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Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling

English: Wycliffe's Bible Modern Spelling (with Deuterocanon)

Copyright © 2001,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015 Terry Noble
Language: English
Dialect: Archaic
Translation by: Terry Noble

Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling, was made in response to requests from readers who wanted my Wycliffe’s Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha in one volume. Printing limitations dictated the number of pages available to me and the letter size. In my previous books, Wycliffe’s Bible, Wycliffe’s Old Testament, Vols. 1 amp 2, Wycliffe’s New Testament, and Wycliffe’s Apocrypha, I have tens of thousands of rewritten verses, presented in parentheses “( )”, to provide help in comprehending the 14th century Middle English vocabulary and grammar. In this present volume, with space at a premium, those “helps” had to be eliminated, to make room for the text of the Apocrypha.

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2019-09-26

ePub generated by Haiola 21 Feb 2024 from source files dated 10 Feb 2022
eBible.org certified

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CHAPTER 1

1 And the Lord spake to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the bond of peace*, in the first day of the second month, in the tother year of their going out of Egypt, and said,

2 Take ye the sum or the number of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their kindreds, and meines, and all their names each by them-selves, whatever thing of male kind,

3 from the twentieth year and above, of all the strong men of Israel; and thou and Aaron shall number them by their companies.

4 And the princes of the lineages, and of the meines, in their kindreds, shall be with you,

5 of which princes, these be the names; of Reuben, Elizur, the son of Shedeur;

6 of Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

7 of Judah, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab;

8 of Issachar, Nethaneel, the son of Zuar;

9 of Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon;

10 soothly of the sons of Joseph; of Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur;

11 of Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

12 of Dan, Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai;

13 of Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ocran;

14 of Gad, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel;

15 of Naphtali, Ahira, the son of Enan.

16 These were the noblest princes of the multitude, by their lineages, and kindreds, and the heads of the hosts of Israel,

17 the which princes Moses and Aaron took, with all the multitude of the common people.

18 And they gathered in the first day of the second month, and they told [or numbered] them by kindreds, and houses, and meines, and heads, and names of each by themselves, from the twentieth year and above,

19 as the Lord commanded to Moses; [and they be numbered in the desert of Sinai].

20 And of Reuben, the first begotten of Israel, were numbered, in the desert of Sinai, [or Of Reuben, the first begotten of Israel], by their generations, and meines, and houses, and by the names of all the heads, all thing that is of male kind, from twenty years and above, of men going forth to battle,

21 six and forty thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the sons of Simeon, by their generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names and heads of all, all that is of male kind, from twenty years and above, of men going forth to battle,

23 nine and fifty thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the sons of Gad, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that went forth to battle,

25 five and forty thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the sons of Judah, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go [forth] to battles,

27 were numbered four and seventy thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that went forth to battles,

29 were numbered four and fifty thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the sons of Zebulun, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

31 seven and fifty thousand and four hundred.

32 Of the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

33 forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Forsooth of the sons of Manasseh, by their generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

35 two and thirty thousand and two hundred.

36 Of the sons of Benjamin, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

37 five and thirty thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the sons of Dan, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kin-dreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

39 two and sixty thousand and seven hundred.

40 Of the sons of Asher, by gener-ations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

41 forty thousand and a thousand and five hundred.

42 Of the sons of Naphtali, by generations, and meines, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names of all, from twenty years and above, all men that might go forth to battles,

43 three and fifty thousand and four hundred.

44 These men it be, which Moses and Aaron and the twelve princes of Israel numbered, each by their houses and kindreds.

45 And all men of the sons of Israel, by their houses, and meines, from twenty years and above, that might go forth to battles,

46 were all together six hundred thousand and three thousand men, and five hundred and fifty.

47 Soothly the deacons† in the lineage of their meines were not numbered with them.

48 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

49 Do not thou number the lineage of Levi, neither set thou the sum of them with the sons of Israel;

50 but thou shalt ordain them upon the tabernacle of witnessing, and upon all the vessels thereof, and upon what-ever thing pertaineth to [the] cere-monies, either sacrifices. They shall bear the tabernacle, and all the appur-tenances thereof, and they shall be in the service of it, and they shall set [their] tents by compass of the taber-nacle.

51 When men shall go forth, or be removed, the deacons shall take down the tabernacle; when the tents shall be set, they shall set it up. Whoever of strangers nigheth, he shall be slain.

52 Soothly the sons of Israel shall set tents, each man by his companies, and his fellowships, and his host;

53 forsooth the deacons shall set their tents by compass of the tabernacle, lest indignation be made on the multitude of the sons of Israel; and they shall wake [or watch] in the keepings of the tabernacle of witnessing.

54 Therefore the sons of Israel did by all things which the Lord commanded to Moses.

CHAPTER 2

1 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

2 All men of the sons of Israel shall set tents by the companies, signs, and banners, and houses of their kindreds, by compass of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace.

3 At the east Judah shall set tents, by the companies of his host; and Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, shall be prince of the sons of Judah;

4 and all the number of fighters of his kindred, four and seventy thousand and six hundred.

5 Men of the lineage of Issachar setted tents beside him, of which the prince was Nethaneel, the son of Zuar;

6 and all the number of his fighters, four and fifty thousand and four hundred.

7 Eliab, the son of Helon, was prince of the lineage of Zebulun;

8 all the host of fighters of his kindred, seven and fifty thousand and four hundred.

9 All that were numbered in the tents of Judah, were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred; and they shall go out first by their companies.

10 In the tents of the sons of Reuben, at the south coast, Elizur, the son of Shedeur, shall be prince;

11 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, six and forty thousand and five hundred.

12 Men of the lineage of Simeon setted tents beside him, of which the prince was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

13 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, nine and fifty thousand and three hundred.

14 Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, was prince in the lineage of Gad;

15 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty.

16 All that were numbered of the tents of Reuben, an hundred thousand and fifty thousand and one thousand and four hundred and fifty; they shall go forth in the second place by their companies.

17 Soothly the tabernacle of witnessing shall be raised up by the offices of deacons [or Levites], and by their companies; as it shall be raised up by them, so it shall be taken down by them; all they shall go forth by their places and orders.

18 The tents of the sons of Ephraim shall be at the west coast, of which the prince was Elishama, the son of Ammihud;

19 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, forty thousand and five hundred.

20 And with them was the lineage of the sons of Manasseh, of which the prince was Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur;

21 all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, were two and thirty thousand and two hundred.

22 In the lineage of the sons of Benjamin, the prince was Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

23 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, were five and thirty thousand and four hundred.

24 All men that were numbered in the tents of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and one hundred; they shall go forth in the third place by their companies.

25 At the north coast the sons of Dan setted tents, of which the prince was Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai;

26 all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, were two and sixty thousand and seven hundred.

27 And men of the lineage of Asher setted tents beside him, of which the prince was Pagiel, the son of Ocran;

28 and all the host of his fighters, that were numbered, were one and forty thousand and five hundred.

29 Of the lineage of the sons of Naphtali, the prince was Ahira, the son of Enan;

30 and all the host of his fighters, were three and fifty thousand and four hundred.

31 All that were numbered in the tents of Dan were an hundred thousand and seven and fifty thousand and six hundred; they shall go forth the last.

32 This is the number of the sons of Israel, by the houses of their kindreds, and by companies of the host parted, six hundred thousand and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

33 Soothly the deacons were not numbered among the sons of Israel; for God commanded so to Moses.

34 And the sons of Israel did by all things which the Lord commanded; they setted tents by their companies, and they went forth by the meines, and houses of their fathers.

CHAPTER 3

1 These be the generations of Aaron and of Moses, in the day in which the Lord spake to Moses, in the hill [or mount] of Sinai.

2 And these be the names of the sons of Aaron; his first engendered, Nadab; afterward, Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar;

3 these be the names of Aaron’s sons, priests, that were anointed, and whose hands were [ful] filled and hallowed, that they should be set in priesthood.

4 Nadab and Abihu [died], when they offered alien fire in the sight of the Lord, in the desert of Sinai, and were dead without free children; and Eleazar and Ithamar were set in priesthood before Aaron their father.

5 And the Lord spake to Moses, saying,

6 Present thou the lineage of Levi, and make it to stand in the sight of Aaron, the priest, that they minister to him;

7 and wake or watch, and that they keep whatever thing pertaineth to the religion of the multitude, before the tabernacle of witnessing;

8 and that they keep the vessels of the tabernacle, and serve in the service of it.

9 And thou shalt give by free gift the Levites to Aaron and to his sons, to whom they be given of the sons of Israel.

10 Soothly thou shalt ordain Aaron and his sons on the religion of priesthood; a stranger that nigheth for to minister, shall die.

11 And the Lord spake to Moses, saying,

12 I have taken the Levites of the sons of Israel for each first engendered thing that openeth the womb in the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine,

13 for each first engendered thing is mine; since the time I smote the first engendered thing in the land of Egypt, I have hallowed to me whatever thing is born first in Israel; from man unto beast they be mine; I am the Lord.

14 And the Lord spake to Moses in the desert of Sinai, and said,

15 Number thou the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, and by their meines, each male from one month and above.

16  [And] Moses numbered them, as the Lord commanded.

17 And the sons of Levi were found, by their names, Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari;

18 the sons of Gershon were Libni, and Shimei;

19 the sons of Kohath were Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel;

20 and the sons of Merari were Mahli, and Mushi.

21 Of Gershon were two meines, of Libni, and of Shimei;

22 of which the people of male kind was numbered, from one month and above, seven thousand and five hundred.

23 These shall set tents behind the tabernacle at the west part,

24 under the prince Eliasaph, the son of Lael.

25 And they shall have the keepings in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, the tabernacle itself, and the covering thereof, the tent that is drawn before the gates of the covering of the witnessing of the bond of peace;

26 and the curtains of the great entry, also the tent that is hanged in the entering of the great entry of the tabernacle, and whatever thing per-taineth to the use of the altar, the cords of the tabernacle, and to all the service thereof.

27 The kindred of Kohath shall have the peoples of Amram, and of Izhar, and of Hebron, and of Uzziel; these be the meines of Kohathites,

28 numbered by their names, all of male kind, from one month and above, eight thousand and six hundred. They shall have the keepings of the saintuary,

29 and they shall set their tents at the south coast thereof;

30 and the prince of them shall be Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.

31 And they shall keep the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, the altars, and the vessels of the saintuary in which it is served, and the veil, and all such manner appurtenance.

32 Soothly the prince of princes of Levites shall be Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest; and he shall be upon the keepers of the keeping of the saintuary.

33 And soothly of Merari shall be the peoples of Mahli, and of Mushi,

34 numbered by their names, all the male kind, from one month and above, six thousand and two hundred;

35 the prince of them shall be Zuriel, the son of Abihail; they shall set their tents in the north coast.

36 And under the keeping of them shall be the tables of the tabernacle, and the bars, and the pillars, and their foundaments, and all things that pertain to such adorning,

37 and the pillars of the great entry by compass, with their bases, and the stakes with their cords.

38 Forsooth Moses, and Aaron with his sons, shall set their tents before the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, that is, at the east coast, and shall have the keeping of the saintuary, in the midst of the sons of Israel; what-ever alien nigheth thereto, he shall die.

39 All the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered, by the commandment of the Lord, by their meines, in male kind, from one month and above, were two and twenty thousand.

40 And the Lord said to Moses, Number thou the first begotten of male kind of the sons of Israel, from one month and above; and thou shalt have the sum or the number of them;

41 and thou shalt take the Levites to me for all the first begotten of the sons of Israel; I am the Lord; and thou shalt take their beasts for all the first begotten of the sons of Israel.

42 And as the Lord commanded, Moses numbered the first begotten children of the sons of Israel;

43 and the males were by their names, from one month and above, two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three.

44 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

45 Take thou the Levites for the first begotten of the sons of Israel, and take the beasts of the Levites for the beasts of them, and the Levites shall be mine; I am the Lord.

46 Forsooth in the price of two hundred and seventy and three persons, that pass the number of the Levites, of the first begotten of the sons of Israel,

47 thou shalt take five shekels by each head, at the measure of the saintuary; a shekel hath twenty halfpence;

48 and thou shalt give the money to Aaron and to his sons, the price of them that be numbered above the number of the Levites.

49 Therefore Moses took the money of them that were numbered above, and which they had again-bought of the Levites,

50 for the first begotten of the sons of Israel, a thousand three hundred and sixty and five of shekels, by the weight of the saintuary;

51 and he gave that money to Aaron and to his sons, by the word that the Lord commanded to him.

CHAPTER 4

1 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

2 Take thou the sum or the number of the sons of Kohath, from the midst of Levites, by their houses and meines,

3 from the thirtieth year and above unto the fiftieth year, of all that enter, that they stand and minister in the tabernacle of the bond of peace.

4 This is the religion of the sons of Kohath; Aaron and his sons shall enter into the tabernacle of the bond of peace, and into the holy of holy things,

5 when the tents shall be moved; and they shall do down the veil that hangeth before the gates, and they shall wrap in it the ark of witnessing;

6 and they shall cover it again with a veil of jacinthine skins, and they shall stretch forth above a mantle all of jacinth, and they shall lead in [the] bearing staves.

7 Also they shall wrap the table of proposition, either of setting forth, in a mantle of jacinth, and they shall put therewith the censers, and mortars or spoons of gold, little cups, and great cups to shed [or pour] flowing [or liquor] sacrifices; loaves shall ever-[more] be in the table.

8 And they shall stretch forth there-above a red mantle, which they shall cover again with a covering of jacinthine skins, and they shall lead in the bearing staves.

9 They shall take also a mantle of jacinth with which they shall cover the candlestick, with his lanterns, and tongs, and snuffers, and all the oil vessels that be needful to the lanterns to be ordained;

10 and upon all these things they shall put a covering of jacinthine skins, and they shall lead in the bearing staves.

11 Also they shall wrap the golden altar in a cloth of jacinth; and they shall stretch forth above it a covering of jacinthine skins, and they shall lead in [the] bearing staves.

12 They shall wrap in a mantle of jacinth all the vessels in which it is ministered in the saintuary, and they shall stretch forth above it a covering of jacinthine skins, and they shall lead in the bearing staves.

13 But also they shall cleanse the altar from ashes, and they shall wrap it in a cloth of purple.

14 And they shall put with it all the vessels which they use in the service thereof, that is, the resets or recepticles of fire, the tongs, and fleshhooks, and other hooks, and the censers, or the pans of coals; they shall cover all the vessels of the altar altogether in a veil of jacinthine skins, and they shall lead in the bearing staves.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have wrapped the saintuary, and all [the] vessels thereof, in the moving of tents, then the sons of Kohath shall enter, that they bear the things wrapped, and touch not the vessels of the saintuary, lest they die. These be the burdens of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace,

16 on which Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, shall be; to whose care the oil pertaineth to ordain lanterns, and the incense which is made by craft, and the sacrifice which is offered ever[more], that is, in each day, and the oil of anointing, and whatever thing pertaineth to the adorning of the tabernacle, and of all vessels that be in the saintuary.

17 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

18 Do not ye lose the people of Kohath from the midst of the Levites;

19 but do ye this thing to them, that they live, and die not, if they touch the holy of holy things. Aaron and his sons shall enter, and they shall dispose the works of all the sons of Kohath, and they shall part what who oweth to bear.

20 Other men see not by any curiosity those things that be in the saintuary, before that those [or they] be wrapped; else they shall die.

21 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

22 Take thou the sum or the number also of the sons of Gershon, by their houses, and meines, and kindreds;

23 number thou them from thirty years and above unto fifty years, all that enter and serve in the tabernacle of the bond of peace.

24 This is the office of the sons of Gershonites,

25 that they bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the roof, or covering, of the bond of peace, another covering, and the veil of jacinth that shall be above all things, and the tent that hangeth in the entry of the tabernacle of the bond of peace;

26 and the curtains of the great entry, and the veil in the entry, that is before the tabernacle.

27 When Aaron commandeth and his sons, the sons of Gershon shall bear all things that pertain to the altar, the cords, and the vessels, or instruments, of their service; and all they shall know, to what charge they owe to be bound.

28 This is the office of the meines of Gershonites, in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace; and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, [the] priest.

29 Also thou shalt number the sons of Merari, by the meines and houses of their fathers,

30 from thirty years and above unto fifty years, all that enter to the office of their service, and to the adorning of the bond of peace of witnessing.

31 These be their charges or burdens; they shall bear the tables of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, the pillars, and their foundaments or bases;

32 also the pillars of the great entry by compass, with their foundaments, and their stakes, and their cords; and they shall take all the instruments and the appurtenance of the tabernacle, by number, and so they shall bear them.

33 This is the office of the meine of Merarites, and the service in the tabernacle of the bond of peace; and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest.

34 Therefore Moses and Aaron and the princes of the synagogue, numbered the sons of Kohath, by the kindreds, and houses of their fathers,

35 from thirty years and above unto the fiftieth year, all that enter to the service of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace;

36 and they were found two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 This is the number of the people of Kohath, which entereth into the taber-nacle of [the] bond of peace; Moses and Aaron numbered these, by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

38 And the sons of Gershon were numbered, by the kindreds and houses of their fathers,

39 from thirty years and above unto fifty years, all that enter that they serve in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace;

40 and they were found two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41 This is the people of Gershonites, that Moses and Aaron numbered, by the kindreds and houses, by the word of the Lord.

42 And the sons of Merari were numbered, by the kindreds, and houses of their fathers,

43 from thirty years and above unto fifty years, all that enter to fulfill the customs, or the services, of the tabernacle of the bond of peace;

44 and they were found three thousand and two hundred.

45 This is the number of the sons of Merari, which Moses and Aaron numbered, by the commandment of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

46 All that were numbered of the Levites, and which Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel made to be numbered, by the kindreds, and houses of their fathers,

47 from thirty years and above unto fifty years, and entered to the service of the tabernacle, and to bear the charges thereof,

48 were altogether eight thousand five hundred and fourscore.

49 By the word of the Lord Moses numbered them, each man by his office and his charges, as the Lord commanded to him.

CHAPTER 5

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they cast out of the tents each leprous man, and that floweth out the seed, and that is defouled upon a dead body;

3 cast ye out of the tents, as well a male as a female, lest they defoul those [or them], when they dwell with you.

4 And the sons of Israel did so; and they putted them out of the tents, as the Lord spake to Moses.

5 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

6 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, When a man either a woman hath done any of all the sins that be wont to fall to men, and have broken by negligence the behest of the Lord, and have trespassed,

7 they shall acknowledge their sin, and they shall yield that head, or debt, and the fifth part above, to him against whom they sinned.

8 But if none there is that shall receive that, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest’s part, besides the ram that is offered for cleansing, that it be a quemeful sacrifice.

9 Also all the first fruits, which the sons of Israel offer, pertain to the priest;

10 and whatever thing is offered of each man in the saintuary, which a man hallowed, and gave to the hands of the priest, it shall be the priest’s part.

11 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

12 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, If a man’s wife hath erred, and hath despised her husband,

13 and hath slept with another man, and the husband may not take, either prove this, but the adultery is hid, and may not be proved by witnesses, for she is not found in lechery;

14 if the spirit of jealousy stirreth the husband against his wife, which is either defouled, either she is impeached by false suspicion,

15 the man shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an offering for her, the tenth part of a measure called a saton of barley meal; he shall not pour oil thereupon, neither he shall put incense thereto, for it is the sacrifice of jealousy, and an offering inquiring adultery.

16 Therefore the priest shall offer her, and shall set her before the Lord;

17 and he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall put into it a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle.

18 And when the woman standeth in the sight of the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head, and he shall put upon her hands the sacrifice of remembering, and the offering of jealousy. Soothly he shall hold the most bitter waters, in which he hath gathered together curses with cursing.

19 And he shall conjure or adjure her, and say, If an alien man slept not with thee, and if thou art not defouled in forsaking the bed of thine husband, these bitter waters shall not harm thee, into which I have gathered together curses;

20 else if thou bowedest away from thine husband, and art defouled, and hast lain with another man,

21 thou shalt be subject to these cursings; the Lord give thee into cursing, and into ensample of all men in his people; the Lord make thine hip to wax rotten, and thy womb swell, and be it broken;

22  these cursed waters enter into thy womb, and while thy womb swelleth, thine hip wax rotten. And the woman shall answer, Amen! amen!

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a little book, and he shall do away those curses with the bitterest waters,

24 into which he gathered curses, and he shall give to her the waters to drink. And when she hath drunk those waters,

25 the priest shall take of her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and he shall raise it [up] before the Lord, and he shall put it on the altar;

26 so only that he take before an handful of that sacrifice that is offered, and burn it upon the altar, and so give drink to the woman the most bitter waters.

27 And when she hath drunk those waters, if she is defouled, and is guilty of adultery, for her husband is despised of her, the waters of cursing shall pass through her, and while her womb is swollen, her hip shall wax rotten, and the woman shall be into cursing and into ensample to all the people.

28 That if she is not defouled, she shall be harmless, and shall bring forth free children.

29 This is the law of jealousy, if a woman boweth away from her husband, and is defouled,

30 and the husband is stirred with the spirit of jealousy, and bringeth her into the sight of the Lord, and the priest doeth to her by all things that be written,

31 the husband shall be without sin, and she shall receive her wickedness.

CHAPTER 6

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When a man either a woman maketh a vow, that they be hallowed, and they will hallow themselves to the Lord,

3 they shall abstain from wine, and from all thing that may make drunken; they shall not drink vinegar of wine, and of anything able to make drunken, and whatever thing is pressed out of the grape; they shall not eat fresh grapes and dry,

4 all [the] days in which they be hallowed by a vow to the Lord; they shall not eat whatever thing may be of the vinery [or vine], from the rind till to the little grains that be in the midst of the grape.

5 All the time of his separating, or of his avow holding, a razor shall not pass upon his head, unto the day be fulfilled in which he is hallowed to the Lord; he shall be holy, and the hair of his head shall wax.

6 In all the time of his hallowing, he shall not enter upon a dead body,

7 and soothly he shall not be defouled upon the dead body of his father and of his mother, of brother and of sister, for the hallowing of his God is upon his head;

8 each day of his separating, or avowing, shall be holy to the Lord.

9 But if any man is dead suddenly before him, the head of his hallowing shall be defouled, which he shall shave anon in the same day of his cleansing, and again in the seventh day;

10 forsooth in the eighth day he shall offer two turtles, either two culver birds, to the priest, in the entering of the bond of peace of witnessing.

11 And the priest shall make, or offer, one for sin, and the tother into burnt sacrifice; and the priest shall pray for him, for he sinned upon a dead body, and he shall hallow his head in that day.

12 And he shall hallow to the Lord the days of his separating, and he shall offer a lamb of one year for his sin, so nevertheless that the former days be made void, for his hallowing is defouled.

13 This is the law of hallowing. When the days shall be fulfilled, which he deemed to fulfill by a vow, the priest shall bring him to the door of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace,

14 and he shall offer his offering to the Lord, a lamb of one year without wem, into burnt sacrifice, and a sheep of one year without wem, for sin, and a ram without wem, a peaceable sacrifice;

15 also a basket of therf loaves, that be sprinkled altogether with oil, and cakes sodden in water, and after anointed with oil, without sourdough, and [the] flowing sacrifices of all these by themselves;

16 which the priest shall offer before the Lord, and he shall make, or offer these, as well for sin as into burnt sacrifice.

17 Soothly he shall offer the ram a peaceable sacrifice to the Lord, and he shall offer therewith a basket of therf loaves, and flowing [or liquor] sacrifices, that be due by custom.

18 Then the Nazarite, or he that is hallowed, shall be shaved from the hair of his hallowing, before the door of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace; and the priest shall take his hairs, and he shall put them upon the fire, which is put under the sacrifice of peaceable things.

19 And he shall take the shoulder sodden of the ram, and one therf cake from the basket, and one [thin] therf cake first sodden in water and after-ward fried in oil, and he shall betake them into the hands of the Nazarite, after that his head is shaved.

20 And the priest shall raise in the sight of the Lord the things taken again of him. And those things hallowed shall be the priest’s part, as the breast which is commanded to be separated, and the hip. After these things the Nazarite may drink wine.

21 This is the law of the Nazarite, when he hath avowed his offering to the Lord, in the time of his consecration, or hallowing, besides these things which his hand findeth. By this that he [hath] avowed in soul, or in will, so he shall do, to the perfection of his hallowing.

22 And the Lord spake to Moses and said,

23 Speak thou to Aaron and to his sons, Thus ye shall bless the sons of Israel, and ye shall say to them,

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee;

25 the Lord show his face to thee, and have mercy upon thee;

26 the Lord turn his cheer to thee, and give peace to thee.

27 They shall call inwardly my name on the sons of Israel, and I shall bless them.

CHAPTER 7

1 And it was done in the day in which Moses fulfilled, or ended, the tabernacle, and areared it, and anointed it, and hallowed it with all the vessels, or instruments, thereof, and the altar he hallowed in like manner, and the vessels thereof.

2 And the princes of Israel, and the heads of meines, that were, by all lineages, the sovereigns of them that were numbered,

3 offered gifts before the Lord, six wains covered, with twelve oxen; two dukes offered one wain, and each offered one ox. And they offered those wains before the tabernacle.

4 Soothly the Lord said to Moses,

5 Take thou of them, that they serve in the service of the tabernacle, and betake thou those things to the deacons, by the order of their service.

6 And so when Moses had taken the wains, and the oxen, he betook them to the deacons [or Levites].

7 He gave two wains and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, after that they had need.

8 He gave four other wains and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, by their offices and religion, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest.

9 Forsooth he gave not wains and oxen to the sons of Kohath, for they serve in the saintuary, and bear the charges with their own shoulders.

10 Therefore the dukes offered, in the hallowing of the altar, in the day in which it was anointed, their offering to the Lord, before the altar.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, All the dukes by themselves offer they gifts, by all days by themselves, into the hallowing of the altar.

12 Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, prince of the lineage of Judah, offered his offering in the first day; and there were in that offering

13 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, in the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a vial or basin* of silver, having seventy shekels by the weight of the saintuary, ever either full of[tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

14 a mortar or spoon † of ten golden shekels, full of incense.

15  He offered an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

16 and a buck of goats, for sin.

17 And he offered in the sacrifice of peaceable things, twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This is the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

18 In the second day, Nethaneel, the son of Zuar, duke of the lineage of Issachar, offered

19 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels by the weight of the saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

20 a golden spoon, having ten shekels, full of incense;

21 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

22 and a buck of goats, for sin.

23 And in the sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

24 In the third day, Eliab, the son of Helon, the prince of the sons of Zebulun, offered

25 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

26 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

27 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

28 and a buck of goats, for sin.

29 And in the sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This is the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon.

30 In the fourth day, Elizur, the son of Shedeur, the prince of the sons of Reuben, offered

31 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

32 a golden spoon weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

33 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

34 and a buck of goats, for sin.

35 And into [the] sacrifice of peace-able things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur.

36 In the fifth day, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, the prince of the sons of Simeon, offered

37 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

38 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

39 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

40 and a buck of goats, for sin.

41 And into [the] sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.

42 In the sixth day, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, the prince of the sons of Gad, offered

43 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

44 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

45 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

46 and a buck of goats, for sin.

47 And into sacrifice of peaceable things he offered two oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.

48 In the seventh day, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, the prince of the sons of Ephraim, offered

49 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

50 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

51 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

52 and a buck of goats, for sin.

53 And into sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud.

54 In the eighth day, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, the prince of the sons of Manasseh, offered

55 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

56 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

57 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

58 and a buck of goats, for sin.

59 And into sacrifices of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.

60 In the ninth day, Abidan, the son of Gideoni, the prince of the sons of Benjamin, offered

61 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

62 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

63 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

64 and a buck of goats, for sin.

65 And into the sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni.

66 In the tenth day, Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, the prince of the sons of Dan, offered

67 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

68 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

69 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

70 and a buck of goats, for sin.

71 And into sacrifices of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.

72 In the eleventh day, Pagiel, the son of Ocran, the prince of the sons of Asher, offered

73 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

74 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

75 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

76 and a buck of goats, for sin.

77 And into sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ocran.

78 In the twelfth day, Ahira, the son of Enan, the prince of the sons of Naphtali, offered

79 a silver vessel to prove incense and such things, weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver basin, having seventy shekels at the weight of [the] saintuary, ever either full of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, into sacrifice;

80 a golden spoon, weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

81 an ox of the drove, and a ram, and a lamb of one year, into burnt sacrifice;

82 and a buck of goats, for sin.

83 And into sacrifice of peaceable things he offered twain [or two] oxen, five rams, five goat bucks, five lambs of one year. This was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan.

84 These things were offered of the sons of Israel, in the hallowing of the altar, in the day in which it was hallowed; silver vessels to prove incense and such things twelve, silver basins twelve, golden spoons twelve;

85 so that one vessel to prove incense and such things had an hundred and thirty shekels of silver, and one basin had seventy shekels, that is, in com-mon, two thousand and four hundred shekels of all the vessels of silver, by the weight of [the] saintuary;

86 golden spoons twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels, by weight of the saintuary, that is, altogether, an hundred and twenty shekels of gold;

87 oxen of the drove into burnt sacrifice twelve, twelve rams, twelve lambs of one year, and the flowing sacrifices of those, twelve bucks of goats for sin;

88 the sacrifices of peaceable things, four and twenty oxen, sixty rams, sixty goat bucks, sixty lambs of one year. These things were offered in the hallowing of the altar, when it was anointed.

89 And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, to ask counsel of God’s answering place, he heard the voice of God speaking to him from the propitiatory, which was on the ark of witnessing, betwixt [the] two cherubims, from whence also God spake to Moses.

CHAPTER 8

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Speak thou to Aaron, and thou shalt say to him, When thou hast set the seven lanterns, the candlestick be raised in the south part; therefore command thou this, that the lanterns behold even against the north to the board of [the] loaves of setting forth, those lanterns shall shine against that part that the candlestick beholdeth to.

3 And Aaron did so, and he putted the lanterns upon the candlestick, as the Lord commanded to Moses.

4 Soothly this was the making of the candlestick; it was of gold beaten out with hammers, as well the middle stalk, as all the things that came forth on ever either side of the rods; by the sample which the Lord showed to Moses, so he wrought the candlestick.

5 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

6 Take thou the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; and thou shalt cleanse them by this custom.

7 Be they sprinkled with water of cleansing, or of purification, and shave they all the hairs of their flesh. And when they have washed their clothes and be cleansed,

8 take they an ox of the droves, and the flowing [or liquor] sacrifice thereof, [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil; forsooth thou shalt take another ox of the drove for sin;

9 and thou shalt present the Levites before the tabernacle of the bond of peace, when all the multitude of the sons of Israel is called together.

10 And when the Levites be presented before the Lord, the sons of Israel shall set [or put] their hands upon them;

11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites in the sight of the Lord, a gift of the sons of Israel, that they serve in the service of him.

12 Also the Levites shall set their hands upon the heads of the oxen, of which oxen thou shalt make, or ordain, one for sin, and the tother into burnt sacrifice of the Lord, that thou pray for them.

13 And thou shalt ordain the Levites in the sight of Aaron, and of his sons, and thou shalt make sacred them offered to the Lord;

14 and thou shalt separate them from the midst of the sons of Israel, that they be mine.

15 And afterward enter they into the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, that they serve me; and so thou shalt cleanse and hallow them, into an offering of the Lord,

16 for by free gift they be given to me of the sons of Israel. I have taken them for the first begotten things that open each womb in Israel;

17 for all the first begotten things of the sons of Israel be mine, as well of men as of beasts, from the day in which I smote each first engendered thing in the land of Egypt, I [have] hallowed them to me.

18 And I took the Levites for all the first begotten of the sons of Israel;

19 and I gave them by free gift to Aaron and to his sons, from the midst of the people, that they serve me for Israel, in the tabernacle of the bond of peace, and that they pray for them, lest vengeance be in the people, if they be hardy to nigh to the saintuary.

20 And Moses and Aaron, and all the multitude of the sons of Israel, did upon the Levites those things that the Lord commanded to Moses.

21 And the Levites were cleansed, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron raised, or presented, them in the sight of the Lord, and he prayed for them, that they shall be cleansed,

22 and should enter to their offices into the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord commanded to Moses of the Levites, so it was done.

23 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

24 This is the law of [the] Levites; from five and twenty years and above they shall enter, for to minister in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace;

25 and when they have filled the fiftieth year of age, they shall cease to serve.

26 And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, that they keep those things that be betaken to them; soothly they shall not do those works, as they did before; thus thou shalt dispose [the] Levites in their keepings.

CHAPTER 9

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after they went out of the land of Egypt, in the first month, and said,

2 The sons of Israel make they pask in his time,

3  that is, in the fourteenth day of this month, at eventide, by all the ceremonies and justifyings thereof.

4 And Moses commanded to the sons of Israel, that they should make pask;

5 which made pask in his time, in the fourteen day of the month, at eventide, in the hill [or mount] of Sinai; by all things that the Lord commanded to Moses, the sons of Israel did.

6 Lo! forsooth some men unclean on the soul of man, that might not make pask in that day, nighed to Moses and to Aaron,

7 and said to them, We be unclean on the soul of man; why be we defrauded, that we may not offer an offering to the Lord in his time, among the sons of Israel?

8 To which Moses answered, Stand ye aside, or abideth, that I take counsel, what the Lord commandeth of you.

9 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

10 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, A man of your folk that is unclean upon a soul, either is in the way far off*, make he pask to the Lord

11 in the second month, in the fourteenth day of the month, at eventide; with therf loaves and lettuces of the field he shall eat it.

12 They shall not leave anything thereof till to the morrowtide, and they shall not break a bone thereof; they shall keep all the custom of pask.

13 Forsooth if any man is clean, and is not in the way, and nevertheless made not [the] pask, that man shall be des-troyed from his peoples, for he offered not sacrifice to the Lord in his time set, or covenable; he shall bear his sin.

14 Also if a pilgrim and a comeling is with you, make he pask to the Lord, by the ceremonies and the justifyings thereof; the same behest shall be with you, as well to a comeling as to a man born in the land.

15 Therefore in the day in which the tabernacle was raised, a cloud covered it; soothly as the likeness of fire was on the tent, that is, tabernacle, from eventide till to the morrowtide.

16 Thus it was done continually, a cloud covered it by day, and as the likeness of fire by night.

17 And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken away, then the sons of Israel went forth; and in the place where the cloud stood, there they setted tents.

18 At the commandment of the Lord they went forth, and at his command-ment they setted the tabernacle. In all the days in which the cloud stood upon the tabernacle, they dwelled in the same place.

19 And if it befelled that it dwelled much time upon the tabernacle, the sons of Israel were in the watches of the Lord, and they went not forth,

20 in how many ever days the cloud was upon the tabernacle. At the commandment of the Lord they raised [the] tents, and at his commandment they did them down.

21 If the cloud was standing upon the tabernacle from the eventide unto the morrowtide, and anon in the morrowtide had left, or gone thence, they went forth; and if, after a day and a night, the cloud had gone away, they scattered, either did down, the tents.

22 Whether in two months, either in one month, either in longer time, the cloud had been upon the tabernacle, the sons of Israel dwelled in the same place, and went not forth; but anon as it had gone away, they moved the tents.

23 By the word of the Lord they setted their tents, and by his word they went forth; and they were in the watches of the Lord, by his command-ment, by the hand of Moses.

CHAPTER 10

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Make to thee two silver trumps, beaten out with hammers, by which thou mayest call together the multitude, when the tents shall be moved.

3 And when thou shalt sound with trumps, all the company shall be gathered to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the bond of peace.

4 If thou shalt trump with one trump, the princes and the chief men of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee;

5 but if a longer, and a parted trumping of two trumps shall sound, they that be at the east coast shall move their tents first.

6 Forsooth in the second sound[ing], and in like noise of the trump, they that dwell at the south coast shall raze their tents; and by this manner, other men shall do, when the trumps shall sound into going forth.

7 Forsooth when the people shall be gathered together, simple cry of trumps shall be, and the trumps shall not sound partingly.

8 The sons of Aaron, [the] priests, shall sound with [the] trumps, and this shall be a lawful thing everlasting in your generations.

9 If ye shall go out of your land to battle against the enemies that fight against you, ye shall cry with trumps sounding, and the bethinking of you shall be before your Lord God, that ye be delivered from the hands of your enemies.

10 If any time ye shall have a feast, and holidays, and calends, that is, the first day of the month, ye shall sing in trumps upon the burnt sacrifices, and [the] peaceable sacrifices, that those [or they] be to you into remembering of your God; I am your Lord God.

11 In the second year, in the second month, in the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was raised [up] from the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace.

12 And the sons of Israel went forth by their companies from the desert of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

13 And the sons of Judah by their companies, of which the prince was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab,

14 moved first tents, by the Lord’s commandment, made in the hand of Moses.

15 In the lineage of the sons of Issachar the prince was Nethaneel, the son of Zuar.

16 In the lineage of the sons of Zebulun the prince was Eliab, the son of Helon.

17 And the tabernacle was taken down, which the sons of Gershon and Merari bare, and they went forth.

18 And the sons of Reuben went forth by their companies and order, of which the prince was Elizur, the son of Shedeur.

19 Forsooth in the lineage of the sons of Simeon the prince was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.

20 Soothly in the lineage of the sons of Gad the prince was Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.

21 And the sons of Kohath went forth, and bare the saintuary; and they raised the tabernacle till to the coming of them.

22 Also the sons of Ephraim, by their companies, moved their tents, in whose host the prince was Elishama, the son of Ammihud.

23 Forsooth in the lineage of the sons of Manasseh the prince was Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.

24 And in the lineage of the sons of Benjamin the duke was Abidan, the son of Gideoni.

25 The sons of Dan, by their com-panies, went forth the last of all the tents, in whose host the prince was Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.

26 Soothly in the lineage of the sons of Asher the prince was Pagiel, the son of Ocran.

27 And in the lineage of the sons of Naphtali the prince was Ahira, the son of Enan.

28 These be the tents and the goings forth of the sons of Israel, by their companies, when they went forth.

29 And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Raguel, of Midian, his ally, either father of his wife, We go forth to the place which the Lord shall give to us; come thou with us, that we do well to thee, for the Lord [hath] promised good things to Israel.

30 To whom he answered, I shall not go with thee, but I shall turn again into my land, in which I was born.

31 And Moses said, Do not thou forsake us, for thou knowest in which places we owe to set tents, and thou shalt be our leader;

32 and when thou shalt come with us, whatever thing shall be best of the riches that the Lord shall give to us, we shall give to thee.

33 And therefore they went forth from the hill [or mount] of the Lord the way of three days; and the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord went before them, by those three days, and purveyed the places of their tents.

34 And the cloud of the Lord was upon, or over, them by day, when they went forth.

35 And when the ark was raised, Moses said, Rise thou, Lord, and thine enemies be scattered, and they that hate thee, flee from thy face;

36 forsooth when the ark was put down, he said, Lord, turn again to the multitude of the host of Israel.

CHAPTER 11

1 In the meantime grutching of the people, as of men sorrowing for travail, rose against the Lord. And when Moses had heard this thing, he was wroth; and the fire of the Lord was kindled upon them, and devoured the last part of the tents.

2 And when the people had cried to Moses, Moses prayed [to] the Lord, and the fire was quenched.

3 And he called the name of that place Burning, for the fire of the Lord was kindled against them.

4 And the common people of men and women, that had gone up with them, burnt with desire of flesh, and they sat, and wept, with the sons of Israel joined together with them, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We think upon the fish that we ate in Egypt freely; gourds, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic come into our minds;

6 our soul is dry; our eyes behold none other thing than manna.

7 Soothly manna was as the seed of coriander, of the colour of bdellium, which is white, and bright as crystal.

8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and brake it with a quernstone, either pounded it in a mortar, and seethed it in a pot; and made thereof little cakes of the savour as of bread made with oil.

9 And when [the] dew came down in the night upon the tents, also manna came down together therewith.

10 Then Moses heard the people weeping by meines, and each of them by the doors of their tents; and the strong vengeance of the Lord was wroth greatly, but also the grutching was seen unsufferable to Moses.

11 And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou tormented thy servant? why find I not grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all this people onto me?

12 whether I have conceived all this multitude, either have begotten it, that thou say to me, Bear thou them in thy bosom, as a nurse is wont to bear a little young child, and bear thou this people into the land for the which thou swore to their fathers?

13 whereof be meats to me, that I feed so great a multitude? They weep before me, and say, Give us flesh, that we eat;

14 I may not alone sustain all this people, for it is grievous to me.

15 If in other manner it seemeth to thee, I beseech thee, that thou slay me, and that I find grace in thine eyes, that I be not punished, or travailed, with so great evils.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Gather thou to me seventy men of the elder men of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elder men, and masters of the people; and thou shalt lead them to the door of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, and thou shalt make them to stand there with thee,

17 that I come down, and speak to thee; and I shall take away of thy spirit, and I shall give to them, that they sustain with thee the burden of the people, and not thou alone be grieved.

18 And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye hallowed; tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; for I heard you say, Who shall give us the meats of flesh? it was well to us in Egypt; that the Lord give you flesh,

19 and ye eat not only one day, either twain [or two], either five, either ten, soothly neither twenty days,

20 but till to a month of days, till it go out by your nostrils, and turn into loathing; for by your grutching ye have put away the Lord, which is in the midst of you, and ye wept before him, and said, Why went we out of Egypt?

21 And Moses said to the Lord, Six hundred thousand of footmen be of this people, and thou sayest, I shall give them to eat flesh an whole month.

22 Whether the multitude of sheep and of oxen shall be able to be slain, that it may suffice this people to meat, either whether all the fishes of the sea shall be gathered together, that those [ful] fill them?

23 To whom the Lord answered, Whether the Lord’s hand is unmighty? right now thou shalt see, whether my word shall be fulfilled in work.

24 Therefore Moses came, and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of Israel, which he made stand about the tabernacle.

25 And the Lord came down by a cloud, and spake to Moses, and took away of the spirit that was in Moses, and gave to the seventy men; and when the spirit had rested in them, they prophesied, and moreover they ceased not.

26 Forsooth two men dwelled still in the tents, of which men one was called Eldad, and the tother Medad, on which the spirit rested; for also they were described, or ordained, or chosen, and they went not out to the tabernacle. And when they prophesied in the tents,

27 a young man ran, and told to Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad prophesy in the tents.

28 Anon Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, and chosen of many, said, My lord Moses, forbid thou them.

29 And Moses said, What, hast thou envy for me? who giveth, whether not God, that all the people prophesy, and that God give his spirit to them?

30 And Moses turned again, and the elder men in birth of Israel, into the tents.

31 Forsooth a wind went forth from the Lord, and it took curlews, and brought them over the sea, and he left them in the tents, in journey, as much as may be performed in one day, by each part of the tents by compass; and they flew in the air by two cubits in height above the earth.

32 Therefore the people rose in all that day, and that night, and into the tother day, and gathered a multitude of curlews; he that gathered little, gathered ten cors; and they dried those curlews by compass of the tents.

33 Yet flesh was in their teeth, and such meat failed them not; and lo! the wrath of the Lord was raised against his people, and he smote it with a full great vengeance.

34 And that place was called The Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust, for there they buried the people that desired flesh.

35 Soothly they went forth from The Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust, and came into Hazeroth, and dwelled there.

CHAPTER 12

1 And Marie spake and Aaron against Moses, for his wife a woman of Ethiopia,

2 and they said, Whether God spake his will only by Moses? whether he spake not also to us in like manner? And when the Lord had heard this, he was wroth greatly;

3 for Moses was the mildest man, over all men that dwelled in earth.

4 And suddenly the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron and to Marie, Go out ye three alone to the tabernacle of the bond of peace. And when they were gone in,

5 the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and he stood in the entering of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Marie. And when they had gone forth,

6 he said to them, Hear ye my words; if any among you is a prophet of the Lord, I shall appear to him in revelation, either I shall speak to him by a dream.

7 And he said, And my servant Moses is not such, the which is most faithful in all mine house;

8 for I speak to him mouth to mouth, and he seeth God openly, and not by dark speeches, either dark likenesses, and figures. Why therefore dreaded ye not to backbite my servant Moses?

9 And the Lord was wroth against them, and he went away.

10 And the cloud went away, that was on the tabernacle, and lo! Marie appeared shining with leprosy, white as snow. And when Aaron beheld her, and saw her besprinkled with leprosy,

11 he said to Moses, My lord, I beseech thee, put thou not this sin upon us, which we did follily,

12 that this woman be not made as dead, and as a dead-born thing that is cast out of the mother’s womb; lo! now the half of her flesh is devoured, or over-covered, with leprosy.

13 And Moses cried to the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech thee, heal thou her.

14 To whom the Lord answered, If her father had spit into her face, whether she ought not to be full-filled with shame, namely seven days? Therefore be she separated out of the tents by seven days, and afterward she shall be called again.

