Old/New Testament
6 1 The coming of the Assyrians and Chaldeans. 16 He exhorteth the Jews to repentance.
1 O ye children of [a]Benjamin, prepare to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in [b]Tekoa: set up a standard upon [c]Beth-Haccerem: for a plague appeareth out of the North and great destruction.
2 I have compared the daughter of Zion to [d]a beautiful and dainty woman.
3 The Pastors with their flocks [e]shall come unto her: they shall pitch their tents round about by her, and everyone shall feed in his place.
4 [f]Prepare war against her: arise, and let us go up toward the South: woe unto us: for the day declineth, and the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and destroy her palaces.
6 For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew down wood, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this city must be visited; all oppression is in the midst of it.
7 As the fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her malice; [g]cruelty and spoil is continually heard in her before me, with sorrow and strokes.
8 Be thou instructed, O [h]Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate as a land that none inhabiteth.
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall gather as a vine, the residue of Israel: turn [i]back thine hand as the grape gatherer into the baskets.
10 Unto whom shall I speak, and admonish that they may hear? behold, their ears are [j]uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them as a reproach: they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord: I am weary with holding it: [k]I will pour it out upon the [l]children in the street, and likewise upon the assembly of the young men: for the husband shall even be taken with the wife, and the aged with him that is full of days.
12 And their houses with their lands, and wives also shall be turned unto strangers: for I will stretch out mine hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
13 For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given unto covetousness, and from the Prophet even unto the Priest, they all deal falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people with sweet words, saying, [m]Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not ashamed, no neither could they have any shame: therefore they shall fall among the [n]slain: when I shall visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand in the ways and behold, and ask for the [o]old way, which is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein.
17 Also I set [p]watchmen over you, which said, Take heed to the sound of the trumpet: but they said, We will not take heed.
18 Hear therefore, ye [q]Gentiles, and thou Congregation know, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth, behold, I will cause a plague to come upon this people, even the fruit of their own imaginations: because they have not taken heed unto my words, nor to my Law, but cast it off.
20 To what purpose bringest thou me [r]incense from Sheba, and sweet calamus from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not pleasant, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them: the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the [s]North country, and a great nation shall arise from the sides of the earth.
23 With bow and shield shall they be weaponed: they are cruel and will have no compassion: their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses well appointed, like men of war against thee, O daughter Zion.
24 We have heard their fame, and our hands wax [t]feeble: sorrow is come upon us, as the sorrow of a woman in travail.
25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way: for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in the ashes: make lamentation, and bitter mourning as for thine only son: for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have set [u]thee for a defense and fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their ways.
28 They are all rebellious traitors, walking craftily; they are brass and iron, they all are destroyers,
29 The [v]bellows are burnt; the lead is consumed in the fire; the founder melteth in vain; for the wicked are not taken away.
30 They shall call them reprobate silver, because the Lord hath rejected them.
7 2 Jeremiah is commanded to show unto the people the words of God, which trusteth in the outward service of the Temple. 13 The evils that shall come to the Jews, for the despising of their Prophets. 21 Sacrifices doth not the Lord chiefly require of the Jews, but that they should obey his word.
1 The words that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and cry this word there, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.
3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, (A)Amend your ways and your works, and I will let you dwell in this place.
4 Trust not in [w]lying words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord; this is the Temple of the Lord.
5 For if you amend and redress your ways and your works; if you execute judgment between a man and neighbor,
6 And oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your destruction,
7 Then [x]will I let you dwell in this place in the land that I gave unto your fathers forever and ever.
8 Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not?
10 And come and stand before me in this House, whereupon my Name is called, and say, We are delivered, though we have done all these abominations?
11 Is this House become [y]a den of thieves, whereupon my Name is called before your eyes? Behold, even I see it, saith the Lord.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, [z]where I set my Name at the beginning, and behold, what I did to it for the wickedness, of my people Israel.
13 Therefore now because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, (and I [aa]rose up early and spake unto you: but when I spake, ye would not hear me, neither when I called, would [ab]ye answer.)
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, whereupon my Name is called, wherein also ye trust, even unto the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh.
15 And I will cast [ac]you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore thou shalt not [ad]pray for this people, neither lift up cry or prayer for them, neither entreat me, for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women kneed the dough to make cakes to [ae]the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me unto anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord, and not themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured upon this place; upon man and upon beast, and upon the tree of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burn and not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.
22 For [af]I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways which I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they would not obey, nor incline their ear, but went after the counsels, and the stubbornness of their wicked heart, and went backward and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came up out of the land of Egypt, unto [ag]this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the Prophets, [ah]rising up early every day, and sending them.
