17. For, behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18. But be you glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

20. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not child all diet hun

5. Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

6. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompense to his enemies.

7. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

8. Who hath heard such a thing? who

dred years old but t dred years old, shall be accursed.

21. And they shall build houses, and habit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

22. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble: for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. CHAP. LXVI.

The glorious God will be served in humble sincerity.

1. Tas saith te, and the earth is my footstool where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2. For all these things hath my hand made, and all these things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor

9. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

11. That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

12. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

13. As one whom his mother comforteth,! so will I comfort you; and ye shall be com forted in Jerusalem.

rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

14. And when ye see this, your heart shall

15. For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind,

trembleth at my word.

3. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol: yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. Calamities

4. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

with flames of fire.

16. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

17. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens, behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

18. For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

19. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them

unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud,|| that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

20. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

priests, and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

23. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

24. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring

The time and the calling of Jeremiah,

THilkian, of the priests that were in

Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin:

2. To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5. Before I formed thee in the belly 1 knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

6. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.

7. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

8. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

9. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

10. See, I have this day set thee over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

11. Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almondtree.

12. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

pet, and the face thereof is toward the north.

14. Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

15. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

16. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burnt incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

17. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

18. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land; against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

19. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. CHAP. II.

3. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

4. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5. Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

6. Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness; through a land of deserts, and of pits; through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt ?

7. And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof, and the goodness thereof: but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

8. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

10. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing: 11. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

13. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no

water.

19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know, therefore, and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GoD of hosts.

20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

21. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

22. For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

23. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

24. A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? All they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I

go.

26. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

27. Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

28. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods,

29. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.

30. In vain have I smitten your children: they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

31. O generation, see ye the word of the LORD: Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? Wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?

32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or

a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

33. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.

34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. 35. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me: behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

36. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

37. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thy hands upon thy head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

1.

promises of the gospel to the penitent.

HEY say,

THE If a man put away his

wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

2. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with: in the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms, and with thy wickedness.

3. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

4. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

5. Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6. The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

7. And I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me: but she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adulery, I had put her away, and given her a

bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

9. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

10. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

11. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

12. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

15. And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased 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 to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done any more.

17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

21. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

22. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD, our God.

23. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

24. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

'HAP. IV.

1 God calleth Israel by his promise: 3 He exhorteth Judah to repentance.

1.

F thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

2. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow-ground, and sow not among thorns.

4. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

6. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate: and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.

8. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9. And it shall come to pass at 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 wonder.

10. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11. At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12. Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13. Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Wo unto us! for we are spoiled.

14. O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from, wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15. For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16. Make ye mention to the nations: behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17. As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

18. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thy heart.

be

19. My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me: I cannot hold my peace, cause thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20. Destruction upon destruction is cried: for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

21. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22. For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.