15 And so Marie was excluded or put out of the tents by seven days; and the people was not moved from that place, till Marie was called again.

16 And the people went forth from Hazeroth, when the tents were set in the desert of Paran.

CHAPTER 13

1 And there the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Send thou men, that shall behold the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the sons of Israel; of each lineage send thou one man of the princes.

3 Moses did that that the Lord commanded, and sent from the desert of Paran princes, men of which these be the names.

4 Of the lineage of Reuben, Sham-mua, the son of Zaccur.

5 Of the lineage of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

6 Of the lineage of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

7 Of the lineage of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

8 Of the lineage of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun.

9 Of the lineage of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

10 Of the lineage of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

11 Of the lineage of Joseph, of the generation of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.

12 Of the lineage of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the lineage of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael.

14 Of the lineage of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the lineage of Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi.

16 These be the names of [the] men, which Moses sent to behold the land of Canaan; and Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.

17 Therefore Moses sent them to behold the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go ye up by the south coast; and when ye come [in] to the hills,

18 behold ye the land, what manner land it is; and behold ye the people which is the dweller thereof, whether it is strong, either feeble, few in number, either many;

19  whether that land is good, either evil; what manner cities be there, walled, either without walls;

20  whether the land is fat, either barren, whether it is full of woods, either without trees. Be ye comforted, and bring ye to us of the fruits of that land. Soothly then the time was, when [the] grapes first ripe might be eaten.

21 And when they had gone up, they espied the land, from the desert of Zin till to Rehob, as men enter to Hamath.

22 And they went up to the south coast, and came into Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were; for Hebron was made seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.

23 And they went to the strand or stream of [the] cluster, and they cutted down a scion with his grapes, which two men bare with a bearing staff; also they took of [the] pomegranates, and of the figs of that place,

24 which is called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the strand of grapes, or the strand of cluster, for the sons of Israel bare a cluster from thence.

25 And the spyers of the land [turned again], when they had compassed all the country, after forty days

26 they came to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the sons of Israel, into the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And the spyers spake to them, and showed the fruits of the land to all the multitude,

27 and they told, and said, We came to the land, to which thou sentest us, which land truly floweth with milk and honey, as it may be known by these fruits;

28 but it hath most strong dwellers, and great cities, and walled; we saw there the kindred of Anakim, that is, giants;

29 Amalek dwelleth there in the south; Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the hilly places; forsooth Canaanites dwell beside the sea, and beside the floods of Jordan.

30 Among these things, or sayings, Caleb peaced the grutching of the people, that was made against Moses, and said, Go we up, and wield we the land, for we be able to get it.

31 Soothly the other spyers, that were with him, said, We be not able to go up to this people, for it is stronger than we.

32 And they spake evil of the land which they had beheld, to the sons of Israel, and said, The land that we compassed devoureth his dwellers; the people that we beheld is of large stature;

33 there we saw some wonders against kind, of the sons of Anak, of the kind of giants, to which we were com-parisoned, and were seen as locusts.

CHAPTER 14

1 Therefore all the company cried, and wept in that night,

2 and all the sons of Israel grutched against Moses and Aaron, and said, We would that we had been dead in Egypt, either that we were dead in this wilderness; we would that we perished,

3 and that the Lord lead us not into this land, lest we fall by sword, and our wives and our free children be led, or taken, prisoners; whether it is not better to us to turn again into Egypt?

4 And they said one to another, Ordain we a duke, or a leader, to us, and turn we again into Egypt.

5 And when this was heard, Moses and Aaron fell down low to the earth, before all the multitude of the sons of Israel.

6 And soothly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which also compassed the land, rent their clothes,

7 and they spake thus to all the multitude of the sons of Israel, The land which we compassed is full good;

8 if the Lord is merciful to us, he shall lead us into it, and he shall give us the land flowing with milk and honey.

9 Do not ye rebel against the Lord, neither dread ye the people of this land, for we be able to devour them so as bread; all their help hath passed away from them, the Lord is with us, do not ye dread.

10 And when all the multitude cried, and would have oppressed them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared upon the roof of the bond of peace, while all the sons of Israel saw.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long shall this people backbite me, or mis-deem me? How long shall they not believe to me, in all the signs which I have done before them?

12 Therefore I shall smite them with pestilence, and I shall waste them; soothly I shall make thee prince upon a greater folk, and stronger than is this.

13 And Moses said to the Lord, [The] Egyptians hear not, from whose middle thou leddest out this people,

14 and the dwellers of this land, which heard that thou, Lord, art in this people, and art seen face to face, and that thy cloud defendeth them, and that thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night,

15 that thou hast slain so great a multitude as one man, and say,

16 He might not bring this people into the land for which he swore to give to them, therefore he killed them in wilderness;

17 therefore the strength of the Lord be magnified, or made great, as thou hast sworn,

18  [The] Lord is patient, and of much mercy, doing away wickedness and trespasses, and leaving no man unguilty, which visitest the sins of fathers into sons into the third and fourth generation,

19 I beseech thee, forgive thou the sin of this thy people, after the greatness of thy mercy, as thou were merciful to them going out of Egypt till to this place.

20 And the Lord said, I have forgiven to them, by thy word.

21  And as soothly I live; and the glory of the Lord shall be filled in all [the] earth;

22 nevertheless all [the] men that saw my majesty, and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and [have] tempted me now by ten times, and obeyed not to my voice,

23 shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers, neither any of them that backbited me, shall see it.

24 I shall lead my servant Caleb, that was full of another spirit and followed me, into this land, which he compassed, and his seed shall wield it.

25 For Amalek and Canaanites dwell in the valleys, tomorrow move ye [the] tents, and turn ye again into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

26 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

27 How long grutcheth this worst multitude against me? I have heard the grutching complaints of the sons of Israel.

28 Therefore say thou to them, I live, saith the Lord; as ye spake while I heard, so I shall do to you;

29 your carrions, or dead bodies, shall lie in this wilderness. All ye that be numbered, from twenty years and above, and have grutched against me,

30 shall not enter into the land, upon which I have raised mine hand, that I should make you to dwell there, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

31 Forsooth I shall lead in your little children, of which ye said that they should be preys, either ravens, to enemies, that they see the land which displeased you.

32 Forsooth your carrions shall lie in the wilderness;

33 your sons shall be walkers-about in the desert by forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, till the carrions of their fathers be wasted in desert,

34 by the number of forty days, in which ye beheld the land; a year shall be reckoned for a day, and by forty years ye shall receive your wickedness, or be punished for your grutching, and ye shall know my vengeance.

35 For as I spake, so I shall do to all this worst multitude, that rose together against me; it shall fail, and shall die in this wilderness.

36 Therefore all the men which Moses had sent to see the land, and which turned again, and made all the multitude to grutch against him, and depraved the land,

37 that it was evil, were dead, and smitten in the sight of the Lord*.

38 Soothly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, lived, of all the men, that went to see the land.

39 And Moses spake all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.

40 And, lo! they rose in the morrow-tide first, and they went up into the top of the hill, and said, We be ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord spake, for we have sinned.

41 To whom Moses said, Why over-pass ye the word of the Lord, that shall not befall to you into prosperity?

42 Do not ye go up, for the Lord is not with you, lest ye fall before your enemies.

43 Amalek and Canaanites be before you, by the sword of which ye shall fall, for ye would not assent to the Lord, neither the Lord shall be with you.

44 And they were made dark, that is, blinded in their sin, and went up into the top of the hill; forsooth the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses went not away from the tents.

45 And Amalek came down, and Canaanites, that dwelled in the hill, and he smote the children of Israel, and he cutted them down, and pursued them to Hormah.

CHAPTER 15

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land of your habitation, which I shall give to you,

3 and ye shall make an offering to the Lord into burnt sacrifice, either a peaceable sacrifice, and ye pay avows, either offer gifts by free will, either in your solemnities ye burn odour of sweetness to the Lord, of oxen, either of sheep;

4 whoever offereth the slain sacrifice, shall offer a sacrifice of flour, the tenth part of ephah, sprinkled altogether with oil, which oil shall have a measure the fourth part of hin;

5 and he shall give wine to [the] flowing sacrifices to be poured, of the same measure, into burnt sacrifice, and slain sacrifice.

6 By each lamb and ram shall be the sacrifice of [tried] flour, of two tenth parts, which shall be sprinkled alto-gether with oil, of the third part of hin;

7 and he shall offer wine to the flowing sacrifice, of the third part of the same measure, into odour of sweet-ness to the Lord.

8 Forsooth when thou makest a burnt sacrifice, either an offering, of oxen, that thou [ful] fill a vow, either peaceable sacrifice[s],

9 thou shalt give, by each ox, three tenth parts of tried flour, sprinkled altogether with oil, which shall have the half measure of hin;

10  and thou shalt give wine to [the] flowing sacrifice to be poured, of the same measure, into offering of the sweetest odour to the Lord.

11 So ye shall do by each ox, and ram, and lamb, and kid;

12 (See verse 11 above.)

13 as well men born in the land, as pilgrims, shall offer sacrifices by the same custom;

14 (See verse 13 above.)

15 (See verse 16 below.)

16 one commandment and doom shall be, as well to you as to [the] comelings of the land.

17 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

18 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye come into the land which I shall give to you,

19 and ye eat of the loaves of that country, ye shall separate a little cake of your pastes to the Lord;

20 as ye shall separate the first fruits of your cornfloors,

21 so ye shall give the first fruits also of your sowls or pottage to the Lord.

22 That if by ignorance ye pass by any of those things which the Lord spake to Moses,

23 and [hath] commanded by him to you, from the day in which he began to command, and over,

24 and the multitude hath forgotten to do this, it shall offer a calf of the drove, burnt sacrifice into sweetest odour to the Lord, and the sacrifices thereof, and flowing offerings, as the ceremonies thereof ask; and it shall offer a buck of goats for sin.

25 And the priest shall pray for all the multitude of the sons of Israel, and it shall be forgiven to them, for they sinned not willfully. And nevertheless they shall offer incense to the Lord for themselves, and for their sin, and their error;

26 and it shall be forgiven to all the people of the sons of Israel, and to the comelings that be pilgrims among them, for it is the sin of all the multitude by ignorance.

27 That if a soul sinneth unwittingly, it shall offer a [she]-goat of one year for his sin;

28 and the priest shall pray for that soul, for it sinned unwittingly before the Lord; and the priest shall get forgiveness to it, and the sin shall be forgiven to it.

29 As well to men born in the land, as to comelings, one law shall be of all that sin unwittingly.

30 Forsooth a man that doeth any sin by pride, shall perish from the people, whether he be a citizen, either a pilgrim, for he was rebel against the Lord;

31 for he despised the word of the Lord, and made void his command-ment; therefore he shall be done away, and shall bear his own wickedness.

32 Soothly it was done, when the sons of Israel were in wilderness, and they had found a man gathering wood in the sabbath day,

33 they brought him to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the multitude;

34 the which enclosed, or put, him into prison, and they knew not what they should do to him.

35 And the Lord said to Moses, This man die by death; all the company oppress him with stones without or away from the tents.

36 And when they had led him withoutforth, they killed him with stones, and he was dead, as the Lord commanded.

37 Also the Lord said to Moses,

38 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, that they make to them hems by four corners of their mantles, and fasten they in them laces of jacinth;

39 and when they see those, have they mind of all the commandments of the Lord, lest they pursue [or follow] their [own] thoughts and their eyes, doing fornication by diverse things.

40 but more be they mindful of the behests of the Lord, and do they those [or them], and be they holy to their God.

41 I am your Lord God, which led you out of the land of Egypt, that I should be your God.

CHAPTER 16

1 Forsooth Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, of the sons of Reuben,

2 rose against Moses, and others of the sons of Israel, two hundred men and fifty, princes of the synagogue, and which were called by their names in the time of counsel.

3 And when these stood against Moses and Aaron, they said, Suffice it to you, for all the multitude is of holy men, and the Lord is in them; why be ye raised up presumptuously on the people of the Lord?

4 And when Moses had heard this, he fell down low upon his face.

5 And he spake to Korah, and to all the multitude; he said, Early the Lord shall make known which men pertain to him, and he shall apply, or draw, to him holy men; and they which he hath chosen, shall nigh to him.

6 Therefore do ye this thing; each man take his censer, thou Korah, and all thy counsel;

7 and tomorrow when fire is taken up, put ye incense above before the Lord, and whomever the Lord chooseth, he shall be holy. Ye sons of Levi be much raised.

8 And again Moses said to Korah, Ye sons of Levi, hear.

9 Whether it is little to you, that God of Israel [hath] separated you from all the people, and hath joined you to himself, that ye should serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and that ye should stand before the multitude of the people, and serve him?

10 Made he therefore thee, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi, to nigh to himself, that ye challenge to you also priesthood,

11 and all thy gathering together stand against the Lord? For why, what is Aaron, that ye grutch against him?

12 Therefore Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; which answered, We come not.

13 Whether is it little to thee, that thou leddest us out of the land that flowed with milk and honey, to slay us in the desert, no but also thou be lord of us?

14 Verily * thou hast brought us into the land that floweth with streams of milk and honey, and[thou] hast given to us possession of fields, and of vineyards; whether also thou wilt put out our eyes? We come not to thee.

15 And Moses was wroth greatly, and said to the Lord, Behold thou not the sacrifices of them; thou knowest that I took never of them a little ass, neither I tormented any of them.

16 And Moses said to Korah, Thou and all thy congregation stand asides half before the Lord, and Aaron tomorrow by himself.

17 Take ye all by yourselves your censers, and put ye incense in those, and offer ye to the Lord, twain [or two] hundred and fifty censers; and Aaron hold he his censer.

18 And when they had done this, while Moses and Aaron stood there,

19 and they had gathered all the multitude to the door of the tabernacle against them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all.

20 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

21 Be ye separated from the midst of this congregation, that I lose them suddenly.

22 The which fell down low upon their faces, and said, Most strong God of the spirits of all flesh, whether thy wrath shall be fierce against all men, for one man sinneth?

23 And the Lord said to Moses,

24 Command thou to all the people, that it be separated from the tabernacles of Korah, and of Dathan, and of Abiram.

25 And Moses rose, and went to Dathan and Abiram; and while the elder men of Israel followed him,

26 he said to the company, Go ye away from the tabernacles of the wicked men, and do not ye touch those things that pertain to them, lest ye be wrapped in the sins of them.

27 And when they had gone away from their tents by compass, Dathan and Abiram went out, and stood in the entry of their tents, with their wives, and their free children, and with all the multitude.

28 And Moses said, In this ye shall know that the Lord sent me, that I should do all things which ye see, and that I brought them not forth of mine own heart.

29 If they perish by customable death of men, and wound, either pestilence, visit them, by which also other men be wont to be visited, the Lord sent not me;

30 but if the Lord doeth a new thing, that the earth open his mouth, and swallow them, and all things that pertain to them, and they go down quick into hell, ye shall know that they blasphemed the Lord.

31 Therefore anon as he ceased to speak, the earth was broken under their feet,

32 and the earth opened his mouth, and devoured them, with their tabernacles, and all their chattel;

33 and they went down quick, into hell, and were covered with earth, and they perished from the midst of the multitude.

34 And soothly all Israel that stood about, fled from the cry of men perishing, and said, Lest peradventure the earth swallow also us.

35 But also fire went out from the Lord, and killed twain [or two] hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

36 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

37 Command thou to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, [the] priest, that he take, or gather up, the censers that lie in the burning, and that he scatter the fire hither and thither; for those censers be hallowed

38 in the deaths of sinners; and that he bring forth those censers into plates, and nail them to the altar, for incense is offered in those [or them] to the Lord, and those be hallowed, that the sons of Israel see them for a sign and a memorial.

39 Therefore Eleazar, the priest, took the brazen censers, in which they, which the burning had devoured had offered, and he beat out those censers into plates, and nailed them to the altar;

40 that the sons of Israel should have those censers with them afterward, by which they should remember this great vengeance of God, lest any alien, and which is not of the seed of Aaron, nigh to offer incense to the Lord; lest he suffer, as Korah suffered, and all his multitude, while the Lord spake to Moses.

41 Forsooth all the multitude of the sons of Israel grutched in the day pursuing [or following] against Moses and Aaron, and said, Ye have slain the people of the Lord.

42 And when dissension arose, and the noise increased, Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the bond of peace; and after that they entered into it, a cloud covered the tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

43 (See verse 42 above.)

44 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

45 Go ye away from the midst of this multitude, also now I shall do away them. And when they lay in the earth,

46 Moses said to Aaron, Take thy censer, and when the fire is taken up from the altar, cast thou incense above, and go thou forth soon to the people, that thou pray for them; for now wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the vengeance is fierce.

47 And when Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the multitude, which the burning wasted then, he offered incense;

48 and he stood betwixt the dead men and the living, and he prayed for the people, and the vengeance ceased.

49 Soothly they that were slain were fourteen thousand of men and seven hundred, without them that perished in the dissension of Korah.

50 And Aaron turned again to Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the bond of peace, after that the perishing of men ceased.

CHAPTER 17

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, saying,

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and take thou rods, by their kindreds, by each kindred one rod, take thou of all the princes of the lineages twelve rods; and thou shalt write the name of each lineage upon his rod;

3 soothly the name of Aaron shall be written in the lineage of Levi, and one rod shall contain all the meines of Levi.

4 And thou shalt put those rods in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, before the witnessing, where I shall speak with thee;

5 the rod of him shall burgeon, whom I shall choose of them to the office of priesthood; and I shall thereby refrain, or quench, from me the complainings, or grutchings, of the sons of Israel, by which they grutch against you.

6 And Moses spake to the sons of Israel; and all the princes gave to him rods, by all their lineages; and the rods were twelve, without the rod of Aaron.

7 And when Moses had put those rods before the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessing,

8 he went again in the day pursuing [or following], and found that the rod of Aaron, in the house of Levi, had burgeoned; and when [the] knops were great, the blossoms had broken out, which were alarged in leaves, and were formed into almonds.

9 Therefore Moses brought forth all the rods from the sight of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they saw, and received each his rod.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Bear thou again the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of witnessing, that it be kept there into a token of the rebel sons of Israel, and that their complainings, or grutchings, cease from me, lest they die.

11 And Moses did, as the Lord commanded.

12 Soothly the sons of Israel said to Moses, Lo! we be wasted, all we have perished;

13 whoever nigheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whether we shall all be done away unto the death?

CHAPTER 18

1 And the Lord said to Aaron, Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, shall bear the wickedness of the saintuary; and thou and thy sons together shall suffer the sins of your priesthood.

2 But also take thou with thee thy brethren of the lineage of Levi, and the sceptre, or power, of thy father, and be they ready, that they minister to thee. Forsooth thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of witnessing;

3 and the deacons [or Levites] shall wake at thy commandments, and at all the works of the tabernacle; so only that they nigh not to the vessels of the saintuary, and to the altar, lest both they die, and ye, and perish together.

4 Soothly be they with thee, and wake they in the keepings of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. An alien shall not be meddled [or mingled] with you.

5 Wake ye or Watch in the keeping of the saintuary, and in the service of the altar, lest indignation rise upon the sons of Israel.

6 Lo! I have given to you your brethren, the deacons [or Levites], from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have given you them a free gift of the Lord, that they serve in the services of the tabernacle.

7 Soothly thou and thy sons, keep your priesthood; and all things that pertain to the adorning of the altar, and be within the veil, shall be ministered by [the] priests; if any stranger nigheth thereto, he shall be slain.

8 The Lord spake to Aaron, Lo! I have given to thee the keeping of my first fruits; I have given to thee, and to thy sons, all things that be hallowed of the sons of Israel, for [the] priest’s office everlasting lawful things.

9 Therefore thou shalt take these things of those things that be hallowed, and be offered to the Lord; each offering, and sacrifice, and whatever thing is yielded to me for sin and for trespass, and cometh into holy of holy things, shall be thine and thy sons.

10 Thou shalt eat it in the saintuary; males only shall eat thereof, for it is hallowed to the Lord.

11 Soothly I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, the first fruits which the sons of Israel avow and offer; he that is clean in thine house, shall eat those things.

12 I have given to thee all the mar-row, or the best, of oil, and of wine, and of wheat, whatever thing of the first fruits they shall offer to the Lord.

13 All the beginnings of fruits which the earth bringeth forth, and be brought to the Lord, shall fall into thine uses; he that is clean in thine house, shall eat of those [or them].

14 All things that the sons of Israel yield by a vow, shall be thine.

15 Whatever thing cometh first forth of the womb of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it is of men, either of beasts, it shall be of thy right; so only that thou take price for the first begotten child of man, and that thou make each beast that is unclean to be bought again;

16 whose again-buying shall be after one month, for five shekels of silver, by the weight of [the] saintuary; a shekel hath twenty halfpence.

17 Forsooth thou shalt not make the first engendered of an ox, and of sheep, and of goat, to be again-bought, for those [or they] be hallowed to the Lord; only thou shalt pour the blood of those [or them] upon the altar, and thou shalt burn the inner fatness into sweetest odour to the Lord.

18 Soothly the flesh shall fall into thine use, as the breast hallowed and the right shoulder, shall be thine.

19 I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, all the first fruits of the saintuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord; it is everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, to thee, and to thy sons.

20 And the Lord said to Aaron, Ye shall not wield anything of heritage in the land of Israel, neither ye shall have part among them; I am thy part and thine heritage, in the midst of the sons of Israel.

21 Soothly, I gave to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel into possession, for the service by which they serve me in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace;

22 that the sons of Israel nigh no more to the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, neither do deadly sin.

23 To the sons alone of Levi, serving me in the tabernacle, and bearing the people’s sins, it shall be a lawful thing everlasting in your generations.

24 They shall wield none other thing, and they shall be satisfied with the offering of tithes, which I separated into [the] uses and necessaries of them.

25 And the Lord spake to Moses and said,

26 Command thou, and announce to the deacons [or Levites], When ye have taken tithes of the sons of Israel, which I gave to you, offer ye the first fruits of those [or them] to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of the tenth,

27 that it be areckoned to you into [the] offering of the first fruits, as well of the cornfloors, as of the presses;

28 and of all things of which ye take tithes, offer ye the first fruits to the Lord, and give ye those to Aaron, the priest.

29 All things which ye shall offer of tithes, and shall separate into the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best, and all the choice things.

30 And thou shalt say to them, If ye offer to the Lord all the [more] clean and better things of tithes, it shall be areckoned to you, as if ye gave the first fruits of the cornfloor, and of the press.

31 And ye shall eat those tithes in all your places, as well ye as your meines, for it is the price for the service, for which ye serve in the tabernacle of witnessing.

32 And ye shall not do sin on this thing, and reserve [the] noble things and [the] fat to you, lest ye defoul the offerings of the sons of Israel, and ye die.

CHAPTER 19

1 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

2 This is the religion of sacrifice, which the Lord ordained. Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they bring to thee a red cow of whole colour, in which is no wem, neither she hath borne yoke.

3 And ye shall betake her to Eleazar, the priest, that shall offer her, led out of the tents, in the sight of all men.

4 And he shall dip his finger in the blood thereof, and shall sprinkle seven times against the gates of the tabernacle.

5 And he shall burn that cow, while all men see; and he shall give as well the skin, and the flesh thereof, as the blood, and the dung, to [the] burning.

6 Also the priest shall put cedar wood, and hyssop, and red thread dyed twice, into the fire, that burneth the cow.

7 And then at the last, when the priest’s clothes and his body be washed, he shall enter into the tents, and he shall be defouled, or unclean, till to eventide.

8 But also he that burnt the cow, shall wash his clothes, and his body, and he shall be unclean till to eventide.

9 Soothly a clean man shall gather the ashes of the cow, and he shall pour them out without the tents, in a place most clean, that those ashes be to the multitude of the sons of Israel into keeping, and into water of sprinkling; for that cow is burnt for sin.

10 And when he that bare out the ashes of the cow, hath washed his clothes, he shall be unclean till to eventide. And the sons of Israel, and the comelings that dwell among them, shall have, or hold, this holy by ever-lasting law.

11 He that toucheth a dead body of a man, and is unclean for this by seven days,

12 shall be sprinkled of this water in the third [day], and in the seventh day; and so he shall be cleansed. If he is not sprinkled in the third day, he shall not be able to be cleansed in the seventh day.

13 Each that toucheth the dead body by itself of man’s soul, and is not sprinkled with this meddling [or mingling], defouleth the tabernacle of the Lord, and he shall perish from Israel; for he is not sprinkled with the water of cleansing, he shall be unclean, and his filth shall dwell upon him.

14 This is the law of a man that dieth in the tabernacle; all that enter into his tent, and all the vessels that be there, shall be defouled by seven days.

15 A vessel that hath not a covering, neither a binding above, shall be unclean.

16 If any man toucheth the dead body of a man slain in the field, either dead by himself, either a bone of him, either his sepulchre, he shall be unclean by seven days.

17 And they shall take of the ashes of the burning, and of the sin, that is, of the cow offered for sin, and they shall put quick waters into a vessel, upon those ashes;

18 in which when a clean man hath dipped hyssop, he shall sprinkle there-with the tent, and all the appurtenance of the household, and the men also defouled with such defouling.

19 And in this manner a clean man shall cleanse an unclean thing, in the third and in the seventh day; and he shall be cleansed in the seventh day. And he shall wash himself, and his clothes, and he shall be unclean till to eventide.

20 If any man is not cleansed by this custom, the soul of him shall perish from the midst of the church; for he defouleth the saintuary of the Lord, and he is not sprinkled with the water of cleansing.

21 This behest shall be a lawful thing everlasting. Also he that shall sprinkle the waters shall wash his clothes; each man that toucheth the waters of cleansing, shall be unclean till to eventide.

22 Whatever thing an unclean man toucheth, he shall make unclean; and a soul that toucheth any of these things defouled so, shall be unclean till to eventide.

CHAPTER 20

1 And the sons of Israel and all the multitude came into the desert of Zin, in the first month. And the people dwelled in Kadesh; and Marie was dead there, and buried in the same place.

2 And when the people had need to water, they went together against Moses and Aaron;

3 and they were turned into dissension, that is, rebelty and striving, and said, We would that we had perished among our brethren before the Lord.

4 Why have ye led out the church of the Lord into wilderness, that both we and our beasts die?

5 Why have ye made us to go up from Egypt, and have brought us into this worst place, which may not be sown, which neither bringeth forth fig trees, nor vines, neither pomegranates; furthermore and it hath not water to drink?

6 And when the multitude was left, Moses and Aaron entered into the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, and they fell down low upon the earth, and they cried to God, and said, Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a well of quick water, that when they be filled, the grutching of them cease. And the glory of the Lord appeared upon them;

7 and the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

8 Take the rod of Aaron, and gather together the people, thou, and Aaron thy brother; and speak ye to the stone before them, and it shall give out waters. And when thou hast led water out of the stone, all the multitude shall drink, and their beasts thereof.

9 Therefore Moses took the rod that was in the sight of the Lord, as the Lord commanded to him,

10 when the multitude was gathered before the stone; and he said to them, Hear ye, rebel[s], and unbelieveful; whether we may bring out of this stone water to you?

11 And when Moses had raised his hand, and had smitten the flint twice with the rod, most large waters went out, so that the people drank, and their beasts.

12 And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, For ye believed not to me, that ye should hallow me before the sons of Israel, ye shall not lead these peoples into the land which I shall give to them.

13 This is the water of Against-saying; there the sons of Israel strived against the Lord, and he was hallowed in them.

14 In the meantime Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, the which said, Israel thy brother, sendeth these things to thee. Thou knowest all the travail that hath taken us,

15 how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelled there much time, and Egyptians tormented us, and our fathers;

16 and how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an angel that [hath] led us out of Egypt. And lo! we be set in the city of Kadesh, that is in thine uttermost coasts,

17 and we beseech thee that it be leaveful to us to pass through thy land; we shall not go by thy fields, neither by thy vineries [or vines], neither we shall drink waters of thy pits or wells; but we shall go in the common way, and we shall not bow to the right side, neither to the left side, till we pass thy terms.

18 To whom Edom answered, Ye shall not pass by me, else I shall be armed, and come against thee.

19 And the sons of Israel said, We shall go by the way commonly used, and if we and our beasts drink thy waters, we shall give that that is just; no hardness shall be in the price, only pass we in haste.

20 And he answered, Ye shall not pass by me. And anon he went out against Israel, with a multitude with-out number, and [with a] strong hand or with strong power,

21 neither he would assent to Israel beseeching, that he should grant passage by his coasts.

22 Wherefore Israel turned away from him. And when Israel had moved their tents from Kadesh, they came into the hill of Hor,

23 which is in the ends of the land of Edom; where the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

24 Aaron go to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I gave to the sons of Israel, for he was unbelieveful to my word, at the waters of Against-saying.

25 Take thou Aaron, and his son with him, and thou shalt lead them into the hill of Hor;

26 and when thou hast made naked the father of his cloth, thou shalt clothe therewith Eleazar, his son, and Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.

27 And Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they ascended [or went up] into the hill of Hor, before all the multitude.

28 And when Moses had made naked Aaron of his clothes, he clothed with those [or them] Eleazar, his son. Soothly when Aaron was dead in the top of the hill, Moses came down with Eleazar.

29 Soothly all the multitude saw that Aaron was dead, and it wept upon him thirty days, by all their meines.

CHAPTER 21

1 And when [the] Canaanite, the king of Arad, that dwelled at the south, had heard this, that is, that Israel came by the way of [the] spyers, he fought against them; and Canaanite was the overcomer, and he led away prey the men of Israel.

2 And Israel bound himself by a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou shalt betake this people in mine hand, I shall do away their cities.

3 And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and betook to them the Canaanites; and Israel killed him, and destroyed his cities; and Israel called the name of that place Hormah, that is, cursing.

4 Soothly Israel went forth from the hill of Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, that they would compass the land of Edom; and it began to annoy the people, of the way and [of the] travail.

5 And the people spake against the Lord, and Moses, and said, Why leddest thou us out of Egypt, that we should die in wilderness? bread faileth, waters be not; our soul loatheth now on this meat most light.

6 Wherefore the Lord sent fired serpents or fiery adders into the people; at the wounds of which serpents, and the deaths of full many men,

7 they came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we spake against the Lord, and thee; pray thou, that he take away from us the serpents. And Moses prayed for the people;

8 and the Lord said to him, Make thou a [brazen] serpent, and set thou it in a perch; he that is smitten and beholdeth it, shall live.

9 Therefore Moses made a serpent of brass, and setted in a perch; and men hurt, and beholding it, were healed.

10 And the sons of Israel went forth, and setted tents in Oboth;

11 from whence they went forth, and setted tents in Iyeabarim, in the wilderness that beholdeth Moab, against the east coast.

12 And they moved from thence, and came to the strand of Zared;

13 which they left, and setted tents against Arnon, which is in the desert, and it appeareth in the coasts of Amorites. Forsooth Arnon is the term of Moab, and parteth Moabites and Amorites.

14 Wherefore it is said in the book of battles of the Lord, As he did in the Red Sea, so he shall do in the strands of Arnon;

15 the hard rocks of the strands were bowed down, that they shall rest in Ar, or abide there, and should lie in the coasts of Moabites.

16 From that place the pit appeared, of which the Lord spake to Moses, Gather thou together the people, and I shall give water to it.

17 Then Israel sang this song, The water of the pit, ascend or go up; they sang together,

18 The pit which the princes digged, and the dukes of the multitude made ready, in the giver of the law, and in their staves. And they went forth from the wilderness to Mattanah,

19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel into Bamoth;

20 Bamoth is a valley in the country of Moab, in the top of Pisgah, that beholdeth against the desert.

21 Soothly Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of Amorites, and said,

22 I beseech thee, that it be leaveful to me to pass through thy land; we shall not bow into thy fields, and vineries [or vines]; we shall not drink waters of thy pits; we shall go in the king’s way, till we pass by thy terms.

23 Which would not grant that Israel should pass through his coasts, but rather, when his host was gathered, he went out against Israel, into desert. And he came into Jahaz, and fought against Israel;

24 of whom he was smitten in the sharpness of sword, and his land was wielded of Israel from Arnon unto Jabbok, and Ammon’s sons, or his host; for the coasts of Ammonites were holden with strong help, or power.

25 Therefore Israel took all his cities, and dwelled in the cities of Amorites, that is, in Heshbon, and in his towns.

26 The city of Heshbon was Sihon’s, king of Amorites, which Sihon fought against the king of Moab, and took all the land that was of his lordship, till to Arnon.

27 Therefore it is said in proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, be it builded, and made, the city of Sihon;

28 fire went out of Heshbon, flame went out of the city of Sihon, and devoured Ar of Moabites, and the dwellers of the high places of Arnon.

29 Moab, woe to thee! thou, people of Chemosh, hast perished; it gave the sons thereof into flight, and the daughters into captivity to Sihon, king of Amorites;

30 the yoke, or lordship, of them perished, from Heshbon unto Dibon; the weary men came into Nophah, and unto Medeba.

31 And so Israel dwelled in the land of Amorites.

32 And Moses sent men that should espy Jaazer, whose towns they took, and wielded the dwellers.

33 And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, with all his people, came against them, to fight in Edrei.

34 And the Lord said to Moses, Dread thou not him, for I have betaken him, and all his land, and all his people, in thine hand; and thou shalt do to him as thou didest to Sihon, king of Amorites, the dweller of Heshbon.

35 Therefore they smote Og with his sons, and all his people, unto [the] death; and they wielded his land.

CHAPTER 22

1 And the sons of Israel went forth, and setted tents in the field places of Moab, where Jericho is set, over Jordan.

2 Soothly Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all things that Israel had done to Amorites,

3 and that men of Moab dreaded Israel, and they might not bear the assailing of Israel.

4 And he said to the greater men in birth of Midian, So this people shall do away all men that dwell in our coasts, as an ox is wont to do away an herb till to the roots. Forsooth he, that is, Balak, was king in that time in Moab.

5 Therefore he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, a false diviner, that dwelled on, or nigh, the flood of the land of the sons of Amaw, that they should call him, and should say, Lo! a people went out of Egypt, which people covered the face of the earth, and sitteth against me.

6 Therefore come thou, and curse this people, that is stronger than I, if in any manner I may smite and drive him out of my land; for I know, that he is blessed whom thou blessest, and he is cursed whom thou hast cursed.

7 The elder men of Moab and the elder men of Midian went forth, having in their hands the price of false divining; and when they had come to Balaam, and had told to him all the words of Balak,

8 he answered, Dwell ye here tonight, and I shall answer to Balak whatever thing the Lord shall say to me. And the princes of Moab dwelled at Balaam.

9 God came, and said to him, What will or desire these men with thee?

10 Balaam answered, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moabites, sent to me, and said,

11 Lo! a people that is gone out of Egypt hath covered the face of the earth; come thou, and curse them, if in any manner I may fight with them, and drive them away.

12 And God said to Balaam, Do not thou go with them, neither curse thou the people, for it is blessed.

13 And Balaam rose early, and said to the princes, Go ye into your land, for God hath forbade me to come with you.

14 The princes turned again, and said to Balak, Balaam would not come with us.

15 Again Balak sent many more, and nobler, men, than he had sent before;

16 which said, when they had come to Balaam, Balak, the son of Zippor, saith thus, Tarry thou not to come to me,

17 ready to honour thee; and what-ever thing thou wilt, I shall give to thee; come thou, and curse this people.

18 Balaam answered, Though Balak shall give to me his house full of silver and of gold, I shall not be able to change the word of my God, that I speak either more or less.

19 I beseech you, that ye dwell here also in this night, that I may know what the Lord shall answer again to me.

20 Therefore the Lord came to Balaam in that night, and said to him, If these men come to call thee, rise thou, and go with them, so only that thou do that that I shall command to thee.

21 Balaam rose early, and when his she-ass was saddled, he went forth with them.

22 And God was wroth with Balaam. And the angel of the Lord stood in the way against Balaam, that sat upon the she-ass, and had two servants with him.

23 The she-ass saw the angel standing in the way, with sword drawn, and the ass turned herself from the way, and went by the field. And when Balaam beat her, and would lead her again to the path,

24 the angel stood in the straitness of two walls with which the vineries [or vines] were encompassed.

25 And the female ass saw the angel, and she went herself nigh to the wall, and she hurtled the foot of the sitter upon her; and he beat again her.

26 And nevertheless the angel went to a strait place, where was no going out of the way, neither to the right side, nor to the left, and stood against Balaam

27 And when the she-ass saw the angel standing, she felled down under the feet of the sitter upon her, the which was wroth full greatly, and he beat her sides with a staff.

28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the she-ass, and she spake, What have I done to thee? why smitest thou me, lo! now the third time?

29 Balaam answered, For thou hast dis-served, and hast scorned me; I would that I had a sword to slay thee.

30 And the she-ass said, Whether I am not thy beast upon which thou were wont to ride ever[more] till into this present day? say thou, what like thing to this I did ever to thee? And Balaam said, Never thus thou servedest me.

31 Anon the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel standing in the way, holding a drawn sword in his hand; and Balaam worshipped him lowly into the earth.

32 To whom the angel said, Why hast thou thrice beaten thine she-ass? I came to be adversary to thee, for thy way is wayward, and contrary to me;

33 and if the she-ass had not bowed away from the way, and given place to the against-stander, I had slain thee, and the ass should have lived.

34 Balaam said, I have sinned, not witting that thou stoodest against me; and now, if it displeaseth thee that I go, I shall turn again.

35 The angel said, Go thou with these men, but beware, that thou speak not [any] other thing than I shall command to thee. Therefore Balaam went with the princes.

36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was nigh, he went out into the coming of him, in Ar, the city of Moabites, which is set in the last coast of Arnon.

37 And Balak said to Balaam, I sent messengers to call thee; why camest thou not anon to me? whether for I may not yield meed to thy coming?

38 To whom Balaam answered, Lo! I am present, whether I shall be able to speak other thing than that, that God shall put in my mouth?

39 Therefore they went forth together, and they came into a city, which was in the last coast of his realm.

40 And when Balak had slain sheep, and oxen, he sent gifts to Balaam and the princes that were with him.

41 Forsooth when the morrowtide was made, Balak led Balaam to the high places of Baal, and he beheld the last part of the people, that is, all the host till to the last part.

CHAPTER 23

1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build thou here to me seven altars, and make thou ready so many calves, and rams of the same number.

2 And when Balak had done by the word of Balaam, they putted a calf and a ram together on the altar.

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand thou a little while beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go, if in hap the Lord meet me; and I shall tell thee what-ever thing he shall command. And when he had gone [away] swiftly,

4 God came to him; and Balaam spake to him, and said, I have raised up seven altars, and I have put a calf and a ram above each of them.

5 Forsooth the Lord putted a word in his mouth, and said, Turn again to Balak, and thou shalt speak these things.

6 He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and all the princes of Moabites.

7 And when his parable was taken, he said, Balak, the king of Moabites, brought me from Aram, from the hills of the east; and he said, Come thou, and curse Jacob; haste thou, and curse Israel.

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath cursed not? by what reason shall I loathe, whom God loatheth not?

9 From the highest flints I shall see him, and from the little hills I shall behold him; the people shall dwell alone, and it shall not be reckoned among heathen men.

10 Who may number the dust, that is, the kindred, of Jacob, and who may know the number of the generation of Israel? My life die in the death of just [or rightwise] men, and my last things be made like them!

11 And Balak said to Balaam, What is this that thou doest? I called thee, that thou shouldest curse mine enemies, and on the contrary, thou blessest them.

12 To whom Balaam answered, Whether I may speak other thing, no but that that the Lord commandeth?

13 Therefore Balak said to Balaam, Come with me into another place, from whence thou mayest see a part of Israel, and thou mayest not see all; from thence curse thou him.

14 And when he had led Balaam into an high place, on the top of the hill of Pisgah, he builded there seven altars to Balaam, and when calves and rams were put above them,

15 Balaam said to Balak, Stand here beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go to meet with the Lord.

16 And when the Lord had met with Balaam, and had put a word in his mouth, he said, Turn again to Balak, and thou shalt say these things to him.

17 He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of Moabites with him. To whom Balak said, What hath spoken the Lord?

18 And when his parable was taken, he said, Stand thou, Balak, and hearken; hear, thou son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, that he lie, neither he is as the son of a man, that he be changed; therefore he hath said, and shall he not do it? he hath spoken, and shall he not fulfill it?

20 I am brought hither by the Lord to bless; I may not forbid, or hinder, blessing.

21 None idol is in Jacob, neither simulacrum is seen in Israel; his Lord God is with him, and the sound of the victory of a king is in him.

22 The Lord God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn;

23 false divining by chittering of birds is not in Jacob, neither false divining is in Israel. In his times, when, where, and how God will, it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!

24 Lo! the people shall rise together as a lioness, and it shall be raised as a lion; the lion shall not rest, till he devour [the] prey, and drink the blood of them that be slain.

25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse thou, neither bless thou him.

26 And Balaam said, Whether I said not to thee, that whatever thing God commanded to me, I would do that?

27 And Balak said to him, Come, and I shall lead thee to another place, if in hap it pleaseth God that from thence thou curse him.

28 And when Balak had led him out on the top of the hill of Peor, that beholdeth the wilderness,

29 Balaam said to Balak, Build here seven altars to me, and make ready so many calves, and rams of the same number.

30 Balak did as Balaam said, and he put the calves and the rams, by all the altars.

CHAPTER 24

1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should bless Israel, he went not as he had gone before, that he should seek false divining by chittering of birds, but he dressed his face against the desert,

2 and he raised up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling in tents by his lineages. And when the Spirit of God fell upon him,

3 and when the parable was taken, he said, Balaam, the son of Beor, said, a man, whose eye is stopped, said,

4 the hearer of God’s words said, which beheld the revelation of Almighty God, which falleth down, and his eyes be opened so,

5 How fair be thy tabernacles, Jacob, and thy tents, Israel!

6 as valleys full of trees, and moist gardens beside floods, as tabernacles which the Lord hath set, as cedar trees beside waters;

7 water shall flow of his bucket, and his seed shall be into many waters, that is, peoples. The king of him shall be taken away for Agag, and the realm of him shall be done away.

8 God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn; the sons of Israel shall waste, or devour, heathen men, their enemies; and they shall break the bones of them, and pierce with arrows.

9 He rested, and slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom no man shall dare raise. He that blesseth thee, shall be blessed; and he that curseth, shall be areckoned into cursing.

10 And Balak was wroth against Balaam, and he said, when his hands were wrung together, I called thee to curse mine enemies, whom, on the contrary, thou hast blessed thrice.

11 Turn again to thy place; forsooth I deemed to honour thee greatly, but the Lord deprived thee from [thine] honour disposed.

12 Balaam answered to Balak, Whether I said not to thy messengers, which thou sentest to me,

13 Though Balak shall give to me his house full of silver and of gold, I shall not be able to pass [over] the word of my Lord God, that I bring forth of mine heart anything, either of good or of evil, but whatever thing the Lord shall say, I shall speak that?

14 Nevertheless I shall go to my people, and I shall give counsel to thee, what thy people shall do in the last time to this people.

15 Therefore when a parable was taken, he said again, Balaam, the son of Beor said, a man, whose eye is stopped, said,

16 the hearer of God’s words said, which knoweth the doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the revelation of Almighty God, which falleth down, and hath open eyes,

17 I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; a star shall be born of Jacob, and a rod shall rise of Israel; and he shall smite the dukes of Moab, and he shall waste all the sons of Seth;

18 and Idumea shall be his possession, the heritage of Seir shall befall to his enemies; soothly Israel shall do strongly,

19 of Jacob shall be he that shall be lord, and shall lose the relics, or remnants, of the city.

20 And when he had seen Amalek, he took a parable, and said, Amalek is the beginning of heathen men, whose last things shall be lost.

21 Also he saw Kenites, and when a parable was taken, he said, Soothly thy dwelling place is strong, but if thou shalt set thy nest in a stone,

22 and shalt be chosen of the generation of Kenites, how long shalt thou be able to dwell? soothly Assur shall take thee.

23 And when a parable was taken, or showed to him, he said again, Alas! who shall live, when the Lord shall do these things?

24 They shall come in great ships from Italy, they shall overcome Assyria, and they shall destroy Eber, and at the last also they themselves shall perish.

25 And Balaam rose, and turned again into his place; and Balak went again by the way in which he came.

CHAPTER 25

1 Soothly in that time Israel dwelled in Shittim; and the people did forni-cation with the daughters of Moab;

2 which daughters called them to their sacrifices, and they ate, and wor-shipped the gods of those daughters;

3 and Israel made sacrifice to Baalpeor. And the Lord was wroth,

4 and said to Moses, Take thou all the princes of the people, and hang them against the sun in gibbets, that my strong vengeance be turned away from Israel.

5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each man slay his neighbours, that made sacrifice to Baalpeor.

