A Lament for the Princes of Israel

¹“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel

²and say:‘What was your mother?A lioness among the lions!She lay down among the young lions;she reared her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs,and he became a young lion.After learning to tear his prey,he devoured men.

⁴When the nations heard of him,he was trapped in their pit.With hooks they led him awayto the land of Egypt.

⁵When she saw that she had waited in vain,that her hope was lost,she took another of her cubsand made him a young lion.

⁶He prowled among the lions,and became a young lion.After learning to tear his prey,he devoured men.

⁷He broke down their strongholdsand devastated their cities.The land and everything in itshuddered at the sound of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set out against himfrom the provinces on every side.They spread their net over him;he was trapped in their pit.

⁹With hooks they caged himand brought him to the king of Babylon.They brought him into captivityso that his roar was heard no longeron the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,planted by the water;it was fruitful and full of branchesbecause of the abundant waters.

¹¹It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter.It towered high above the thick branches,conspicuous for its heightand for its dense foliage.

¹²But it was uprooted in fury,cast down to the ground,and the east wind dried up its fruit.Its strong branches were stripped offand they withered;the fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness,in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire has gone out from its main branchand devoured its fruit;on it no strong branch remainsfit for a ruler’s scepter.’This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”

The LORD’s Vineyard

¹In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

²In that day:“Sing about a fruitful vineyard.

³I, the LORD, am its keeper;I water it continually.I guard it night and dayso no one can disturb it;

⁴I am not angry.If only thorns and briers confronted Me,I would march and trample them,I would burn them to the ground.

⁵Or let them lay claim to My protection;let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.”

⁶In the days to come, Jacob will take root.Israel will bud and blossomand fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors?Was she killed like those who slayed her?

⁸By warfare and exileYou contended with herand removed her with a fierce wind,as on the day the east wind blows.

⁹Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for,and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this:When he makes all the altar stoneslike crushed bits of chalk,no Asherah poles or incense altarswill remain standing.

¹⁰For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken.There the calves graze, and there they lie down;they strip its branches bare.

¹¹When its limbs are dry,they are broken off.Women come and use them for kindling;for this is a people without understanding.Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them,and their Creator shows them no favor.

¹²In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphratesto the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.

¹³And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

¹When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and the chief official in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

²he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

³The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.

⁴For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.

⁵I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

⁶And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried—you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied these lies.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

⁷You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived.You have overcome me and prevailed.I am a laughingstock all day long;everyone mocks me.

⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out;I proclaim violence and destruction.For the word of the LORD has become to mea reproach and derision all day long.

⁹If I say, “I will not mention Himor speak any more in His name,”His message becomes a fire burning in my heart,shut up in my bones,and I become weary of holding it in,and I cannot prevail.

¹⁰For I have heard the whispering of many:“Terror is on every side!Report him; let us report him!”All my trusted friendswatch for my fall:“Perhaps he will be deceivedso that we may prevail against himand take our vengeance upon him.”

¹¹But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior.Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame,with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.

¹²O LORD of Hosts, who examines the righteous,who sees the heartand mind,let me see Your vengeance upon them,for to You I have committed my cause.

¹³Sing to the LORD!Praise the LORD!For He rescues the life of the needyfrom the hands of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day I was born!May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,saying, “A son is born to you,”bringing him great joy.

¹⁶May that man be like the citiesthat the LORD overthrew without compassion.May he hear an outcry in the morningand a battle cry at noon,

¹⁷because he did not kill me in the wombso that my mother might have been my grave,and her womb forever enlarged.

¹⁸Why did I come out of the wombto see only trouble and sorrow,and to end my days in shame?

The Blessed Fear of the LORD

¹Blessed are all who fear the LORD,who walk in His ways!

²For when you eat the fruit of your labor,blessings and prosperity will be yours.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vineflourishing within your house,your sons like olive shootssitting around your table.

⁴In this way indeed shall blessing cometo the man who fears the LORD.

⁵May the LORD bless you from Zion,that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalemall the days of your life,

⁶that you may seeyour children’s children.Peace be upon Israel!