Part 499 (1/2)

3:16. And when you shall be multiplied, and increase in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more.

3:17. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart.

3:18. In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

3:19. But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after me.

3:20. But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

3:21. A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their G.o.d.

3:22. Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions.

Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our G.o.d.

3:23. In very deed the hills were liars, and the mult.i.tude of the mountains: truly in the Lord our G.o.d is the salvation of Israel.

3:24. Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

3:25. We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our G.o.d, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our G.o.d.

Jeremias Chapter 4

And admonition to sincere repentance, and circ.u.mcision of the heart, with threats of grievous punishment to those that persist in sin.

4:1. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumblingblocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved.

4:2. And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall praise him.

4:3. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns:

4:4. Be circ.u.mcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none that can quench it because of the wickedness of your thoughts.

4:5. Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and sound with the trumpet in the land: cry aloud, and say: a.s.semble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.

4:6. Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.

4:7. The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place, to make thy land desolate: thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant.

4:8. For this gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.

4:9. And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, saith the Lord: That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes: and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed.

4:10. And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord G.o.d, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul?

4:11. At that time it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse.

4:12. A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them.

4:13. Behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles: woe unto us, for we are laid waste.