6 And lo! one of the sons of Israel entered before his brethren to an whore of Midian, in the sight of Moses, and of all the company of the sons of Israel, which wept before the gates of the tabernacle.

7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, had seen this unshamefast doing, he rose from the midst of the multitude; and when he had taken a sword,

8 he entered after the man of Israel into the whorehouse, and sticked through both together, that is, the man and the woman, in the places of engendering. And the vengeance ceased from the sons of Israel,

9 and four and twenty thousand of men were slain.

10 And the Lord said to Moses,

11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, priest, hath turned away my wrath from the sons of Israel; for he was moved against them by my fervent love, that, I myself not do away the sons of Israel in my great ferventness of vengeance.

12 Therefore speak thou to him, Lo! I give to him the peace of my covenant,

13 and it shall be an everlasting covenant of priesthood, as well to himself as to his seed; for he loved fervently for his God, and he hath cleansed the great trespass of the sons of Israel.

14 Forsooth the name of the man of Israel, that was slain with the woman of Midian, was Zimri, the son of Salu, duke, of the kindred and lineage of Simeon.

15 Soothly the woman of Midian that was slain together with the whoreling, was called Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, the noblest prince of Midianites.

16 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

17 Midianites feel you enemies, and smite ye them;

18 for also they have done enemy-like against you, and deceived you by treasons, by the idol of Peor, and by their sister Cozbi, daughter of the duke of Midian, which daughter was slain in the day of vengeance, for the sacrilege of Peor.

CHAPTER 26

1 After that the blood of guilty men was shed out, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar, the priest, [the] son of Aaron,

2 Reckon ye all the number of the sons of Israel, from twenty years and above, by their houses, and their kindreds, all men that be able to go forth to battles.

3 And so Moses and Eleazar, the priest, spake in the field places of Moab, over Jordan, against Jericho,

4 to them that were of twenty years and above, as the Lord commanded; of which this is the number.

5 Reuben, the first begotten of Israel; the son of him was Hanoch, of whom came the meine of Hanochites; and Pallu, of whom came the meine of Palluites;

6 and Hezron, of whom came the meine of Hezronites; and Carmi, of whom came the meine of Carmites.

7 These were the meines of the generation of Reuben, of which meines the number was found three and forty thousand seven hundred and thirty.

8 The son of Pallu was Eliab;

9 the sons of him were Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These were Dathan and Abiram, [the] princes of the people, that rose against Moses and Aaron, in the rebelty of Korah, when they rebelled against the Lord;

10 and the earth opened his mouth, and devoured Korah, and full many men died, when the fire burnt two hundred men and fifty; and a great miracle was done,

11 that when Korah perished, his sons perished not.

12 The sons of Simeon by their kindreds; Nemuel, of him was the meine of Nemuelites; Jamin, of him the meine of Jaminites; Jachin, of him the meine of Jachinites;

13 Zerah, of him the meine of Zarhites; Shaul, of him the meine of Shaulites.

14 These were the meines of Simeon, of which all the number was two and twenty thousand and two hundred.

15 The sons of Gad by their kindreds; Zephon, of him the meine of Zephonites; Haggi, of him the meine of Haggites; Shuni, of him the meine of Shunites;

16 Ozni, of him the meine of Oznites; Eri, of him the meine of Erites;

17 Arod, of him the meine of Arodites; Areli, of him the meine of Arelites.

18 These were the meines of Gad, of which all the number was forty thousand and five hundred.

19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, which both were dead in the land of Canaan.

20 And the sons of Judah were these by their kindreds; Shelah, of whom came the meine of Shelanites; Perez, of him the meine of Perezites; Zerah, of him the meine of Zarhites.

21 Soothly the sons of Perez were Hezron, of him the meine of Hezronites; and Hamul, of him the meine of Hamulites.

22 These were the meines of Judah, of which all the number was seventy thousand and five hundred.

23 The sons of Issachar by their kindreds; Tola, of him the meine of Tolaites; Pua, of him the meine of Punites;

24 Jashub, of him the meine of Jashubites; Shimron, of him the meine of Shimronites.

25 These were the kindreds of Issachar, of which the number was four and sixty thousand and three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun by their kindreds; Sered, of him the meine of Sardites; Elon, of him the meine of Elonites; Jahleel, of him the meine of Jahleelites.

27 These were the kindreds of Zebulun, of which the number was sixty thousand and five hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph by their kindreds were Manasseh and Ephraim.

29 Of Manasseh was born Machir, of him the meine of Machirites. Machir begat Gilead, of him, the meine of Gileadites.

30 Gilead had these sons; Jeezer, of him the meine of Jeezerites; and Helek, of him the meine of Helekites;

31 and Asriel, of him the meine of Asrielites; and Shechem, of him the meine of Shechemites;

32 and Shemida, of him the meine of Shemidaites; and Hepher, of him the meine of Hepherites.

33 Soothly Hepher was the father of Zelophehad, that had not sons, but only daughters; of which these were the names; Mahlah, and Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

34 These were the meines of Manasseh, and the number of them was two and fifty thousand and seven hundred.

35 Soothly the sons of Ephraim by their kindreds were these; Shuthelah, of him the meine of Shuthalhites; Becher, of him the meine of Bachrites; Tahan, of him the meine of Tahanites.

36 Soothly the son of Shuthelah was Eran, of him the meine of Eranites.

37 These were the kindreds of the sons of Ephraim, of which the number was two and thirty thousand and five hundred. These were the sons of Joseph, by their meines.

38 The sons of Benjamin in their kindreds; Bela, of him the meine of Belaites; Ashbel, of him the meine of Ashbelites; Ahiram, of him the meine of Ahiramites;

39 Shupham, of him the meine of Shuphamites; Hupham, of him the meine of Huphamites.

40 The sons of Bela, Ard and Naaman; of Ard, the meine of Ardites; of Naaman, the meine of Naamites.

41 These were the sons of Benjamin by their kindreds, of which the number was five and forty thousand and six hundred.

42 The sons of Dan by their kindreds; Shuham, of him the meine of Shuhamites. These were the kindreds of Dan by their meines;

43 all were Shuhamites, of which the number was four and sixty thousand and four hundred.

44 The sons of Asher by their kindreds; Jimna, of him the meine of Jimnites; Jesui, of him the meine of Jesuites; Beriah, of him the meine of Beriites.

45 The sons of Beriah; Heber, of him the meine of Heberites; and Malchiel, of him the meine of Malchielites.

46 Soothly the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.

47 These were the kindreds of the sons of Asher, and the number of them was four and fifty thousand and four hundred.

48 The sons of Naphtali by their kindreds; Jahzeel, of him the meine of Jahzeelites; Guni, of him the meine of Gunites;

49 Jezer, of him the meine of Jezerites; Shillem, of him the meine of Shillemites.

50 These were the kindreds of the sons of Naphtali by their meines, of which the number was five and forty thousand and four hundred.

51 This is the sum of the sons of Israel, that were numbered, six hun-dred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty.

52 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

53 The land shall be parted to these, by the number of names into their possessions;

54 thou shalt give the greater part to [the] more men, and the less part to [the] fewer men; possession shall be given to all by themselves, as they be numbered now;

55 so only that lot part the land to lineages and to meines.

56 Whatever thing befalleth by lot, either more, either fewer men, take that.

57 Also this is the number of the sons of Levi by their meines; Gershon, of whom is the meine of Gershonites; Kohath, of him the meine of Kohathites; Merari, of him the meine of Merarites.

58 These were the meines of Levi; the meine of Libni, the meine of Hebron, the meine of Mahli, the meine of Mushi, the meine of Korah. And soothly Kohath begat Amram,

59 which had a wife, Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, which daughter was born to him in Egypt. This Jochebed engendered to her husband Amram, sons, Aaron and Moses, and Marie, the sister of them.

60 Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar were begotten of Aaron;

61 of which Nadab and Abihu were dead, when they had offered alien fire before the Lord.

62 And all that were numbered of this lineage were three and twenty thousand of male kind, from a month and above, which were not numbered among the sons of Israel, neither possession was given to them with other men.

63 This is the number of the sons of Israel, that be described of Moses and Eleazar, [the] priest, in the field places of Moab, over Jordan, against Jericho;

64 among which none of them was that were numbered before of Moses and Aaron, in the desert of Sinai;

65 for the Lord before-said, that all should die in the wilderness; and none of them dwelled alive, but Caleb, Jephunneh’s son, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

CHAPTER 27

1 Soothly the daughters of Zelophe-had, the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, that was the son of Joseph, nighed; of which daughters these be the names; Mahlah, and Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

2 And they stood before Moses, and Eleazar, the priest, and before all the princes of the people, at the door of the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace; and said,

3 Our father was dead in the desert, neither he was in the rebelty that was raised against the Lord under Korah, but he was dead in his sin; he had no male sons [or he had not male children].

4 Why is his name taken away from his meine, for he hath no son? Give ye possession to us among our father’s kinsmen.

5 And Moses told their cause to the doom of the Lord;

6 the which said to Moses,

7 The daughters of Zelophehad ask a just thing; give thou possession to them among their father’s kinsmen, and be they successors to him into heritage.

8 Forsooth thou shalt speak these things to the sons of Israel, When a man is dead without son, the heritage shall go to his daughter;

9 if he hath no daughter, he shall have his heirs his brethren;

10 that and if brethren be not, ye shall give the heritage to the brethren of his father;

11 soothly if he have no brethren of his father, the heritage shall be given to them that be next to him. And this shall be holy by everlasting law to the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded to Moses.

12 Also the Lord said to Moses, Go up into this hill of Abarim, and behold thou from thence the land, which I shall give to the sons of Israel.

13 And when thou hast seen it, also thou shalt go to thy people, as thy brother Aaron went;

14 for thou offendedest me in the desert of Zin, in the against-saying of the multitude, neither thou wouldest hallow me before the people, upon the waters. These be the waters of Against-saying in Kadesh, in the desert of Zin.

15 To whom Moses answered,

16 The Lord God of the spirits of all flesh, purvey a man, that he be on this multitude,

17 and that may go out, and enter in before them, and lead them out, and lead them in, lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without shepherd.

18 And the Lord said to Moses, Take thou Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom the spirit of God is, and put thine hand upon him;

19 and he shall stand before Eleazar, the priest, and before all the multitude. And thou shalt give to him behests, in the sight of all men,

20 and a part of thy glory, that all the synagogue of the sons of Israel hear him.

21 If anything shall be worthy to be done for this man, Joshua, Eleazar, the priest, shall counsel the Lord; he shall go out, and shall go in, at the word of Eleazar; he, and all the sons of Israel with him, and the tother multitude.

22 Moses did as the Lord commanded, and when he had taken Joshua, he set him before Eleazar, the priest; and before all the multitude of the people;

23 and when he had put his hands upon his head, he rehearsed all things that the Lord commanded.

CHAPTER 28

1 Also the Lord said to Moses,

2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Offer ye by their times mine offering, and loaves, and incense of sweetest odour.

3 These be the sacrifices which ye owe to offer; two lambs of one year, without wem, each day, into ever-lasting burnt sacrifice.

4 Ye shall offer one lamb early, and the tother at eventide.

5 The tenth part of ephah of tried flour, that shall be sprinkled with purest oil, and have it the fourth part of hin.

6 It is continual burnt sacrifice, which ye offered in the hill [or mount] of Sinai, into odour of sweetest incense to the Lord.

7 And ye shall offer the fourth part of hin of wine, by each lamb, in the saintuary of the Lord.

8 And ye shall offer in like manner the tother lamb at eventide, by all the custom of the morrow sacrifice, and of the moist [or liquor] sacrifices thereof, an offering of sweetest odour to the Lord.

9 Soothly in the sabbath day ye shall offer two lambs of one year, without wem, and two tenth parts of tried flour sprinkled altogether with oil, in sacrifice,

10 and the moist [or liquor] sacrifices that be poured by custom, by all sabbaths, into everlasting burnt sacrifice.

11 Soothly in the calends, that is, in the beginnings of months, ye shall offer burnt sacrifice to the Lord, twain [or two] calves of the drove, one ram, seven lambs of one year, without wem,

12 and three tenth parts of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, in the sacrifice, by each calf, and two tenth parts of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, by each ram;

13 and the tenth part of the tenth of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, in the sacrifice, by each lamb; it is burnt sacrifice of sweetest odour, and of incense to the Lord.

14 Soothly the moist [or liquor] sacrifices of wine, that shall be poured by all the slain sacrifices, shall be these; the half part of a hin by each calf, the third part by a ram, the fourth part by a lamb; this shall be the burnt sacrifices by each month, that come one after another while the year turneth about.

15 Also a buck of goats shall be offered to the Lord for sins, into everlasting burnt sacrifice, with his moist [or liquor] offerings.

16 Soothly in the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, shall be pask, either passing over, of the Lord;

17 and in the fifteenth day shall be the solemnity of therf loaves. By seven days ye shall eat therf loaves;

18 of which the first day shall be worshipful and holy; ye shall not do any servile work therein.

19 And ye shall offer burnt sacrifice to the Lord, two calves, one ram, seven lambs of one year, without wem;

20 and the sacrifices of each by itself of [tried] flour, which be sprinkled altogether with oil, three tenth parts by each calf, and two tenth parts by a ram,

21 and the tenth part of the tenth by each lamb, that is, by seven lambs.

22 And ye shall offer one buck of goats for sin, that cleansing be made for you,

23 besides the burnt sacrifice of the morrowtide, which ye shall offer ever-[more].

24 So ye shall do by each day of [the] seven days, into the nourishing of fire, and into the sweetest odour to the Lord, that shall rise of the burnt sacrifice, and of the moist [or liquor] sacrifices of each offering.

25 Also the seventh day shall be most solemn and holy to you; ye shall not do any servile work therein.

26 Also the day of the first fruits, when ye shall offer new fruits to the Lord, when the weeks shall be fulfilled, shall be worshipful and holy; ye shall not do any servile work therein.

27 And ye shall offer burnt sacrifice to the Lord, into sweetest odour; two calves of the drove, one ram, and seven lambs of one year, without wem;

28 and in the sacrifices of those [or them]ye shall offer three tenth parts of tried flour sprinkled altogether with oil, by each calf, two tenth parts by the rams,

29 the tenth part of the tenth by the lambs, which be altogether seven lambs.

30 And ye shall offer a buck of goats, which is offered for cleansing,

31 besides [the] burnt sacrifice ever-lasting, and the moist [or liquor] sacrifices thereof; ye shall offer all things without wem, with their moist [or liquor] sacrifices.

CHAPTER 29

1 Forsooth the first day of the seventh month shall be holy, and worshipful to you; ye shall not do any servile work therein, for it is the day of sounding, and of trumps.

2 And ye shall offer burnt sacrifice, into sweetest odour to the Lord, one calf of the drove, one ram, and seven lambs of one year, without wem;

3 and in the sacrifice of those [or them]ye shall offer three tenth parts of tried flour sprinkled altogether with oil, by each calf, two tenth parts by a ram,

4 one tenth part by a lamb, which all together be seven lambs.

5 And ye shall offer a buck of goats, which is offered for sin, into the cleansing of the people,

6 without [the] burnt sacrifice of the beginning of months, with his sacrifices, and without the everlasting burnt sacrifice, with customable flowing offerings; and by the same ceremonies, or customs, ye shall offer incense, into sweetest odour to the Lord.

7 Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be holy and worshipful to you, and ye shall torment your souls; ye shall not do any servile work therein.

8 And ye shall offer burnt sacrifice to the Lord, into sweetest odour; one calf of the drove, one ram, seven lambs of one year, without wem.

9 And in the sacrifices of those [or them]ye shall offer three tenth parts of [tried] flour sprinkled altogether with oil, by each calf, two tenth parts by a ram,

10 the tenth part of the tenth by each lamb, that be altogether seven lambs.

11 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without these things that be wont to be offered for sin into cleansing, and everlasting burnt sacrifice in the sacrifice, and flowing offerings of those things.

12 Forsooth in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, that shall be holy and worshipful to you, ye shall not do any servile work [in it], but ye shall hallow the solemnity to the Lord by seven days;

13 and ye shall offer burnt sacrifice, into sweetest odour to the Lord, thirteen calves of the drove, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

14 And in the moist [or liquor] sacrifices of those [or them]ye shall offer three tenth parts of tried flour sprinkled altogether with oil, by each calf, that be altogether thirteen calves, and ye shall offer two tenth parts to two rams together, that is, one tenth part to one ram,

15 and the tenth part of the tenth to each lamb, which be altogether fourteen lambs.

16 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without [the] everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

17 In the tother day ye shall offer twelve calves of the drove, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

18 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and [the] moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

19 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without the everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and the moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

20 In the third day, ye shall offer eleven calves, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

21 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and the moist offerings of all these, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

22 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist offering thereof.

23 In the fourth day, ye shall offer ten calves, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

24 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and the moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

25 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without the everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and the moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

26 In the fifth day, ye shall offer nine calves, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

27 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and [the] moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

28 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without [the] everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

29 In the sixth day, ye shall offer eight calves, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

30 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and [the] moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

31 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without [the] everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

32 In the seventh day, ye shall offer seven calves, two rams, fourteen lambs of one year, without wem.

33 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and [the] moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

34 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without [the] everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

35 In the eighth day, which is most solemn, ye shall not do any servile work,

36 and ye shall offer burnt sacrifice, into sweetest odour to the Lord, one calf, one ram, seven lambs of one year, without wem.

37 And ye shall hallow rightfully the sacrifices, and [the] moist [or liquor] offerings of all, by the calves, and rams, and lambs.

38 And ye shall offer a buck of goats for sin, without [the] everlasting burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifice, and [the] moist [or liquor] offering thereof.

39 Ye shall offer these things to the Lord, in your solemnities, without your avows [or beside the vows], and your willful offerings, in the burnt sacrifice, in sacrifice, in the moist [or liquor] offering, and in peaceable sacrifices.

40 And Moses told to the sons of Israel all things which the Lord com-manded to him.

CHAPTER 30

1 And he spake to the princes of the lineages of the sons of Israel, This is the word, which the Lord commanded,

2 If any of men maketh a vow to the Lord, either bindeth himself by an oath, he shall not make void, or false, his word, but he shall fulfill all thing that he promised.

3 If a woman that is in the house of her father, and is yet in the age of a young damsel, avoweth anything, either bindeth herself by an oath,

4 her father knoweth the avow [or vow], that she promised, and the oath, by which she bound her soul, and he is still, she shall be guilty of that oath, if she break it; whatever thing she promised, and swore, she shall fulfill in work.

5 Forsooth if her father against-said, anon as he heard, both [the] vows, and her oaths shall be void, and she shall not be holden bound to the promise, for her father against-said it.

6 If she hath an husband, and she avoweth anything, and a word going out of her mouth, at once bindeth her soul with an oath,

7 in what day her husband heareth this, and against-saith it not, she shall be guilty, or bound, to that vow; she shall yield, whatever thing she promised.

8 But if the husband heareth it, and anon against-saith, and maketh void all her promises, and words by which she bound her soul, the Lord shall be merciful to her.

9 A widow, and a woman forsaken of her husband, shall yield, whatever thing they avow.

10 When a wife in her husband’s house bindeth herself by a vow, and an oath,

11 if her husband heareth it, and is still, and against-saith not her promise, she shall yield, whatever thing she promised.

12 Soothly if the husband against-said anon, she shall not be holden guilty of the promise, for her husband against-said it anon, and the Lord shall be merciful to her.

13 If she avoweth, and bindeth herself by an oath, that she torment her soul by fasting, either by abstinence of other things, it shall be in the doom of her husband, that she do that, either do it not.

14 That if the husband heareth it, and he is still, and delayeth the sentence in[to] the tother day, she shall yield whatever thing she avowed and promised, for he was still, anon as he heard.

15 Soothly if her husband against-said her avow, and her oath, after that he knew thereof, he shall bear his wickedness.

16 These be the laws, which the Lord ordained to Moses, betwixt the husband and the wife, betwixt the father and the daughter, which is yet in the age of a young damsel, or that yet dwelleth in her father’s house unmarried.

CHAPTER 31

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Avenge thou first the sons of Israel of Midianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

3 And anon Moses said, Arm ye men of you to battle, that be able to take of the Midianites the vengeance of the Lord.

4 Of each lineage be chosen a thousand men of Israel, that shall be sent to battle.

5 And of each lineage they gave a thousand, that is, twelve thousand of men, ready to battle;

6 which Moses sent forth with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest. And Moses betook to them [the] holy vessels, and trumps to make sound.

7 And when they had fought against Midianites, and had overcome them, Israel killed all the males,

8 and the kings of them, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five princes of the folk of them. Also Israel killed with sword Balaam, the son of Beor.

9 And Israel took the women of them, and their little children, and all their beasts, and all the appurtenance of their household; whatever they might have, they spoiled, that is, destroyed;

10 the flame burnt as well the cities, as little towns, and castles.

11 And they took prey, and all things which they had taken, as well of men as of beasts,

12 and they brought to Moses, and to Eleazar, the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. Soothly they bare other useable things to their tents, standing in the field places of Moab, beside Jordan, against Jericho.

13  [And] Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and all the princes of the synagogue, went out into the coming of them, without the tents.

14 And Moses was wroth to the princes of the host, to the tribunes, and the centurions, [or leaders of thousands, and governors of hundreds], that came from the battle;

15 and he said to them, Why kept ye [the] women?

16 whether it be not these that deceived the sons of Israel, at the suggestion of Balaam, and made you to do trespass against the Lord, upon the sin of Peor, wherefore also the people was slain?

17 And therefore slay ye all the men, whatever is of male kind, and the little children; and strangle ye the women that have known men fleshly;

18 soothly keep ye to you the young damsels, and all women virgins,

19 and dwell ye without the tents seven days. He that slayeth a man, or toucheth a slain man, shall be cleansed in the third [day], and the seventh day;

20 and of all the prey, whether it is cloth, or vessel, and anything made ready to things pertaining to use, of the skins and hairs of goats, and wood, it shall be cleansed.

21 And Eleazar, the priest, spake thus to the men of the host that fought, This is the commandment of the law, which the Lord commanded to Moses,

22 The gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead,

23 and all thing that may pass by flame, shall be purged by fire; soothly whatever thing may not suffer fire, shall be hallowed with the water of cleansing.

24 And ye shall wash your clothes in the seventh day, and ye shall be cleansed; and afterward ye shall enter into the tents.

25 And the Lord said to Moses,

26 Take ye the sum or the number of those things that be taken, from man till to beast, thou, and Eleazar, [the] priest, and all the princes of the common people.

27 And thou shalt part evenly the prey betwixt them that fought and went out to battle, and betwixt all the other multitude.

28 And thou shalt separate a part to the Lord, of them that have fought, and were in battle, one soul of five hundred, as well of men, as of oxen, and of asses, and of sheep.

29 And thou shalt give that part to Eleazar, the priest, for those [or they] be the first fruits of the Lord.

30 Also of the half part of the sons of Israel, thou shalt take the fiftieth head of men, and of oxen, and of asses, and of sheep, and of all living beasts; and thou shalt give those [or them] to the deacons [or Levites], that wake in the keepings of the tabernacle of the Lord.

31 And Moses and Eleazar did, as the Lord commanded.

32 Forsooth the prey which the host had taken, was six hundred and five and seventy thousand of sheep,

33 of oxen, two and seventy thousand,

34 of asses, sixty thousand and a thousand;

35 the souls of the persons of women-kind, that knew not men, were two and thirty thousand.

36 And the half part was given to them that were in the battle, of sheep three hundred seven and thirty thousand, and five hundred;

37 of which six hundred five and seventy sheep were numbered into the part of the Lord;

38 and of six and thirty thousand oxen, two and seventy oxen;

39 and of thirty thousand asses and five hundred, one and sixty asses;

40 of [the] sixteen thousand persons of men, two and thirty persons befelled into the part of the Lord.

41 And Moses betook the number of the first fruits of the Lord to Eleazar, the priest, as it was commanded to him,

42 of the half part of the sons of Israel, which he parted to them that were in battle.

43 And of the half part that befelled to the tother multitude, that is, of three hundred seven and thirty thousand sheep and five hundred,

44 and of six and thirty thousand oxen,

45 and of thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

46 and of sixteen thousand women,

47 Moses took the fiftieth head, and he gave them to the deacons [or Levites], that wake or watch in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded.

48 And when the princes of the host, and the tribunes [or the leaders of thousands], and the centurions [or rulers of hundreds] had nighed to Moses,

49 they said, We thy servants have told or totalled the number of fighters, which we had under our hand, or power, and soothly not one failed;

50 for which cause we offer, or bring, to thee free gifts of the Lord, all by ourselves, that that we might find of gold in the prey, girdles for the women’s middles, and bies of the arms, and rings, and ornaments of the arm nigh the hand, and bies of the necks of women, that thou pray the Lord for us.

51 And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, took all the gold in diverse kinds,

52 by the weight of the saintuary, sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, of the tribunes [or the leaders of thousands], and the centurions [or rulers of hundreds].

53 For that that each man ravished in the prey, was his own;

54 and they bare the gold taken into the tabernacle of witnessing, into mind of the sons of Israel, before the Lord.

CHAPTER 32

1 Soothly the sons of Reuben and of Gad had many beasts, and cattle without number was to them, in work beasts. And when they had seen Jazer and Gilead, to be covenable lands to beasts to be fed,

2 they came to Moses, and to Eleazar, the priest, and to the princes of the multitude, and said,

3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

4 the land which the Lord smote in the sight of the sons of Israel, is of most plenteous country to the pasture of beasts; and we thy servants have full many beasts;

5 and we pray thee, if we have found grace before thee, that thou give to us thy servants that country into possession, and make not us to pass [over] Jordan.

6 To whom Moses answered, Whether your brethren shall go to battle, and ye shall sit here?

7 Why mis-turn ye the thoughts of the sons of Israel, that they dare not pass into the place, which the Lord shall give to them?

8 Whether your fathers did not so, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to espy the land,

9 and when they came to the valley of Cluster, when all the country was compassed, they turned into fear the heart of the sons of Israel, that they entered not into the coasts, which the Lord had given to them.

10 And the Lord therefore was wroth, and he swore, saying,

11 These men that went up from Egypt, from twenty years of age and above, shall not see the land which I promised under an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and [they] would not pursue me,

12 except Caleb, the Kenezite, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun; these twain fulfilled my will.

13 And the Lord was wroth against Israel, and led him about the desert by forty years, till all the generation was wasted, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

14 And Moses said, Lo! ye the increasings, and nourished children, of sinful men, have risen for your fathers, that ye should increase the strong vengeance of the Lord against Israel.

15 That if ye will not pursue [or follow] the Lord, in the wilderness he shall forsake the people, and ye shall be [the] cause of the death of all men.

16 And they went nigh, and said, We shall make sheepfolds, and stables of beasts, and we shall make strengthened cities to our little children.

17 Forsooth we ourselves shall be armed to defense, and shall be girded with arms to assailing, and shall go to battle before the sons of Israel, till we bring them into their places; our little children, and whatever thing we may have, shall be in strengthened cities, for the treasons of the dwellers.

18 We shall not turn again into our houses, till the sons of Israel wield their heritage;

19 and we shall not ask anything over Jordan, for we have now our possession in the east coast thereof.

20 To whom Moses said, If ye do that, that ye promise, be ye made ready, and go ye to battle before the Lord;

21 and each fighting man be armed, and pass he [over] Jordan, till the Lord destroy his enemies,

22 and all the land be made subject to him; then ye shall be made guilt-less with God, and with Israel, and ye shall wield the countries, which ye will or desire, before the Lord.

23 But if ye do not that, that ye say, it is no doubt to any man, that not ye sin against God; and know ye, that your sin shall take you.

24 Therefore build ye cities to your little children, and folds, and stables to your sheep, and to beasts; and [ful] fill ye that, that ye have promised.

25 And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, We be thy servants; we shall do that, that our lord commandeth.

26 We shall leave our little children, and women, and our sheep, and beasts, in the cities of Gilead;

27 forsooth all we thy servants shall go ready to battle, as thou, lord, speakest.

28 Therefore Moses commanded to Eleazar, the priest, and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the princes of the meines, by the lineages of Israel,

29 and he said to them, If the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, go all armed with you [over Jordan], to battle before the Lord, and the land be made subject to you, give ye to them Gilead into possession;

30 but if they will not pass with you into the land of Canaan, take they then places to dwell among you.

31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, As the Lord hath spoken to his servants, so we shall do;

32 we shall go armed before the Lord, into the land of Canaan, and we acknowledge, that we have taken now possession over Jordan.

33 And so Moses gave to the sons of Gad, and of Reuben, and to half the lineage of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the realm of Sihon, king of Amorites, and the realm of Og, king of Bashan, and their lands, with their cities, by compass.

34 Therefore the sons of Gad builded Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

35 and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

36 and Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, strengthened cities; and folds to their beasts.

37 Soothly the sons of Reuben builded Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,

38 and Nebo, and Baalmeon, when the names were turned, and they builded Shibmah; and they putted names to the cities, which they had builded.

39 Soothly the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went into Gilead, and destroyed it, and they killed Amorites, the dwellers thereof.

40 Therefore Moses gave the land of Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, the which Machir dwelled therein.

41 Soothly Jair, the son of Manasseh, went, and occupied the towns thereof, which he called Havothjair, that is, the towns of Jair.

42 Also Nobah went, and took Kenath, with his towns, and called it, by his name, Nobah.

CHAPTER 33

1 These be the dwellings of the sons of Israel, that went out of the land of Egypt, by their companies, in the hand of Moses and Aaron;

2 which dwellings Moses described by the places of tents, that were changed by commandment of the Lord.

3 Therefore the sons of Israel went forth in an high hand from Rameses, in the first month, in the fifteenth day of the first month, in the tother day of pask, that is, in the morrow of the offering of the lamb of pask, while all [the] Egyptians saw,

4 and the Egyptians buried their first begotten children, which the Lord had slain; for the Lord took vengeance also upon their gods.

5  The sons of Israel setted tents in Succoth,

6 and from Succoth they came into Etham, which is in the last coasts of the wilderness;

7 from thence they went forth, and came against Pihahiroth, which beholdeth Baalzephon, and setted tents before Migdol.

8 And they went forth from Piha-hiroth, and they passed through the midst of the sea into wilderness, and they went three days by the desert of Etham, and setted tents in Marah.

9 And they went forth from Marah, and came into Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees; and there they setted tents.

10 But also they went forth from thence, and setted tents on the Red Sea.

11 And they went forth from the Red Sea, and setted tents in the desert of Sin,

12 from whence they went forth, and came into Dophkah.

13 And they went forth from Dophkah, and setted tents in Alush.

14 And they went forth from Alush, and setted tents in Rephidim, where water failed to the people to drink.

15 And they went forth from Rephidim, and setted tents in the desert of Sinai.

16 But also they went out of the wilderness of Sinai, and came to the Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust.

17 And they went forth from the Sepulchres of Covetousness, or Lust, and setted tents in Hazeroth.

18 And from Hazeroth they came into Rithmah.

19 And they went forth from Rithmah, and setted tents in Rimmonparez;

20 from whence they went forth, and came into Libnah.

21 And from Libnah they setted tents in Rissah.

22 And they went forth from Rissah, and came into Kehelathah;

23 from whence they went forth, and setted tents in the hill of Shapher.

24 And they went forth from the hill of Shapher, and they came into Haradah;

25 from thence they went forth, and setted tents in Makheloth.

26 And they went forth from Makheloth, and came into Tahath.

27 From Tahath they setted tents in Tarah;

28 from whence they went forth, and setted tents in Mithcah.

29 And from Mithcah they setted tents in Hashmonah.

30 And they went forth from Hash-monah, and came into Moseroth;

31 and from Moseroth they setted tents in Benejaakan.

32 And they went forth from Bene-jaakan, and came into the hill of Gidgad;

33 from whence they went forth, and setted tents in Jotbathah.

34 And from Jotbathah they came into Ebronah.

35 And they went forth from Ebronah, and setted tents in Eziongaber;

36 from thence they went forth, and came into the desert of Zin; this is Kadesh.

37 And they went forth from Kadesh, and they setted tents in the hill of Hor, in the last coasts of the land of Edom.

38 And Aaron, the priest, ascended [or went up] into the hill of Hor, for the Lord commanded, and there he was dead, in the fortieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from Egypt, in the fifth month, in the first day of the month;

39 when he was of an hundred and three and twenty years old.

40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, that dwelled at the south, in the land of Canaan, heard that the sons of Israel came thither.

41 And they went forth from the hill of Hor, and setted tents in Zalmonah;

42 from thence they went forth, and came into Punon.

43 And they went forth from Punon, and setted tents in Oboth.

44 And from Oboth they came into Iyeabarim, that is, into the wilderness of Abarim, which is in the ends of Moabites.

45 And they went forth from Iyea-barim, and they setted tents in Dibon of Gad;

46 from whence they went forth, and setted tents in Almon of Diblathaim,

47 And they went forth from Almon of Diblathaim, and they came to the hills of Abarim, against Nebo.

48 And they went forth from the hills of Abarim, and passed to the field places of Moab, over Jordan, against Jericho.

49 And there they setted tents, from Bethjesimoth till to Abelshittim, in the plainer places of Moabites,

50 where the Lord spake to Moses,

51 Command thou to the sons of Israel, and say thou to them, When ye have passed over Jordan, and have entered into the land of Canaan,

52 destroy ye all the dwellers of that country; break ye the titles, that is, altars, and drive ye to powder the images, and destroy ye all high things,

53 and cleanse ye the land, and all the men dwelling therein. For I have given to you that land into possession,

54 which ye shall part to you by lot; to more men in number ye shall give larger land, and to fewer men in number straiter, or less, land, as the lot falleth to all men, so [the] heritage shall be given; the possession shall be parted to lineages and meines.

55 But if ye will not slay the dwellers of the land, they, that abide, shall be to you as nails in the eyes, and as spears in the sides; and they shall be adversaries to you in the land of your habitation;

56 and whatever thing I thought to do to them, I shall do to you.

CHAPTER 34

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land of Canaan, and it befall into possession to you by lot, it shall be ended by these ends.

3 The south part shall begin at the wilderness of Zin, which is beside Edom, and it shall have the terms against the east, the saltiest sea,

4 the which terms shall compass the south coast by the going up of the hill Scorpion, so that those terms pass into Zin, and come to the south, unto Kadeshbarnea; from whence the terms shall go forth to the town, Addar by name, and they shall stretch forth unto Azmon;

5 and the term shall go by compass from Azmon unto the strand of Egypt, and it shall be ended by the brink of the great sea.

6 Soothly the west coast shall begin at the great sea, and it shall be closed by that end.

7 Soothly at the north coast, the terms shall begin at the great sea, and they shall come unto the highest hill,

8 from which hill those terms shall come into Hamath, unto the terms of Zedad;

9 and the coasts shall go unto Ziphron, and to the town of Enan. These shall be the terms in the north part.

10 From thence they shall mete the coasts against the east coast, from the town Enan to Shepham;

11 and from Shepham the terms shall go down into Riblah, against the well of Ain; from thence those terms shall come against the east to the sea of Chinnereth;

12 and those terms shall stretch forth till to Jordan, and at the last those shall be closed with the saltiest sea. Ye shall have this land by his coasts in compass.

13 And Moses commanded to the sons of Israel, and said, This shall be the land which ye shall wield by lot, and which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine lineages, and to the half lineage;

14 for the lineage of the sons of Reuben, by their meines, and the lineage of the sons of Gad, by their kindred and number, and half the lineage of Manasseh,

15 that is, two lineages and an half, have taken their part over Jordan, against Jericho, at the east coast.

16 And the Lord said to Moses,

17 These be the names of [the] men that shall part the land to you, Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun,

18 and of each lineage, one prince;

19 of which these be the names; of the lineage of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh;

20 of the lineage of Simeon, Shemuel, the son of Ammihud;

21 of the lineage of Benjamin, Elidad, the son of Chislon;

22 of the lineage of the sons of Dan, Bukki, the son of Jogli;

23 of the sons of Joseph, of the lineage of Manasseh, Hanniel, the son of Ephod;

24 of the lineage of Ephraim, Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan;

25 of the lineage of Zebulun, Elizaphan, the son of Parnach;

26 of the lineage of Issachar, duke Paltiel, the son of Azzan;

27 of the lineage of Asher, Ahihud, the son of Shelomi;

28 of the lineage of Naphtali, Pedahel, the son of Ammihud.

29 These men it be, to which the Lord commanded, that they should part to the sons of Israel the land of Canaan.

CHAPTER 35

1 And the Lord spake these things to Moses, in the field places of Moab, above Jordan, against Jericho,

2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they give to the deacons [or Levites], of their possessions, cities to dwell in, and the suburbs of those [or them] by compass,

3 that they dwell in the cities, and the suburbs be to beasts, and work beasts;

4 which suburbs shall be stretched forth from the walls of the cities withoutforth by compass, in the space of a thousand paces;

5 against the east coast shall be two thousand cubits, and against the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits, and at the sea that beholdeth to the west shall be the same measure, and the north coast shall be ended by even term. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs withoutforth.

6 Forsooth of those cities which ye shall give to [the] deacons [or Levites], six shall be separated into [the] helps of fugitives, either of fleeing men, that he that shedded blood, flee to those;

7 and besides these six cities, ye shall give to the deacons another two and forty cities, that is, altogether eight and forty, with their suburbs.

8 And those cities that shall be given of the possession of the sons of Israel, more cities shall be taken away from them that have more, and fewer from them that have less; all the sons of Israel by themselves shall give by the measure of their heritage, cities to the deacons [or Levites].

9 The Lord said to Moses,

10 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have passed [over] Jordan, in[to] the land of Canaan,

11 deem ye which cities owe to be into the helps of fugitives which not willfully have shed blood.

12 In which cities when the fleer hath fled, the kinsman of him that is slain, shall not be able to slay him, till he stand in the sight of the multitude, and the cause of him be deemed.

13 Forsooth of those cities that be separated to the helps of fugitives,

14 three shall be beyond Jordan, and three in the land of Canaan;

15 as well to the sons of Israel as to comelings, and pilgrims; that he flee to those cities, that shedded blood not willfully.

16 If any man smiteth a man with iron, and he that is smitten is dead, the smiter shall be guilty of man-slaying, and he shall die.

17 If he casteth a stone, and a man is dead by the stroke thereof, the caster shall be punished in like manner.

18 If a man smitten with a staff dieth, he shall be avenged by the blood of the smiter.

19 The nigh kinsman of him that is slain shall slay the manslayer; anon as he taketh the manslayer, he shall slay him.

20 If by hatred a man hurtleth, either shoveth, a man, either casteth anything into him by ambushings,

21 either when he was enemy to him, smite him with his hand, and he is dead, the smiter shall be guilty of manslaying. The kinsman of him that is slain, anon as he findeth him, that is, the slayer, shall slay him.

22 That if by sudden case, and with-out hatred and enmities, a man doeth anything of these;

23 (This verse is omitted in the original text.)

24 and this is proved, the people hearing, and the question of the blood, or death, is discussed betwixt the smiter and the kinsman of him that is slain,

25 the innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the avenger, and by sentence of judges he shall be led again into the city, to which he fled, and he shall dwell there, till the great priest die, which is anointed with [holy] oil.

26 If the slayer is found without or outside the coasts of the cities that be assigned to exiled men,

27 and he is slain of him that is avenger [of the blood], he that slayeth him shall be without guilt;

28 for the exiled man ought to sit or abide in the city till to the death of the bishop; forsooth after that that bishop is dead, the manslayer shall turn again into his land.

29 These shall be everlasting and lawful things in all your dwellings.

30 A manslayer shall be punished under witnesses; no man shall be condemned at the witnessing of one man.

31 Ye shall not take price of him which is guilty of blood, or death, anon and he shall die.

32 Men exiled, and fugitives, shall not be able to turn again in any manner into their cities, before the death of the bishop,

33 lest ye defoul the land of your habitation, which is defouled by the blood of innocent men; and it may not be cleansed in other manner, no but by the blood of him, that shedded the blood of another man.

34 And so your possession shall be cleansed, for I shall dwell with you; for I am the Lord, that dwell among the sons of Israel.

CHAPTER 36

1 Soothly and the princes of the meines of Gilead, the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the generation of the sons of Joseph, nighed, and spake to Moses before the princes of Israel,

2 and said, The Lord commanded to thee our lord, that thou shouldest part the land by lot to the sons of Israel, and that thou shouldest give to the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession due to their father.

3 And if men of another lineage shall take to wives these daughters, their possession shall pursue [or follow]them, and it shall be translated or brought over to another lineage, and so it shall be decreased from our heritage;

4 and so it shall be done, that when the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year of remission, cometh, the parting of lots be confounded, or fail, and that the possession of other men pass to other men.

5 Moses answered to the sons of Israel, and said, for the Lord com-manded, The lineage of the sons of Joseph hath spoken rightfully,

6 and this law is announced of the Lord on the daughters of Zelophehad; be they wedded to which men they will, only to the men of their lineage;

7 lest the possession of the sons of Joseph be meddled [or mingled] from lineage into lineage. For all men shall wed wives of their lineage and kindred;

8 and each daughter, that shall have the heritage, shall be wife to one man of the kindred of her father,

9 and [the] lineages be not meddled [or mingled] to themselves, but dwell so, as those be parted of the Lord.

10 And the daughters of Zelophehad did, as it was commanded to them.

11 And Mahlah, and Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, were wedded to the sons of their father’s brothers,

12 of the meine of Manasseh, that was the son of Joseph; and the possession that was given to them, dwelled in the lineage, and in the meine, of their father.

13 These be the commandments and dooms, which the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses, to the sons of Israel, in the field places of Moab, above Jordan, against Jericho.

* CHAPTER 1:1 In Numbers, the Tabernacle is called ‘the tabernacle of the bond of peace’, that is, ‘the Tabernacle of the Covenant’; in the rest of the Old Testament of the “Wycliffe Bible”, it is usually referred to as ‘the tabernacle of witnessing’.

† CHAPTER 1:47 Often in the Old Testament of the “Wycliffe Bible”, where the “Later Version” has ‘deacon’ or ‘deacons’, the “Early Version” has ‘Levite’ or ‘Levites’.

* CHAPTER 7:13 In Hebrew it is, a basin of silver.

† CHAPTER 7:14 In Hebrew it is, a spoon of ten golden shekels.

* CHAPTER 9:10 In Latin books it is added, ‘in your folk’, but this is not in Hebrew.

* CHAPTER 14:37 That is, suddenly and horribly, by the sentence of the Lord, to the dread of other men.

* CHAPTER 16:14 They said this in scorn, to signify that Moses deceived the people by false promises.

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JOSHUA

CHAPTER 1

1 And it was done after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake to Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, and said to him,

2 Moses, my servant is dead; rise thou, and pass [over] this Jordan, thou, and all the people with thee, into the land which I shall give to the sons of Israel.

3 I shall give to you each place which the step of your foot shall tread, as I spake to Moses,

4 from the desert and Lebanon till to the great flood Euphrates; all the land of Hittites, unto the great sea against the going down of the sun, shall be your term.

5 None shall be able to against-stand you in all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I shall be with thee; I shall not leave, neither I shall forsake thee.

6 Be thou comforted, and be thou strong; for thou shalt part by lot to this people the land, for which I swore to thy fathers, that I should give it to them.

7 Therefore be thou comforted, and be thou full strong, that thou keep and do all the law, which Moses, my servant, commanded to thee; bow thou not from it to the right side, either to the left side, that thou understand all things which thou doest.

8 The book of this law depart not from thy mouth, but thou shalt think therein in days and nights, that thou keep and do all things that be written therein; then thou shalt dress thy way, and thou shalt understand it.

9 Lo! I command to thee; be thou comforted, and be thou strong; do not thou dread, nor be thou afeared; for thy Lord God is with thee in all things, to which thou goest.

10 And Joshua commanded to the princes of the people, and said,

11 Pass ye through the midst of the castles [or tents], and command ye to the people, and say ye, Make ye ready meats to you; for after the third day ye shall pass [over] Jordan, and ye shall enter to wield the land, which your Lord God shall give to you.

12 Also Joshua said to men of Reuben, and to men of Gad, and to the half lineage of Manasseh*.

13 Have ye mind of the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you, and said, Your Lord God hath given to you rest, and all the land;

14 your wives, and your sons, and your beasts shall dwell in the land that Moses gave to you beyond Jordan; but pass ye over armed, all strong in hand, before your brethren; and fight ye for them,

15 till the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he gave also to you, and till also they wield the land which your Lord God shall give to them; and so turn ye again into the land of your possession, and ye shall dwell in that land which Moses, [the] servant of the Lord, gave to you over Jordan, against the rising of the sun.