26 Yet would they not hear me, nor incline their ear, but hardened their neck, and did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore shalt thou speak all these words unto them, but they [ai]will not hear thee: thou shalt also cry unto them, but they will not answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that heareth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth discipline: truth is perished, and is clean gone out of their mouth.
29 Cut off thine [aj]hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a complaint on the high places: for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his [ak]wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house, whereupon my Name is called to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high place of [al]Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I [am]commanded them not, neither came it in mine heart.
32 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place.
33 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away.
34 (B)Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
8 1 The destruction of the Jews. 4 The Lord moveth the people to amendment. 10 He reprehendeth the lying doctrine and the covetousness of the Prophets and Priests.
1 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of their Princes, and the bones of the Priests, and the bones of the Prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their [an]graves.
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and whom they have followed, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor be buried, but shall be as dung upon the earth.
3 And death shall be desired [ao]rather than life of all the residue that remaineth of this wicked family, which remain in all the places where I have scattered them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Thou shalt say unto them also, Thus saith the Lord, Shall they [ap]fall, and not arise? shall he turn away and not turn again?
5 Wherefore is this people of Jerusalem turned back by a perpetual rebellion? they gave themselves to deceit, and would not return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but none spake aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? [aq]everyone turned to their race, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Even the stork in the air knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming, but my people knoweth not the [ar]judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the Law of the Lord is with us? Lo, [as]certainly in vain made he it, the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The [at]wise men are ashamed: they are afraid and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: (C)for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, and from the Prophet even unto the Priest, everyone dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people with sweet words, saying, [au]Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not ashamed, neither could they have any shame: therefore shall they fall among the slain: when I shall visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade, and the things that I have given them shall depart from them.
14 Why do we stay? [av]assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be quiet there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water with [aw]gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 (D)We looked for peace, but no good came, and for a time of health, and behold troubles.
16 The neighing of his horses was heard from [ax]Dan, the whole land trembled at the noise of the neighing of his strong horses: for they are come, and have devoured the land with all that is in it, the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For behold, I will [ay]send serpents, and cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall sting you, saith the Lord.
18 I would have [az]comforted myself against sorrow, but mine heart is heavy in me.
19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people for fear of them of a far country, Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why [ba]have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with the vanities of a strange god?
20 The [bb]harvest is past, the Summer is ended, and we are not holpen.
21 I am [bc]sore vexed for the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am heavy, and astonishment hath taken me.
22 Is there no balm [bd]at Gilead? is there no Physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
5 1 Having set down a manner how to rebuke all degrees. 5 He entreateth of widows, who then were chosen for the service of the Church: 17 Then he cometh to Elders, 23 and speaketh somewhat touching the health of the body.
1 Rebuke [a]not an elder, but exhort him as a father, and the younger men as brethren,
2 The elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all pureness.
3 [b][c]Honor widows, which are widows indeed.
4 [d]But if any widow have children or nephews let them learn first to show godliness [e]toward their own house, and [f]to recompense their kindred: [g]for that is an honest thing, and acceptable before God.
5 [h]And she that is a widow indeed and left alone, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
6 [i]But she that liveth in pleasure, is dead, while she liveth.
7 These things therefore warn them of, that they may be blameless.
8 If there be any that provideth not for his own, and namely for them of his household, he denieth the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
9 [j]Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, that hath been the wife of [k]one husband.
10 And well reported of for good works: if she have nourished her children, if she have lodged the strangers, if she have [l]washed the Saints’ feet, if she have ministered unto them which were in adversity, if she were continually given unto every good work.
11 [m]But [n]refuse the younger widows: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry.
12 Having damnation, because they have broken the first faith.
13 [o]And likewise also being idle they learn to go about from house to house: yea they are not only idle, but also prattlers and busybodies, speaking things which are not comely.
14 [p]I will therefore that the younger women marry, and bear children, and govern the house, and give none occasion to the adversary to speak evil.
15 For certain are already turned back after Satan.
16 [q]If any faithful man or faithful woman have widows, let them minister unto them, and let not the Church be charged, that there may be sufficient for them that are widows indeed.
17 ¶ [r]The Elders that rule well, let them be had in [s]double honor, [t]specially they which labor in the word and doctrine.
18 For the Scripture saith, (A)Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn: and, (B)The laborer is worthy of his wages.
19 [u]Against an Elder receive none accusation, but under two or three witnesses.
20 [v]Them that sin, rebuke openly, that the rest also may fear.
21 ¶ (C)[w]I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect Angels, that thou observe these things, without preferring one to another, and do nothing partially.
22 [x]Lay hands [y]suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins; keep thyself pure.
23 [z]Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake, and thine often infirmities.
24 [aa]Some men’s sins are open before hand, and go before unto judgment: but some men’s follow after.
25 [ab]Likewise also the good works are manifest before hand, and they that are otherwise, cannot be hid.
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