¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

³ and 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.

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

⁵ you 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 Yahweh.

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

⁷ when 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.

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

⁹ that 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, [to wit], of a Jew his brother.

¹⁰ All 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:

¹¹ but 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.

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

¹³ Thus says Yahweh, 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 didn't listen to me, neither inclined their ear.

¹⁵ You 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:

¹⁶ but 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.

¹⁷ Therefore thus says Yahweh: 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 Yahweh, 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.

¹⁸ I 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;

¹⁹ the 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;

²⁰ I 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.

²¹ Zedekiah 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.

²² Behold, I will command, says Yahweh, 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.

¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

² Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

³ The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel doesn't know, my people don't consider."

⁴ Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.

⁵ Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: wounds, welts, and open sores. They haven't been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil.

⁷ Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

⁸ The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city.

⁹ Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹ "What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?," says Yahweh. "I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don't delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

¹² When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?

¹³ Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can't bear with evil assemblies.

¹⁴ My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵ When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶ Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

¹⁷ Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow."

¹⁸ "Come now, and let us reason together," says Yahweh: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it."

²¹ How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

²² Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water.

²³ Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They don't judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: "Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself of my enemies;

²⁵ and I will turn my hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin.

²⁶ I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called 'The city of righteousness, a faithful town.'

²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.

²⁸ But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.

²⁹ For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.

³⁰ For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.

³¹ The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them."