16 And they answered to Joshua, and said, We shall do all things which thou commandest to us, and we shall go, whither ever thou sendest us;

17 as we obeyed in all things to Moses, so we shall obey also to thee; only thy Lord God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

18 Die he that against-saith thy word, and obeyeth not to all thy biddings, which thou commandest to him; only be thou comforted, and do thou manly.

CHAPTER 2

1 Therefore Joshua, the son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spyers [or spies] in huddles, and said to them, Go ye, and behold ye the land, and the city of Jericho. Which went, and entered into the house of a woman whore, Rahab by name, and rested at her.

2 And it was told, and said to the king of Jericho, Lo! men of the sons of Israel have entered hither by night, to espy the land.

3 Therefore the king of Jericho sent to Rahab the whore, and said, Bring out the men, that came to thee, and that entered into thine house; for they be spyers [or spies], and they came to behold all the land.

4 And the woman took the men, and hid them, and said, I acknowledge, that they came to me, but I wist not of whence they were;

5 and when the gate was closed in darknesses, and they went out together, I know not whither they went; pursue ye them soon, and ye shall overtake them.

6 Forsooth she had made the men to go up into the solar of her house, and she covered them with stubble, or sheaves, of flax, that was there.

7 And they, that were sent, pursued [or followed]after them by the way that leadeth to the fords of Jordan; and when they were gone out, anon the gate was closed.

8  [And] They that were hid, slept not yet, and lo! the woman went up to them,

9 and said, I know that the Lord hath betaken to you this land; for your fearedfulness is fallen into us, and all the dwellers of the land be abashed.

10 We have heard, that the Lord hath dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your entering, when ye went out of Egypt; and what things ye did to the two kings of Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon and Og, which ye killed;

11 and we heard these things, and we dreaded, and our heart was sick, and spirit dwelled not in us at your entering; for the Lord your God himself is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

12 Now therefore swear ye to me by the Lord God, that as I did mercy with you, so and ye do with the house of my father; and give ye to me a very sign,

13 that ye save my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and [my] sisters, and all things that be theirs, and deliver our lives from death.

14 Which answered to her, Our life be for you into death, if nevertheless thou betrayest not us; and when the Lord hath betaken to us the land, we shall do mercy and truth with thee.

15 Then she let them down from the window by a cord; for her house was joined to the town wall.

16 And she said to them, Go ye up to the hilly places [or mountains], lest peradventure the men turning again meet you; and be ye hid there three days, till they come again; and so ye shall go by your way.

17 Which said to her, We shall be guiltless of this oath, by which thou hast charged us,

18 if, when we enter into the land, this red cord is not a sign, and thou bindest it not in the window, by which thou lettest us down; and thou gatherest not into thine house thy father, and mother, and brethren, and all thy kindred;

19 the blood of him shall be on his head, that goeth out at the door of thine house, and we shall be guiltless; forsooth the blood of all men that be in the house with thee, shall turn into our head, if any man toucheth them.

20 That if thou wilt betray us, and bring forth into the midst this word, we shall be clean of this oath, by which thou hast charged us.

21 And she answered, As ye have spoken, so be it done. And she let them go, that they should go forth, and she hanged the red cord in her window.

22 And they went forth, and came into the hilly places [or mountains], and dwelled there three days, till they turned again that pursued them; for they sought them by each way, and found not them.

23 And when the seekers entered into the city again, the spyers [or spies] turned again, and came down from the hill; and when they had passed [over] Jordan, they came to Joshua, the son of Nun; and they told to him all things that befelled to them,

24 and said, The Lord hath betaken all the land into our hands, and all the dwellers thereof be cast down by dread.

CHAPTER 3

1 Therefore Joshua rose by night, and moved thence the tents; and they went out of Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and dwelled there three days.

2 And when those days were passed, criers or beadles went through the midst of the tents,

3 and began to cry, When ye see the ark of [the] bond of peace of your Lord God, and the priests of the generation of Levi bearing it, also then rise ye, and follow the before-goers;

4 and a space of two thousand cubits be betwixt you and the ark, that ye may see [a] far, and know by which way ye shall enter, for ye have not gone before by it; and be ye ware, that ye nigh not to the ark.

5 And Joshua said to the people, Be ye hallowed, for tomorrow the Lord shall make marvels among you.

6 And Joshua said to the priests, Take ye the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and go ye before the people. The which fulfilled the behests of Joshua, and they took the ark, and went before the people.

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, Today I shall begin to enhance thee before all Israel, that they know, that as I was with Moses, so I am also with thee.

8 Forsooth command thou to the priests, that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace, and say thou to them, When ye have entered into a part of the water of Jordan, stand ye therein.

9 And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, Nigh ye hither, and hear ye the word of your Lord God.

10 And again he said, In this ye shall know that the Lord God living is in the midst of you; and he shall destroy in your sight Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, and Perizzites, and Girgashites, and Jebusites, and Amorites.

11 Lo! the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord of all earth shall go before you through the Jordan.

12 Make ye ready twelve men of the twelve lineages of Israel, by each lineage one man.

13 And when the priests, that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord God of all earth, have set the steps of their feet in the waters of Jordan, the waters that be lower shall run down, and shall fail; soothly the waters that come from above shall stand together in one gathering, or a certain place.

14 Therefore the people went out of their tabernacles for to pass over the Jordan; and the priests that bare the ark of [the] bond of peace went before the people.

15 And when the priests entered into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in the part of [the] water; forsooth the Jordan had filled the brinks of his trough in the time of ripe corn;

16 the waters went down, and stood in one place, and waxed great at the likeness of an hill, and appeared far from the city that was called Adam, till to the place of Zaretan; soothly the waters that were lower went down into the sea of wilderness, which is now called the Dead Sea, till the waters failed utterly. Forsooth the people went through the Jordan;

17 and the priests, that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, stood girded on the dry earth in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed [over] through the dry trough.

CHAPTER 4

1 And when the sons of Israel were passed over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,

2 Choose thou twelve men, by each lineage one man,

3 and command thou to them, that they take from the midst of the trough of Jordan, where the feet of [the] priests stood, twelve hardest stones; the which thou shalt set in [the] place of the tents, where ye shall set tents in this night.

4 And Joshua called twelve men, which he had chosen of the sons of Israel, of each lineage one man;

5 and he said to them, Go ye before the ark of your Lord God to the midst of Jordan, and bear ye from thence in your shoulders each man one stone, by the number of the sons of Israel,

6 that it be a sign betwixt you. And when your sons shall ask you tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these stones be meaning?

7 ye shall answer to them, The waters of Jordan failed before the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, when the ark passed over the Jordan; therefore these stones be set into mind of the sons of Israel, till into without end.

8 Therefore the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded to them, and bare from the midst of the trough of Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord commanded to him, by the number of the sons of Israel, unto the place in which they setted tents; and there they putted those stones.

9 Also Joshua putted other twelve stones in the midst of the trough of Jordan, where the priests stood, that bare the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord; and those stones be there unto this present day.

10 Forsooth the priests, that bare the ark, stood in the midst of Jordan, till all things were [ful] filled, which the Lord commanded, that Joshua should speak to the people, as Moses had said to him. And the people hasted, and passed over Jordan.

11 And when all men had passed [over], also the ark of the Lord passed [over], and the priests went before the people.

12 Also the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and half the lineage of Manasseh, went armed before the sons of Israel, as Moses commanded to them.

13 And forty thousand of fighters went by their companies, and by their gatherings, on the plain and field places of the city of Jericho.

14 In that day the Lord magnified Joshua before all Israel, that they should dread him, as they dreaded Moses, while he lived yet.

15 And the Lord said to Joshua,

16 Command thou to the priests that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace, that they go up from the Jordan.

17 And Joshua commanded to them, and said, Go ye up from the Jordan.

18 And when they had gone up, bearing the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, and had begun to tread on the dry earth, the waters turned again into their trough, and flowed again, as they were wont before.

19 And the people went up from the Jordan in the tenth day of the first month, and they setted tents in Gilgal, against the east coast of the city of Jericho.

20 Also Joshua putted in Gilgal the twelve stones, which they had taken from the trough of Jordan.

21 And he said to the sons of Israel, When your sons shall ask tomorrow their fathers, and shall say to them, What will these stones be meaning?

22 ye shall teach them, and say, We passed this Jordan by the dry bottom,

23 for our Lord God dried the waters thereof in our sight, till that we over-passed it, as he did before in the Red Sea, which he dried while we passed [over],

24 that all the peoples of earth learn, or know, the full strong might of the Lord, and that ye dread your Lord God in all time.

CHAPTER 5

1 Therefore after that all the kings of Amorites heard, that dwelled over Jordan at the west coast, and all the kings of Canaan, that wielded the nigh places of the great sea, that the Lord had dried the flowings of Jordan before the sons of Israel, till they passed over, the heart of them failed, and the spirit dwelled not in them, dreading the entering of the sons of Israel.

2 In that time the Lord said to Joshua, Make to thee knives of stone, and circumcise thou the sons of Israel the second time.

3 Joshua did those things which the Lord commanded, and he circumcised the sons of Israel in the hill of prepuces.

4 And this is the cause of the second circumcision; all the people of male kind, that went out of Egypt, all the men fighters of them, were dead in desert by the full long compasses of way,

5 the which all were circumcised. But the other people that was born in desert by forty years, in the way of the full broad wilderness, was un-circumcised,

6 till they were wasted, that heard not the voice of the Lord, and to which he swore before, that he should show to them the land flowing with milk and honey.

7 The sons of them came afterward into the place of [the] fathers, and they were circumcised of Joshua; which, as they were born, were in prepuce, neither any man had circumcised them in the way.

8 And after that they all were circumcised, they dwelled in the same place of their tents, till they were healed.

9 And the Lord said to Joshua, Today I have taken away from you the shame of Egypt. And the name of the place was called Gilgal*, unto this present day.

10 And the sons of Israel dwelled in Gilgal, and made pask in the four-teenth day of the month at eventide, in the field places of Jericho;

11 and they ate of the fruits of the land in the tother day, therf loaves, and pottage of the same year, either corns singed, and rubbed in the hand.

12 And manna failed after that they ate of the fruits of the land; and the sons of Israel used no more that meat, but they ate of the fruits of present year of the land of Canaan.

13 And when Joshua was in the field of the city of Jericho, he raised up his eyes, and saw a man standing against him, and holding a drawn sword; and Joshua went out to him, and said, Art thou with us, either our adversary?

14 To whom he answered, Nay, but I am prince of the host of the Lord, and now I come. Joshua felled low to the earth, and worshipped, and said, What speaketh my Lord to his servant?

15 He said, Unlace thy shoes from thy feet, for the place, in which thou standest, is holy. And Joshua did, as it was commanded to him.

CHAPTER 6

1 Forsooth Jericho was enclosed and warded, for the dread of the sons of Israel, and no man durst enter, either go out.

2 And the Lord said to Joshua, Lo! I have given into thine hands Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the strong men of it.

3 All ye fighters, compass the city once by the day; so ye shall do in six days.

4 And in the seventh day, the priests shall take seven clarions, which be used in the jubilee; and they shall go before the ark of [the] bond of peace; and seven times ye shall compass the city, and the priests shall trump with the clarions.

5 And when the voice of the trump shall sound longer, and more by whiles, and shall sound in your ears, all the people shall cry together with greatest cry; and the walls of the city shall fall all-down, and all men shall enter by the place, against which they stand.

6 Therefore Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests, and said to them, Take ye the ark of the bond of peace, and seven other priests take they seven clarions of the jubilee years, and go they before the ark of the Lord.

7 Also Joshua said to the people, Go ye, and compass ye the city, and go ye armed before the ark of the Lord.

8 And when Joshua had ended these words, and the seven priests trumped with seven trumps before the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord,

9 and all the people armed went before, and the tother common people of fighters pursued [or followed] the ark, and all things sounded with the trumps.

10 And Joshua commanded to the people, and said, Ye shall not cry, neither your voice shall be heard, neither any word shall go out of your mouth, till the day come, in which I shall say to you, Cry ye, and make ye noise.

11 Therefore the ark of the Lord compassed the city once by the day, and it turned again into the tents, and dwelled there.

12 Therefore while Joshua rose early in the morrowtide, [the] priests took the ark of the Lord;

13 and seven of the priests took seven clarions, which were used in the jubilee, and the priests went before the ark of the Lord, and trumped; and the people went armed before them. And the tother common people pursued [or followed] the ark, and sounded with trumps.

14 And they compassed the city in the second day once, and turned again into the tents; so they did six days.

15 And in the seventh day they rose early, and compassed the city, as it was ordained, seven times.

16 And when in the seventh compass, the priests sounded with clarions, Joshua said to all Israel, Cry ye, for the Lord hath betaken the city to us;

17 and this city be cursed, either destroyed, and all things that be therein be hallowed to the Lord. Rahab the whore alone live, with all the men that be with her in the house; for she hid the messengers which we sent.

18 And be ye ware, lest ye touch anything of these [things] that be forbidden to you, and ye be guilty of trespassing; and all the tents of Israel be under sin, and be troubled.

19 For whatever thing is of gold, and of silver, and of brazen vessels, and of iron, be it hallowed to the Lord, and be it kept in his treasuries.

20 Then while all the people cried, and the trumps sounded, after that the sound sounded in the ears of the multitude, the walls felled down anon; and each man went up by the place that was against him. And they took the city,

21 and they killed all things that were therein, from man unto woman, from a young child unto an eld [or old] man; also they killed by sharp-ness of sword, oxen, sheep, and asses.

22 Forsooth Joshua said to [the] two men, that were sent spyers, Enter ye into the house of the woman whore, and bring ye forth her, and all things that be hers, as ye made steadfast to her by an oath.

23 And the young men entered in, and they led out Rahab, and her father, and mother, and all her brethren, and all the appurtenance of her, and kindred; and they made them to dwell without the tents of Israel.

24 And the men of Israel burnt the city, and all things that were found therein, except [the] gold, and silver, and brazen vessels, and iron, which they hallowed into the treasury of the Lord.

25 Soothly Joshua made Rahab the whore to live, and her father’s house, and all things that she had; and they dwelled in the midst of Israel, unto this present day; for she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to espy Jericho.

26 In that time Joshua prayed heartily, and said, Cursed before the Lord be the man, that raiseth up and buildeth the city of Jericho! Lay he the founda-ments thereof in his first engendered son, and put he the gates thereof in the last of his free children.

27 Therefore the Lord was with Joshua, and his name was published in each land.

CHAPTER 7

1 Forsooth the sons of Israel brake the commandment, and mis-took of the cursed thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, [the] son of Zerah, of the lineage of Judah, took something of the cursed thing; and the Lord was wroth against the sons of Israel.

2 And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Ai, which is beside Bethaven, at the east coast of the city of Bethel, he said to them, Go ye up, and espy the land. Which [ful] filled the commandments, and espied Ai;

3 and they turned again, and said to him, All the people go not up thither, but two either three thousand of men go, and do away the city; why shall all the people be travailed in vain against full few enemies?

4 Therefore three thousand of fighters ascended or went up, which turned the backs anon, and were smitten of the men of Ai;

5 and six and thirty men of them were slain; and the adversaries pursued them from the gate unto Shebarim; and they felled down fleeing by low places. And the heart of the people dreaded much, and it was made unsteadfast at the likeness of water.

6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and he fell down low to the earth before the ark of the Lord, unto the eventide, as well he, as all the elder men of Israel; and they casted powder on their heads.

7 And Joshua said, Alas! alas! Lord God, what wouldest thou lead this people over the flood Jordan, that thou shouldest betake us in the hand of Amorites, and should lose us? I would, that as we began, we had dwelled beyond Jordan.

8 My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning the backs to his enemies?

9 Canaanites, and all the dwellers of the land shall hear this, and they shall be gathered together, and shall compass us, and they shall do away our name from [the] earth; and what shalt thou do to thy great name?

10 And the Lord said to Joshua, Rise thou up; why liest thou low in the earth?

11 Israel hath sinned, and hath broken my covenant; they have taken of the cursed thing, and they have stolen of it, and lied, and hid among their vessels.

12 And therefore Israel may not stand before his enemies, and he shall flee them, for it is defouled with cursing; I shall no more be with you, till that ye destroy him that is guilty of this trespass.

13 Rise thou, hallow the people, and say thou to them, Be ye hallowed against tomorrow; for the Lord God of Israel saith these things, O thou Israel! cursing is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not be able to stand before thine enemies, till he that is defouled by this trespass, be done away from thee.

14 And ye shall come early, all men by your lineages; and whatever lineage the lot shall find, it shall come by his meines; and the meine shall come by houses, and the house shall come by men.

15 And whoever shall be taken with this trespass, he shall be burnt with fire with all his chattel [or substance], for he brake the covenant of the Lord, and did unleaveful thing in Israel.

16 Therefore Joshua rose early, and setted in order Israel by his lineages; and the lineage of Judah was found;

17 and when that lineage was brought forth by his meines, the meine of Zerah was found. And Joshua brought forth it by men, either houses, and found Zabdi;

18 whose house he parted into all men by themselves; and he found Achan, the son of Carmi, [the] son of Zabdi, [the] son of Zerah, of the lineage of Judah.

19 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give thou glory to the Lord God of Israel, and acknowledge thou, and show to me what thou hast done; hide thou it not.

20 And Achan answered to Joshua, and said to him, Verily, I have sinned before the Lord God of Israel, and I have done thus and thus;

21 for among the spoils I saw a red mantle full good, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a golden rule of fifty shekels; and I coveted those, and took away, and I hid those in the earth, against the midst of my tabernacle; and I covered the silver with the earth delved.

22 Then Joshua sent servants, the which ran to his tabernacle, and found all these things hid in the same place, and the silver together;

23 and they took these things away from the tent, and they brought them to Joshua, and to all the sons of Israel; and they casted them forth before the Lord.

24 Then Joshua took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the golden rule, and his sons, and daughters, his oxen, asses, and sheep, and the tabernacle itself, and all the appurtenance of his house-hold; and all Israel with Joshua; and they led them to the valley of Achor;

25 where Joshua said, For thou hast troubled us, the Lord shall full out trouble thee in this day. And all Israel stoned him; and all things that were his, were wasted by fire.

26 And they gathered upon him a great heap of stones, the which abide there still into this day. And the strong vengeance of the Lord was turned away from Israel; and the name of that place is called the valley of Achor unto this day.

CHAPTER 8

1 And the Lord said to Joshua, Neither dread thou, nor be thou afeared; take with thee all the multitude of fighting men, and rise thou, and go up into the city of Ai; lo, I have betaken into thine hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.

2 And thou shalt do to the city of Ai, and to the king thereof, as thou didest to Jericho, and the king thereof; soothly ye shall take to you the prey, and all [the] living beasts, set [or put] thou ambushes, either ambushments, to the city behind it.

3 And Joshua rose, and all the host of fighting men with him, for to go up into Ai; and by night he sent thirty chosen thousand of strong men;

4 and he commanded to them, and said, Set [or Put] ye ambushments behind the city, and go ye not further; and all ye shall be ready;

5 forsooth I, and the tother multitude which is with me, shall come on the contrary side against the city; and when they shall go out against us, as we did before, we shall flee, and turn the backs,

6 till they pursue us, and be drawn away further from the city; for they shall guess, that we shall flee them as we did before. Then while we shall flee, and while they pursue,

7 ye shall rise from the ambushments, and shall waste the city; and your Lord God shall betake it into your hands.

8 And when ye have taken it, burn ye it; do ye all things, as I have commanded to you.

9 And Joshua let them go, and they went to the place of [the] ambushments, and sat betwixt Bethel and Ai, at the west coast of the city of Ai. Forsooth Joshua dwelled in that night in the midst of the people.

10 And he rose early, and numbered his fellows, and he went up with the elder men in the front of the host, and was compassed with the help of fighters.

11 And when they had come, and had gone up against the city, they stood at the north coast of the city, betwixt the which city and them a valley was in the midst.

12 And Joshua had chosen five thousand men, and he had set them in [the] ambushments betwixt Bethel and Ai, in the west part of the same city.

13 And all the tother host dressed the battle array to the north, so [that] the last men of the multitude reached to the west coast of the city. Then Joshua went in that night, and stood in the midst of [the] valley;

14 and when the king of Ai had seen this, he hasted early, and went out with all the host of the city, and he dressed battle array against the desert; and he wist not that ambushments were hid behind his back.

15 Forsooth Joshua and all the multitude of Israel gave place, feigning dread, and fleeing by the way of wilderness;

16 and the men cried together, and with gladness stirred themselves together, and they pursued the men of Israel. And when they had gone away from the city,

17 and soothly not one had [or was] left in the city of Ai and Bethel, that pursued not Israel, and they left the cities open, as they had broken out,

18 the Lord said to Joshua, Raise up the shield [or the sword] that is in thine hand, against the city of Ai; for I shall give it to thee. And when Joshua had raised up his banner or the shield [or the sword] against the city of Ai,

19 the ambushments, that were hid, rose up anon; and they went to the city, and took [it], and burnt it.

20 Forsooth the men of the city, that pursued Joshua, beheld, and saw the smoke of the city ascend [or go up] till to heaven; and they might no more flee hither and thither; mostly since they that had feigned flight, and went to wilderness, withstood strongliest against the pursuers.

21 And Joshua saw, and all Israel, that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city went up; and he turned again, and killed the men of Ai.

22 And also those men that had taken and burnt the city, went out of the city against their enemies, and they began to smite the middle men of their enemies; and when their adversaries were slain behind and before, so that no man of so great [a] multitude was saved,

23 they took also the king of Ai living, and they brought him to Joshua.

24 Therefore, when all the men were slain, that pursued Israel fleeing to desert, and had fallen by sword in the same place, the sons of Israel turned again, and destroyed the city of Ai.

25 Forsooth they that felled down in the same day, from man till to woman, were twelve thousand of men, all men of the city of Ai.

26 For Joshua withdrew not his hand, which he had dressed on high holding up his banner or the shield [or the sword], till that all the dwellers of Ai were slain.

27 And the sons of Israel parted to themselves the work beasts, and the prey of the city, as the Lord com-manded to Joshua;

28 and Joshua burnt that city, and made it an everlasting burial.

29 And he hanged the king thereof in a gibbet, till to the eventide, and the going down of the sun. And Joshua commanded, and they putted down his dead body from the cross; and they casted forth him in that entering of the city, and gathered on him a great heap of stones, which heap dwelleth till into present day.

30 Then Joshua builded an altar to the Lord God of Israel in the hill of Ebal,

31 as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to the sons of Israel, and it is written in the book of Moses’ law, an altar of stones unpolished, that iron hath not touched. And he offered thereon burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and he offered also peaceable sacrifices;

32 and he wrote on the stones the Deuteronomy of Moses’ law, not all the book, but the ten behests only, which he had declared before the sons of Israel.

33 And all the people, and the greater men in birth, and dukes, and judges, stood on either side of the ark, in the sight of priests and deacons [or Levites], that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord; as a comeling, so and a man born in the land; the half part of them stood beside the hill Gerizim, and the half part of them stood beside the hill Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded. And Joshua first blessed the people of Israel.

34 And after these things he read all the words of blessing and of cursing, and all things that were written in the book of law.

35 Joshua left nothing untouched of these things that Moses commanded; but he declared all things before all the multitude of Israel, to women, and little children, and to comelings that dwelled among them.

CHAPTER 9

1 And when these things were heard, all the kings beyond Jordan, that dwelt in hilly places, and in plain places, in coasts of the sea, and in the brink of the great sea, and they that dwelt beside Lebanon, Hittite, and Amorite, Canaanite, and Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite,

2 were gathered together to fight against Joshua and Israel, with one will, and with the same accord.

3 And they that dwelt in Gibeon, heard all the things that Joshua had done to Jericho, and to Ai;

4 and they thought fellily or slyly, and took to themselves meats, and putted eld [or old] sackcloths on asses, and wine bottles broken, and sewed or patched,

5 and full eld [or old] shoes, the which were sewed together with old patches, to show their oldness; and these men were clothed with full old clothes; also the loaves, which they bare for lifelode in the way, were hard and broken into gobbets.

6 And they went to Joshua, that dwelled then in tents in Gilgal; and they said to him, and to all Israel together, We [have] come from a far land, and we covet to make peace with you.

7 And the men of Israel answered to them, and said, Lest peradventure ye dwell in the land, which is due to us by heritage, and we may not make bond of peace with you.

8 And they said to Joshua, We be thy servants. To whom Joshua said, What men be ye, and from whence came ye?

9 They answered, Thy servants came from a full far land in the name of thy Lord God; for we have heard the fame of his power, and all things which he did in Egypt,

10 and to the two kings of Amorites beyond Jordan; to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, that were in Ashtaroth.

11 And the elder men and all the dwellers of our land said to us, Take ye meats in your hands, for the full long way; and go ye to them, and say ye, We be your servants; make ye bond of peace with us.

12 And we took hot loaves, when we went out of our houses to come to you; now they be made dry and broken, for great eldness;

13 we filled new bottles of wine; now they be broken and unsewed; the clothes and shoes, with which we be clothed, and which we have on our feet, be broken and well-nigh wasted, from the length of long way.

14 Then they took of [the] meats of these men, and they asked not counsel of the Lord.

15 And Joshua made peace with them. And when the bond of peace was made, he promised, that they should not be slain; and the princes of the multitude swore to them.

16 And after three days of the bond of peace made, the men of Israel heard, that those men dwelled in nigh place, and that they should be soon among those men.

17 And the sons of Israel moved their tents, and came in the third day into the cities of them, of which cities these be the names; Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriathjearim.

18 And Israel destroyed not them, for the princes of the multitude had sworn to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Therefore all the common people grutched against the princes of Israel;

19 and the princes answered to them, We swore to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel, and therefore we may not touch them;

20 but we shall do this thing to them; be they kept that they live, lest the ire of the Lord be stirred against us, if we forswear us to them;

21 but so live they, that they hew trees, and bear waters, into the uses of all the multitude. And while they spake these things,

22 Joshua called Gibeonites, and said to them, Why would ye deceive us by fraud, that ye said, We dwell full far from you, since ye be in the midst of us?

23 Therefore ye shall be under cursing, and none shall fail of your generation, hewing trees and bearing waters, into the house of my God.

24 Which answered, It was told to us thy servants, that thy Lord God promised to Moses, his servant, that he should betake to you all the land, and should lose all the dwellers thereof; therefore we dreaded greatly, and purveyed to our lives, and we were compelled by your dread, and we took this counsel.

25 Now forsooth we be in thine hand; do thou to us that, that seemeth rightful [or right] and good to thee.

26 Therefore Joshua did, as he said, and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, that they should not be slain.

27 And in that day Joshua deemed them to be into the service of all the people, and of the altar of the Lord, and to hew trees, and to bear waters, till into present time, in the place which the Lord had chosen.

CHAPTER 10

1 And when Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard these things, that is, that Joshua had taken Ai, and had destroyed it; for as Joshua had done to Jericho and to the king thereof, so he did to Ai and to the king thereof; and that men of Gibeon had fled to Israel, and were bound in peace with them,

2  Adonizedek dreaded greatly; for Gibeon was a great city, and one of the king’s cities, and greater than the city of Ai, and all the fighters thereof were most strong.

3 Therefore Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, and to Piram, king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia, king of Lachish, and to Debir, king of Eglon, and said,

4 Ascend ye [or Go ye up] to me, and help me, that we fight against Gibeon, for it was yielded to Joshua, and to the sons of Israel.

5 Therefore five kings of Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, were gathered, and ascended [or went up] together with their hosts; and setted tents against Gibeon, and fought against it.

6 Soothly the dwellers of the city of Gibeon sent to Joshua, that dwelled then in tents at Gilgal, and said to him, Withdraw not thine hands from the help of thy servants; go up soon, and deliver us, and [bring] help; for all the kings of Amorites, that dwelled in the hilly places, came together against us.

7 And Joshua went up from Gilgal, and all the host of fighters with him, the most strong men.

8 And the Lord said to Joshua, Dread thou not them, for I have given them into thine hands; and none of them shall be able to against-stand thee.

9 Therefore Joshua felled suddenly on them, and went up all that night from Gilgal;

10 and the Lord troubled them from the face of Israel, and all-brake with great vengeance in Gibeon. And Joshua pursued them by the way of the ascending [or going up] of Bethhoron, and smote till to Azekah and Makkedah.

11 And when they fled the sons of Israel, and were in the going down of Bethhoron, the Lord sent great stones upon them from heaven, till they came to Azekah; and many more were dead by the hailstones, than they which the sons of Israel killed with sword.

12 Then Joshua spake to the Lord, in the day in which he betook Amorites in the sight of the sons of Israel; and Joshua said before the people, Sun, be thou not moved against Gibeon, and the moon, against the valley of Ajalon.

13 And the sun and the moon stood, unto the time the folk of God had avenged themselves of their enemies. Whether this is not written in the book of just [or rightwise] men? And so the sun stood in the midst of heaven, and it hasted not to go down in the space of a day;

14 so long a day was not before and afterward; for the Lord obeyed to the voice of a man, and he fought for Israel.

15 And Joshua turned again, with all Israel, into the tents of Gilgal.

16 For the five kings fled, and hid themselves in the den of the city of Makkedah.

17 And it was told to Joshua, that the five kings were found hid in the den of the city of Makkedah.

18 And Joshua commanded to fellows, and said, Wallow ye great stones to the mouth of the den, and put ye witting men, that shall keep the enclosed kings;

19 soothly do not ye stand, but pursue ye the enemies, and slay ye all the last of fleers; and suffer ye not them to enter into the strongholds of their cities, the which enemies your Lord God hath betaken in your hands.

20 Then when the adversaries were beaten with great vengeance, and were almost wasted unto the death, they that might flee Israel, entered into the strengthened cities.

21 And all the host turned again whole, and in whole number to Joshua, into Makkedah, where the tents were then; and no man was hardy to grutch against the sons of Israel.

22 And Joshua commanded, and said, Open ye the mouth of the den, and bring forth to me the five kings that be hid therein.

23 And the servants did, as it was commanded to them; and they brought forth to Joshua the five kings from the den; the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

24 And when they were led out to Joshua, he called all the men of Israel, and said to the princes of the host, that were with him, Go ye, and set [or putteth] your feet on the necks of these kings. And when they had gone, and treaded the necks of the kings subject to their feet,

25 again Joshua said to Israel, Do not ye dread, neither be ye afeared, be ye comforted, and be ye strong; for so the Lord shall do to all your enemies, against which ye shall fight.

26 And Joshua smote those kings, and killed them, and he hanged them on five trees; and they were hanged unto the eventide.

27 And when the sun went down, he commanded to fellows, that they should put them down from the gibbets; and when they were put down, they casted forth them into the den, in which they were hid; and they putted great stones on the mouth thereof, which stones dwell till to [the] present time.

28 In the same day, Joshua took Makkedah, and smote by the sharpness of sword, and killed the king thereof, and all the dwellers thereof; he left not therein, namely, little relics; and he did to the king of Makkedah, as he had done to the king of Jericho.

29 And Joshua passed with all Israel from Makkedah into Libnah, and he fought against it,

30 which city the Lord betook, with the king thereof, in the hand of Israel; and men of Israel smote that city by the sharpness of sword, and all the dwellers thereof, and they left not therein anything of value, or relics; and they did to the king of Libnah as they had done to the king of Jericho.

31 From Libnah, Joshua passed with all Israel, into Lachish; and when the host was ordained by compass, he fought against it.

32 And the Lord betook Lachish in the hand of the sons of Israel; and Joshua took Lachish in the second day, and smote by the sharpness of sword, and each man, that was therein, as he had done to Libnah.

33 In that time, Horam, king of Gezer, went up to help Lachish; whom Joshua smote, with all his people, till to [the] death.

34 And Joshua passed from Lachish into Eglon, and compassed it, and overcame it in the same day;

35 and he smote by the sharpness of sword all men that were therein, by all things that he had done to Lachish.

36 Also Joshua went up with all Israel from Eglon into Hebron, and he fought against Hebron,

37 and he took, and smote it by the sharpness of sword; and the king thereof, and all the cities of that country, and all men that dwelled therein; he left not any things of value, or relics, therein; as he had done to Eglon so he did also to Hebron, and wasted by sword all things that were therein.

38 From thence Joshua turned into Debir, and took, and wasted it;

39 and he smote by sharpness of sword the king thereof, and all the towns about it; and he left not any things of value, or relics, therein; as he had done to Hebron, and to Libnah, and to their kings, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof.

40 And so Joshua smote all the land of the hills [or all the mountain land], and of the south, and of the field, and Ashdod, with their kings; he left not therein any relics, but he killed all thing that might breath, as the Lord God of Israel commanded to him;

41 from Kadeshbarnea unto Gaza, and all the land of Goshen, unto Gibeon,

42 Joshua took, and wasted with one fierceness all the kings, and their countries; for the Lord God of Israel fought for him.

43 And Joshua turned again with all Israel to the place of tents in Gilgal.

CHAPTER 11

1 And when Jabin, king of Hazor, had heard these things, he sent to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph;

2 forsooth to the kings of the north, that dwelled in the hilly places [or mountains], and in the plain against the south of Chinneroth, and in the field places, and countries of Dor, beside the sea,

3 and to Canaanite from the east and west, and to Amorite, and Hittite, and Perizzite, and Jebusite in the mountains, and to Hivite, that dwelled at the roots of the hill of Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh.

4 And all went out with their companies, a full much people, as the gravel which is in the brink of the sea, and horses, and chariots, of great multitude.

5 And all these kings came together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, Dread thou not them, for tomorrow, in this same hour, I shall betake all these men to be wounded in the sight of Israel; thou shalt hock the horses of them, and thou shalt burn the chariots by fire.

7 And Joshua came, and all his host with him, against them suddenly, at the waters of Merom, and felled on them.

8 And the Lord betook them into the hands of Israel; which smited them, and pursued till to Great Sidon, and the waters of Misrephothmaim, and to the field of Mizpeh, which is at the east part thereof.

9 And Joshua smote so all them, that he left no things of them; and he did as the Lord commanded to him; he hocked their horses, and burnt their chariots.

10 And he turned again anon, and took Hazor, and smote by sword the king thereof; for Hazor held by eld [or old] time the princehood among all these realms.

11 And he smote all persons that dwelled there, he left not any relics therein, but he wasted all things till to death; also he destroyed that city by burning.

12 And he took all cities by compass, and the kings of them, and smote, and did away, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to him,

13 without [the] cities that were set in the great hills, and in [the] little hills [or hillocks]; and Israel burnt the other cities; flame wasted only one city, Hazor, the strongest.

14 And the sons of Israel parted to themselves all the prey, and the work beasts of these cities, when all the men of them were slain.

15 As the Lord commanded to his servant Moses, so Moses commanded to Joshua, and Joshua fulfilled all things; neither soothly he passed over one word of all the behests, that the Lord commanded to Moses.

16 And so Joshua took all the land of the hills, and of the south, [and] the land of Goshen, and the plain, and the west coast, and the hill of Israel, and the field places thereof;

17 and the part of the hill that ascendeth [or goeth up] to Seir till to Baalgad, by the plain of Lebanon under the hill of Hermon; Joshua took, and smote, and killed all the kings of those places.

18 Joshua fought much time against these kings;

19 there was no city, which betook not itself to the sons of Israel, except Hivites that dwelled in Gibeon; he took all men by battle.

20 For it was the sentence of the Lord, that the hearts of them should be made hard, and that they should fight against Israel, and should fall, and [they] should not deserve any mercy, and should perish, as the Lord commanded, to Moses.

21 Joshua came in that time, and killed Anakim, that is, giants, from the hilly places of Hebron, and of Debir, and of Anab, and from all the hill of Judah, and of Israel, and did away their cities.

22 He left not any man of the generation of Anakim in the land of the sons of Israel, without the cities of Gaza, and Gath, and Ashdod, in which alone they were left.

23 Then Joshua took all the land, as the Lord spake to Moses, and he gave it into possession to the sons of Israel, by their parts and lineages; and the land rested from battles.

CHAPTER 12

1 These be the kings which the sons of Israel have smitten, and wielded their lands, beyond Jordan, at the east, from the strand [or stream] of Arnon unto the hill of Hermon, and all the east coast that beholdeth the wilderness.

2 Sihon, the king of Amorites, that dwelled in Heshbon, was lord from Aroer, which is set on the brink of the strand [or stream] of Arnon, and of the middle part in the valley, and of half Gilead, till to the strand [or stream] of Jabbok, which is the term of the sons of Ammon;

3 and from the wilderness unto the sea of Chinneroth, against the east, and unto the sea of desert, which is the saltiest sea, at the east coast, in the way that leadeth to Bethjeshimoth, and from the south part that lieth under Ashdoth, unto Pisgah.

4 The term of Og, king of Bashan, of the relics of Rephaim, that is, giants, that dwelled in Ashtaroth and in Edrei,

5 and he was lord in the hill of Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, till to the terms of Geshurites and Maachathites, and of the half part of Gilead, and to the term of Sihon, king of Heshbon.

6 Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the sons of Israel, smited them; and Moses gave the land of them into possession to Reubenites, and to Gadites, and to half the lineage of Manasseh.

7 These be the kings of the land, which Joshua and the sons of Israel smited beyond Jordan, at the west coast, from Baalgad in the field of Lebanon, till to the hill whose part ascendeth [or goeth up] into Seir; and Joshua gave it into possession to the lineages of Israel, to each his own part,

8 as well in hilly places, as in plain and field places; in Ashtoreth, and in [the] wilderness, and in the south, was Hittites, and Amorites, Canaanites, and Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is at the side of Bethel, one;

10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;

11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;

20 the king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;

21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;

22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;

23 the king of Dor and of the province of Dor, one; the king of folks of Gilgal, one;

24 the king of Tirzah, one; all the kings, one and thirty.

CHAPTER 13

1 Joshua was eld [or old] and of great age; and the Lord said to him, Thou hast waxed eld, and art of long time; and the most large land is left, that is not yet parted by lot;

2 that is, all the terms of Philistines, and all Geshuri,

3 from the troubled flood that moisteth Egypt, till to the terms of Ekron against the north; the land of Canaan, which is parted into five little kings of Philistines, of Gaza, and of Ashdod, of Ashkelon, of Gath, and of Ekron. Forsooth at the south be Avites,

4 all the land of Canaan, and Mearah of Sidonians, till to Aphek, and to the terms of Amorites,

5 and the coasts of him; and the country of Lebanon against the east, from Baalgad, under the hill of Hermon, till thou enterest into Hamath,

6 of all men that dwelled in the hill, from the Lebanon till to the waters of Misrephothmaim, and all men of Sidon; I am, that shall do away them from the face of the sons of Israel; therefore come it into the part of heritage of Israel, as I commanded to thee.

7 And thou now part the land into possession to the nine lineages, and to the half lineage of Manasseh,

8 with which lineage Reuben, and Gad, wielded the land, which land Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to them beyond the flowings of Jordan, at the east coast;

9 from Aroer, that is set in the brink of the strand [or stream] of Arnon, in [the] midst of the valley, and all the field places of Medeba, unto Dibon,

10 and all the cities of Sihon, king of Amorites, that reigned in Heshbon, till to the terms of the sons of Ammon,

11 and of Gilead, and to the terms of Geshurites, and of Maachathites, and all the hill of Hermon, and all Bashan, till to Salcah;

12 all the realm of Og in Bashan, that reigned in Ashtaroth, and in Edrei; he was of the relics of Rephaim, that is, of giants; and Moses smote them, and did away them.

13 And the sons of Israel would not destroy Geshurites, and Maachathites; and they dwelled in the midst of Israel, till into [the] present day.

14 Soothly he gave not possession to the lineage of Levi, but [the] sacrifices, and [the] slain sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel; that is his heritage, as God spake to him.

15 Therefore Moses gave possession to the lineage of the sons of Reuben, by their kindreds;

16 and their term was from Aroer, that is in the brink of the strand [or stream] of Arnon, and in the middle valley of the same strand [or stream], all the plain also that leadeth to Medeba,

17 and to Heshbon, and all the towns of them, that be in the field places; and Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and the city of Bethbaalmeon,

18 and Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,

19 and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zarethshahar in the hill of the valley

20 of Bethpeor, and of Ashdothpisgah, and Bethjeshimoth;

21 all the field cities, and all the realms of Sihon, king of Amorites, that reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote, with his princes Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the dukes of Sihon, dwellers of the land.

22 And the sons of Israel killed by sword, Balaam, the false diviner, the son of Beor, with other men slain there.

23 And the term of the sons of Reuben was made the flood of Jordan; this is the possession of men of Reuben, by their kindreds, of cities and towns.

24 And Moses gave a possession to the lineage of Gad, and to his sons, by their kindreds, of the which possession this is the parting;

25  he gave the terms of Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and the half part of the land of the sons of Ammon, unto Aroer that is against Rabbah;

26 and from Heshbon unto Ramath of Mizpeh, and Betonim, and Mahanaim, unto the terms of Debir;

27 and in the valley he gave to them Betharam, and Bethnimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, that was the tother part of the realm of Sihon, the king of Heshbon; and the end of that term is Jordan, unto the last part of the sea of Chinnereth over Jordan, at the east coast.

28 This is the possession of the sons of Gad, by their meines, the cities and the towns of them.

29 Moses gave also possession to the half lineage of Manasseh, and to his sons, by their kindreds, of which possession this is the beginning;

30  he gave Mahanaim, and all Bashan, and all the realms of Og, king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, that be in Bashan, sixty cities;

31 and half the part of Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the realm of Og, king of Bashan; he gave to the sons of Machir, the sons of Manasseh, and to half the part of the sons of Machir, by their kindreds.

32 Moses parted this possession in the field places of Moab over Jordan, against Jericho, at the east coast.

33 Forsooth Moses gave no possession to the lineage of Levi; for the Lord God himself of Israel is the pos-session of the kindred of Levi, as the Lord said to him.

CHAPTER 14

1 This is the possession that the sons of Israel wielded in the land of Canaan, which land Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the princes of the meines of the lineages of Israel gave to them,

2 and these parted all things by lot, as the Lord commanded in the hand of Moses, to the nine lineages, and to the half lineage.

3 For Moses had given to the two lineages and to the half lineage possession over Jordan; without the Levites, that took nothing of the land among their brethren;

4 but the sons of Joseph were parted into two lineages, of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and were heirs into the place of them. And the Levites took none other part in the land, no but cities to dwell in, and the suburbs of those [or them] to their work beasts and their sheep to be fed in.

5 As the Lord commanded to Moses, so the sons of Israel did, and they parted the land.

6 And so the sons of Judah went to Joshua in Gilgal; and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of Kenaz, spake to him, Thou knowest, what the Lord spake to Moses, the man of God, of me and of thee in Kadeshbarnea.

7 I was of forty years, when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadeshbarnea, that I should behold the land, and I told to him that, that seemed sooth to me.

8 And my brethren, that went up with me, discomforted the heart of the people, and nevertheless I pursued [or followed] my Lord God.

9 And Moses swore in that day, and said, The land, that thy foot hath trodden, shall be thy possession, and of thy sons without end; for thou pursuedest [or hast followed] thy Lord God.

10 Soothly the Lord granted life to me, as he promised, till into present day. Forty years and five be, since the Lord spake this word to Moses, when Israel went through wilderness. Today I am of fourscore years and five,

11 and I am as mighty, as I was mighty in that time, when I was sent to espy; the strength of that time dwelleth stably in me till to this day, as well to fight, as to go.

12 Therefore give thou to me this hill, which the Lord promised to me, while also thou heardest, in which hill be Anakim, and great cities, and strengthened; if in hap the Lord is with me, and I may do them away, as he promised to me.

13 And Joshua blessed Caleb, and he gave to him Hebron into possession.

14 And from that time Hebron was of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of Kenaz, unto this present day; for he pursued [or followed] the Lord God of Israel.

15 The name of Hebron was called before Kiriatharba. Arba, the greatest, was set there in the land of Anakim; and the land ceased from battles.

CHAPTER 15

1 Then this was the part of the sons of Judah, by their kindreds; from the term of Edom till to the desert of Zin against the south, and till to the last part of the south coast,

2 the beginning thereof from the height of the saltiest sea, and from the arm thereof, that beholdeth to the south.

3 And it goeth out against the ascending [or going up] of Scorpion, and passeth into Zin; and it ascendeth [or went up] into Kadeshbarnea, and cometh into Hezron, and it ascendeth to Adar, and compasseth Karkaa;

4 and from thence it passeth into Azmon, and cometh to the strand [or stream] of Egypt; and the terms thereof shall be the great sea; this shall be the end of the south coast.

5 And from the east the beginning shall be the saltiest sea, unto the last parts of Jordan, and those parts that behold the north, from the arm of the sea unto the same flood of Jordan.

6 And the term ascendeth into Bethhogla, and passeth from the north into Betharabah; and it ascendeth to the stone of Bohan, [the] son of Reuben,

7 and it goeth unto the terms of Debir, from the valley of Achor against the north; and it beholdeth Gilgal, which is on the contrary part of the ascending [or going up] of Adummim, from the south part of the strand [or stream]; and it passeth the waters, that be called the well of the sun; and the outgoings thereof shall be to the well of Rogel.

