground -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and it hath tilled it, and dwelt in it.'

¹² And unto Zedekiah king of Judah I have spoken according to all these words, saying, `Cause your necks to enter into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

¹³ Why do ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that doth not serve the king of Babylon?

¹⁴ `And ye do not hearken unto the words of the prophets who are speaking unto you, saying, Ye do not serve the king of Babylon, -- for falsehood they are prophesying to you.

¹⁵ For I have not sent them -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and they are prophesying in My name falsely, so as to drive you out, and ye have perished, ye, and the prophets who are prophesying to you.'

¹⁶ And unto the priests, and unto all this people, I have spoken, saying, `Thus said Jehovah, Ye do not hearken unto the words of your prophets, who are prophesying to you, saying, Lo, the vessels of the house of Jehovah are brought back from Babylon now in haste, for falsehood they are prophesying to you.

¹⁷ Ye do not hearken unto them, serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why is this city a waste?

¹⁸ `And, if they be prophets, and if a word of Jehovah be with them, let them intercede, I pray you, with Jehovah of Hosts, so that the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and [in] the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, have not gone into Babylon.

¹⁹ For thus said Jehovah of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

²⁰ That Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath not taken, in his removing Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon with all the freemen of Judah and Jerusalem,

²¹ Surely thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left of the house of Jehovah, and of the house of the king of Judah, and [in] Jerusalem:

²² To Babylon they are brought, and there they are till the day of My inspecting them -- an affirmation of Jehovah; then I have brought them up, and have brought them back unto this place.'

¹ Thus hath the Lord Jehovah shewed me, and lo, He is forming locusts at the beginning of the ascending of the latter growth, and lo, the latter growth [is] after the mowings of the king;

² and it hath come to pass, when it hath finished to consume the herb of the land, that I say: `Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray Thee, How doth Jacob arise -- for he [is] small?'

³ Jehovah hath repented of this, `It shall not be,' said Jehovah.

⁴ Thus hath the Lord Jehovah shewed me, and lo, the Lord Jehovah is calling to contend by fire, and it consumeth the great deep, yea, it hath consumed the portion, and I say:

⁵ `Lord Jehovah, cease, I pray Thee, How doth Jacob arise -- for he [is] small?'

⁶ Jehovah hath repented of this, `It also shall not be,' said the Lord Jehovah.

⁷ Thus hath He shewed me, and lo, the Lord is standing by a wall [made according to] a plumb-line, and in His hand a plumb-line;

⁸ and Jehovah saith unto me, `What art thou seeing, Amos?' And I say, `A plumb-line;' and the Lord saith: `Lo, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.

⁹ And desolated have been high places of Isaac, And sanctuaries of Israel are wasted, And I have risen against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.'

¹⁰ And Amaziah priest of Beth-El sendeth unto Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, `Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words,

¹¹ for thus said Amos: By sword die doth Jeroboam, And Israel certainly removeth from off its land.'

¹² And Amaziah saith unto Amos, `Seer, go flee for thee unto the land of Judah, and eat there bread, and there thou dost prophesy;

¹³ and [at] Beth-El do not add to prophesy any more, for it [is] the king's sanctuary, and it [is] the royal house.'

¹⁴ And Amos answereth and saith unto Amaziah, `I [am] no prophet, nor a prophet's son [am] I, but a herdsman I [am], and a cultivator of sycamores,

¹⁵ and Jehovah taketh me from after the flock, and Jehovah saith unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel.

¹⁶ And now, hear a word of Jehovah: thou art saying, Do not prophesy against Israel, nor drop [any thing] against the house of Isaac,

¹⁷ therefore thus said Jehovah: Thy wife in the city doth go a-whoring, And thy sons and thy daughters by sword do fall, And thy land by line is apportioned, And thou on an unclean land diest, And Israel certainly removeth from off its land.'