Yirmiyahu - Chapter 15

1. And the Lord said to me; If Moses and Samuel stand before Me, I have no desire for this people, send [them] away from before My face and let them go forth.

2. And it shall be if they say to you, "Where shall we go?" you shall say to them, "So said the Lord: Such as are for death, to death, and such as are for the sword, to the sword, and such as are for famine, to famine, and such as are for captivity, to captivity."

3. And I will appoint over them four families, says the Lord, the sword to slay and the dogs to drag and the fowl of the heaven and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

4. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdom of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem.

5. For, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, and who will lament over you, and who will turn aside to ask of your welfare?

6. You have forsaken Me, says the Lord. You shall go backwards, and I have stretched out My hand over you and destroyed you. I am weary of repenting.

7. And I winnowed them with a sieve in the cities of the earth; I bereft, I destroyed My people; they have not returned from their ways.

8. His widows are to Me more numerous than the sand of the seas; I have brought to them upon the mother a chosen one who will rob them at midday; I have cast upon her suddenly a city and terrors.

9. She who bore seven has been cut off, her soul grieves, her sun sets when it is still day. She is ashamed and confounded. And her remnant I shall deliver to the sword before their enemies, says the Lord.

10. Woe is to me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of quarrel and a man of contention to the whole land. I have not lent, nor have they lent to me. Yet, they all curse me.

11. Said the Lord: Verily, I will leave you over for good; verily I will cause [them] to beg you in time of famine and in time of distress, with the enemy.

12. Will iron break iron from the north and copper?

13. Your riches and your treasures I will give for plunder, not for a price, and for all your sins and throughout all your boundaries.

14. And I will cause [you] to pass over to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for a fire burns in My nostril; it shall be kindled against you.

15. You know, O Lord, remember me and think of me, and avenge me of my pursuers. Take me not to Your long suffering, know, I bore disgrace for Your sake.

16. Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me a joy and a rejoicing of my heart, for Your name was called upon me, O Lord God of Hosts.

17. I did not sit in the council of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; because of Your hand I sat in seclusion, for You filled me with fury.

18. Why was my pain perpetual, and my wound grievous? It has refused to heal; you are to me as a failing spring, water that is not faithful.

19. Therefore, so said the Lord: If you return, I will return you, you will stand before Me, and if you take the precious out of the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you shall not return to them.

20. And I will make you for this nation into a fortified copper wall, and they shall fight against you but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you to redeem you and to save you, says the Lord.

21. And I will save you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the hand of the terrible.