8 And it goeth up by the valley of the son of Hinnom, by the side of Jebusites, at the south; this is Jerusalem; and from thence it up-raiseth itself to the top of the hill, that is against Hinnom at the west, in the height of the valley of Rephaim, against the north;

9 and it passeth forth from the top of the hill to the well of the water of Nephtoah, and it cometh unto the towns of the hill of Ephron; and it is bowed into Baalah, that is Kiriath-jearim, that is, the city of woods;

10 and it compasseth from Baalah against the west, unto the hill of Seir, and it passeth by the side of the hill of Jearim to the north in Chesalon, and it goeth down into Bethshemesh; and it passeth forth into Timnah,

11 and it cometh against the parts of the north by the side of Ekron; and it is bowed to Shicron, and it passeth the hill of Baalah; and it cometh into Jabneel,

12 and it is closed with the end of the great sea, against the west. These be the terms of the sons of Judah, by compass in their meines.

13 And Joshua gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, part in the midst of the sons of Judah, as the Lord commanded to him, this part called Kiriatharba, of the father of Anak; that is Hebron.

14 And Caleb did away from thence three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, of the generation of Anak.

15 And Caleb went up from thence, and he came to the dwellers of Debir, that was called before Kiriathsepher, that is, the city of letters.

16 And Caleb said, I shall give Achsah, my daughter, wife to him that shall smite Kiriathsepher, and shall take it.

17 And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, took the city: and Caleb gave Achsah, his daughter, wife to him.

18 And when she went together, her husband counselled her, that she should ask of her father a field; and she sighed, as she sat upon the ass; and Caleb said to her, What hast thou in thy mind?

19 And she answered, Give thou a blessing to me; thou hast given to me the south land and dry; join thou also thereto a moist land. And Caleb gave to her the moist land, above and beneath.

20 This is the possession of the lineage of the sons of Judah, by their meines.

21 And the cities from the last parts of the sons of Judah, beside the terms of Edom, from the south were these cities; Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,

22 Kinah, and Dimonah, Adadah,

23 and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan,

24 and Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,

25 and Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, Hezron, this is Hazor,

26 Amam, Shema, and Moladah,

27 and Hazargaddah, and Heshmon, Bethpalet,

28 and Hazarshual, and Beersheba, and Bizjothjah,

29 and Baalah, and Iim, and Azem,

30 and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,

31 and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,

32 Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon; all the cities, nine and twenty, and their towns.

33 And in the field places, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah,

34 and Zanoah, and Engannim, and Tappuah, and Enam,

35 and Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,

36 and Sharaim, Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities, and their towns;

37 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad,

38 Dilean, and Mizpeh, Joktheel,

39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,

40 Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,

41 and Gederoth, and Bethdagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities, and their towns, by name,

42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,

43 Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib,

44 and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mare-shah; nine cities, and their towns;

45 Ekron, with his towns and villages;

46 from Ekron till to the sea, all that go to Ashdod, and the towns thereof;

47 Ashdod with his towns and villages; Gaza with his towns and villages, till to the strand [or stream] of Egypt; and the great sea is the term thereof;

48 and in the hill, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh,

49 and Dannah, Kiriathsannah, this is Debir,

50 Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim,

51 Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities, and the towns of those [or them];

52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean,

53 and Janum, and Bethtappuah, and Aphekah,

54 Humtah, and Kiriatharba, this is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities, and their towns;

55 Maon, and Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

56 Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,

57 and Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities, and their towns;

58 Halhul, and Bethzur, and Gedor,

59 Maarath, and Bethanoth, and Eltekon; six cities, and their towns;

60 Kiriathbaal, this is Kiriathjearim, the city of woods, and Rabbah; two cities, and their towns;

61 in the desert, Betharabah, Middin, and Secacah,

62 Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and Engedi; six cities, and their towns; the cities were altogether an hundred and fifteen.

63 Soothly the sons of Judah might not do away Jebusites, the dweller of Jerusalem; and Jebusites dwelled with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem unto this present day.

CHAPTER 16

1 And the lot, either part, of the sons of Joseph felled from Jordan against Jericho, and to the waters thereof, from the east; is, the wilder-ness, that goeth up from Jericho to the hill of Bethel,

2 and it goeth out from Bethel into Luz, and it passeth the term of Archi to Ataroth,

3 and it goeth down to the west, beside the term of Japhleti, unto the terms of the lower Bethhoron, and of Gezer; and the countries thereof be ended with the great sea,

4 which countries Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph, wielded.

5 And the term of the sons of Ephraim, by their meines, and the possession of them was made against the east, Atarothaddar till to the higher Bethhoron.

6 And the coasts go out into the sea; for Michmethah beholdeth the north, and it compasseth the terms against the east in Taanathshiloh, and it passeth from the strand [or stream] of Janohah;

7 and it goeth down from Janohah into Atarothaddar, and into Naarath, and it cometh into Jericho; and it goeth out to Jordan

8 from Tappuah, and passeth against the sea into the valley of the place of reeds; and the goings out thereof be unto the saltiest sea. This is the possession [of the lineage] of the sons of Ephraim, by their meines;

9 and the cities and the towns of those [or them] be separated to the sons of Ephraim, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Manasseh.

10 And the sons of Ephraim killed not Canaanites, that dwelled in Gezer; and Canaanites dwelled tributary in the midst of Ephraim till to this day.

CHAPTER 17

1 Forsooth lot felled to the lineage of Manasseh, for he is the first engendered son of Joseph; lot felled to Machir, the first engendered son of Manasseh, to the father of Gilead, that was a warrior, and he had [the] possession Gilead and Bashan.

2 And lot felled to the others of the sons of Manasseh, by their meines; to the sons of Abiezer, and to the sons of Helek, and to the sons of Asriel, and to the sons of Shechem, and to the sons of Hepher, and to the sons of Shemida; these be the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the male children, by their meines.

3 But to Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, there were not sons, but daughters alone; of which these be the names, Mahlah, and Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 And they came in the sight of Eleazar, [the] priest, and of Joshua, [the] son of Nun, and of the princes, and said, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that possession should be given to us in the midst of our brethren. And Joshua gave to them possession, by the commandment of the Lord, in the midst of the brethren of their father.

5 And ten cords, that is, lands measured by ten cords, felled to Manasseh, without the land of Gilead and Bashan, beyond Jordan;

6 for the daughters of Manasseh wielded heritage in the midst of the sons of him. For the land of Gilead felled into the part of the sons of Manasseh, that were left alive.

7 And the term of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that beholdeth Shechem, and it goeth forth to the right side, beside the dwellers of the well Tappuah;

8 for the land of Tappuah, which is beside the terms of Manasseh, and of the sons of Ephraim, felled in the lot of Manasseh.

9 And the term of the valley of the place of reeds goeth down in the south of the strand [or stream] of the cities of Ephraim, that be in the midst of the cities of Manasseh. The term of Manasseh is from the north of the strand [or stream], and the going out thereof goeth to the sea;

10 so that the possession of Ephraim is from the south, and the possession of Manasseh is from the north, and the sea closeth ever either; and those possessions be joined to themselves in the lineage of Asher from the north, and in the lineage of Issachar from the east.

11 And the heritage of Manasseh was in Issachar and in Asher, Bethshean, and the towns thereof, and Ibleam, with his towns, and the dwellers of Dor, with their cities, and the dwellers of Endor, with their towns, and also the dwellers of Taanach, with their towns, and the dwellers of Megiddo, with their towns, and the third part of the city Naphath*.

12 And the sons of Manasseh might not destroy these cities, but Canaanites began to dwell in this land.

13 And after that the sons of Israel had waxed strong, they made subject Canaanites, and they made them tributaries to themselves, and they killed them not.

14 And the sons of Joseph spake to Joshua, and said, Why hast thou given to me land into possession of one lot and [one] part, since I am of so great multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me, that is, hath alarged me in children?

15 To whom Joshua said, If thou art a much people, go thou up into the wood, and cut down to thee spaces in the land of Perizzites, and of Rephaim, for the possession of the hill of Ephraim is strait to thee.

16 To whom the sons of Joseph answered, We may not ascend [or go up] to the hilly places, since Canaanites, that dwell in the land of the field, use iron chariots; in which land Bethshean, with his towns, and Jezreel, wielding the middle valley, be set.

17 And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, and of Ephraim, and of Manasseh, Thou art [a] much people, and of great strength; thou shalt not have one lot,

18 but thou shalt pass to the hill, and thou shalt cut down to thee trees; and thou shalt cleanse spaces to dwell in. And thou shalt be able to go forth further, when thou hast destroyed Canaanites, whom thou sayest to have iron chariots, and to be most strong.

CHAPTER 18

1 And all the sons of Israel were gathered in Shiloh, and there they setted fast [or pitched] the tabernacle of witnessing; and the land was subject to them.

2 And seven lineages of the sons of Israel dwelt there, that had not yet taken their possessions.

3 To the which Joshua said, How long fade ye, or wallow through sloth, and enter not to wield the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given to you?

4 Choose ye of each lineage three men, that I send them, and they go, and compass the land; and that they describe the land by the number of each multitude, and bring to me that, that ye have described.

5 Part ye the land to you into seven parts; Judah be in his terms at the south coast, and the house of Joseph at the north;

6 describe ye the middle land betwixt them into seven parts; and then ye shall come to me, that I send lot to you here before your Lord God;

7 for the part of Levites is not among you, but the priesthood of the Lord, this is the heritage of them. For Gad, and Reuben, and the half lineage of Manasseh, have taken now their possession beyond Jordan, at the east coast, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to them.

8 And when the men had risen up to go, to describe the land, Joshua commanded to them, and said, Compass ye the land, and describe it, and turn again to me, that I send lot to you here in Shiloh, before your Lord God.

9 And so they went forth, and compassed that land, and parted it into seven parts, writing it in a book; and they turned again to Joshua, into the tents in Shiloh.

10 And Joshua sent lots before the Lord God in Shiloh, and he parted the land to the sons of Israel, into seven parts.

11 And the first lot of the sons of Benjamin, by their meines, went up, that they should wield the land betwixt the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

12 And the term of them was against the north from Jordan, and it passed by the side of Jericho at the north coast; and it ascended from thence against the west to the hilly places, and it came to the wilderness of Bethaven;

13 and it passed beside Luz to the south; that is Bethel; and it goeth down into Atarothaddar, into the hill which is at the south of Lower Bethhoron;

14 and it is bowed, and it compasseth against the sea, at the south of the hill that beholdeth Bethhoron against the north; and the outgoings thereof be into Kiriathbaal, which is called also Kiriathjearim, the city of the sons of Judah; this is the great coast against the sea, at the west.

15 And from the south, by the part of Kiriathjearim, the term goeth out against the sea, and cometh till to the well of waters of Nephtoah;

16 and it goeth down into the part of the hill that beholdeth the valley of the sons of Hinnom, and it is against the north coast, in the last part of the valley of Rephaim; and Ge Hinnom, that is, the valley of Hinnom, goeth down by the side of Jebusites, at the south, and cometh to the well of Rogel,

17 and it passeth to the north, and it goeth out to Enshemesh, that is, the well of the sun, and it passeth unto the little hills that be against the ascending or going up of Adummim; and it goeth down to Even Bohan, that is, the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben,

18 and passed by the side of the north to the field places; and it goeth down into the plain,

19 and it passeth forth against the north to Bethhoglah; and the outgoings thereof be against the arm of the saltiest sea, from the north, and the end of Jordan is at the south coast,

20 which is the term thereof from the east. This is the possession of the sons of Benjamin, by their terms in compass, and by their meines;

21 and the cities thereof were Jericho and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22 Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,

23 and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24 the town of Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities, and their towns;

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27 and Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah,

28 and Zela, Eleph, and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kiriathjearim; fourteen cities, and their towns; this is the possession of the sons of Benjamin, by their meines.

CHAPTER 19

1 And the second lot of the sons of Simeon went out, by their meines; and the heritage of them, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Judah,

2 was Beersheba, and Sheba, and Moladah,

3 and Hazarshual, and Balah, and Azem,

4 and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,

5 and Ziklag, and Bethmarcaboth, and Hazarsusah,

6 and Bethlebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities*, and their towns;

7 Ain, and Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities, and their towns;

8 all the towns by compass of these cities, unto Baalathbeer Ramath, against the south coast, were seventeen cities. This is the heritage of the sons of Simeon, by their meines,

9 in the possession and part of the sons of Judah, for it was more; and therefore the sons of Simeon had possession in the midst of the heritage thereof.

10 And the third lot of the sons of Zebulun felled, by their meines; and the term of possession of the sons of Zebulun was made unto Sarid;

11 and it goeth up from the sea, and from Maralah; and it cometh into Dabbasheth, unto the strand [or stream] that is against Jokneam;

12 and it turneth again from Sarid, against the east, into the coasts of Chislothtabor; and it goeth out to Daberath; and it goeth up against Japhia;

13 and from thence it passeth forth to the east coast to Gittahhepher, and to Ittahkazin; and it goeth out into Remmonmethoar, and Neah;

14 and it compasseth to the north, and to Hannathon; and the goings out thereof be the valley of Jiphthahel,

15 and Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Bethlehem; twelve cities, and their towns.

16 This is the heritage of the lineage of the sons of Zebulun, by their meines, and these be the cities and their towns and villages.

17 The fourth lot went out to Issachar, by his meines;

18 and the heritage thereof was Jez-reel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,

19 and Haphraim, and Shihon, and Anaharath,

20 and Rabbith, and Kishion, Abez,

21 and Remeth, and Engannim, and Enhaddah, and Bethpazzez.

22 And the term thereof cometh unto Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Bethshe-mesh; and the outgoings thereof were Jordan; sixteen cities, and their towns.

23 This is the possession of the sons of Issachar, by their meines, the cities and the towns of those [or them].

24 And the fifth lot felled to the lineage of the sons of Asher, by their meines;

25 and the term of them was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,

26 and Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and it cometh till to Carmel of the sea, and Shihor, and Libnath;

27 and it turneth again, against the east, to Bethdagon; and it passeth unto Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphthahel, against the north, in[to] Bethemek, and Neiel; and it goeth out to the left side to Cabul,

28 and Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, unto Great Sidon;

29 and it turneth again into Ramah, unto the strongest city Tyre, and unto Hosah; and the outgoings thereof shall be into the sea, from the part of Achzib,

30 and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob; two and twenty cities, and their towns.

31 This is the possession of the sons of Asher, by their meines, and their cities, and their towns.

32 The sixth lot of the sons of Naphtali felled, by their meines;

33 and the term began from Heleph, and Allon, and Zaanannim, and Adami, which is Nekeb, and Jabneel, till to Lakum; and the outgoings of them till to Jordan;

34 and the term turneth again, against the west, into Aznoth of Tabor; and from thence it goeth out into Hukkok, and it passeth into Zebulun, against the south, and into Asher, against the west, and into Judah, at Jordan, against the rising of the sun;

35 of the strongest city Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, and Rakkath, Chinnereth,

36 and Adamah, and Ramah, Hazor,

37 and Kedesh, and Edrei, Enhazor,

38 and Iron, and Migdalel, Horem, and Bethanath, and Bethshemesh; nineteen cities, and their towns.

39 This is the possession of the lineage of the sons of Naphtali, by their meines, the cities, and the towns of those [or them].

40 The seventh lot went out to the lineage of the sons of Dan, by their meines;

41 and the term of the possession thereof was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh, that is, the city of the sun,

42 Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, and Jethlah,

43 Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron,

44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, and Baalath,

45 Jehud, and Beneberak, and Gath-rimmon,

46 and Mejarkon, and Rakkon, with the term that beholdeth Joppa, and is closed with that end.

47 And the sons of Dan went up, and fought against Leshem; and they took it, and they smote it by the sharpness of sword, and they had it in possession, and dwelled therein; and they called the name thereof Leshem Dan, by the name of Dan, their father.

48 This is the possession of the lineage of Dan, by their meines, the cities, and the towns of those [or them].

49 And when they had fulfilled to part the land by lot to all men by their lineages, the sons of Israel gave possession to Joshua, the son of Nun, in the midst of them,

50 by the commandment of the Lord, the city which he asked, Timnathserah, in the hill of Ephraim; and he builded the city, and dwelled therein.

51 These be the possessions which Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the princes of the meines, and of the lineages of the sons of Israel, parted by lot in Shiloh, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of witnessing; and they parted the land.

CHAPTER 20

1 And the Lord spake to Joshua, and said,

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and say thou to them, Separate ye the cities of fugitives, either of men exiled for unwillful shedding of blood, of which cities I spake to you by the hand of Moses,

3 that whoever slayeth unwittingly a man, flee to those cities; that when he hath fled to one of those cities, he may escape the ire [or wrath] of the neighbour, which is avenger of blood.

4 And he shall stand before the gates of the city, and he shall speak to the elder men of that city those things that shall prove him innocent; and so they shall receive him, and they shall give to him a place to dwell in.

5 And when the avenger of blood pursueth him, they of that city shall not betake him into the hands of the avenger; for unwittingly he killed his neighbour, and he is not proved his enemy before the second day either the third day.

6 And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before the doom, and yield, or show, the cause of his deed. And he that killed a man, dwell in that city, till the great priest die, which is in that time; then the manslayer shall turn again, and he shall enter into his city, and house, from which he fled.

7 And they ordained Kedesh in Galilee, of the hill of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill of Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, that is Hebron, in the hill of Judah.

8 And beyond Jordan, against the east coast of Jericho, they ordained Bezer, that is set in the field wilderness of the lineage of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the lineage of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, of the lineage of Manasseh.

9 These cities were ordained to all the sons of Israel, and to the comelings that dwell among them, that he that killed unwittingly a man, should flee to those cities; and he should not die in the hand of the neighbour, coveting to avenge the blood shed out, till he stood before the people, to declare his cause.

CHAPTER 21

1 And the princes of the meines of Levi nighed to Eleazar, the priest, and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the dukes of the kindreds, by all the lineages of the sons of Israel;

2 and they spake to them in Shiloh, a city of the land of Canaan, and they said, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us to dwell in, and the suburbs of those [or them] for our work beasts to be fed in.

3 And the sons of Israel gave of their possessions, by commandment of the Lord, cities and the suburbs of those [or them].

4 And the lot went out into the meine of Kohath, of the sons of Aaron, the priest, of the lineages of Judah, and of Simeon, and of Benjamin, thirteen cities;

5 and to the others of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the deacons [or Levites] that were left, of the lineages of Ephraim, and of Dan, and of the half lineage of Manasseh, ten cities.

6 And lot went out to the sons of Gershon, that they should take of the lineages of Issachar, and of Asher, and of Naphtali, and of the half lineage of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities in number;

7 and to the sons of Merari, by their meines, of the lineages of Reuben, and of Gad, and of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8 And the sons of Israel gave to the deacons [or Levites] cities, and their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses; and all gave by lot.

9 Of [the]possessions of the lineages of the sons of Judah, and of Simeon, Joshua gave cities;

10 to the sons of Aaron, by the meines of Kohath, of the kin of Levi, of the which cities these be the names; for the first lot went out to them;

11 Kiriatharba, of the father of Anak, which is called Hebron, in the hill of Judah, and the suburbs thereof by compass;

12 soothly he gave the fields and towns thereof to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, to have in possession.

13 Therefore Joshua gave to the sons of Aaron, the priest, Hebron, to be a city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof, and Libnah with his suburbs,

14 and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,

15 and Holon, and Debir,

16 and Ain, and Juttah, and Bethshe-mesh, with their suburbs; nine cities, of [the] two lineages, as it is said.

17 And of the lineage of the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,

18 and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs; four cities.

19 All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.

20 But to the others, by the meines of the sons of Kohath, of the kin of Levi, this possession was given; of the lineage of Ephraim,

21 the city of refuge, Shechem, with his suburbs, in the hill of Ephraim, and Gezer,

22 and Kibzaim, and Bethhoron, with their suburbs; four cities;

23 also of the lineage of Dan, El-tekeh, and Gibbethon,

24 and Aijalon, and Gathrimmon, with their suburbs; four cities;

25 soothly of the half lineage of Manasseh, Taanach and Gathrimmon, with their suburbs; two cities.

26 All the cities were ten, and their suburbs, that were given to the sons of Kohath, of the lower degree.

27 Also to the sons of Gershon, of the kin of Levi, Joshua gave of the half lineage of Manasseh, cities of refuge, Golan in Bashan, and Beeshterah, with their suburbs; two cities.

28 And of the lineage of Issachar, he gave Kishon, and Dabereh,

29 and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their suburbs; four cities.

30 Of the lineage of Asher, he gave Mishal, and Abdon,

31 and Helkath, and Rehob, with their suburbs; four cities.

32 Also of the lineage of Naphtali, he gave the city of refuge, Kedesh in Galilee, and Hammothdor, and Kartan, with their suburbs; three cities.

33 All the cities of the meines of Gershon were thirteen, with their suburbs.

34 Soothly to the sons of Merari, deacons [or Levites] of the lower degree, by their meines, was given Jokneam, of the lineage of Zebulun, and Kartah,

35 and Dimnah, and Nahalal; four cities, with their suburbs.

36 And of the lineage of Gad, he gave the city of refuge, Ramoth in Gilead, and Mahanaim,

37 and Heshbon, and Jazer; four cities, with their suburbs.

38 And of the lineage of Reuben, beyond Jordan, against Jericho, he gave the city of refuge, Bezer in the wilderness of Mizar, and Jahazah,

39 and Kedemoth, and Mephaath; four cities, with their suburbs.

40 All the cities given to the sons of Merari, by their meines and kindreds, were twelve.

41 And so all the cities of Levites, in the midst of [the] possession of the sons of Israel, were eight and forty, with their suburbs;

42 and all cities were parted by meines.

43 And the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore himself to give to their fathers, and they had it in possession, and dwelled therein.

44 And peace was given of the Lord into all nations about; and none of [the] enemies were hardy to withstand the sons of Israel, but all men were driven into their lordship.

45 Forsooth neither one word, that he promised himself to give to Israel, was void, but all his words were fulfilled in works.

CHAPTER 22

1 In the same time Joshua called the men of Reuben, and the men of Gad, and half the lineage of Manasseh,

2 and said to them, Ye have done all things which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you, also ye [have] obeyed to me in all things;

3 neither ye have left your brethren in much time till into present day, and ye kept the commandment of your Lord God.

4 Therefore for your Lord God hath given rest and peace to your brethren, as he promised, turn ye again, and go ye into your tabernacles, and into the land of your possession, which land Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to you beyond Jordan;

5 so only that ye keep busily, and [ful] fill in work the commandment and [the] law, which law Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you; that ye love your Lord God, and go in all his ways, and keep his behests, and cleave to him, and serve him in all your heart, and in all your soul.

6 And Joshua blessed them, and let them go, which turned again into their tabernacles.

7 Soothly Moses had given pos-session in Bashan to the half lineage of Manasseh; and therefore to the half lineage that was left [over], Joshua gave part among their other brethren beyond Jordan, at the west coast thereof. And when Joshua let them go into their tabernacles, and had blessed them,

8 he said to them, With much cattle and riches turn ye again to your seats; with silver and gold, and brass, and iron, and with much clothing; part ye the prey of [the] enemies with your brethren.

9 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half lineage of Manasseh turned again, and went from the sons of Israel from Shiloh, which is set in the land of Canaan, that they should enter into Gilead, the land of their possession, which they got by [the] commandment of the Lord in the hand of Moses.

10 And when they had come to the terms of Jordan, into the land of Canaan, they builded beside Jordan an altar of greatest sight.

11 And when the sons of Israel had heard this, and certain messengers had told to them, that the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and the half lineage of Manasseh, had builded an altar in the land of Canaan, on the heaps of Jordan, against the sons of Israel,

12 all they came together in Shiloh, that they should go up, and fight against them.

13 And in the meantime, they sent to them into the land of Gilead, Phinehas, the priest, the son of Eleazar,

14 and ten princes with him; of each lineage one prince.

15 The which came to the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and to the half lineage of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, and they said to them,

16 All the people of the Lord sendeth to you, these things; What is this trespassing? Why have ye forsaken the Lord God of Israel, and have builded a cursed altar, and have gone away from the worshipping of him?

17 Whether the sin of Peor is little to you, of which we be not clean till to this day, and many of the people felled down?

18 And today ye have forsaken the Lord, and tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, the ire [or wrath] of him shall be fierce against all Israel.

19 That if ye guess that the land of your possession is unclean, pass ye to the land, in which the tabernacle of the Lord is, and dwell ye among us, only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, by an altar builded beside the altar of our Lord God.

20 Whether not Achan, the son of Zerah, trespassed the commandment of the Lord, and his ire felled on all the people of Israel? And he was one man; and we would that he alone had perished in his trespass.

21 And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of half the lineage of Manasseh, answered to the princes of the message of Israel,

22 The strongest Lord God himself of Israel knoweth, and Israel shall understand altogether;

23 if we builded this altar for intent of trespassing, that is, of idolatry, the Lord keep not us, but punish he us in this present time; and if we did by that mind, that we should put thereon burnt sacrifice[s], and sacrifice, and peaceable sacrifices, he seek, and deem;

24 and not more, rather, we did it with this thinking and treating, that we should say thus, Your sons here-after shall say to our sons, What is to you and to the Lord God of Israel? or, What claim ye to be of his people?

25 O! ye sons of Reuben, and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a term, the flood Jordan, betwixt us and you; and therefore ye have no part in the Lord; and by this occasion your sons shall turn away our sons from the dread of the Lord.

26 Therefore we guessed better, and we said, Build we an altar to us, not into burnt sacrifices, neither to sacrifices to be offered,

27 but into witnessing betwixt us and you, and betwixt our children and your generation, that we serve the Lord, and that it be of our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices; and that your sons say not tomorrow to our sons, No part in the Lord is to you.

28 And if your sons will say this, our sons shall answer them, Lo! the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not into burnt sacrifices, neither into slain sacrifices, but into our and your witnessing everlasting.

29 Far be this trespass from us, that we go away from the Lord, and forsake his steps, by an altar builded to burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and sacrifices of praising to be offered thereon, besides the altar of the Lord our God, that is builded before his tabernacle.

30 And when these things were heard, Phinehas, [the] priest, and [the] princes of the message of Israel, that were with him, were pleased; and they received gladly the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the half lineage of Manasseh.

31 And Phinehas, the priest, the son of Eleazar, said to them, Now we know, that the Lord is with you; for ye be alien, or guiltless, from this trespassing, and ye have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand, or punishing, of the Lord.

32 And Phinehas turned again with the princes from the sons of Reuben and of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the coast of Canaan, to the sons of Israel; and he told these things to them.

33 And the word pleased to all men hearing it; and the sons of Israel praised God, and said, that they would no more ascend [or go up] against them, and fight, and do away the land of their possession.

34 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar, which they had builded, Our Witnessing that the Lord Himself is God.

CHAPTER 23

1 And when much time was passed after that the Lord had given peace to Israel, and when all nations about were subjected; and when Joshua was now of long life, and of full eld [or old] age,

2 Joshua called all Israel, and the greater men in birth, and the princes, and dukes, and masters, and he said to them, I have elded, and I am of full great age;

3 and ye behold all things which your Lord God hath done to all nations about, how he hath fought for you.

4 And now for he hath parted to you by lot all the land, from the east part of Jordan unto the great sea, and many nations be left yet,

5 your Lord God shall destroy them, and he shall take them away from your face; and ye shall wield their land, as he promised to you.

6 Only be ye comforted, and be ye busy, that ye keep all things that be written in the book of Moses’ law, and bow ye not away from those things, neither to the right side, neither to the left side,

7 lest after that ye have entered to the heathen men, that shall be among you, ye swear in the name of their gods, and serve those gods, and worship them.

8 But cleave ye to your Lord God, the which thing ye have done unto this day;

9 and then the Lord God shall do away in your sight great folks, and strongest; and none shall be able to against-stand you.

10 One of you shall pursue a thousand men of enemies, for your Lord God shall fight for you, as he hath promised.

11 Be ye ware before most diligently of this thing only, that ye love your Lord God.

12 That if ye will cleave to the errors of these folks that dwell among you, and will meddle [or mingle] marriages with them, and couple friendships,

13 know ye right now, that the Lord your God shall not do away them before your face, but they shall be to you into a ditch, and into a snare, and into hurting of your side, and into stakes in your eyes, till your Lord God take away you, and destroy you from this best land, which he gave to you.

14 Lo! I enter today into the way of all earth, for soon I shall die, as each man shall; and ye shall know with all soul, that of all [the] words which the Lord promised himself to give to you, not one passed by in vain.

15 Therefore as he [ful] filled in work that, that he promised, and all things befelled by prosperity, so he shall bring on you whatever thing of evils he menaced [or threatened], till he take away you, and destroy [you] from this best land, which he gave to you.

16 For ye brake the covenant of your Lord God, which he made with you, and served alien gods, and worship-ped them, soon and swiftly the strong vengeance of the Lord shall rise onto you; and ye shall be taken away from this best land, which he gave to you.

CHAPTER 24

1 And Joshua gathered all the lineages of Israel into Shechem; and he called the greater men in birth, and the princes, and judges, and masters; and they stood in the sight of the Lord.

2 And Joshua spake thus to the people, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Your fathers dwelled at the beginning beyond the flood Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nachor, and they served alien gods.

3 Therefore I took your father Abraham from the coasts of Mesopotamia, and I brought him into the land of Canaan; and I multiplied his seed, and I gave Isaac to him;

4 and again, I gave to Isaac, Jacob, and Esau; of which I gave to Esau the hill of Seir, to have in possession; and Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt with many signs and wonders, and I led you

6 and your fathers out of Egypt. And ye came to the Sea, and Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots, and multitude of knights, unto the Red Sea.

7 And the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, and he put darknesses betwixt you and [the] Egyptians; and he brought the sea on them, and covered them. Your eyes have seen all things, which I did in Egypt. And ye dwelled in wilderness much time.

8 And I brought you into the land of Amorites, that dwelled beyond Jordan; and when they fought against you, I betook them into your hands, and ye had their land in possession, and ye killed them.

9 And Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, rose, and fought against Israel; and he sent, and called Balaam, the son of Beor, that he should curse you.

10 And I would not hear him, but on the contrary by Balaam I blessed you, and I delivered you from the hands of Balak.

11 And ye passed [over] Jordan, and came to Jericho; and men of that city fought against you, Amorites, and Perizzites, and Canaanites, Hittites, and Girgashites, and Hivites, and Jebusites; and I betook them into your hands.

12 And I sent flies with venomous tongues before you, and I casted them out of their places; I killed [the] two kings of Amorites, not in thy sword, nor in thy bow.

13 And I gave to you the land in which ye travailed not, and cities which ye builded not, that ye should dwell in those, and vineries, and places of olive trees, which ye planted not.

14 Now therefore dread ye the Lord, and serve ye him with perfect heart and most true; and do ye away the gods, to which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 But if it seemeth evil to you, that ye serve the Lord, choosing is given to you; choose ye to you today that, that pleaseth, whom ye owe most to serve; whether to gods, which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, whether to the gods of Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; forsooth I, and mine house, shall serve the Lord.

16 And all the people answered, and said, Far be it from us that we forsake the Lord, and serve alien gods.

17 Our Lord God himself led us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage, and did great signs in our sight; and he kept us in all the way, by which we went, and in all peoples, by which we passed;

18 and he casted out all folks, Amorites, the dwellers of the land, into which we entered. Therefore we shall serve the Lord, for he is our Lord God.

19 And Joshua said to the people, Ye may not serve the Lord; for God is holy, and a strong fervent lover, and he forgiveth not your trespasses and sins.

20 If ye forsake the Lord, and serve alien gods, the Lord shall turn himself from you, and he shall torment, and destroy you, after that he hath given good things to you.

21 And the people said to Joshua, It shall not be so, as thou speakest, but we shall serve the Lord.

22 And Joshua said to the people, Ye be witnesses, that ye have chosen the Lord to you, that ye serve him. And they answered, We be witnesses.

23 Therefore, he said, now do ye away alien gods from the midst of you, and bow ye your hearts to the Lord God of Israel.

24 And the people said to Joshua, We shall serve the Lord our God, and we shall be obedient to his behests.

25 Therefore Joshua smote a bond of peace in that day, and setted forth to the people commandments and dooms in Shechem.

26 And he wrote all these words in the book of God’s law. And he took a great stone, and putted it under an oak, that was in the saintuary of the Lord.

27 And he said to all the people, Lo! this stone shall be to you into witnessing, that ye [have] heard all the words of the Lord, which he spake to you, lest peradventure ye would deny afterward, and lie to your Lord God.

28 And Joshua let the people go, each man into his possession.

29 And after these things Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, an hundred years eld and ten.

30 And they buried him in the coasts of his possession, in Timnath of Serah, which is set in the hill of Ephraim, from the north part of the hill Gaash.

31 And Israel served the Lord in all the days of Joshua, and of the elder men, that lived long time after Joshua, and which elder men knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done in Israel.

32 Also the bones of Joseph, the which the sons of Israel bare from Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in a part of the field, the which field Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for an hundred young sheep; and that field was into possession of the sons of Joseph.

33 Also Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, died; and Phinehas and his sons buried him in Gibeah, which was given to him in the hill of Ephraim.

* CHAPTER 1:12 The tribe of Manasseh divided in two after the defeat of Sihon and Og; one half settled on the east side of the Jordan River, and the other half on the west side.

* CHAPTER 5:9 ‘Gilgal’ sounds like the Hebrew for ‘removed’ or ‘taken away’. Good News Bible

* CHAPTER 17:11 The Hebrew meaning of this phrase, ‘and the third part of the city Naphath’, is unclear; other possibilities include: ‘even the three countries, or regions’, ‘even the three heights’, and ‘and the third is Naphath, that is, the hills of Dor’.

* CHAPTER 19:6 In verse 2, the Hebrew text adds, ‘and Sheba’, making fourteen cities.

2ND SAMUEL

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2ND SAMUEL

CHAPTER 1

1 And it was done, after that Saul was dead, that David turned again from the slaying of Amalek, and he dwelled two days in Ziklag.

2 And in the third day a man appeared, coming from the tents of Saul with a cloth rent, and his head sprinkled with dust; and as he came to David, he felled upon his face, and worshipped or honoured him.

3 And David said to him, From whence comest thou? And he said to David, I fled from the tents of Israel.

4 And David said to him, What is the word that is done there; show thou to me. And he said, The people of Israel hath fled from the battle, and many of the people felled, and be dead; but also Saul, and Jonathan, his son, have perished.

5 And David said to the young man, that told to him, Whereof knowest thou, that Saul is dead, and Jonathan, his son?

6 And the young man said, that told to him, By hap I came into the hill of Gilboa, and Saul leaned upon his spear; and chariots and horsemen nighed to him;

7 and he turned behind his back, and saw me, and called. To whom when I had answered, I am present;

8 he said to me, Who art thou? And I said to him, I am a man of Amalek.

9 And he spake to me, Stand thou upon me, and slay me; for anguishes hold me, and yet all my life is in me.

10 And I stood upon him, and I slew him; for I knew that he might not live after the falling; and I took the diadem, that was on his head, and the bie from his arm, and I have brought them hither to thee, my lord.

11 Forsooth David took and rent his clothes, and [all] the men that were with him;

12 and they wailed, and wept, and fasted till to eventide, on Saul, and Jonathan, his son, and on the people of the Lord, and on the house of Israel, for they had felled by sword.

13 And David said to the young man, that told to him, Of whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a man comeling, of a man of Amalek.

14 And David said to him, Why dreadest thou not to send thine hand, that thou shouldest slay the christ of the Lord?

15 And David called one of his children or young men, and said, Go thou, and fall on him. And he smote that young man, and he was dead.

16 And David said to him, Thy blood be on thine head; for thy mouth spake against thee, and said, I killed the christ or the anointed of the Lord.

17 Forsooth David bewailed such a wailing on Saul, and on Jonathan, his son;

18 and he commanded, that they should teach the sons of Judah the bow, that is, the craft of shooting, as it is written in the Book of Just Men.

19 And David said, Israel, behold thou, for these that be dead, be wounded on thine high places; the noble men of Israel be slain upon thine hills. How have fallen [the] strong men?

20 do not ye tell this in Gath, neither tell ye in the way-lots of Askelon; lest peradventure the daughters of Philis-tines be glad, lest the daughters of uncircumcised men joy.

21 Hills of Gilboa, neither dew, neither rain come upon you, neither be they the fields of first fruits; for the shield of strong men was cast away there, the shield of Saul, as if he had not been anointed with oil.

22 Of the blood of slain men, of the fatness of strong men, the arrow of Jonathan went never aback, and the sword of Saul turned not again void.

23 Saul and Jonathan, amiable, and fair in their life, were not parted also in their death; they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

24 Daughters of Israel, weep ye on Saul, that clothed you with fine red, and in other delights, that gave golden ornaments to your attire.

25 How have strong men fallen down in battle? Jonathan was slain in the high places.

26 I make sorrow upon thee, my brother Jonathan, full fair and amiable more than the love of women; as a mother loveth her only son, so I loved thee.

27 How therefore felled down strong men, and arms of battle perished?

CHAPTER 2

1 Therefore after these things David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up into one of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go thou up. And David said to the Lord, Whither shall I go up? And the Lord answered to him, Into Hebron.

2 Therefore David went up, and his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

3 But also David led the men that were with him, each man with his house; and they dwelled in the towns of Hebron.

4 And the men of Judah came, and anointed there David, that he should reign upon the house of Judah. And it was told to David, that [the] men of Jabesh of Gilead had buried Saul.

5 Therefore David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh of Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, that did this mercy with your lord Saul, and buried him.

6 And now soothly the Lord shall yield to you mercy and truth, but also I shall yield thanking, for ye did this word.

7 Your hands be comforted, and be ye the sons of strength; for though your lord Saul is dead, nevertheless the house of Judah hath anointed me king to him.

8 Forsooth Abner, the son of Ner, prince of the host of Saul, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and led him about by the castles [or tents],

9 and made him king on Gilead, and on Ashurites, and on Jezreel, and on Ephraim, and on Benjamin, and on all Israel.

10 Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was of forty years, when he began to reign upon Israel; and he reigned two years. Soothly the house alone of Judah pursued [or followed] David.

11 And the number of days, by which David dwelled reigning in Hebron on the house of Judah, was of seven years and six months.

12 And Abner, the son of Ner, went out, and the children or young men of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, from the castles [or tents] in[to] Gibeon.

13 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the children of David, went out, and they came to them beside the cistern of Gibeon. And when they had come together into one place even against either other, these sat on one part of the cistern, and they on the tother.

14 And Abner said to Joab, The children rise, and play before us*. And Joab answered, Rise they up.

15 Then they rose up, and passed forth twelve in number of Benjamin, of the part of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul; and twelve of the servants of David.

16 And each man, when he had taken his fellow by the head, fixed his sword into the side of his adversary; and they felled down together. And the name of that place was called The Field of Men Slain Together, in Gibeon.

17 And full hard battle rose in that day; and Abner and the sons of Israel were driven away of the servants of David.

18 Forsooth three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was a full swift runner, as one of the caprets that dwell in woods.

19 And Asahel pursued Abner, and he bowed neither to the right side, nor to the left side, ceasing to pursue Abner.

20 Therefore Abner beheld behind his back, and said, Whether thou art Asahel? Which answered, I am.

21 And Abner said to him, Go thou to the right side, either to the left side; and take one of the young men, and take to thee his spoils. But Asahel would not cease, that not he pursued him.

22 And again Abner spake to Asahel, Go thou away; do not thou pursue me, lest I be compelled to pierce thee into the earth, and I shall not be able to raise then my face to Joab, thy brother.

23 And Asahel despised to hear, and would not bow away. Therefore Abner smote him with the spear turned away, that is, turned against him, in the share-bone, that is, behind the maw, in the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced [him] through, and he was dead in the same place; and all men that passed by the place, in which place Asahel felled down, and was dead, stood still.

24 And while Joab and Abishai pursued Abner fleeing, the sun went down; and they came to the little hill of a water conduit, that is even against the valley, and the way of desert in Gibeon.

25 And the sons of Benjamin were gathered to Abner, and they were gathered together into one company, and they stood in the height of an heap of earth.

26 And Abner cried to Joab, and said, Whether thy sword shall be fierce unto slaying? Whether thou knowest not, that despair is perilous? How long sayest thou not to the people, that it cease to pursue his brethren?

27 And Joab said, The Lord liveth, for if thou haddest spoken thus early, the people pursuing his brother had gone away.

28 And Joab sounded with a clarion, and all the host stood still; and they pursued no further Israel, neither began battle.

29 And Abner and his men went from thence by the field places of Moab in all that night, and they passed [over] Jordan; and when all Bithron was compassed, they came to the castles [or tents].

30 And when Abner was left off, Joab turned again, and gathered together all his people; and ten men and nine, besides Asahel, failed of the servants of David.

31 Forsooth the servants of David smited of Benjamin, and of the men that were with Abner, three hundred men and sixty, which also were dead.

32 And they took Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem. And Joab, and the men that were with him, went in all that night, and in that morrowtide they came into Hebron.

CHAPTER 3

1 Therefore a long strife was made betwixt the house of David and the house of Saul; and David profited and ever[more] was stronger than himself, in comparison of time passed, for his power increased ever, but the house of Saul decreased each day.

2 And sons were born to David in Hebron; and his first begotten son was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel;

3 and after him was Chileab, of Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel; and the third was Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;

4 and the fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; and the fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital;

5 and the sixth was Ithream, of Eglah, the wife of David. These were born to David in Hebron.

6 Therefore when battle was betwixt the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner, the son of Ner, governed the house of Saul.

7 And to Saul was a concubine, that is, a secondary wife, Rizpah by name, the daughter of Aiah; and Abner entered [in] to her. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why hast thou entered [in] to the concubine of my father?

8 And Abner was wroth greatly for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Whether I am the head of a dog against Judah today, and I have done mercy on the house of Saul, thy father, and on his brethren, and neighbours, and I betook not thee into the hands of David, and thou hast sought in me that, that thou shouldest reprove for a woman today?

9 God do these things to Abner, and add these things to him, no but as the Lord swore to David, so I do with him,

10 that the realm be translated from the house of Saul, and the throne of David be raised on Israel and on Judah, from Dan till to Beersheba.

11 And Ishbosheth might not answer anything to Abner, for he dreaded Abner.

12 Therefore Abner sent messengers to David, and they said for him, Whose is the land? and that the messengers should speak thus, Make thou friend-ships with me, and mine hand shall be with thee, and I shall bring all Israel to thee.

13 And David said, Best, I shall make friendships with thee; but I ask of thee one thing, and say, Thou shalt not see my face, before that thou bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, and so thou shalt come, and shalt see me.

14 Therefore David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and said, Yield thou my wife Michal, whom I espoused to me for an hundred prepuces of Philistines.

15 Therefore Ishbosheth sent, and took her from her husband, Phaltiel, the son of Laish;

16 and her husband pursued [or followed] her, and wept till to Bahurim. And Abner said to him, Go thou, and turn again; and he turned again.

17 Also Abner brought in a word to the elder men of Israel, and said, Both yesterday and the third day ago ye sought David, that he should reign upon you.

18 Now therefore do ye; for the Lord spake to David, and said, In the hand of my servant David I shall save my people Israel from the hand of Philistines, and of all his enemies.

19 And also Abner spake to Benjamin; and he went, that he should speak to David, in Hebron, all things that pleased Israel and all Benjamin.

20 And he came to David, in Hebron, with twenty men. And David made a feast to Abner, and to the men that came with him.

21 And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, that I gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and that I make bond of peace with thee, and that thou reign on all, as thy soul desireth. Therefore when David had led forth Abner, and he had gone in peace,

22 anon the children of David and Joab came with a full great prey, when the thieves were slain; and Abner was not then with David, in Hebron, for David had let him go, and he went forth in peace.

23 And Joab, and the hosts that were with him, came afterward; therefore it was told to Joab of tellers, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and the king let him go, and he went forth in peace.

24 And Joab entered to the king, and said, What hast thou done? Lo! Abner came to thee; why lettest thou him go, and he went, and departed from thee?

25 Knowest thou not Abner, the son of Ner, for hereto he came to thee, that he should deceive thee, and that he should know thy going out and thine entering, and should know all things which thou doest?

26 Therefore Joab went out from David, and sent messengers after Abner; and led him again from the cistern of Sirah, while David knew not.

27 And when Abner had come again into Hebron, Joab led him asides half to the middle of the gate, that he should speak to him in guile; and he smote Abner there in the share-bone, and he was dead, into vengeance of the blood of his brother Asahel.

28 That when David had heard this thing done, he said, I am clean, and my realm, with God into without end from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner;

29 and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, and a man holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and a man having need to bread.

30 Therefore Joab, and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner, for he had slain Asahel, their brother, in Gibeon, in battle.

31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that was with him, Rend ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye before the hearses, either dirge, of Abner. Forsooth king David pursued [or followed] the bier.

32 And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David raised his voice, and wept on the burial of Abner; and certainly all the people wept.

33 And the king bewailed, and be-mourned Abner, and said, Abner, thou diedest not as dreadful men, either cowards, be wont to die.

34 Thine hands were not bound, and thy feet were not grieved with stocks, but thou hast fallen down, as men be wont to fall before the sons of wicked-ness. And all the people doubled together, and wept on him.

35 And when all the multitude came to take meat with David, while the day was yet clear, David swore, and said, God do to me these things, and add these things too, if I shall taste bread, either any other thing, before the going down of the sun.

36 And all the people heard this; and all things which the king did in the sight of all the people pleased them;

37 and all the common people and all Israel knew in that day, that it was not done of the king, that Abner, the son of Ner, was slain.

38 Also the king said to his servants, Whether ye know not, that the prince and the greatest hath fallen down today in Israel?

39 And I am yet tender, and anointed king; and these sons of Zeruiah be hard to me; the Lord yield to him that doeth evil after his malice.

CHAPTER 4

1 And Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard that Abner had fallen down in Hebron; and his hands were discomfort-ed, and all Israel was troubled.

2 And two men, princes of companies, were to the son of Saul; name to the one was Baanah, and name to the tother was Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin; for also Beeroth is areckoned in Benjamin.

3 And men of Beeroth fled into Gittaim; and they were comelings there till to that time.

4 And a son feeble in his feet was to Jonathan, the son of Saul; and he was five years eld [or old], when the messenger came from Saul and Jonathan, from Jezreel, telling that they were dead. Therefore his nurse took him, and fled; and when she hasted to flee, she felled down, and the child was made lame; and the name of the child was Mephibosheth.

5 Therefore Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, came, and entered in the hot day into the house of Ishbosheth, that slept upon his bed at midday; and the woman that kept the doors of the house, who had been purging wheat, now slept fast.

6 And they came till to the midst of the house, and took wheat; and Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, smote Ishbo-sheth in the share-bone, and fled.

7 Soothly when they had entered into the house, he slept on his bed in a bed-closet; and they smited and killed him; and when they had taken [off] his head, they went by the way of desert in all that night.

8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David, in Hebron, and they said to the king, Lo! the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, that sought thy life; and the Lord hath given today to our lord the king vengeance of Saul, and of his seed.

9 And David answered to Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, and said to them, The Lord liveth, that hath delivered my life from all anguish,;

10 for I held him that told to me, and said, Saul is dead, which man guessed himself to tell prosperities, and I killed him in Ziklag, to whom it behooved me give meed for his message;

11 how much more now, when wicked men have slain a guiltless man in his house upon his bed, shall I not seek his blood of your hand, and shall not I do away you from the earth?

12 Therefore David commanded to his servants, and they killed them; and they cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them over the cistern in Hebron. Forsooth they took the head of Ishbosheth, and they buried it in the sepulchre of Abner, in Hebron.

CHAPTER 5

1 And all the lineages of Israel came to David, in Hebron, and said, Lo! we be thy bone and thy flesh.

2 But also yesterday and the third day ago, when Saul was king upon us, thou leddest out, and leddest again Israel; forsooth the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be duke upon Israel.

3 Also and the elder men of Israel came to the king, into Hebron; and king David smote with them bond of peace in Hebron, before the Lord; and they anointed David into king upon Israel.

4 David was a son of thirty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years

5 in Hebron; he reigned upon Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years upon all Israel and Judah.

6 And the king went, and all [the] men that were with him, into Jerusalem, to Jebusites, the dwellers of the land. And it was said of them to David, Thou shalt not enter hither, no but thou do away blind men and lame, saying, David shall not enter hither.

7 Forsooth David took the tower of Zion; this is the city of David.

8 For David had purposed in that day to have given meed to him, that had smitten Jebusites, and that had touched the gutters of the house roofs, and that had taken away lame men and blind, hating the life of David. Therefore it is said in common speech, A blind man and a lame shall not enter into the temple.

9 And David dwelled in the tower, and called it the city of David; and he builded by compass from Millo, and within.

10 And he entered profiting, and increasing; and the Lord God of hosts was with him.

11 Also Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and craftsmen of wood, and craftsmen of stones to make walls; and they builded the house of David.

12 And David knew, that the Lord had confirmed him king upon Israel, and that he had enhanced his realm upon his people Israel.

13 Therefore David took yet more concubines, and wives of Jerusalem, after that he came from Hebron; and also other sons and daughters were born to David.

14 And these be the names of them that were born to him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

15 and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

16 and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

17 Then the Philistines heard, that they had anointed David king upon Israel, and all the Philistines went up to seek David. And when David had heard this, he went down into a stronghold.

18 And the Philistines came, and they were spread abroad in the valley of Rephaim.

19 And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up to Philistines, and whether thou shalt give them into mine hand? And the Lord said to David, Go thou up, for I shall betake the Philistines, and I shall give them into thine hand.

20 Therefore David came into Baal-perazim, and smote them there, and said, The Lord hath parted mine enemies before me, as waters be parted. Therefore the name of that place was called Baalperazim, that is, The Field, either Plain, of Parting.

21 And they left there their sculptures, or their images, which David burnt, and his men.

22 And [the] Philistines added yet, that they should ascend [or go up], and they were spread abroad in the valley of Rephaim.

23 And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up against the Philistines, and whether thou shalt betake them into mine hands? And the Lord answered, Thou shalt not go up against them, but compass thou them behind their back, and thou shalt come to them on the contrary side of the pear trees.

24 And when thou shalt hear the sound of cry going in the tops of pear trees, then thou shalt begin battle; for then the Lord shall go out before thy face, that he smite the tents of Philistines.

25 Therefore David did as the Lord commanded to him; and he smote the Philistines from Geba till they came to Gazer.

CHAPTER 6

1 Forsooth David gathered again all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

2 And David rose, and went, and all the people that was with him of the men of Judah, to bring the ark of God, on which the name of the Lord of hosts, sitting in cherubim on that ark, was called.

3 And they putted [or put] the ark of God on a new wain, and they took it from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new wain.

4 And when they had taken it from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah, and kept the ark of God, Ahio went before the ark.

5 And David and all Israel played before the Lord, in all treen instruments of melody, and in harps, and citoles, and tympans, and trumps, and cymbals.

6 Forsooth after that they came to the cornfloor of Nachon, Uzzah held forth his hand to the ark of God, and held it, for the oxen kicked, and bowed it.

7 And the Lord was wroth by indignation against Uzzah, and smote him on the folly; and he was dead there beside the ark of God.

8 And David was sorry, for the Lord had slain Uzzah; and the name of that place was called The Smiting of Uzzah till into this day.

9 And David dreaded the Lord in that day, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord enter to me?

10 And he would not turn [aside] the ark of the Lord to himself into the city of David, but he turned it [aside] into the house of Obededom of Gath.

11 And the ark of the Lord dwelled in the house of Obededom of Gath three months; and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his house.

12 And it was told to king David, that the Lord had blessed Obededom, and all his things, for the ark of God. And David said, I shall go, and bring the ark with blessing into mine house. Therefore David went, and brought the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with joy.

13 And when they, that bare the ark of the Lord, had gone six paces, they offered an ox and a ram.

14 And David smote in organs fastened to his arm; and he danced with all his strengths before the Lord; and David was clothed with a linen surplice.

15 And David, and all the house of Israel, led forth the ark of [the] testament or of [the] witnessing of the Lord in hearty song, and in sound of trump.

16 And when the ark of the Lord had entered into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, beheld by a window, and she saw the king skipping or hopping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and setted [or put] it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle, which tabernacle David had made therefore or had made ready thereto; and David offered burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices before the Lord.

18 And when David had ended those [or them], and had offered burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

19 And he gave to all the multitude of Israel, as well to man as to woman, to each a cake of bread, and one part roasted of bugle flesh, and flour of wheat fried with oil; and all the people went forth, each into his house.

20 And David turned again to bless his house, and Michal, the daughter of Saul, went out into the coming of David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself before the handmaids of his servants, and he was made naked, as if one of the knaves had been made naked?

21 And David said to Michal, The Lord liveth, for I shall play, or I shall dance, before the Lord, that chose me rather than thy father, and rather than all the house of him, and commanded to me, that I should be duke on the people of the Lord of Israel; and I shall play,

22 and I shall be made more vile than I am yet made, and I shall be meek in mine eyes, and I shall appear more glorious with those handmaidens, of which thou hast spoken.

23 Therefore a son was not born to Michal, the daughter of Saul, till into the day of her death.

CHAPTER 7

1 Forsooth it was done, when king David had sat in his house, and the Lord had given rest to him on each side from all his enemies,

2 he said to Nathan the prophet, Seest thou not, that I dwell in an house of cedar, and the ark of God is put in the midst of skins?

3 And Nathan said to the king, Go thou, and do all thing that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee.

4 And it was done in that night, and lo! the word of the Lord, was made to Nathan, [saying],

5 Go thou, and speak to my servant David, The Lord saith these things, Whether thou shalt build to me an house to dwell in?

6 Soothly I have not dwelled in an house from the day in which I led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt till into this day; but I have gone in a tabernacle and in a tent,

7 by all places, to which I passed with all the sons of Israel? Whether I speaking spake to anyone of the lineages of Israel, to whom I commanded, that he should feed my people Israel, and said, Why builded-est thou not an house of cedar to me?

8 And now thou shalt say these things to my servant David, The Lord of hosts saith these things, I took thee from [the] pastures following flocks, that thou shouldest be duke on my people Israel,

9 and I was with thee in all things, wherever thou hast gone, and I have killed all thine enemies from thy face, and I have made to thee a great name, by the name of great men that be in earth;

10 and I shall set a place to my people Israel, and I shall plant him, and I shall dwell with him, and he shall no more be troubled, and the sons of wickedness shall not add to, that they torment him as before,

11  like they did from the day in which I ordained judges upon my people Israel; and I shall give rest to thee from all thine enemies. And the Lord before-saith to thee, that he shall make an house to thee;

12 and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou hast slept with thy fathers, that is, when thou hast died, I shall raise up thy seed after thee, which shall go out of thy womb, and I shall make steadfast his realm.

13 He shall build an house to my name, and I shall make stable the throne of his realm till into without end;

14 I shall be to him into a father, and he shall be to me into a son; and if he shall do anything wickedly, I shall chastise him in the rod of men, and in the wounds of the sons of men.

15 Forsooth I shall not do away my mercy from him, as I did it away from Saul, whom I removed from my face.

16 And thine house shall be faithful, and thy realm shall be till into without end before my face, and thy throne shall be steadfast continually.

17 By all these words, and by all this revelation, so Nathan spake to David.

18 Forsooth David the king entered into the tabernacle, and he sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

19 But also this is seen little in thy sight, my Lord God; no but thou shouldest speak also of the house of thy servant into long time. For this is the law of Adam, Lord God;

20 what therefore may David add yet, that he speak to thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant;

21 thou hast done all these great things, for thy word, and by thine heart, so that thou madest those known to thy servant.

22 Therefore, Lord God, thou art made great, for none is like thee, nor there is no God except thee, in all things which we have heard with our ears.

23 Soothly what folk in earth is as the people of Israel, for which the Lord God went, that he should again-buy it to him into a people, and should set to himself a name, and should do to it great things, and horrible, on [the] earth, in casting out thereof the folks, and gods thereof, from the face of thy people, which thou again-boughtest to thee from Egypt?

24 And thou hast confirmed to thee thy people Israel into a people ever-lasting, and thou, Lord, art made into God to them.

25 Now therefore, Lord God, raise up without end the word that thou hast spoken upon thy servant, and upon his house, and do as thou hast spoken;

26 and thy name be magnified or be made great till into without end, and be it said, The Lord of hosts is God upon Israel; and the house of thy servant David shall be stablished before the Lord;

27 for thou, Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast made revelation to the ear of thy servant, and saidest, I shall build an house to thee; therefore thy servant hath found by his heart, that he should pray thee by this prayer.

28 Now therefore, Lord God, thou art very God, and thy words shall be true; for thou hast spoken these good things to thy servant;

29 therefore begin thou, and bless the house of thy servant, that it be into without end before thee; for thou, Lord God, hast spoken these things, and through thy blessing the house of thy servant shall be blessed without end.

CHAPTER 8

1 And it was done after these things, David smote the Philistines, and made low them; and David took away the bridle of tribute from the hand of Philistines.

2 And David smote Moab, and meted them with a cord, and he made them even to the earth; forsooth he meted them by two cords, one to slay, and one to quicken. And Moab served David under tribute.

3 And David smote Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went forth to be lord over the flood Euphrates.

4 And when a thousand and seven hundred horsemen of his part were taken, and twenty thousand of foot-men, David hocked all [the] drawing beasts in chariots; but David left of those [or them] an hundred chariots, that is, the horses of an hundred chariots.

5 Also Syrians of Damascus came, that it should bear help to Hadadezer, king of Zobah; and David smote of Syrians two and twenty thousand of men.

6 And David setted [or put] a strong-hold in Syria of Damascus, and Syria was made serving David under tribute. And the Lord kept David in all things, to whatever things he went forth.

7 And David took golden armours and bies, which the servants of Hadadezer had, and he brought those [or them] into Jerusalem.

8 And of Betah, and of Berothai, the cities of Hadadezer, David [the] king took full much brass.

9 Forsooth Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer.

10 And Toi sent Joram, his son, to king David, that he should greet him, and thank, and do thankings, for he had overcome Hadadezer, and had smitten him; for Toi was enemy of Hadadezer; and vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass were in his hand.

11 And the same vessels king David hallowed to the Lord, with the silver and gold, which he had hallowed of all heathen men, which he had made subject

12 of Syria, and of Moab, and of the sons of Ammon, and of Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoils of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 Also David made to him a name, when he turned again when Syria was taken, for eighteen thousand men were slain in the valley, where salt was made, and in Helam, to three and twenty thousand*.

14 And he setted keepers in Idumea, and ordained [a] stronghold, and all Idumea was made serving to David; and the Lord kept David in all things, to whatever things he went forth.

15 And David reigned upon all Israel, and David did doom, and rightwise-ness to all his people.

16 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the host of David; and Jehosha-phat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder;

17 and Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Seraiah was a scribe.

18 But Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over Cherethites and Pelethites, that is, over archers and arrowblasters; and the sons of David were priests.

CHAPTER 9

1 And David said, Whether any man is, that is left of the house of Saul, that I do mercy with him for Jonathan?

2 And there was a servant, Ziba by name, of the house of Saul; whom when the king had called to himself, the king said to him, Whether thou art not Ziba? And he answered, I am thy servant.

3 And the king said, Whether any man liveth of the house of Saul, that I do with him the mercy of God? And Ziba said to the king, A son of Jonathan liveth, feeble in the feet.

4 And the king said, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Lo! he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.

5 Therefore king David sent, and took Jonathan’s son from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.

6 And when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, [the] son of Saul, had come to David, he felled into his face, and worshipped. And David said, Mephibosheth! And he answered, I am present, thy servant.

7 And David said to him, Dread thou not, for I doing shall do mercy to thee for Jonathan, thy father; and I shall restore to thee all the fields of Saul, thy father, and thou shalt eat bread in my table ever[more].

8 Which worshipped him, and said, Who am I, thy servant, for thou hast beheld on a dead dog like me?

9 Therefore the king called Ziba, the child of Saul; and said to him, I have given to the son of thy lord all things, whichever were of Saul, and all the house of him;

10 therefore work thou the land to him, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants, and thou shalt bring in meats to the son of thy lord, that he be fed; but Mephibosheth, the son of thy lord, shall eat ever bread on my board. And fifteen sons and twenty servants were to Ziba.

11 And Ziba said to the king, As thou, my lord the king, hast commanded to thy servant, so thy servant shall do; and Mephibosheth, as one of the sons of the king, shall eat on thy board.

12 And Mephibosheth had a little son, Micha by name; and all the family of the house of Ziba served Mephibosheth.

13 And Mephibosheth dwelled in Jerusalem; for he ate continually of the king’s board, and was crooked, or halt, on either foot.

CHAPTER 10

1 Forsooth it was done after these things, that Nahash, [the] king of the sons of Ammon, died; and Hanun, his son, reigned for him,.

2 And David said, I shall do mercy with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father did mercy with me. There-fore David sent comforting to him by his servants on the death of the father. And when the servants of David had come into the land of the sons of Ammon,

3 the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, their lord, Guessest thou, that for the honour of thy father David hath sent comforters to thee; and not rather therefore David sent his servants to thee, that he should espy, and ensearch the city, and destroy it?

4 Therefore Hanun took the servants of David, and shaved half the part of the beard of them, and he cutted away the middle clothes of them, till to the buttocks; and let them go.

5 And when this was told to David, he sent into the coming of them, for the men were shamed full vilely. And David commanded to them, Dwell ye in Jericho, till your beard waxed, and then turn ye again.

6 And the sons of Ammon saw, that they had done wrong to David, and they sent, and hired with meed of Bethrehob of Syria, and of Zoba of Syria, twenty thousand of footmen, and of king Maacah, a thousand men, and of Ishtob, twelve thousand of men.

7 And when David had heard this, he sent Joab, and all the host of fighters.

8 Therefore the sons of Ammon went out, and dressed battle array before them in the entering of the gate. And Zoba, and Rehob of Syria, and Ishtob, and Maacah, were asides half in the field.

9 Therefore Joab saw, that the battle was made ready against him, both even against him and behind his back; and he chose to himself of all the chosen men of Israel, and ordained battle array against Syrians.

10 Forsooth he betook to Abishai, his brother, the tother part of the people, which dressed battle array against the sons of Ammon.

11 And Joab said, If men of Syria have the mastery against me, thou shalt be to me into help; and if the sons of Ammon have the mastery against thee, I shall help thee;

12 be thou a strong man, and fight we for our people, and for the city of our God; for the Lord shall do that, that is good in his sight.

13 Therefore Joab and the people that was with him, began battle against men of Syria, which fled anon from his face.

14 And the sons of Ammon saw, that [the] men of Syria had fled; and they fled also from the face of Abishai, and entered into the city; and Joab turned again from the sons of Ammon, and came into Jerusalem.

15 And [the] men of Syria saw that they had fallen before Israel, and they were gathered together.

16 And Hadadezer* sent, and led out [the] men of Syria that were beyond the flood, and he brought forth the host of them; and Shobach, [the] master of the chivalry of Hadadezer, was the prince of them.

17 And when this was told to David, he drew together all Israel, and he passed over Jordan, and came into Helam. And [the] men of Syria dressed battle array against David, and fought against him.

18 And Syrians fled from the face of Israel; and David killed of the Syrians the men in seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand of horsemen; and he smote Shobach, the prince of the chivalry, the which was dead anon.

19 And all the kings, that were in help of Hadadezer, saw that they were overcome of Israel, and they made peace with Israel, and served them; and the Syrians dreaded to give help to the sons of Ammon.

CHAPTER 11

1 And it was done, when the year turned again, in that time in which kings be wont to go forth to battles, David sent forth Joab, and with him his servants, and all Israel; and they destroyed the sons of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah; and David dwelled in Jerusalem.

2 While these things were done, it befelled, that David rose in a day from his bed after midday, and walked in the solar of the king’s house; and he saw a woman washing herself even against him upon her solar; and the woman was full fair.

3 Therefore the king sent, and inquired, what woman it was; and it was told to him that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, and she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

4 Then by messengers sent, David took her; and when she entered to him, he slept with her, and anon she was hallowed from her uncleanness*. And she turned again into her house,

5 with a child conceived; and she sent, and told to David, and said, I have conceived.

6 And David sent to Joab, and said, Send thou Uriah the Hittite to me; and Joab sent Uriah to David.

7 And Uriah came to David; and David asked, how rightfully Joab did and the people, and how the battle was administered, or served.

8 And David said to Uriah, Go into thine house, and wash thy feet. [And] Uriah went out from the house of the king, and the king’s meat pursued [or followed] him.

9 Soothly Uriah slept before the gate of the king’s house with other servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

10 And it was told to David of men, saying, Uriah went not to his house. And David said to Uriah, Whether thou camest not from the way? why wentest thou not down into thine house?

11 And Uriah said to David, The ark of God, [and] Israel, and Judah dwell in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord dwell upon the face of the earth, and shall I go into mine house, to eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By thine health, and by the health of thy soul, I shall not do this thing.

12 Therefore David said to Uriah, Dwell thou here also today, and tomorrow I shall deliver thee. Uriah dwelled in Jerusalem in that day, and the tother.

13 And David called him, that he should eat and drink before him, and David made drunken Uriah; and he went out in the eventide, and slept in his bed with the servants of his lord; and went not down into his house.

14 Therefore when the morrowtide was made, David wrote [an] epistle to Joab, and sent by the hand of Uriah,

15 and wrote in the epistle, Put ye Uriah even against the battle, where the battle is strongest, that is, where the adversaries be strongest, and forsake ye him, that he be smitten and perish.

16 Therefore when Joab besieged the city, he setted [or put] Uriah in the place where he knew that strongest men were.

17 And [the] men went out of the city, and fought against Joab, and they killed of the people of the servants of David, and also Uriah the Hittite was dead there.

18 Therefore Joab sent, and told all the words of the battle;

19 and he commanded to the mes-senger, and said, When thou hast fulfilled all the words of the battle to the king,

20 if thou seest, that he is wroth, and saith, Why nighed ye to the wall to fight? whether ye knew not, that many darts, or arrows, be sent out from the wall above?

21 who smote Abimelech, the son of Jerubbesheth? whether not a woman sent on him a gobbet of a millstone from the wall, and killed him in Thebez? why nighed ye beside the wall? thou shalt say, Also thy servant, Uriah the Hittite, died.

22 Therefore the messenger went, [and came], and told to David all things which Joab had commanded to him.

23 And the messenger said to David, [The] Men had the mastery against us, and they went out to us into the field; and with great fierceness we pursued them unto the gate of the city.

24 And [the] archers sent darts to thy servants from the wall above, and some of the king’s servants be dead; and also thy servant, Uriah the Hittite, is dead.

25 And David said to the messenger, Thou shalt say these things to Joab, This thing break not thee; for the hap of battle is diverse, and sword wasteth now this man, [and] now that man; comfort thy fighters against the city, that thou destroy it, and stir or excite thou them.

26 And the wife of Uriah heard, that Uriah her husband was dead, and she bewailed him.

27 And when the mourning was passed, David sent, and brought her into his house; and she was made wife to him, and she childed a son to him. And this word or thing that David had done displeased before the Lord.

CHAPTER 12

1 Therefore the Lord sent Nathan to David; and when he had come to David, he said to him, Answer thou a doom to me; two men were in one city; one man was rich, and the tother was poor.

2 The rich man had full many sheep, and oxen;

3 and the poor man had utterly nothing, except one little sheep, which he had bought, and nourished, and which had waxed at or with him, and with his sons, and ate together of his bread, and drank of his cup, and slept in his bosom; and it was as a daughter to him.

4 But when a pilgrim came to this rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, that he should make a feast to that pilgrim, that came to him; and he took the sheep of the poor man, and prepared meats to the man that came to him.

5 Certainly David was full wroth with indignation against that man, and he said to Nathan, The Lord liveth, for the man that did this thing is the son of death, that is, is worthy of death, for the hideousness of the deed;

6 he shall yield the sheep into four-fold, for he did this word, and spared not.

7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art that man, that hast done this thing. The Lord God of Israel saith these things, I anointed thee into king on Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul,

8 and I gave to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord in thy bosom, and I gave to thee the house of Israel, and of Judah; and if these things be little, I shall add to thee much greater things.

9 Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, that thou didest evils in my sight? Thou hast killed by sword Uriah the Hittite, and thou hast taken his wife into wife to thee, and thou hast slain him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

10 Wherefore a sword shall not go away from thine house till into with-out end; for thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite, that she should be thy wife.

11 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall raise upon thee the evil of thine house, and I shall take thy wives in thine eyes or thy sight, and I shall give them to thy neigh-bour, and he shall sleep with thy wives in the eyes of this sun.

12 For thou hast done thy sin privily; forsooth I shall do this word in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of this sun.

13 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned to the Lord. And Nathan said to David, Also the Lord hath turned away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

14 Nevertheless for thou hast made [the] enemies to blaspheme the name of the Lord, for this word the child that is born to thee shall die by death.

15 And Nathan turned again into his house. And the Lord smote the little child, whom the wife of Uriah childed to David, and he despaired.

16 And David prayed to the Lord for the little child; and David fasted by fasting, and entered asides half, and lay on the earth.

17 And the elder men of his house came, and constrained him, that he should rise up from the earth; and he would not, neither he ate meat with them.

18 And it befelled in the seventh day, that the young child died; and the servants of David dreaded to tell to him, that the little child was dead; for they said, Lo! while the little child lived yet, we spake to him, and he heard not our voice; how much more, if we say the child is dead, he shall torment himself?

19 Therefore when David had heard his servants speaking privily, either muttering, he understood that the young child was dead; and he said to his servants, Whether the child is dead? Which answered to him, He is dead.

20 Therefore David rose up from the earth, and was washed, and anointed; and when he had changed his clothes, he entered into the house of the Lord, and worshipped, and came into his house; and he asked, that they should set bread to him, and he ate.

21 And his servants said to him, What is the word that thou hast done? Thou hast fasted, and wept for the young child, while he lived yet; but when the child was dead, thou risedest or hast risen up, and atest bread?

22 And David said, I fasted and wept for the young child, when he lived yet; for I said, Who knoweth, if per-adventure the Lord give him to me, and the young child live?

23 But now for he is dead, why fast I? whether I shall be able to again-call him more? I shall go more to him, but he shall not turn again to me.

24 And David comforted Bathsheba, his wife; and he entered [in] to her, and slept with her. And she engendered a son, and David called his name Solomon; and the Lord loved him.

25 And he sent him in the hand of Nathan, the prophet; and he called his name Amiable to the Lord, for the Lord loved him.

26 Then Joab fought against Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, and he fought against the king’s city.

27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and the city of waters shall be taken.

28 Now therefore gather thou the tother part of the people, and besiege thou the city, and take thou it, lest when the city is wasted of me, the victory be areckoned to my name.

29 Therefore David gathered together all the people, and he went forth against Rabbah; and when he had fought against that city, he took it.

30 And he took the diadem of the king of them* from his head, by weight [of] a talent of gold, and having precious pearls; and it was put on the head of David; but also David bare away full much prey of the city.

31 And he led forth the people thereof, and sawed them, and did about them iron instruments of torment, and parted with knives, and led over by the likeness of tilestones; so he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David turned again, and all his host, into Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 13

1 And it was done after these things, that Amnon, the son of David, loved the fairest sister, Tamar by name, of Absalom, the son of David.

2 And Amnon perished greatly for her, so that he was sick for her love. For since she was a virgin, it seemed hard to him, that he should do any-thing unhonestly with her.

3 But there was a friend to Amnon, Jonadab by name, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David; and Jonadab was a full prudent [or a full sly] man.

4 Which said to Amnon, Son of the king, why art thou made feeble so by leanness, by all days? why showest thou not to me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.

5 And Jonadab answered to him, Lie thou on thy bed, and feign thou sickness; and when thy father cometh, that he visit thee, say thou to him, I pray, come Tamar, my sister, that she give meat to me, and make a stew, that I eat it of her hand.

6 Therefore Amnon lay down, and feigned to be sick. And when the king had come to visit him, Amnon said to the king, I beseech, come Tamar, my sister, that she make two suppings before my eyes, and that I take of her hand the meat made ready.

7 Therefore David sent to the house of Tamar, and said, Come thou into the house of Amnon, thy brother, and make thou a stew to him.

8 And Tamar came into the house of Amnon, her brother. And he lay down; and she took meal, and mixed together, and made moist before his eyes, and seethed [the] suppings;

9 and she took that, that she had sodden, and poured it out, and set it before him, and he would not eat. And Amnon said, Put ye out all men from me. And when they had put out all men,

10 Amnon said to Tamar, Bear the meat into the bed-closet, that I eat of thine hand. Therefore Tamar took the suppings which she had made, and brought in to Amnon, her brother, in the bed-closet.

11 And when she had proffered the meat to him, he took her, and said, Come thou, my sister, lie thou with me.

12 And she answered to him, My brother, do not thou, do not thou oppress me, for this is not leaveful in Israel; do not thou do this folly.

13 For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as one of the unwise men in Israel; but rather speak thou to the king, and he shall not deny me to thee.

14 Soothly he would not assent to her prayers; but he was stronger in mights, and oppressed her, and lay with her.

15 And then, with full great hatred Amnon hated her, so that the hatred was greater, by which he hated her, than the love by which he loved her before. And Amnon said to her, Rise thou, and go.

16 And she answered to him, This evil is more which thou doest now against me, and puttest me out, than that, that thou didest before. And he would not hear her;

17 but when the child was called, that ministered to him, he said, Put thou out this woman from me, and close thou the door after her.

18 And she was clothed with a coat down to the heel; for the king’s daughters who were virgins used such clothes. Then the servant of Amnon put her out, and closed the door after her.

19 And she sprinkled ashes onto her head, and when her long coat was rent, and her hands put on her head, she went entering [in] and crying.

20 And Absalom, her brother, said to her, Whether Amnon, thy brother, hath lain with thee? But now, sister, be still; he is thy brother, and torment thou not thine heart for this thing. Therefore Tamar dwelled mourning in the house of Absalom, her brother.

21 Forsooth when king David had heard these words, he was full sorry, and he would not make sore the spirit of Amnon, his son; for he loved Amnon, for he was his first begotten son.

22 And Absalom spake not to Amnon, neither evil nor good; for Absalom hated Amnon, for he had defouled Tamar, his sister.

23 And it was done after the time of two years, that the sheep of Absalom were shorn in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim. And Absalom called all the sons of the king.

24 And he came to the king, and said to him, Lo! the sheep of thy servant be shorn; I pray, come the king with his servants to his servant.

25 And the king said to Absalom, Do not thou, my son, do not thou pray, that all we come, and charge thee. And when he constrained David, and he would not go, he blessed Absalom.

26 And Absalom said to David, If thou wilt not come, I beseech thee, come namely Amnon, my brother, with us. And the king said to him, It is no need, that he go with thee.

27 Therefore Absalom constrained him; and he delivered with him Amnon, and all the sons of the king.

28 And Absalom had made a feast as the feast of a king. And Absalom [had] commanded to his children, and said, Espy ye, when Amnon is drunken of wine, and when I say to you, Smite ye, and slayeth him. Do not ye dread, for I am that command to you; be ye strengthened, and be ye strong men.

29 Therefore the children of Absalom did against Amnon, as Absalom had commanded to them; and all the sons of the king rose up, and ascended [or went] each upon his mule, and fled.

30 And when they went yet in the way, the fame came thereof to the king, and it was said, Absalom hath slain all the sons of the king, and namely not one is left of them.

31 Therefore the king rose up, and rent his clothes, and felled down on the earth; and all his servants that stood nigh to him, rent their clothes.

32 But Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, brother of David, answered and said, My lord the king, guess thou not, that all the young men, and sons of the king, be slain; Amnon alone is dead, for he was set in hatred to Absalom, from the day in which he oppressed Tamar, his sister.

33 Now therefore, my lord the king, set not this word on his heart, and say, All the sons of the king be slain; for Amnon alone is dead.

34 Forsooth Absalom fled. And a child, espyer, raised [up] his eyes, and beheld, and lo! much people came by a way out of the common way, by the side of the hill.

35 And Jonadab said to the king, Lo! the sons of the king come; after the word of thy servant, so it is done.

36 And when he had ceased to speak, also the sons of the king appeared; and they entered, and raised up their voice, and wept; but also the king and all his servants wept with full great weeping.

37 Forsooth Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. Therefore David bewailed his son Amnon in many days.

38 Forsooth Absalom, when he had fled, and had come into Geshur, was there three years.

39 And [king] David ceased to pursue Absalom, for he was comforted upon the death of Amnon.

CHAPTER 14

1 Forsooth Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood, that the heart of the king was turned to Absalom;

2 and he sent to Tekoah, and took from thence a wise woman, and he said to her, Feign thee to mourn, and be thou clothed with a cloth of dole, and be thou not anointed with oil, that thou be as a woman by mourning now in full much time a dead man.

3 And thou shalt enter to the king, and thou shalt speak to him such manner words. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 Therefore when the woman of Tekoah had entered to the king, she felled before him on the earth, and worshipped, and said, O! king, keep thou me.

5 And the king said to her, What hast thou of cause? And she answered, Alas! I am a woman widow, for mine husband is dead;

6 and twain [or two] sons were of thine handmaid, which debated against themselves in the field, and none was that might forbid them, and the one smote the tother, and killed him.

7 And lo! all the kindred riseth against thine handmaid, and saith, Give thou him to us that killed his brother, that we slay him, for the life of his brother whom he killed, and that we do away the heir; and they seek to quench my spark that is left, that the name dwell not to mine husband, and that remnants be not to him on earth.

8 And the king said to the woman, Go into thine house, and I shall command for thee.

9 And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord the king, this wicked-ness be on me, and on the house of my father; forsooth the king and his throne be innocent or guiltless.

10 And the king said, Bring thou him to me, that against-saith thee, and he shall no more add to, that he touch thee.

11 And she said, The king have mind on his Lord God, and the next kins-men of blood to take vengeance be not multiplied, and they shall not slay my son. And the king said, The Lord liveth, for none of the hairs of thy son shall fall upon the earth.

12 Therefore the woman said, Thine handmaid speak a word to my lord the king. And the king said, Speak thou.

13 And the woman said, Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? and the king spake this word, that he do sin, and bring not again his son who is cast out?

14 All we die, and as waters that shall not turn again, we slide into the earth; and God will not that a soul perish, but he withdraweth, and thinketh, lest he perish utterly, which is cast away.

15 Now therefore come thou, that I speak to my lord the king this word, while the people is present; and thine handmaid said, I shall speak to the king, if in any manner the king do the word of his handmaid.

16 And the king heard the words, that he should deliver his handmaid from the hands of all men, that would do away me, and my son together, from the heritage of the Lord.

17 Therefore thine handmaid say, that the word of my lord the king be made as sacrifice, that is, that the sentence given of him be pleasant to God, as sacrifice pleaseth God; for as an angel of the Lord, so is my lord the king, that he be not moved by blessing neither by cursing. Wherefore and thy Lord God is with thee.

18 And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide thou not from me the word which I ask thee. And the woman said to him, Speak thou, my lord the king.

19 And the king said, Whether the hand of Joab is with thee in all these things? The woman answered, and said, By the health of thy soul, my lord the king, neither to the left side neither to the right side is anything of all these things, which my lord the king hath spoken. For thy servant Joab himself commanded to me, and he putted [or put] all these words into the mouth of thine handmaid,

20 that I should turn the figure of this word; for thy servant Joab commanded this thing. Forsooth thou, my lord the king, art wise, as an angel of God that hath wisdom, that thou understand all things on earth.

21 And the king said to Joab, Lo! I am pleased, and I have done thy word; therefore go thou, and again-call thou the child Absalom.

22 And Joab felled upon his face to the earth, and he worshipped, and blessed the king; and Joab said, Thy servant hath understood today, that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord king, for thou hast done the word of thy servant.

23 Therefore Joab rose up, and went into Geshur, and brought Absalom into Jerusalem.

24 And the king said, Turn he again into his house, and see not he my face. Therefore Absalom turned again into his house, and saw not the face of the king.

25 Soothly no man in all Israel was so fair as Absalom, and full comely; from the step of the foot unto the top, there was no wem in him;

26 and inasmuch as he clipped more his hairs, by so much the more they waxed; but he was clipped once in the year, for his hair grieved him. And when he clipped the hairs, he weighed the hairs of his head by two hundred shekels by common weight.

27 And three sons, and a daughter, Tamar by name, of seemly shape, or excellent form, were born to Absalom.

28 And Absalom dwelled in Jerusalem two years, and he saw not the face of the king.

29 Therefore he sent to Joab, that he should send him to the king; and Joab would not come to him. And when he had sent the second time, and Joab would not come,

30 Absalom said to his servants, Ye know the field of Joab beside my field having ripe barley; therefore go ye, and burn ye it [up] with fire. Therefore the servants of Absalom burnt the corn with fire.

31 And Joab rose up, and came to Absalom into his house, and said, Why have thy servants burnt [up] my corn with fire?

32 And Absalom answered to Joab, I sent to thee, and besought that thou shouldest come to me, and that I should send thee to the king, that thou shouldest say to him, Why came I from Geshur? It was better to me to have been there; therefore I beseech, that I see the face of the king, that if he is mindful of my wickedness, slay he me.

33 Joab entered to the king, and told to him. And Absalom was called, and he entered to the king, and he worshipped on the face of [the] earth before him, and the king kissed Absalom.

CHAPTER 15

1 Therefore after these things, Absalom made a chariot to him, and had knights and fifty men, that should go before him.

2 And Absalom rose early, and stood beside the entering of the gate in the way; and Absalom called to him each man, that had a cause [or a need] that he should come to the doom of the king, and Absalom said, Of what city art thou? Which answered, and said, Of one lineage of Israel I am, thy servant.

3 And Absalom answered to him, Thy words seem to me good and just, but none is ordained of the king to hear thee.

4 And Absalom said, Who shall ordain me judge on the land, that all men that have a cause [or need] come to me, and I deem justly [or right-wisely]?

5 But when a man came to Absalom to greet him, he held forth his hand, and took, and kissed that man;

6 and Absalom did this to all Israel, that came to doom to be heard of the king; and Absalom stole the hearts of [the] men of Israel.

7 But after four years, Absalom said to king David, I shall go, and shall yield my vows, which I vowed to the Lord in Hebron;

8 for thy servant vowing vowed, when he was in Geshur of Syria, and said, If the Lord bringeth again me [or me again] into Jerusalem, I shall make sacrifice to the Lord.

9 And the king said to him, Go thou in peace. And Absalom rose up, and went into Hebron.

10 Forsooth Absalom sent spyers into all the lineage[s] of Israel, and said, Anon as ye hear the sound of [the] clarion, say ye, Absalom shall reign in Hebron.

11 And two hundred men called out of Jerusalem went forth with Absalom, and went with simple heart, and utterly they knew not the cause.

12 Also Absalom called for Ahithophel of Giloh, the counsellor of David, from his city Giloh. And when he offered sacrifices, a strong swearing together was made, and the people running together was increased with Absalom.

13 Therefore a messenger came to David, and said, With all [the] heart all Israel followeth Absalom,

14 And David said to his servants that were with him in Jerusalem, Rise ye up, and flee we; for none escaping shall be to us from the face of Absalom; therefore haste ye to go out, lest he come, and occupy us, and fulfill upon us his falling, and smite the city with sharpness of [the] sword.

15 And the servants of the king said to him, We thy servants shall perform gladly all things, whatever our lord the king shall command.

16 Then the king went out, and all his house, upon their feet; and the king left ten women concubines, that is, secondary wives, to keep the house.

17 And the king went out, and all Israel, upon their feet, and the king stood far from the house.

18 And all his servants went beside him, and the legions of Cherethites and of Pelethites, and all the strong fighting men of Gath, six hundred men, that pursued [or followed] him from Gath, went on foot before the king.

19 And the king said to Ittai of Gath, Why comest thou with us? Turn thou again, and dwell with the new king, for thou art a pilgrim, and wentest out from thy place.

20 Thou camest yesterday, and today thou art compelled to go out with us. Soothly I shall go, whither I shall go; turn again, and lead again thy brethren with thee, and the Lord do mercy and truth with thee, for thou hast showed to me grace and faith.

21 And Ittai answered to the king, and said, The Lord liveth, and my lord the king liveth, for in whatever place thou shalt be, my lord the king, either in death either in life, there thy servant shall be.

22 And David said to Ittai, Come thou, and pass forth. And Ittai of Gath passed forth, and the king, and all men that were with him, and the tother multitude.

23 And all men wept with great voice, and all the people passed forth; and the king went over the strand [or stream] of Kidron, and all the people went against the way of the olive trees, that beholdeth to the desert.

24 Forsooth and Zadok the priest came, and all the deacons [or Levites] with him, and they bare the ark of [the] bond of peace of God, and they setted [or set] down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, till all the people was passed forth that went out of the city.

25 And the king said to Zadok, Bear again the ark of God into the city; if I shall find grace in the eyes of the Lord, he shall lead me again, and he shall show to me that ark, and his tabernacle.

26 Soothly if the Lord saith, Thou pleasest not me; I am ready, do he that, that is good before himself.

27 And the king said to Zadok, the priest, O! thou seer, that is, prophet, turn again into the city, with peace; and Ahimaaz, thy son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you.

28 Lo! I shall be hid in [the] field places of the desert, till word come from you, and show to me.

29 Therefore Zadok and Abiathar bare again the ark of God into Jerusalem, and they dwelled there.

30 Forsooth David went up upon the hill of olive trees, going up and weeping, with his head covered, and with bare feet passing forth; but also all the people that was with him, went up with their heads covered, and wept.

31 And it was told to David, that Ahithophel was in the swearing together with Absalom; and David said, Lord, I beseech, make thou fond [or folly] the counsel of Ahithophel.

32 And when David went up into [the] highness of the hill, in which he should worship the Lord, lo! Hushai of Archi, with his cloth rent, and with his head full of earth, came to him.

33 And David said to him, If thou comest with me, thou shalt be to me a charge;

34 soothly if thou turnest again to the city, and sayest to Absalom, I am thy servant, O king, suffer thou me to live; as I was the servant of thy father, so I shall be thy servant; thou shalt destroy the counsel of Ahithophel.

35 And thou hast with thee Zadok and Abiathar, the priests; and what-ever word thou shalt hear in the house of the king, thou shalt show it to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar.

36 And their two sons be with them, Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; and ye shall send by them to me each word that ye shall hear.

37 Therefore when Hushai, friend of David, came into the city, also Absalom entered into Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 16

1 And when David had passed a little the top of the hill, Ziba, the child of Mephibosheth, appeared into his coming, with twain [or two] asses, that were charged with two hundred loaves, and with an hundred bundles of dried grapes, and with an hundred gobbets of pressed figs, and with two vessels of wine.

2 And the king said to Ziba, What will or mean these things to themselves? And Ziba answered, My lord the king, the asses be to the menials of the king, that they sit on them; and the loaves and the pressed figs be to thy children to eat; forsooth the wine is, that if any man fail in desert, he may drink.

3 And the king said, Where is the son of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He dwelled [still] in Jerusalem, and said, Today the Lord of the house of Israel shall restore to me the realm of my father.

4 And the king said to Ziba, All things that were of Mephibosheth be thine. And Ziba said, I pray, find I grace before thee, my lord the king.

5 Therefore king David came to Bahurim, and lo! a man of the family of the house of Saul, Shimei by name, [the] son of Gera, went out from thence; he went forth going out, and cursed.

6 And he sent stones against David, and against all the servants of king David; and all the people, and all the fighting men went at the right side and at the left side of the king.

7 And Shimei spake thus, when he cursed the king, Go out, go out, thou man of bloods, that is, the shedder out of much guiltless blood, and man of Belial!

8 The Lord hath yielded to thee all the blood of the house of Saul, for thou hast ravished the realm from him; and the Lord hath given the realm into the hand of Absalom, thy son; and lo! thine evils oppress thee, for thou art a man of bloods.

9 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, Why curseth this dog, that shall die, my lord the king? I shall go, and I shall gird off his head.

10 And the king said, Ye sons of Zeruiah, what is it to me and to you? Suffer ye him, that he curse; forsooth the Lord hath commanded to him, that he should curse David; and who is he that dare say, Why did he so?

11 And the king said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Lo! my son, that went out of my womb, seeketh my life; how much more now this son of Benjamin? Suffer ye him, that he curse me by [the] commandment of the Lord;

12 if in hap the Lord behold my tormenting, and yield good to me for this day’s cursing.

13 Therefore David went forth, and his fellows, by the way with him; but Shimei went aside by the slade of the hill against David; and cursed David, and threw stones against him, and sprinkled earth.

14 And so king David came, and all the people weary with him, and they were refreshed there.

15 And Absalom, and all the people of Israel entered into Jerusalem, but also Ahithophel with him.

16 And when Hushai of Archi, the friend of David, had come to Absalom, he said to him, Hail, king! hail, king!

17 To whom Absalom said, This is thy grace to thy friend; why wentest thou not with thy friend?

18 And Hushai answered to Absalom, Nay, for I shall be the servant of him, whom the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel; and I shall dwell with him.

19 But that I say also this, to whom shall I serve? whether not to the son of the king? as I obeyed to thy father, so I shall obey to thee.

20 And Absalom said to Ahithophel, Take ye counsel, what we owe to do.

21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Enter thou [in] to the concubines of thy father, which he left to keep the house; that when all Israel heareth, that thou hast defouled thy father’s bed, the hands of them be strengthened with thee.

22 Therefore they stretched out for Absalom a tabernacle in the solar, and he entered [in] to the concubines of his father before all Israel.

23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man had counselled with God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.

CHAPTER 17

1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, I shall choose to me twelve thousand of men, and I shall rise up, and pursue David in this night.

2 And I shall fall on him, for he is weary, and with unbound hands I shall smite him. And when all the people fleeth that is with him, I shall smite the king left alone.

3 And I shall lead again all the people, as one man is wont to be turned again; for thou seekest one man, and all the people shall be in peace.

4 And the words of Ahithophel pleased Absalom, and all the greater men in birth of Israel.

5 And Absalom said, Call ye also Hushai of Archi, and hear we what also he saith.

6 And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, Ahith-ophel hath spoken such a word; owe we to do thereafter, either nay? what counsel givest thou?

7 And Hushai said to Absalom, This is not good counsel, that Ahith-ophel hath given in this time.

8 And again Hushai said, Thou knowest, that thy father, and the men that be with him, be most strong, and in bitter soul, as if a she bear is fierce in the forest, when her whelps be ravished from her; but also thy father is a man warrior, and he shall not dwell with the people.

9 In hap now he is hid, either lurketh, in ditches, either in one place, in which he will hide him; and when any man falleth in the beginning, whoever shall hear it, he shall hear, and shall say, Vengeance is done in the people that pursued Absalom.

10 And each full strong man, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall be discomforted for dread; for all the people of Israel knoweth, that thy father is strong, and that all the men be strong, that be with him.

11 But this seemeth to me to be rightful [or right] counsel; all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan till to Beersheba, unnumberable as the sand of the sea; and thou shalt be in the midst of them.

12 And we shall fall upon him, in whatever place he is found, and we shall cover him, as dew is wont to fall on the earth; and we shall not leave of the men that be with him, soothly not one.

13 That if he entereth into any city, all Israel shall compass that city with ropes, and we shall draw it into the strand [or stream], yea that nothing be found, soothly not a little stone thereof.

14 And Absalom said, and all the men of Israel, The counsel of Hushai of Archi is better than the counsel of Ahithophel; and the profitable counsel of Ahithophel was destroyed by God’s will, that the Lord should bring in evil on Absalom.

15 And Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom, and to the elder men of Israel in this and this manner, and I gave such and such counsel.

16 Now therefore send ye soon, and tell ye to David, and say ye, Dwell thou not this night in [the] field places of the desert, but pass thou [over] without delay; lest peradventure the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him.

17 And Jonathan and Ahimaaz stood beside the well of Rogel; and an handmaid went, and told to them, and they went forth to tell the message to king David; for they might not be seen, neither enter into the city.

18 And a child saw them, and he showed it to Absalom; and they entered with swift going into the house of a man in Bahurim, that had a pit or well in his place, and they went down into that pit.

19 And a woman took, and spread abroad a covering over the mouth of the pit, as if drying barley with the peel taken away, and so the thing was hid.

20 And when the servants of Absalom had come into the house, they said to the woman, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman answered to them, They passed the river of waters, that is, Jordan. And when they that sought them had not found them, they turned again into Jerusalem.

21 And when they had gone forth, they went up from the pit; and they went, and told to king David, and said, Rise ye up, and passeth soon [over] the flood, for Ahithophel hath given such counsel against you.

22 Therefore David rose up, and all the people that was with him, and they passed over Jordan, till it was clear day, before that the word was published; and soothly not one was left, that passed not over the flood.

23 And Ahithophel saw, that his counsel was not done, and he saddled his ass, and rose up, and went into his house, and into his city; and when his house was disposed, he perished by hanging himself, and he was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

24 And David came into the castles, and Absalom passed [over] Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 And Absalom ordained Amasa for Joab upon his host; and Amasa was the son of a man that was called Ithra of Jezreel, the which entered to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, and the sister of Zeruiah, that was the mother of Joab.

26 And Israel setted tents with Absalom in the land of Gilead.

27 And when David had come into the castles or Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, and Machir, the son of Ammiel, of Lodebar, and Barzillai, of Gilead, of Rogelim,

28 brought to him beddings, and tapets, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and flour, and beans, and lentils or vetches, and fried chickpeas,

29 and honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves. And they gave those to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they supposed the people to be made faint for hunger and thirst in desert.

CHAPTER 18

1 Therefore David, when he had beheld his people, ordained chieftains of thousands, and of hundreds, upon them.

2 And he gave the third part of the people under the hand of Joab; and the third part under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab; and the third part under the hand of Ittai, that was of Gath. And the king said to the people, Also I shall go out with you.

3 And the people answered, Thou shalt not go out; for whether we flee, it shall not pertain to them by great work of us; whether half the part fall down of us, they shall not reckon enough, for thou art reckoned for ten thousand; therefore it is better, that thou be to us in the city in strong succour.

4 And the king said to them, I shall do that, that seemeth rightful [or right] to you. Therefore the king stood beside the gate, and the people went out by their companies, by hundreds, and by thousands.

5 And the king commanded to Joab, and to Abishai, and to Ittai, and said, Keep ye to me the child Absalom. And all the people heard the king commanding to all the princes for Absalom.

6 Therefore the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was made in the forest of Ephraim.

7 And the people of Israel was slain there of the host of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand was made in that day.

8 And the battle was scattered there upon the face of all the land, and many more were of the people which the forest wasted, than they which the sword devoured in that day.

9 Soothly it befelled, that Absalom, sitting on a mule, came against the servants of David; and when the mule had entered under a thick oak, and great, the head of Absalom cleaved to the oak; and when he was hanged betwixt heaven and earth, the mule, on which he sat, passed forth.

10 And some man saw this, and told it to Joab, and said, I saw Absalom hanged on an oak.

11 And Joab said to the man that told to him, If thou saw him, why piercedest thou not him through to the earth, and I should have given to thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle?

12 And he said to Joab, Though thou paidest in mine hands a thousand plates of silver, I would not send [or put] mine hand into the son of the king; for while we heard, the king commanded to thee, and to Abishai, and to Ittai, and said, Keep ye to me the child Absalom.

13 But and though I had done fool hardily against my life, this might not be hid from the king, and thou wouldest stand on the contrary side.

14 And Joab said, Not as thou wilt, but I shall assail him before thee. Therefore Joab took three spears in his hand, and fixed those [or them] in the heart of Absalom. And when he sprawled, yet cleaving in the oak,

15 ten young squires of Joab ran, and smote, and killed him.

16 And Joab trumped with a clarion, and held with him the people, lest it pursued Israel fleeing, and he would spare the multitude.

17 And they took Absalom, and casted forth him into a great ditch in the forest, and bare together a full great heap of stones on him; and all Israel fled into their tabernacles.

18 Forsooth Absalom, while he lived yet, had raised to him a memorial, which is in the valley of the king; for he said, I have no son, and this shall be the mind of my name; and he called the memorial by his name, and it is called The Hand, that is, the Work, of Absalom, till to this day.

19 And Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, I shall run, and I shall tell to the king, that the Lord hath made doom to him of the hand of his enemies.

20 To whom Joab said, Thou shalt not be a messenger in this day, but thou shalt tell in another day; I will or desire not that thou tell this today, for the son of the king is dead.

21 And Joab said to Cushi, Go thou, and tell to the king those things that thou hast seen. Cushi worshipped Joab, and ran forth.

22 And again Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab, What hindereth, if also I run after Cushi? And Joab said to him, What wilt thou run, my son? Come thou hither, thou shalt not be a bearer of good message.

23 The which answered, But what if I shall run? And Joab said to him, Run thou. Therefore Ahimaaz ran by the way of shortness, and speed, and passed Cushi.

24 And David sat betwixt two gates; soothly the espyer, that was in the highness of the gate on the wall, raised up his eyes, and he saw a man alone running;

25 and the espyer cried, and showed to the king. And the king said to him, If he is alone, good message is in his mouth. But while he hasted, and nighed near,

26 the espyer saw another man run-ning; and the espyer cried on high, and said, Another man running alone appeareth to me. And the king said to him, And this man is a good mes-senger.

27 Soothly the espyer said, I behold the running of the former, as the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and he cometh bringing a good message.

28 And Ahimaaz cried, and said to the king, Hail king! And he worshipped the king lowly before him to the earth, and said, Blessed be thy Lord God, that hath enclosed altogether the men, that raised their hands against my lord the king.

29 And the king said, Whether peace is to the child Absalom? And Ahimaaz said, I saw, that is, I heard, a great noise, when Joab, thy servant, thou king, sent me, thy servant; I know none other thing.

30 To whom the king said, Pass thou, and stand here. And when he had passed, and stood,

31 Cushi appeared; and he came and said, My lord the king, I bring good message; for the Lord hath deemed today for thee of the hand of all men that rised against thee.

32 And the king said to Cushi, Whether peace is to the child Absalom? To whom Cushi answered, and said, The enemies of my lord the king, and all men that rise against him into evil, be made as the child.

33 Therefore the king was sorry, and went up into the solar of the gate, and he wept, and spake thus going, My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son! who giveth to me, that I die for thee? Absalom, my son! my son, Absalom!

CHAPTER 19

1 Forsooth it was told to Joab, that the king wept, and bewailed his son;

2 and the victory in that day was turned into mourning to all the people; for the people heard, that it was said in that day, The king maketh sorrow on his son.

3 And the people eschewed to enter into the city in that day, as the people turned and fleeing from [the] battle is wont to bow away.

4 And the king covered his head, and cried with great voice, My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son!

5 Therefore Joab entered to the king into the house, and said, Thou hast shamed today the cheers of all thy servants, that have made safe thy life, and the life of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the life of thy wives, and the life of thy secondary wives.

6 Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee; and thou hast showed today that thou reckest not of thy dukes and of thy servants; and verily I have known now, that if Absalom lived, and all we had been dead, then it should please thee.

7 Now therefore rise up, and go thou forth, and speak thou, and make satisfaction to thy servants; for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou shalt not go forth, soothly not one man shall dwell with thee in this night; and this shall be worse to thee, than all the evils that came [up] on thee from thy young waxing age till into this present time.

8 Therefore the king rose up, and sat in the gate; and it was told to all the people, that the king sat in the gate, and all the multitude came before the king. Forsooth Israel fled into their tabernacles.

9 And all the people strived in all the lineages of Israel, and said, The king delivered us from the hand of all our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of Philistines; and now he hath fled from the land for Absalom.

10 Certainly Absalom, whom we anointed upon us, is dead in battle; how long be ye still, and bring not again the king? And the counsel of all Israel came to the king.

11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, and said, Speak ye to the greater men in birth of Judah, and say ye, Why came ye the last to bring again the king into his house? Soothly the word of all Israel came to the king, that they would bring him again into his house. For the king said, Ye shall say these things to the people,

12 Ye be my brethren, ye be my bone and my flesh; why the last bring ye again the king?

13 And say ye to Amasa, Whether thou art not my bone and my flesh? God do these things to me, and add these things too, if thou shalt not be master of chivalry, before me in all time after Joab.

14 And David bowed to him the heart of all [the] men of Judah as of one man; and they sent to the king, and said, Turn thou again, and all thy servants.

15 And the king turned again, and came till to Jordan; and all Judah came till into Gilgal to meet the king, and to lead him over the Jordan.

16 But Shimei, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, of Bahurim, hasted, and came down with the men of Judah into the meeting of king David,

17 with a thousand men of Benjamin; and Ziba, the child of the house of Saul, and fifteen sons of him, and twenty servants were with him; and they brake into the Jordan, before the king,

18 and they passed over the fords, that they should lead over the house of the king, and do by the behest of the king. Soothly Shimei, the son of Gera, kneeled before the king, when he had passed now Jordan,

19 and said to the king, My lord the king, areckon thou not wickedness to me, neither have thou mind of the wrongs of thy servant in the day, in which thou, my lord the king, wentest out of Jerusalem, neither set thou, king, those wrongs in thine heart;

20 for I thy servant acknowledge my sin; and therefore today I came the first of all the house of Joseph, and I came down into the meeting of my lord the king.

21 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, answered and said, Whether Shimei, that cursed the christ of the Lord, shall not be slain for these words?

22 And David said, What is it to me and to you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Why be ye made to me today into Satan, that is, adversary? Therefore whether a man shall be slain today in Israel? Whether I know not me made king today on Israel?

23 And the king said to Shimei, Thou shalt not die; and the king swore to him.

24 Also Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down with unwashed feet, and with his beard unclipped, into the coming of the king. And Mephibosheth had not washed his clothes, from the day in which the king went out of Jerusalem till to the day of his coming again in peace.

25 And when at Jerusalem he had come to the king, the king said to him, Mephibosheth, why camest thou not with me?

26 And he answered and said, My lord the king, my servant despised me; and I thy servant said to him, that he should saddle the ass to me, and I should ascend, and I should go with the king; for I thy servant am crooked.

27 Moreover and he accused me, thy servant, to thee, my lord the king; but thou, my lord the king, art as the angel of God; do thou that, that is pleasant [or pleasing] to thee.

28 For the house of my father was no but guilty to [the] death to my lord the king; soothly thou hast set [or puttest] me thy servant among the guests of thy board; what therefore have I of just complaint, either what may I more cry to the king?

29 And the king said to him, What speakest thou more? that that I have spoken is steadfast; thou and Ziba part the possessions.

30 And Mephibosheth answered to the king, Yea, take he all things, after that my lord the king turned again peaceably into his house.

31 Also Barzillai of Gilead, a full eld [or old] man, came down from Rogelim, and led the king over Jordan, ready also to pursue [or follow] him over the flood.

32 And Barzillai of Gilead was full eld [or old], that is, of fourscore years; and he gave meats to the king, when the king dwelled in castles; for Barzillai was a full rich man.

33 And so the king said to Barzillai, Come thou with me, that thou rest securely with me in Jerusalem.

34 And Barzillai said to the king, How many be the days of [the] years of my life, that I go up with the king into Jerusalem?

35 I am of fourscore years today; whether my wits be quick to deem sweet thing either bitter, either meat and drink may delight thy servant, either may I hear more the voice of singers either of singsters? Why is thy servant to be a charge to my lord the king?

36 I thy servant shall go forth a little from the Jordan with thee, I have no need to this yielding;

37 but I beseech thee, that I thy servant turn again, and die in my city, and be buried beside the sepulchre of my father and of my mother; forsooth my son Chimham is thy servant, my lord the king, go he with thee, and do thou to him that that seemeth good to thee.

38 Therefore the king said to Bar-zillai, Chimham go forth with me; and I shall do to him whatever thing pleaseth thee, and thou shalt get all thing, that thou askest of me.

39 And when all the people and the king had passed [over] Jordan, the king abode; and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he turned again into his place.

40 Then the king passed forth into Gilgal, and Chimham with him. And all the people of Judah had led the king over, and the half part only of the people of Israel was present.

41 Therefore all the men of Israel came together to the king, and said to him, Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen thee, and have led the king and his house over Jordan, and all the men of David with him?

42 And each man of Judah answered to the men of Israel, For the king is near of kin to me; why art thou wroth upon this thing? Whether we have eaten anything of the king’s, either gifts be given to us?

43 And a man of Israel answered to the men of Judah, and said, I am greater by ten parts to the king, and David pertaineth more to me than to thee; why hast thou done wrong to me, and it was not told to me the former, that I should bring again my king? Forsooth the men of Judah answered harder to the men of Israel.

CHAPTER 20

1 Also it befelled, that a man of Belial was there, Sheba by name, the son of Bichri, a man of the generation of Benjamin; and he sounded with a trump, and said, No part is to us in David, neither heritage in the son of Jesse; thou Israel, turn again into thy tabernacles.

2 And all Israel was parted from David, and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri; and the men of Judah cleaved to their king, from Jordan till to Jerusalem.

3 And when the king had come into his house in Jerusalem, he took [the] ten women, his secondary wives, which he had left to keep the house, and he betook them into keeping, and gave meat to them; and he entered not [in] to them; but they were enclosed till to the day of their death, and lived in widowhood.

4 And David said to Amasa, Call thou together to me all the men of Judah into the third day, and be thou present.

5 Therefore Amasa went forth, that he call together the people of Judah; and he dwelled over the covenanted time, which the king had set to him.

6 And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba, the son of Bichri, shall torment us more than Absalom did; therefore take the servants of thy lord, and pursue him, lest in hap he find strengthened cities, and escape us.

7 Therefore the men of Joab went out with Abishai, and Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the strong men, went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.

8 And when they were beside the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came, and ran to them; and Joab was clothed with a strait coat at the measure of his shape, and he was girded above with a sword hanging down unto his entrails in a sheath; and it went out, and felled down.

9 And so Joab said to Amasa, Hail, my brother! And Joab held with his right hand the chin of Amasa, as kissing him.

10 Forsooth Amasa took not keep of the sword, which sword Joab had, and Joab smote Amasa in the side, and shedded out his entrails into the earth, and Amasa was dead; and Joab added not the second wound. And Joab, and Abishai, his brother, pursued Sheba, the son of Bichri.

11 In the meantime, when some of the children of David, of the fellows of Joab, had stood beside the dead body of Amasa, they said, Lo! he that would be the fellow of David, be for Joab.

12 And Amasa was besprinkled with blood, and lay in the middle of the way. Some man saw this, that all the people abode to see Amasa, and he removed Amasa from the way into the field, and he covered Amasa with a cloth, lest men passing by should abide [still] for him.

13 Therefore when he was removed from the way, each man passed forth, pursuing [or following] Joab to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.

14 Forsooth Sheba had passed by all the lineages of Israel till into Abel, and into Bethmaacah; and all the chosen men were gathered to him.

15 Therefore they came, and fought against him in Abel, and in Beth-maacah, and encompassed the city with strongholds; and the city was besieged. And all the company, that was with Joab, enforced or endeav-oured to destroy the walls.

16 And a wise woman of the city cried on high, Hear ye! hear ye! say ye to Joab, Nigh thou hither, and I shall speak with thee.

17 And when he had nighed to her, she said to him, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am. To whom she spake thus, Hear thou the words of thine handmaid. Joab answered, I hear.

18 And again she said, A word was said in eld [or old] proverb, They that ask, ask in Abel; and so they profited.

19 Whether I am not, that answer truth to Israel? and seekest thou to destroy a city, and to do away a mother city in Israel*? why castedest or throwest thou down the heritage of the Lord?

20 And Joab answered, and said, Far be, far be this from me; I cast not down, neither I destroy.

21 The thing hath not so itself; but a man of the hill of Ephraim, Sheba, the son of Bichri, by surname, raised his hand against king David; betake ye him alone to us, and we shall go away from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Lo! his head shall be sent to thee by the wall.

22 Then the woman went in to all the people, and she spake to them wisely; and they threw out to Joab the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, girded off. And Joab sounded with a trump, and they departed from the city, each man into his tabernacles; and Joab turned again to Jerusalem to the king.

23 Therefore Joab was on all the host of Israel; forsooth Benaiah, [the] son of Jehoiada, was on Cherethites and Pelethites;

24 and Adoram was upon the tributes; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was chancellor;

25 and Sheva was scribe; but Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

26 and Ira of Jairites was the priest of David.

CHAPTER 21

1 And hunger was made in the land of Israel in the days of David, by three years continually. And David counselled the answer of the Lord, that is, asked counsel of the Lord in the answering place; and the Lord said, It is for Saul, and for his house, and for [the] blood, for he killed the men of Gibeon.

2 Therefore when [the] Gibeonites were called, the king said to them; soothly Gibeonites be not of the sons of Israel, but they be the relics or remnants of Amorites; and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, that they should not slay them, and Saul would smite them for his fervent love, as for the sons of Israel and of Judah;

3 therefore David said to Gibeonites, What shall I do to you, and what shall be your amends, that ye bless the heritage of the Lord?

4 And Gibeonites said to him, No question is to us upon gold and silver, but against Saul, and against his house; neither we will, that a man of Israel be slain. To whom the king said, What therefore will ye, that I do to you?

5 And they said to the king, We owe so to do away the man, that defouled and oppressed us wickedly, that not one soothly be left of his generation in all the coasts of Israel.

6 Seven men of his sons be given to us, that we crucify them to the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, sometime the chosen man of the Lord. And the king said, I shall give them to you.

7 And the king spared Mephibo-sheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, for the oath of the Lord, that was betwixt David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.

8 And so the king took two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, which she childed to Saul, Armoni, and Mephibosheth; and he took[the] five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, which she engendered to Adriel, the son of Barzillai, that was of Meholathites.

9 And he gave them into the hands of Gibeonites, and they did those seven sons upon a cross in an hill before the Lord; and these seven fell down slain together in the days of the first reaping, when the reaping of barley began.

10 Forsooth Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, took an hair-shirt, and arrayed to herself a place above the stone or laid it under her upon a stone, from the beginning of harvest till water dropped on them from heaven; and she suffered not birds to tear them by day, neither beasts by night.

11 And those things which Rizpah, the secondary wife of Saul, the daughter of Aiah, had done, were told to David.

12 And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the men of Jabesh of Gilead; which had stolen those bones from the street of Bethshan, in which Philistines had hanged them, when they had slain Saul in Gilboa.

13 And David bare out from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan, his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were crucified,

14 and they buried those [or them] with the bones of Saul and of Jonathan, his son, in the land of Benjamin, in the side of the sepulchre of Kish, the father of Saul. And they did all things, whatever the king commanded them; and the Lord did mercy to the land after these things.

15 Forsooth battle of the Philistines was made again against Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. Soothly when David failed,

16 Ishbibenob, that was of the kin of Harapha, that is, the father of the giants, and the iron of his spear weighed three hundred ounces, and he was girded with a new sword, enforced or endeavoured to smite David.

17 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, was in help to David; and he smote and killed the Philistine. Then the men of David swore, and said, Now thou shalt not go out with us into battle, lest thou quench the lantern of Israel.

18 Also the second battle was in Gob against [the] Philistines; then Sibbechai of Hushathites smote Saph, of the gen-eration of Harapha, of the kin of giants.

19 Also the third battle was in Gob against [the] Philistines; in which battle a man given of God, the son of a forest, and an embroiderer, a man of Bethlehem, smote the brother of Goliath of Gath, whose spear shaft was as a beam of webs or a weaver.

20 The fourth battle was in Gath; wherein was an high man, that had six fingers in his hands and six toes in his feet, that is, four and twenty digits; and he was of the kin of Harapha, that is, the father of the giants;

21 and he blasphemed Israel; and Jonathan, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, killed him.

22 These four were born of Harapha in Gath, and they felled down in the hand of David, and of his servants.

CHAPTER 22

1 Soothly David spake to the Lord the words of this song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

2 And David said, The Lord is my stone, and my strength or my strong-hold, and my saviour;

3 my God, my strength, I shall hope into him; my shield, and the horn of mine health, my raiser up, and my refuge; my saviour, thou shalt deliver me from wickedness, that is, hast delivered.

4 I shall inwardly call the Lord, worthy to be praised; and I shall be safe from mine enemies.

5 For the sorrows of death com-passed me; the strands [or streams] of Belial made me afeared.

6 The cords of hell encompassed me; the snares of death have gone before me.

7 In tribulation I shall call thee, Lord, that is, I have called thee, Lord, and I shall cry to my God; and he heard from his holy temple my voice, and my cry shall come to his ears.

8 The earth was moved, and trembled; the foundaments of hills were smitten and shaken together, for the Lord was wroth to them.

9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and fire of his mouth shall devour; coals were kindled of it.

10 And he bowed heavens, and came down; and mist under his feet.

11 And he went upon cherubim, and flew; and he slid [up] on the pens or wings of the wind.

12 He put darkness a hiding place in his compass, and riddled or winnowed waters from the clouds of heavens;

13 for brightness in his sight coals of fire were kindled.

14 The Lord shall thunder from heavens; and [the] high God shall give his voice.

15 He sent his arrows, and scattered them; and sent lightnings, and wasted them.

16 And the sheddings out of the sea appeared, and the foundaments of the world were showed; from the blaming of the Lord, from the breathing of the spirit of his strong vengeance.

17 He sent from heaven, and took me; and drew me out of many waters.

18 He delivered me from my might-iest enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were stronger than I.

19 They came before me in the day of my tormenting; and the Lord was made my steadfastness.

20 And he led me out into largeness, and he delivered me; for I pleased him.

21 The Lord shall yield to me after my rightwiseness; and he shall yield to me after the cleanness of mine hands.

22 For I [have] kept the ways of the Lord; and I did not turn wickedly from my God.

23 For all his dooms were in my sight; and I did not away from me his behests.

24 And I shall be perfect with him; and I shall keep me from my wicked-ness.

25 And the Lord shall restore to me after my rightwiseness; and after the cleanness of mine hands in the sight of his eyes.

26 With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the strong, that is, to suffer adversities patiently, thou shalt be perfect;

27 and with a chosen man thou shalt be chosen, and with a wayward man thou shalt be made wayward*.

28 And thou shalt make safe a poor people; and with thine eyes thou shalt make low them that be high.

29 For thou, Lord, art my lantern, and thou, Lord, shalt lighten my darkness.

30 For I girded, that is, made ready to battle, shall run in thee, that is, in thy strength; and in my God I shall skip over the wall.

31 God, his way is without wem; the speech of the Lord is examined with fire, that is, is pure and clean as metal proved in the furnace; he is a shield of all men hoping in him.

32 For who is God, except the Lord; and who is strong, except our God?

33 God, that hath girded me with strength, and hath made plane my perfect way;

34 and he hath made even my feet with harts’, and hath set me upon mine high things;

35 and he taught mine hands to battle, and a brazen bow was granted to mine arms.

36 Thou hast given to me the shield of thine health; and thy mildness hath multiplied me.

37 Thou shalt alarge my steps under me; and mine heels shall not fail.

38 I shall pursue mine enemies, and I shall all-brake them; and I shall not turn again, till I waste them.

39 I shall waste them, and I shall break them, that they rise not; they shall fall under my feet.

40 Thou hast girded me with strength to battle; thou hast bowed under me them that stood against me.

41 Thou hast given mine enemies’ aback to me, men hating me; and I shall destroy them.

42 They shall cry, that is, to idols either to men’s help, and none shall be that shall save them; they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them.

43 I shall do away them as the dust of [the] earth; I shall pound them, and I shall do [them] away as the clay, or the fen, of streets.

44 Thou shalt save me from [the] against-sayings of my people; thou shalt keep me into the head of folks; the people, whom I know not, shall serve me.

45 Alien sons shall not against-stand me; by hearing of [the] ear, they shall obey to me.

46 Alien sons floated away; and they shall be drawn together in their enclosings.

47 The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed; and the strong God of mine health shall be enhanced.

48 God, that givest vengeances to me, and hast cast down peoples under me.

49 Which leadest me out from mine enemies, and raisest me from men against-standing me; thou shalt deliver me from the wicked man.

50 Therefore, Lord, I shall acknowl-edge to thee in heathen men; and I shall sing to thy name.

51 That he maketh great the healths of his king; and doeth mercy to his christ, David, and to his seed till into without end.

CHAPTER 23

1 Forsooth these be the last words, which David, the son of Jesse, said. The words that the man said, to whom it is ordained of Christ, of the God of Jacob, the noble psalm-maker of Israel;

2 The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word by my tongue.

3  David said, God of Israel spake to me, the strong help of Israel, the just [or rightwise] Lord of men, is Lord in the dread of God.

4 As the light of the morrowtide, when the sun riseth early, is bright without clouds; and as an herb cometh forth of the earth by rains.

5 And mine house is not so great with God, that he should make with me everlasting covenant, steadfast and made strong in all things; for all mine health is of him, and all my will, that is, all my desire, goeth into him, and nothing is thereof, that maketh not fruit*.

6 Forsooth all trespassers shall be drawn out as thorns, that be not taken with hands.

7 And if any man will touch those [or them], he shall be armed with iron, and with a piece of wood formed into a spear; and the thorns shall be kindled, and shall be burnt till to nought.

8 These be the names of the strong men of David. David sitteth in the chair, the wisest prince among the three; he is as a most tender worm of a tree, that killed eight hundred with one fierceness.

9 After him was Eleazar, the son of his father’s brother, Ahohite; he was among [the] three strong men, that were with David, when they said shame to the Philistines, and were gathered thither into battle. And when the men of Israel had gone up,

10 he/Eleazar stood in battle, when his fellows went aback, and smote the Philistines, till that his hand failed, and was stark with or fixed to the sword. And the Lord made great health or victory in that day; and the people that fled turned again, to draw away the spoils of [the] slain men.

11 And after him was Shammah, the son of Agee, of Hararites. And Philistines were gathered in the station; and there was a field full of lentils, or vetches; and when the people of Israel[had] fled from the face of Philistines,

12 he stood in the midst of the field, and beheld it, for he defended the field; and he smote the Philistines, and the Lord made there [a] great health.

13 Also and three men went down before, that were princes among the thirty, and came to David in the time of reaping into the den of Adullam. And the tents of Philistines were set in the valley of giants.

14 And David was in a stronghold; and the station of Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

15 Then David desired water of the well, and said, If any man would give to me drink of the water of the cistern, which is in Bethlehem, beside the gate.

16 Therefore the three strong men brake into the tents of Philistines, and drew water of the cistern of Beth-lehem, that was beside the gate, and they brought it to David; and he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord,

17 and said, The Lord be merciful to me, that I do not this; whether I shall drink the blood of these men, that went forth, and the peril of their lives? Therefore he would not drink. The Three full strong men did these things.

18 Also Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was prince of [the] three; he it is that raised his spear against three hundred men, which he killed; he was named among [the] three,

19 and was the nobler among the three, and he was the prince of them; but he came not to the three first men.

20 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the strongest man of great works, of Kabzeel, he smote [the] two lions of Moab, that is, two knights hardy as lions or two strong hardy knights; and he went down, and smote a lion in the middle of a cistern in the days of snow.

21 Also he killed a man of Egypt, a man worthy of beholding, having a spear in his hand; and so when he had gone down with a rod to that man, by might he wrung out the spear from the hand of the man of Egypt, and killed him with his own spear.

22 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, did these things; and he was named among [the] three strong men,

23 that were among the thirty nobler men; nevertheless he came not to the first three. And David made him a counsellor of private to himself.

24 Asahel, the brother of Joah, was among the thirty men; Elhanan, the son of his father’s brother, of Bethlehem;

25 Shammah, of Harodites; Elika, of Harodites;

26 Helez, of Paltites; Ira, the son of Ikkesh, of Tekoa;

27 Abiezer, of Anathoth; Mebunnai, of Hushathites;

28 Zalmon, of Ahohites; Maharai, of Netophah;

29 Heleb, the son of Baanah, and he was of Netophah; Ittai, the son of Ribai, of Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin;

30 Benaiah, of Pirathon; Hiddai, of the strand [or stream] of Gaash;

31 Abialbon, of Arabah; Azmaveth, of Barhumites;

32 Eliahba, of Shaalbonites; the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, and Jashen;

33 Shammah, of Hararites; Ahiam, the son of Sharar, of Hararites;

34 Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai, the son of Maachathite; Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, of Giloh;

35 Hezrai, of Carmel; Paarai, of Arbites;

36 Igal, the son of Nathan, of Zobah; Bani, of Gadites;

37 Zelek, of Ammonites; Nahari, of Beeroth, the squire of Joab, the son of Zeruiah;

38 Ira, of Ithrites; Gareb, and he was of Ithrites;

39 Uriah of Hittites; all these were seven and thirty men.

CHAPTER 24

1 And the strong vengeance of the Lord added to be wroth against Israel, and he stirred against them David, saying to Joab, Go thou, and number thou Israel and Judah.

2 And the king said to Joab, the prince of his host, Go thou by all the lineages of Israel, from Dan till to Beersheba, and number thou the people, that I know the number thereof.

3 And Joab said to the king, Thy Lord God increase to this people, how great it is now, and again multiply he it an hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king; but what will or mean my lord the king to himself in such a thing?

4 But the word of the king overcame the words of Joab, and of the princes of the host; and Joab went out, and the princes of the knights, from the face of the king, that they should number the people of Israel.

5 And when they had passed [over] Jordan, they came into Aroer, to the right side of the city that is in the valley of Gad; and they passed forth by Jazer

6 into Gilead, and into the lower land of Hodshi, and they came into the woody places of Dan; and they went about beside Sidon,

7 and passed nigh the walls of Tyre, and nigh all the land of Hivites, and of Canaanites; and they came to the south of Judah, in[to] Beersheba.

8 And when all the land was com-passed, they came after nine months and twenty days into Jerusalem.

9 And so Joab gave the number of [the] describing of the people to the king. And of Israel were found nine hundred thousand of strong men, that drew out sword; and of Judah five hundred thousand of fighters.

10 And the heart of David smote him, that is, his conscience reproved him, after that the people was numbered; and David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in this deed; but, Lord, I pray, that thou turn away the wickedness of thy servant, for I have done full follily.

11 Therefore David rose early; and the word of the Lord was made to Gad, the prophet and seer, and said,

12 Go thou, and speak to David, The Lord saith these things, The choice of three things is given to thee; choose thou one, which thou wilt of these, that I do to thee.

13 And when Gad had come to David, he told to him, and said, Either hunger shall come to thee in thy land seven years; either three months thou shalt flee thine adversaries, and they shall pursue thee; either certainly three days pestilence shall be in thy land; now therefore deliver thou, either advise or examine thou, and see, what word I shall answer to him that sent me.

14 And David said to Gad, I am constrained on each side greatly; but it is better that I fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies be many, than into the hands of men.

15 And the Lord sent pestilence into Israel from the morrowtide till to the time ordained; and seventy thousand of men were dead of the people from Dan till to Beersheba.

16 And when the angel of the Lord had held forth his hand over Jerusalem, that he should destroy it, the Lord had mercy on the tormenting; and said to the angel smiting the people, It sufficeth now; withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was beside the cornfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 And David said to the Lord, when he had seen the angel slaying the people, I am he that have sinned, and I have done wickedly; what have these [or they] done, that be sheep? I beseech, thine hand be turned against me, and against the house of my father.

18 Forsooth Gad, the prophet, came to David in that day, and said to him, Go thou up, and ordain an altar to the Lord in the cornfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

19 And David went up, after the word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.

20 And Araunah beheld, and per-ceived, that the king and his servants passed over to him; and he went out, and worshipped the king with low cheer to the earth;

21 and said, What is the cause, that my lord the king cometh to his servant? To whom David said, That I buy of thee the cornfloor, and build an altar to the Lord, and the slaying cease, that is cruel in the people.

22 And Araunah said to David, My lord the king take, and offer, as it pleaseth to him; thou hast oxen into burnt sacrifice, and a wain and yokes of oxen into uses of wood.

23 Araunah gave, that is, would give, all things to the king. And Araunah said to the king, Thy Lord God receive thy vow.

24 To whom the king answered, and said, Not as thou wilt, but I shall buy it of thee for price, and I shall not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices given freely. Therefore David bought the cornfloor for six hundred shekels of gold*, and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 And David builded there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices; and the Lord did mercy to the land, and the vengeance was refrained from Israel.

* CHAPTER 2:14 That is, ‘show their strength and nobility’; and here ‘play’ is set for ‘slay’ either ‘fight’.

* CHAPTER 8:13 See 2nd Samuel 10:16-19.

* CHAPTER 10:16 Also known as Hadarezer.

* CHAPTER 11:4 That is, from flux of unclean blood that should come till to the child bearing, for she conceived in that lying-by.

* CHAPTER 12:30 That is, ‘the crown of the idol of them’, which is called Malcham or Milcom, that is interpreted ‘the king of them’.

* CHAPTER 20:19 The woman speaketh in the person of the city, as if she said, ‘This city held ever truth and faith to the king’; and therefore in Hebrew it is thus, ‘I am one of peaceable and true’, that is, one of the number of cities that be peaceable and true to the king.

* CHAPTER 22:27 For when wayward men be justly punished of God, they say that God doeth waywardly with them.

* CHAPTER 23:5 And this is done, when all thing that cometh forth of the will, either of advisement, is done into the glory of God.

* CHAPTER 24:24 As written in the first book of Chronicles, Chapter 21.

ISAIAH

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ISAIAH

CHAPTER 1

1 The vision, either prophesy, of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw on Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, of Jotham, of Ahaz, and of Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Ye heavens, hear, and thou earth, perceive with ears, for the Lord spake. I have nourished and I have enhanced sons; soothly they have despised me.

3 An ox knew his lord, and an ass knew the cratch of his lord; but Israel knew not me, and my people under-stood not.

4 Woe to the sinful folk, to the people heavy in wickedness, to the wayward seed, to the cursed sons; they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy of Israel, they be alienated [away] backward.

5 On what thing shall I smite you more, that increase trespassing? Each head is sick, and each heart is mourning.

6 From the sole of the foot till to the noll, health is not therein; wound, and wanness, and beating swelling that is not bound about, neither cured by medicine, neither nursed with oil.

7 Your land is forsaken, your cities be burnt by fire; aliens devour your country before you, and it shall be desolate as in the destroying of enemies.

8 And the daughter of Zion, that is, Jerusalem, shall be forsaken as a shadowing place in a vineyard, and as an hulk in a place where gourds waxed, and as a city which is wasted.

9 If the Lord of hosts had not left seed to us, we had been as Sodom, and we had been like as Gomorrah.

10 Ye princes of men of Sodom, hear the word of the Lord; and ye people of Gomorrah, perceive with ears the law of your God.

11 Whereto offer ye to me [or What to me] the multitude of your sacrifices? saith the Lord. I am full; I would not the burnt sacrifices of wethers, and the inner fatness of fat beasts, and the blood of calves, and of lambs, and of bucks of goats.

12 When ye came before my sight, who asked of your hands these things, that ye should go in my foreyards?

13 Offer ye no more sacrifice in vain; incense is abomination to me; I shall not suffer new moon, and sabbath, and other feasts. For your companies be wicked;

14 my soul hateth your calends and your solemnities; those be dis-easeful to me, I travailed with suffering.

15 And when ye stretch forth your hands, I shall turn away mine eyes from you; and when ye multiply prayer, I shall not hear; for why your hands be full of blood.

16 Be ye washed, be ye clean; do ye away the evil of your thoughts from mine eyes; cease ye to do waywardly,

17 learn ye to do well. Seek ye doom, help ye him that is oppressed, deem ye to the fatherless and motherless child, defend ye a widow.

18 And come ye, and prove ye me, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as blood-red, those shall be made white as snow; and though they be red as vermilion, they shall be white as wool.

19 If ye will, and hear me, ye shall eat the goods of [the] earth.

20 That if ye do not, and ye stir me to wrathfulness [or wrath], sword shall devour you; for why the mouth of the Lord spake.

21 How is the faithful city full of doom made an whore? rightfulness [or rightwiseness] dwelled therein; but now men-quellers dwell therein.

22 Thy silver is turned into dross, either filth; thy wine is meddled [or mingled] with water.

23 Thy princes be unfaithful, the fellows of thieves; all love gifts, and follow yieldings, either meeds; they deem not to a fatherless child, and the cause of a widow entereth not to them.

24 For this thing, saith the Lord God of hosts, the Strong of Israel, Alas! I shall be comforted on mine enemies, and I shall be avenged of mine enemies.

25 And I shall turn mine hand to thee, and I shall seethe out thy filth to the clean, and I shall do away all thy tin.

26 And I shall restore thy judges, as they were before, and thy counsellors, as in eld [or old] time. After these things thou shalt be called the city of the rightful [or rightwise], a faithful city.

27 Zion shall be again-bought in doom, and they shall bring it again into rightfulness [or rightwiseness];

28 and God shall all-break [the] cursed men and [the] sinners together, and they that forsake the Lord, shall be wasted.

29 For they shall be ashamed of [the] idols, to which they made sacrifice; and ye shall be ashamed on the orchards, which ye choosed.

30 When ye shall be as an oak, when the leaves fall down, and as an orchard without water.

31 And your strength shall be as a dead spark of stubble, either of hards of flax, and your work shall be as a quick spark; and ever either shall be burnt together, and none shall be that shall quench.

CHAPTER 2

1 The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw on Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And in the last days the hill of the house of the Lord shall be made ready in the top of hills [or the mountains], and shall be raised above little hills. And all heathen men shall flow to him;

3 and many peoples shall go, and shall say, Come ye, ascend we [or go we up] to the hill of the Lord, and to the house of God of Jacob; and he shall teach us his ways, and we shall go in the paths of him. For why the law shall go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 And he shall deem heathen men, and he shall reprove many peoples; and they shall weld together their swords into shares*, and their spears into sickles, either scythes; folk shall no more raise sword against folk, and they shall no more be exercised, either haunted, to battle.

5 Come ye, the house of Jacob, and go we in the light of the Lord.

6 Forsooth thou hast cast away thy people, the house of Jacob, for they be [full-]filled as sometime before; and they had false diviners by the chittering of birds, as Philistines, and they cleaved to alien children.

7 The land is filled with silver and gold, and none end is of the treasures thereof; and the land thereof is filled with horses, and the four-horsed carts thereof be unnumberable.

8 And the land thereof is filled with idols, and they worship the work of their hands, which their fingers made;

9 and a man bowed himself, and a man of full age was made low. Therefore forgive thou not to them.

10 Enter thou, people of Judah, into a stone, be thou hid in a ditch in earth, from the face of the dread of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty.

11 The eyes of an high man be made low, and the highness of men shall be bowed down; forsooth the Lord alone shall be enhanced in that day.

12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be on each proud man and high, and on each boaster, and he shall be made low;

13 and on all the cedars of the Lebanon high and raised, and on all the oaks of Bashan,

14 and on all high mountains, and on all little hills, that be raised [up];

15 and on each high tower, and on each strong wall;

16 and on all [the] ships of Tarshish, and on all thing which is fair in sight.

17 And all the highness of men shall be bowed down, and the highness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be raised [up] in that day,

18 and idols shall be broken altogether utterly.

19 And they shall enter into the dens of stones, and into the swallows of [the] earth, from the face of the inward dread of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise to smite the land.

20 In that day a man shall cast away the idols of his silver, and the simulacra of his gold, which he had made to himself, for to worship mouldwarps and bats.

21 And he shall enter into [the] chinks, either crazings, of stones, and into the caves of hard rocks, from the face of the inward dread of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise to smite the land.

22 Therefore cease ye from a man, whose spirit is in his nostrils, for he is areckoned high.

CHAPTER 3

1 For lo! the lordly governor, the Lord of hosts, shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah a mighty man, and strong, and all the strength of bread, and all the strength of water;

2 a strong man, and a man a warrior, and a doomsman, and a prophet, and a false diviner in altars, and an eld [or old] man,

3 a prince over fifty men, and a worshipful man in cheer, and a counsellor, and a wise man of principal craftsmen, and a prudent man of mystic, either ghostly, speech.

4 And I shall give children to be the princes of them, and men of women’s conditions shall be lords of them.

5 And the people shall fall down, a man to a man, each man to his neighbour; a child shall make noise against an eld [or old] man, and an unnoble man against a noble man.

6 For a man shall take his brother, the menial of his father, and shall say, A cloth is to thee, be thou our prince; forsooth this falling be under thine hand.

7 And he shall answer in that day, and say, I am no leech, and neither bread, neither cloth is in mine house; do not ye make me prince of the people.

8 For why Jerusalem fell down, and Judah fell down altogether; for the tongue of them, and the findings of them, were against the Lord, for to stir to wrath the eyes of his majesty.

9 The knowing of their cheer hall answer to them; and they preached their sin, as Sodom did, and hid not. Woe to the soul of them, for why evils be yielded to them.

10 Say ye to the just [or rightwise] man, that it shall be to him well; for he shall eat the fruit of his findings.

11 Woe to the wicked man into evil; for why the yielding of his hands shall be made to him.

12 The wrongful askers of my people robbed it, and women were lords thereof. My people, they that say thee blessed, deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps.

13 The Lord standeth for to deem, and he standeth for to deem [the] peoples;

14 the Lord shall come to doom, with the elder men of his people, and with his princes; for ye have wasted my vineyard, and the raven of a poor man is in your house.

15 Why all-break ye my people, and grind together the faces of poor men? saith the Lord God of hosts.

16 And the Lord God said, For that that the daughters of Zion were raised, and went with neck stretched forth, and went by signs of eyes, and clapped with hands, and went, and with their feet went in well-arrayed going,

17 the Lord shall make bald the noll of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord shall make naked the hair of them.

18 In that day the Lord shall take away the ornament of shoes, and golden little bells like the moon,

19 and ribbons, and brooches, and ornaments of arms nigh the shoulders,

20 and mitres, either chaplets, and combs, and ornaments of arms nigh the hands, and golden ornaments like lampreys, and little vessels of ointments, and earrings,

21 and rings, and precious stones hanging in the forehead,

22 and changing clothes, and mantles, and sheets, either smocks, and needles [or pins],

23 and mirrors, and small linen clothes about the shoulders, and kerchiefs, and rochets.

24 And stink shall be for sweet odour, and a cord for the girdle; baldness shall be for the crisp hair, and an hair-shirt for a breast-girdle.

25 Also thy fairest men shall fall by sword, and thy strong men shall fall in battle.

26 And the gates thereof shall wail, and mourn; and it shall sit desolate in [the] earth.

CHAPTER 4

1 And seven women shall catch one man in that day, and shall say, We shall eat our bread, and we shall be covered with our clothes; only thy name be called on us, do thou away our shame.

2 In that day the burgeoning of the Lord shall be in great worship and glory; and the fruit of [the] earth shall be high, and full out joy to them that shall be saved of Israel.

3 And it shall be, each that is left in Zion, and is residue in Jerusalem, shall be called holy; each that is written in life in Jerusalem;

4 for the Lord washeth away the filths of the daughters of Zion, and washeth the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, in the spirit of doom, and in the spirit of heat.

5 And the Lord made on each place of the hill of Zion, and where he was called to help, a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire flaming in the night; for why covering, either defending, shall be above all glory.

6 And a tabernacle shall be into a shadowing place of the day, from heat, and into secureness, and into hiding, from whirlwind and from rain.

CHAPTER 5

1 I shall sing for my darling the song of mine uncle’s son, of his vineyard. A vinery [or vineyard] was made to my darling, in the horn, that is, in an high place and excellent, in the son of oil, that is, in a place full of olives, of whose fruit is wrung out oil.

2 And he hedged it, and chose stones thereof, and planted a chosen vinery [or vineyard]; and he builded a tower in the midst thereof, and reared a wine press therein; and he abode, that it should make grapes, and it made wild grapes.

3 Now therefore, ye dwellers of Jerusalem, and ye men of Judah, deem between me and my vinery [or vineyard].

4 What is it that I ought to do more to my vinery [or vineyard], and I did not to it? whether that I abode, that it should make grapes, and it made wild grapes?

5 And now I shall show to you, what I shall do to my vinery [or vineyard]. I shall take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be into ravishing; I shall cast down the wall thereof, and it shall be into defouling;

6 and I shall set it deserted, either forsaken. It shall not be cut, and it shall not be digged, and briars and thorns shall grow upon it; and I shall command to [the] clouds, that they rain not rain on it.

7 Forsooth the vinery [or vineyard] of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah be the delightable burgeoning of him. I abode, that it shall make doom, and lo! wickedness; and that it should do rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and lo! cry.

8 Woe to you that join house to house, and couple field to field, till to the end of [a] place. Whether ye alone shall dwell in the midst of the land?

9 These things be in the ears of me, the Lord of hosts; If many houses be not forsaken, great and fair, without dweller, believe ye not to me.

10 For why ten acres of vines [or vineyards] shall make one pottle, and thirty bushels of seed shall make three bushels.

11 Woe to you that rise altogether early to follow drunkenness, and to drink till to eventide, that ye burn with wine.

12 Harp, and gittern, and tympan, and pipe, and wine be in your feasts; and ye behold not the work of the Lord, neither ye behold the works of his hands.

13 Therefore my people is led captive, either prisoner, for it had not knowing; and the noblemen thereof perished in hunger, and the multitude thereof was dry in thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath alarged his soul, and opened his mouth without any end; and the strong men thereof, and the people thereof, and the high men, and the glorious men thereof, shall go down to it.

15 And a man shall be bowed down, and a man of age shall be made low; and the eyes of high men shall be pressed down.

16 And the Lord of hosts shall be enhanced in doom, and [the] holy God shall be hallowed in rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

17 And lambs shall be fed by their order, and comelings shall eat of the desert places turned into plenty.

18 Woe to you that draw wickedness in the cords of vanity, and draw sin as the bond of a wain;

19 and ye say, The work of him hasten, and come soon, that we see; and the counsel of the Holy of Israel nigh, and come, and we shall know it.

20 Woe to you that say evil good, and good evil; and put darknesses light, and light darknesses; and put bitter thing into sweet, and sweet thing into bitter.

21 Woe to you that be wise men in your eyes, and be prudent before yourselves.

22 Woe to you that be mighty to drink wine, and be strong to meddle [or mingle] drunkenness;

23 and ye justify a wicked man for gifts, and ye take away the rightful-ness [or rightwiseness] of a just [or rightwise] man from him.

24 For this thing, as the tongue of fire devoureth stubble, and the heat of flame burneth, so the root of them shall be as a dead spark, and the seed of them shall ascend [or go up] as dust; for they casted away the law of the Lord of hosts, and blasphemed the speech of the Holy of Israel.

25 Therefore the strong vengeance of the Lord was wroth against his people, and he stretched forth his hand on it, and smote it; and hills were troubled [or the mountains be disturbed], and the dead bodies of them were made as a turd in the midst [or the middle] of streets. In all these things the strong vengeance of him was not turned away, but yet his hand was stretched forth.

26 And he shall raise [up] a sign among nations afar, and he shall hiss to him from the ends of [the] earth; and lo! he shall hasten, and shall come swiftly.

27 None is failing neither travailing in that host; he shall not nap, neither sleep, neither the girdle of his reins shall be undone, neither the lace of his shoe shall be broken.

28 His arrows be sharp, and all his bows be bent; the hoofs of his horses be as flint, and his wheels be as the fierceness of tempest.

29 His roaring shall be as of a lion; he shall roar as the whelps of lions; and he shall gnash, and shall hold prey, and shall embrace, and none shall be, that shall deliver.

30 And he shall sound on it in that day, as doeth the sound of the sea; we shall behold into the earth, and lo! darknesses of tribulation, and light is made dark in the darkness thereof.

CHAPTER 6

1 In the year in which the king Uzziah was dead, I saw the Lord sitting on an high seat, and raised [up]; and the house of the Lord was full of his majesty, and those things that were under him filled the temple.

2 Seraphim stood [up] on it, six wings were to one, and six wings to the other; with two wings they covered the face of him, and with two wings they covered the feet of him, and with two wings they flew.

3 And they cried the one to the tother, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; all [the] earth is full of his glory.

4 And the lintels above of the hinges were moved altogether of the voice of the crier, and the house of the Lord was filled with smoke.

5 And I said, Woe to me, for I was still; for I am a man defouled in lips, and I dwell in the midst of the people having defouled lips, and I saw with mine eyes the King, Lord of hosts.

6 And one of [the] seraphim flew to me, and a burning coal was in his hand, which coal he had taken with a tong from the altar.

7 And he touched my mouth, and said, Lo! I have touched thy lips with this coal, and thy wickedness shall be done away, and thy sin shall be cleansed.

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who shall go to you? And I said, Lo! I; send thou me.

9 And he said, Go thou, and thou shalt say to this people, Ye hearing hear, and ye do not understand; and see ye the prophesy, and do not ye know.

10 Make thou blind the heart of this people, and aggrieve thou the ears thereof, and close thou the eyes thereof; lest peradventure it see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and it be converted, and I make it whole.

11 And I said, Lord, how long? And he said, Till [the] cities be made desolate, without dweller, and houses without man. And the land shall be left desert,

12 and the Lord shall make men afar. And that that was forsaken in the middle of [the] earth, shall be multiplied,

13 and yet the tithing, either tenth part, shall be therein; and it shall be converted, and it shall be into showing, as a terebinth is, and as an oak, that spreadeth abroad his boughs; that shall be holy seed, that shall stand therein.

CHAPTER 7

1 And it was done in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, ascended [or went up] to Jerusalem, for to fight against it; and they might not overcome it.

2 And they told to the house of David, and said, Syria hath rested on Ephraim, that is, the king of Syria and the king of Israel be confederated, to come together against the realm of Judah, and the heart of him and of his people was moved altogether, as the trees of woods be moved of the face of the wind.

3 And the Lord said to Isaiah, Go thou out, and Jashub, thy son, which is left, into the meeting of Ahaz, at the last end of the water conduit of the higher cistern, in the way of the field of the fuller.

4 And thou shalt say to him, See thou, that thou be still; do not thou dread, and thine heart be not afeared of the two tails of these brands smoking, in the wrath of the strong vengeance of Rezin, king of Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

5 For Syria, and Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have begun evil counsel against thee, and say,

6 Go we up to Judah, and raise we him, and draw we him out to us; and set we a king in the midst thereof, the son of Tabeal.

7 The Lord God saith these things, This shall not be, and it shall not stand;

8 but Damascus shall be the head of Syria, and Rezin shall be the head of Damascus; and yet sixty years and five, and Ephraim shall fail to be a people;

9 and Samaria shall fail to be the head of Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah to be[the] head of Samaria. Forsooth if ye shall not believe, ye shall not dwell.

10 And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, and said,

11 Ask thou to thee a sign of thy Lord God, into the depth of hell, either into [the] height above.

12 And Ahaz said, I shall not ask, and I shall not tempt the Lord.

13 And Isaiah said, Therefore the house of David, hear ye; whether it is little to you to be dis-easeful to men, for ye be dis-easeful also to my God?

14 For this thing the Lord himself shall give a sign to you. Lo! a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son; and his name shall be called Immanuel. [For that he the Lord shall give to you a token. Behold! a maiden shall conceive, and bare a son; and thou shalt call his name Immanuel.]

15 He shall eat butter and honey, that he know how to reprove evil, and choose good.

16 For why before the child know how to reprove evil, and choose good, the land, which thou loathest, shall be forsaken of the face of their two kings.

17 The Lord shall bring on thee, and on thy people, and on the house of thy father, days that came not from the days of [the] departing of Ephraim from Judah, with the king of Assyrians.

18 And it shall be, in that day the Lord shall hiss to a fly, which is in the last part of the floods of Egypt; and to a bee, which is in the land of Assur;

19 and all those shall come, and shall rest in the strands [or streams] of valleys, and in the caves of stones, and in all [the] places of bushes, and in all holes.

20 And in that day the Lord shall shave with a sharp razor in these men, that be beyond the flood, of the king of Assyrians, the head, and the hairs of the feet, and all the beard.

21 And it shall be, in that day, a man shall nourish a cow of oxes, and two sheep,

22 and for the plenty of milk he shall eat butter; for why each man that shall be left in the midst of the land, shall eat butter and honey.

23 And it shall be, in that day each place where a thousand vineries [or vines] shall be worth a thousand pieces of silver, and shall be into thorns and briars,

24  men shall enter thither with bows and arrows; for why briars and thorns shall be in all the land.

25 And all hills that shall be purged with a briar hook, the dread of thorns and of briars shall not come thither; and it shall be into pasture of oxen, and into the treading of sheep.

CHAPTER 8

1 And the Lord said to me, Take to thee a great book, and write therein with the pointel or stylus of man, Swiftly draw thou away spoils, take thou prey soon.

2 And I gave to me faithful witnesses, Uriah, the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah.

3 And I nighed to the prophetess; and she conceived, and childed a son. And the Lord said to me, Call thou his name, Haste thou to draw away spoils, haste thou for to take prey.

4 For why before that the child know how to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus shall be done away, and the spoils of Samaria, before the king of Assyrians.

5 And the Lord added to speak yet to me, and he said,

6 For that thing that this people hath cast away the waters of Shiloah, that go with silence, and hath taken more [to] Rezin, and the son of Remaliah,

7 for this thing lo! the Lord shall bring [up] on them the strong and many waters of the flood, the king of Assyrians, and all his glory; and he shall ascend [or go up] on all the streams thereof, and he shall flow on all the rivers thereof.

8 And he shall go flowing by Judah, and he shall pass till to the neck, and shall come; and the spreading forth of his wings shall be, and shall fill the breadth of thy land, thou Immanuel.

9 Peoples, be ye gathered together, and be ye overcome; and all lands afar, hear ye. Be ye comforted, and be ye overcome; gird ye you, and be ye overcome;

10 take ye counsel, and it shall be destroyed; speak ye a word, and it shall not be done, for God is with us.

11 For why the Lord saith these things to me, as he taught me in a strong hand, that I should not go into the way of this people, and said,

12 Say ye not, It is swearing together, for why all things which this people speaketh is swearing together; and dread ye not the fearedfulness thereof, neither be ye afeared.

13 Hallow ye the Lord himself of hosts; and he shall be your inward dread, and he shall be your feared-fulness, and he shall be to you into hallowing.

14 Forsooth he shall be into a stone of hurting, and into a stone of stumbling, to twain [or the two] houses of Israel; into a snare, and into falling, to them that dwell in Jerusalem.

15 And full many of them shall stumble, and shall fall, and they shall be all-broken, and they shall be bound, and shall be taken.

16 Bind thou [the] witnessing, mark thou the law in my disciples.

17 I shall abide the Lord, that hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I shall abide him.

18 Lo! I and my children, which the Lord gave to me into a sign, and great wonder to Israel, of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth in the hill of Zion.

19 And when they say to you, Ask ye of conjurers, and of false diviners, that gnash in their enchantings, whether the people shall not ask of their God a revelation, for quick men and [the] dead?

20  It is to go to the law more rather, and to the witnessing, that if they say not after this word, morrowtide light shall not be to them.

21 And it shall pass by that, and it shall fall down, and it shall hunger. And when it shall hunger, it shall be wroth, and shall curse his king and his God, and it shall behold upward.

22 And it shall look to the earth, and lo! tribulation, and darknesses, and unbinding, either discomfort, and anguish, and mist pursuing; and it shall not be able to flee away from his anguish.

CHAPTER 9

1 In the first time, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali was alighted, either released; and at the last, the way of the sea beyond Jordan, of Galilee of heathen men, was made heavy.

2 The people that went in darknesses saw a great light; when men dwelled in the country of [the] shadow of death, light rose up to them.

3 Thou multipliedest folk, thou magnifiedest not gladness; they shall be glad before thee, as they that be glad in harvest, as overcomers make full out joy, when they have taken a prey, when they part the spoils.

4 For thou hast overcome the yoke of his burden, and the rod of his shoulder, and the sceptre of his wrongful asker, as in the day of Midian.

5 For why all violent raven with noise, and a cloth meddled [or mingled] with blood, shall be into burning, and the meat of fire.

6 Forsooth a little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and prince-hood is made [up] on his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, A counsellor, God, Strong, Father of the world to coming, A prince of peace, [or Marvellous, Counsellor, God, Strong, Father of the world to come, Prince of peace].

7 His empire shall be multiplied, and none end shall be of his peace; he shall sit on the seat of David, and on the realm of him, that he confirm it, and make strong in doom and rightfulness [or rightwiseness], from henceforth and till into without end. The fervent love of the Lord of hosts shall make this.

8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it fell in Israel.

9 And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and they that dwell in Samaria, saying in the pride and greatness of heart,

10 Tilestones fell down, but we shall build with square stones; they have cut down sycamores, but we shall change to cedars.

11 And the Lord shall raise the enemies of Rezin on him, and he shall turn the enemies of him into noise;

12  God shall make Syria to come from the east, and Philistines from the west; and with all the mouth they shall devour Israel. In all these things the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth;

13 and the people is not turned again to the Lord smiting it, and they sought not the Lord of hosts.

14 And the Lord shall lose from Israel the head and the tail, [the] crooking and [the] beshrewing, either refraining, in one day.

15 An eld man and honourable, he is the head; and a prophet teaching leasing, he is the tail.

16 And they that bless his people, shall be deceivers, and they that be blessed, shall be cast down.

17 For this thing the Lord shall not be glad on the young men thereof, and he shall not have mercy on the fatherless children and widows thereof; for each man is an hypocrite and wayward, and each mouth spake folly. In all these things the strong vengeance of him is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth; and the people is not turned again to the Lord smiting it.

18 For why wickedness is kindled as fire; it shall devour the briars and thorns, and it shall be kindled in the thickness of the forest, and it shall be wrapped altogether in the pride of smoke.

19 In the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land shall be troubled, and the people shall be as the meat of fire; a man shall not spare his brother.

20 And he shall bow to the right half, and he shall hunger, and he shall eat at the left half, and he shall not be [ful] filled; each man shall devour the flesh of his arm.

21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim shall devour Manasseh, and they together against Judah. In all these things the strong vengeance of him is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth.

CHAPTER 10

1 Woe to them that make wicked laws, and they writing have written unrightfulness [or unrightwiseness],

2 for to oppress poor men in doom, and to do violence to the cause of meek men of my people; that widows shall be the prey of them, and that they should ravish fatherless children.

3 What shall ye do in the day of visitation, and of wretchedness coming from [a] far? To whose help shall ye flee? and where shall ye leave your glory,

4 that ye be not bowed down under bond, and fall not down with slain men? On all these things his strong vengeance is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth.

5 Woe to Assur, he is the rod and staff of my strong vengeance; mine indignation is in the hand of them.

6 I shall send him to a false folk, and I shall command to him against the people of my strong vengeance; that he take away the spoils, and part prey, and that he set [or put] that people into defouling, as the fen of streets.

7 Forsooth he shall not deem so, and his heart shall not guess so, but his heart shall be for to all-break, and to the slaying of many folks.

8 For he shall say, Whether my princes be not kings altogether?

9 Whether not as Carchemish, so Calno; and as Arpad, so Hamath? whether not as Damascus, so Samaria?

10 As mine hand found the realms of idols, so and the simulacra of them of Jerusalem and of Samaria.

11 Whether not as I did to Samaria, and to the idols thereof, so I shall do to Jerusalem, and to the simulacra thereof?

12 And it shall be, when the Lord hath [ful] filled all his works in the hill [or the mount] of Zion and in Jerusalem, I shall visit on the fruit of the great doing heart of the king of Assur, and on the glory of the highness of his eyes.

13 For he said, I have done in the strength of mine hand, and I have understood in my wisdom; and I have taken away the ends of [the] peoples, and I have robbed the princes of them, and I as a mighty man have drawn down them that sat on high.

14 And mine hand found the strength of peoples as a nest, and as eggs be gathered together that be forsaken, so I gathered together all [the] earth; and none there was that moved a feather, and opened the mouth, and grutched.

15 Whether an ax shall have glory against him that cutteth with it? either a saw shall be enhanced against him of whom it is drawn? as if a rod is raised against him that raiseth it, and a staff is enhanced, which soothly is a tree.

16 For this thing the lordly governor, Lord of hosts, shall send thinness into the fat men of him; and his glory kindled under shall burn as the burning of fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be in fire, and the Holy of it in flame; and the thorn of him and briar shall be kindled and devoured in one day.

18 And the glory of his forest, and of his Carmel, shall be wasted, from the soul unto [the] flesh; and he shall be fleeing away for dread.

19 And the remnants of the trees of his forest shall be numbered for fewness, and a child shall write them.

20 And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel, and they that fled of the house of Jacob, shall not add for to trust on him that smiteth them; but it shall trust on the holy Lord of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnants, I say, the remnants of Jacob, shall be converted to the strong Lord.

22 For why, Israel, if thy people is as the gravel of the sea, the remnants shall be turned thereof; an ending made short shall make rightfulness [or rightwiseness] to be plenteous.

23 For why the Lord God of hosts shall make an ending and abridging, in the midst of all earth.

24 For this thing the Lord God of hosts saith these things, My people, the dweller of Zion, do not thou dread of Assur, for he shall smite thee in a rod, and he shall raise [up] his staff on thee in the way of Egypt.

25 For why yet a little, and a little, and mine indignation and my strong vengeance shall be ended on the great trespass of them.

26 And the Lord of hosts shall raise [up] a scourge on him by the vengeance of Midian in the stone of Oreb, and by his rod on the sea; and he shall raise that rod in the way of Egypt.

27 And it shall be in that day, his burden shall be taken away from thy shoulder, and his yoke from thy neck; and the yoke shall wax [all] rotten from the face of oil.

28 He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Migron, at Michmash he shall betake his vessels to keeping.

29 They passed swiftly, Geba is our seat, Ramah was astonied, Gibeah of Saul fled.

30 Thou daughter of Gallim, wail with thy voice; thou Laish, perceive, thou poor Anathoth.

31 Madmenah passed; the dwellers of Gebim fled; be ye comforted.

32 Yet it is the day, that men stand in Nob; he shall drive his hand on the hill [or the mount] of the daughter of Zion, on the little hill of Jerusalem.

33 Lo! the Lordly Governor, the Lord of hosts, shall break a pottle in dread, and high men of stature shall be cut down. And proud men shall be made low,

34 and the thick things of the forest shall be destroyed by iron; and the Lebanon with high things shall fall down.

CHAPTER 11

1 And a rod shall go out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend [or go up] of the root of it.

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of strength, the spirit of knowing and of piety;

3 and the spirit of the dread of the Lord shall fill him. He shall deem not by the sight of eyes, neither he shall reprove, either convict, by the hearing of ears;

4 but he shall deem in rightfulness [or rightwiseness] poor men, and he shall reprove in equity, for the mild men of [the] earth. And he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the spirit of his lips he shall slay the wicked man.

5 And rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith shall be the girding of his reins.

6 A wolf shall dwell with a lamb, and a leopard shall rest with a kid; a calf, and a lion, and a sheep shall dwell together, and a little child shall drive them.

7 A calf and a bear shall be pastured together; the whelps of them shall rest together, and a lion as an ox shall eat straw.

8 And a young sucking child from the teat shall delight on the hole of a snake, and he that is weaned shall put his hand in the cave of the cockatrice.

9 They shall not annoy, and shall not slay, in all mine holy hill [or holy mountain]; for why the earth is filled with the knowing of the Lord, as [the] waters of the sea covering.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, that standeth into the sign of peoples; heathen men shall beseech him, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.

11 And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall add the second time his hand to have in possession the residue of his people that shall be left, of [the] Assyrian, and of Egypt, and of Pathros, and of Ethiopia, and of Elam, and of Shinar, and of Hamath, and of [the] isles of the sea.

12 And he shall raise a sign to nations, and shall gather together the fleers-away of Israel; and he shall gather together the scattered men of Judah from [the] four coasts of [the] earth.

13 And the envy of Ephraim shall be done away, and the enemies of Judah shall perish; Ephraim shall not have envy to Judah, and Judah shall not fight against Ephraim.

14 And they shall fly into the shoulders of Philistines by the sea, they shall take prey together of the sons of the east; Idumea and Moab shall be under the commandment of the hand of them, and the sons of Ammon shall be obedient.

15 And the Lord shall make desolate the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and he shall raise his hand on the flood in the strength of his spirit; and he shall smite, either part, it into seven rivers, so that shod men pass by it.

16 And a way shall be to my residue people that shall be left, of the Assyrians, as it was to Israel, in the day in which it ascended [or went up] from the land of Egypt.

CHAPTER 12

1 And thou shalt say in that day, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou were wroth to me; thy strong vengeance is turned, and thou hast comforted me.

2 Lo! God is my saviour, I shall do faithfully, and I shall not dread. For why the Lord is my strength and my praising, and he is made to me into health.

3 Ye shall draw waters with joy of the wells of the saviour.

4 And ye shall say in that day, Acknowledge ye to the Lord, and call ye his name into help; make ye known his findings among peoples; have ye mind, that his name is high.

5 Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done worshipfully; tell ye this [out] in all [the] earth.

6 Thou dwelling of Zion, make full out joy, and praise; for why the Holy of Israel is great in the midst of thee.

CHAPTER 13

1 The burden of Babylon, which burden Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

2 Raise ye [up] a sign on a misty hill, and enhance ye [the] voice; raise ye the hand, and [the] dukes enter by the gates.

3 I have commanded to mine hallowed men, and I called my strong men in my wrath, that make full out joy in my glory.

4 The voice of [the] multitude in hills [or mountains], as of many peoples; the voice of [the] sound of kings, of heathen men gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the chivalry of [the] battle,

5 to men coming from a far land. The Lord cometh from the highness of heaven, and the vessels of his strong vengeance, that he destroy all the land.

6 Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is nigh; as wasting, either destroying, it shall come of the Lord.

7 For this thing all hands shall be unmighty, and each heart of man shall fail, and shall be all-broken.

8 Gnawings [or Tormentings] and sorrows shall hold Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, as they that travail of child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their cheers shall be burnt faces.

9 Lo! the day of the Lord shall come, cruel, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and of strong vengeance; to set the land into wilderness, and to all-break the sinners thereof from that land.

10 For why the stars of heaven and the shining of them shall not spread abroad their light; the sun is made dark in his rising, and the moon shall not shine in her light.

11 And I shall visit on the evils of the world, and I shall visit against wicked men the wickedness of them; and I shall make the pride of unfaithful men for to rest, and I shall make low the boast of strong men.

12 A man of full age shall be preciouser than gold, and a man shall be preciouser than pure gold and shining.

13 On this thing I shall trouble heaven, and the earth shall be moved from his place; for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of wrath of his strong vengeance.

14 And it shall be as a doe fleeing, and as a sheep, and none shall be that shall gather together; each man shall turn to his people, and all by themselves shall flee to their land.

15 Each man that is found, shall be slain; and each man that cometh above, shall fall down by sword.

16 The young children of them shall be hurtled down before the eyes of them; their houses shall be ravished, and their wives shall be defouled.

17 Lo! I shall raise on them Medes, that seek not silver, neither will gold;

18 but they shall slay little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy on wombs giving milk, and the eye of them shall not spare on sons.

19 And Babylon, that glorious city in realms, noble in the pride of Chaldees, shall be destroyed, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 It shall not be inhabited till into the end, and it shall not be founded till to generation and generation; a man of Arabia shall not set tents there, and shepherds shall not rest there.

21 But wild beasts shall rest there, and the houses of them shall be filled with dragons; and ostriches shall dwell there, and hairy beasts shall skip there.

22 And bitterns shall answer there in the houses thereof, and flying serpents in the temples of lust. It is nigh that the time thereof come, and the days thereof shall not be made far;

CHAPTER 14

1 for why the Lord shall have mercy of Jacob, and he shall choose yet of Israel, and shall make them for to rest on their land; a comeling shall be joined to them, and shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

2 And peoples shall hold them, and shall bring them into their place. And the house of Israel shall have them in possession into servants and hand-maids on the land of the Lord; and they shall take those men that took them, and they shall make subject their wrongful askers.

3 And it shall be in that day, when God shall give to thee rest of thy travail, and of thy shaking, and of hard servage, in which thou servedest before,

4 thou shalt take this parable against the king of Babylon, and thou shalt say, How ceased the wrongful asker, rested [the] tribute?

5 The Lord hath all-broken the staff of wicked men, the rod of lords,

6 that beat peoples in indignation, with uncurable wound, that subjected folks in strong vengeance, that pursued cruelly.

7 Each land rested, and was still; it was joyful, and made full out joy.

8 Also fir trees and cedars of the Lebanon were glad on thee; Since thou sleptest, none ascendeth [or went up] that cutteth us down.

9 Hell under thee is troubled for the meeting of thy coming; he shall raise giants to thee; all the princes of [the] earth have risen from their seats, all the princes of nations.

10 All they shall answer, and they shall say to thee, And thou art wounded as we, thou art made like us.

11 Thy pride is drawn down to hells [or to hell], thy dead carrion fell down; a moth shall be strewed under thee, and thy covering shall be worms.

12 A! Lucifer, that risedest early, how fellest thou down from heaven; thou that woundedest folks, felledest down altogether into [the] earth.

13 Which saidest in thine heart, I shall ascend [or go up] into heaven, I shall enhance my seat above the stars of heaven; I shall sit in the hill of testament, in the sides of the north.

14 I shall ascend [or go up] on the highness of clouds; I shall be like the Highest.

15 Nevertheless thou shalt be drawn down to hell, into the depth of the pit.

16 They that shall see thee, shall be bowed down to thee, and shall behold thee. And they shall say, Whether this is the man, that troubled [the] earth, that shook together realms?

17 that setted [or put] the world desert, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the prison to the bound men of him?

18 All the kings of heathen men, all slept in glory, a man in his house.

19 But thou art cast out of thy sepulchre, as an unprofitable stock, as defouled with rot; and wrapped with them that be slain with sword, and went down to the foundament of the pit. As a rotten carrion,

20 thou shalt not have fellowship, neither with them in sepulchre, for thou hast lost thy land, thou hast slain the people; the seed of the worst men shall not be called without end.

21 Make ye ready his sons to slaying, for the wickedness of their fathers; they shall not rise, neither they shall inherit the land, neither they shall fill the face of the roundness of cities.

22 And I shall rise [up] on them, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall lose the name of Babylon, and the remnants, and generation, and seed, saith the Lord.

23 And I shall set [or put] that Babylon into possession of an urchin, and into marishes of waters; and I shall sweep it with a besom, and I shall stamp, saith the Lord of hosts.

24 The Lord of hosts swore, saying, Whether it shall not be so, as I guessed, and it shall befall so, as I treated in soul?

25 That I all-break the king of Assyrians in my land, and that I defoul him in mine hills [or my mountains]; and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken away from the shoulder of them.

26 This is the counsel which I thought on all the land, and this is the hand stretched forth on all folks.

27 For why the Lord of hosts hath deemed, and who may make unsteadfast? and his hand is stretched forth, and who shall turn it away?

28 The burden of Philistines. In the year wherein king Ahaz died, this burden was made.

29 All thou Philistia, be not glad, for the rod of thy smiter is made less; for why a cockatrice shall go out of the root of an adder, and his seed shall swallow up a bird.

30 And the first engendered of poor men shall be fed, and poor men shall rest faithfully; and I shall make thy root to perish in hunger, and I shall slay thy remnants.

31 Yell, thou gate; cry, thou city; all Philistia is cast down; for why smoke shall come from the north, and none is that shall escape his host.

32 And what shall be answered to the messengers of [the] folk? for the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor men of his people shall hope in him.

CHAPTER 15

1 The burden of Moab. For Ar was destroyed in night, Moab was still; for the wall was destroyed in the night, Moab was still.

2 The king’s house, and Dibon ascended [or went up] to high places, into wailing; on Nebo, and on Medeba, Moab shall yell. In all heads thereof shall be baldness, and each beard shall be shaved.

3 In the meeting of three ways thereof they be girded in a sackcloth, all yelling on the houses thereof, and in the streets thereof; it shall go down into weeping.

4 Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh, the voice of them is heard till to Jahaz; on this thing the ready men of Moab shall yell, the soul thereof shall yell to itself.

5 Mine heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof till to Zoar, a cow calf of three years. For why a weeper shall go up by the going up of Luhith, and in the way of Horonaim they shall raise cry of sorrow [or contrition].

6 For why the waters of Nimrim shall be forsaken; for the herb dried up, burgeoning failed, all greenness perished.

7 By the greatness of work, and the visiting of them, to the strand [or stream] of sallows they shall lead them.

8 For why their cry compassed the end of Moab; till to Eglaim the yelling thereof, and the cry thereof till to the well of Elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon be filled with blood; for I shall set increasings on Dimon, to those men of Moab that fled from the lion, and to the remnants of the land.

CHAPTER 16

1 Lord, send thou out a lamb, the lordly governor of [the] earth, from the stone of desert, to the hill of the daughter of Zion.

2 And it shall be, as a fowl flying, and birds flying away from the nest, so shall be the daughters of Moab, in the passing over of Arnon.

3 Take thou counsel, constrain thou counsel; set thou as night thy shadow in midday, hide thou them that flee, and betray thou not men of unsteadfast dwelling.

4 My fleers-away shall dwell at thee. Moab, be thou the hiding place of them from the face of the destroyer. For why dust is ended, the wretched is wasted; he that defouled the land failed.

5 And the king’s seat shall be made ready in mercy, and he shall sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, deeming, and seeking doom, and yielding swiftly that that is just.

6 We have heard the pride of Moab, he is full proud; his pride, and his boast, and his indignation is more than his strength.

7 Therefore Moab shall yell to Moab, all Moab shall yell to them that be glad on the walls of baken tilestone; speak ye their wounds.

8 For why the suburbs of Heshbon and the vinery [or vineyard] of Sibmah be forsaken. The lords of heathen men have cut down the scions thereof; they came unto Jazer, they erred in desert. The boughs thereof be forsaken, they passed the sea.

9 On this thing I shall weep in the weeping of Jazer, and on the vinery [or vineyard] of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I shall fill thee with my tears; for the voice of defoulers fell on thy vintage, and on thy harvest.

10 And gladness and full out joying shall be taken away from Carmel; and none shall make full out joy, neither shall sing heartily song in vineries [or vineyards]. He that was wont to wring out, shall not wring out wine in a presser [or wine press]; I have taken away the voice of [the] wringers-out.

11 On this thing my womb shall sound as an harp to Moab, and mine entrails to the wall of baken tilestone.

12 And it shall be, when it shall appear, that Moab hath travailed on his high places, it shall enter to his holy things, that it beseech, and it shall not be worthy.

13 This is the word which the Lord spake to Moab from that time.

14 And now the Lord spake, saying, In three years, that were as the years of an hired man, the glory of Moab shall be taken away on all the much people; and there shall be left in it as a little raisin, and a little, and not much.

CHAPTER 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Lo! Damascus shall fail to be a city, and it shall be as an heap of stones in falling.

2 The forsaken cities of Aroer shall be to flocks; and they shall rest there, and none shall be that shall make afeared.

3 And help shall cease from Ephraim, and a realm from Damascus; and the remnants of Syria shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

4 And it shall be, in that day, the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall fade.

5 And it shall be as gathering together that that is left in harvest, and his arm shall gather ears of corn, and it shall be as seeking ears of corn in the valley of Rephaim.

6 And there shall be left in it as a raisin, that is, a little bow, with a little fruit, and as the shaking down of the fruit of olive tree, as of two either of three olive trees in the highness of a branch, either of four or of five; in the tops thereof shall be the fruit thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

7 In that day a man shall be bowed to his maker, and his eyes shall behold to the Holy of Israel.

8 And he shall not be bowed to the altars, which his hands made, and which his fingers wrought; he shall not behold woods, and [the] temples of idols.

9 In that day the cities of strength thereof shall be forsaken as plows, and [the] corns that were forsaken of the face of the sons of Israel; and thou shalt be forsaken.

10 For thou hast forgotten God, thy saviour, and haddest not mind on thy strong helper; therefore thou shalt plant a faithful planting, and thou shalt sow an alien seed.

11 In the day of thy planting shall be a wild vine, and early thy seed shall flower; ripe corn is taken away in the day of heritage, and Israel shall make sorrow grievously.

12 Woe to the multitude of many peoples, as the multitude of the sea sounding, and the noise of companies as the sound of many waters.

13 Peoples shall sound as the sound of flowing waters, and God shall blame him; and he shall flee far, and he shall be ravished as the dust of hills [or mountains] from the face of the wind, and as a whirlwind before [the] tempest.

14 In the time of eventide, and lo! troubling; in the morrowtide, and he shall not abide. This is the part of them that destroyed us, and the part of them that ravished us.

CHAPTER 18

1 Woe to the land, the cymbal of wings, which is beyond the flood of Ethiopia;

2 that sendeth messengers by the sea, and in vessels of papyrus on waters. Go, ye messengers, to the folk drawn up and rent; to a fearedful people, after which is none other; to the folk abiding and defouled, whose land the floods have ravished; to the hill [or mount] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to the hill [or mount] of Zion.

3 All ye dwellers of the world, that dwell in the land, shall see when a sign shall be raised [up] in the hills [or mountains], and ye shall hear the cry of a trump.

4 For why the Lord saith these things to me, I shall rest, and I shall behold in my place, as the midday light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest.

5 For why all flowered out before harvest, and unripe perfection burgeoned; and the little branches thereof shall be cut down with scythes, and those that be left, shall be cut away.

6 They shall be shaken out, and shall be left together to the birds of hills [or mountains], and to the beasts of earth; and birds shall be on him by a summer everlasting, and all the beasts of earth shall dwell by winter on him.

7 In that time a gift shall be brought to the Lord of hosts, of the people drawn up and rent; of the people fearedful, after which was none other; of the folk abiding and defouled, whose land floods ravished; the gift shall be brought to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to the hill [or mount] of Zion.

CHAPTER 19

1 The burden of Egypt. Lo! the Lord shall ascend on a light cloud, and he shall enter into Egypt; and the simulacra of Egypt shall be moved from his face, and the heart of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof.

2 And I shall make Egyptians to run together against Egyptians, and a man shall fight against his brother, and a man against his friend, a city against a city, and a realm against a realm.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the entrails thereof, and I shall cast down the counsel thereof; and they shall ask their simulacra, and their false diviners, and their men that have unclean spirits speaking in the womb, and their diviners by sacrifices made on altars to fiends.

4 And I shall betake Egypt into the hand of cruel lords, and a strong king shall be lord of them, saith the Lord God of hosts.

5 And [the] water of the sea shall wax dry, and the flood shall be desolate, and shall be dried.

6 And the floods shall fail, and the strands [or rivers] of the fields shall be made thin, and shall be dried; a reed and spire shall fade.

7 The bottom of water shall be made naked, and streams from their wells; and the moist place of all seed shall be dried, it shall wax dry, and it shall not be.

8 And [the] fishers shall mourn, and all that cast hook into the flood shall wail; and they that spread abroad a net on the face of waters shall fade.

9 They shall be shamed, that wrought flax, folding and ordaining subtle things.

10 And the water places thereof shall be dry; all that made ponds to take fishes, shall be shamed.

11 The fond princes [or fools] of Tanis, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh, gave unwise counsel; how shall ye say to Pharaoh, I am the son of wise men, the son of eld [or old] kings?

12 Where be now thy wise men? Tell they to thee, and show they, what the Lord of hosts thought on Egypt.

13 The princes of Tanis be made fools; the princes of Memphis faded; they deceived Egypt, a cornerstone of the peoples thereof.

14 The Lord meddled [or mingled] a spirit of error in the midst thereof; and they made Egypt for to err in all his work, as a drunken man and spewing erreth.

15 And work shall not be to Egypt, that it make an head and tail bowing and refraining.

16 In that day Egypt shall be as women, and they shall be astonied, and shall dread of the face of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he moved on it.

17 And the land of Judah shall be to Egypt into dread; each that shall think on it, shall dread of the face of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he thought on it.

18 In that day five cities shall be in the land of Egypt, and shall speak with the tongue of Canaan, and shall swear by the Lord of hosts; the city of the sun shall be called one.

19 In that day the altar of the Lord shall be in the midst of the land of Egypt, and the title of the Lord shall be beside the end thereof;

20 and it shall be into a sign and witnessing to the Lord of hosts, in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord from the face of the troubler, and he shall send a saviour to them, and a for-fighter, that shall deliver them.

21 And the Lord shall be known of Egypt, and [the] Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day; and they shall worship him in sacrifices and gifts, and they shall make vows to the Lord, and they shall pay.

22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt with a wound, and shall make it whole; and [the] Egyptians shall turn again to the Lord, and he shall be pleased in them, and he shall make them whole.

23 In that day a way shall be from Egypt into Assyrians, and Egyptians shall serve Assur; and Assur shall enter into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel shall be the third to Egypt and to Assur, the blessing in the middle of [the] earth;

25 whom the Lord of hosts blessed, saying, Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of mine hands be to Assyrians; but mine heritage be to Israel.

CHAPTER 20

1 In the year wherein Tartan entered into Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of Assyrians, had sent him, and he had fought against Ashdod, and had taken it;

2 in that time the Lord spake in the hand of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, and said, Go thou, and unbind the sack-cloth from thy loins, and take away thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, going naked and unshod.

3 And the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah went naked and unshod, a sign and great wonder of three years shall be on Egypt, and on Ethiopia;

4 so the king of Assyrians shall drive the captivity of Egypt, and the passing over of Ethiopia, a young man and an eld [or old] man, naked and unshod, with the buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

5 And they shall dread, and shall be ashamed of Ethiopia, their hope, and of Egypt, their glory.

6 And a dweller of this isle shall say on that day, This was our hope, to which we fled for help, that they should deliver us from the face of the king of Assyrians; and how may we escape?

CHAPTER 21

1 The burden of the forsaken sea. As whirlwinds come from the south-west, it cometh from [the] desert, from the horrible land.

2 An hard revelation is told to me; he that is unfaithful, doeth unfaithfully; and he that is a destroyer, destroyeth. Thou Elam, go up, and thou Media, beseech [or besiege]; I made all the wailing thereof for to cease.

3 Therefore my loins be filled with sorrow; anguish wielded me, as the anguish of a woman travailing of child; I fell down, when I heard; I was troubled, when I saw.

4 Mine heart faded, darknesses astonied me; Babylon, my darling, is set [or put] to me into miracle.

5 Set thou a board, behold thou into a looking place; rise, ye princes, eating and drinking, take ye [the] shield.

6 For why the Lord said these things to me, Go thou, and set a looker; and tell he, whatever thing he seeth.

7 And he saw the chariot of two horsemen, the rider of an ass, and the rider of a camel; and he beheld diligently with much looking,

8 and [he] cried as a lion, I stand continually by day on the looking place of the Lord, and I stand by all nights on my keeping.

9 Lo! this cometh, a man-rider of a cart of horsemen. And Isaiah cried, and said, Babylon fell down, fell down; and all the graven images of gods thereof be all-broken into [the] earth.

10 My threshing, and the daughter of my cornfloor, I have told to you what things I heard of the Lord of hosts, of God of Israel.

11 The burden of Dumah. It crieth from Seir to me, Keeper, what hour of the night? keeper, what hour of the night?

12 The keeper said, The morrowtide cometh, and night; if ye seek, seek ye, and be ye converted, and come ye.

13 The burden of Arabia. In the forest at eventide ye shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim.

14 Ye that dwell in the land of the south, run, and bear water to the thirsty; and run ye with loaves to him that fleeth.

15 For they fled from the face of swords, from the face of [the] sword nighing, from the face of [the] bow bent, from the face of [the] grievous battle.

16 For the Lord saith these things to me, Yet in one year, as in the year of an hired man, and all the glory of Kedar shall be taken away.

17 And the remnants of the number of strong archers of the sons of Kedar shall be made less; for why the Lord God of Israel spake.

CHAPTER 22

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What also is to thee, for and all thou ascendedest [or wentest up] into [the] roofs,

2 thou full of cry, a city of much people, a city full out joying? thy slain men were not slain by sword, neither thy dead men were dead in battle.

3 All thy princes fled together, and were bound hard; all that were found, were bound together, they fled far.

4 Therefore I said, Go ye away from me, I shall weep bitterly; do not ye be busy to comfort me on the destroying of the daughter of my people.

5 For why a day of slaying, and of defouling, and of weepings, is ordained of the Lord God of hosts, in the valley of vision; and he searcheth the wall, and is worshipful on the hill [or the mountain].

6 And Elam took an arrow case, or a quiver, and the chariot of an horseman; and the shield made naked the wall.

7 And thy chosen valleys, Jerusalem, shall be full of carts; and knights shall put their seats in the gate.

8 And the covering of Judah shall be showed; and thou shalt see in that day the place of armours of the house of the forest;

9 and ye shall see the crazings of the city of David, for those be multiplied. Ye gathered together the waters of the lower cistern,

10 and ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye destroyed [the] houses, to make strong the wall;

11 and ye made a pit betwixt two walls, and ye restored the water of the eld [or old] cistern; and ye beheld not to him, that made that Jerusalem, and ye saw not the worker thereof afar.

12 And the Lord of hosts shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to a girdle of sackcloth;

13 and lo! joy and gladness is to slay calves, and to strangle wethers, to eat flesh, and to drink wine; eat we, and drink we, for we shall die tomorrow.

14 And the voice of the Lord of hosts is showed in mine ears, This wicked-ness shall not be forgiven to you, till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

15 The Lord God of hosts saith these things, Go thou, and enter to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the sovereign of the temple; and thou shalt say to him,

16 What thou here, either as who here? for thou hast hewed [out] to thee a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed a memorial in high place diligently, a tabernacle in a stone to thee.

17 Lo! the Lord shall make thee to be borne out, as a capon is borne out, and as a cloth, so he shall raise thee.

18 He crowning shall crown thee with tribulation; he shall send thee as a ball into a large land and wide; there thou shalt die, and there shall be the chariot of thy glory, and the shame of the house of thy Lord.

19 And I shall cast thee out of thy standing, and I shall put thee down of thy service.

20 And it shall be, in that day I shall call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah;

21 and I shall clothe him in thy coat, and I shall comfort him with thy girdle, and I shall give thy power into the hands of him; and he shall be as a father to them that dwell in Jeru-salem, and to the house of Judah.

22 And I shall give the key of the house of David on his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall be that shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall be that shall open.

23 And I shall set him a stake, either a perch, in a faithful place, and he shall be into a seat of glory of the house of his father.

24 And thou shalt hang on him all the glory of the house of his father, diverse kinds of vessels, each little vessel, from the vessels of cups, till to each vessel of musics.

25 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, the stake that was set [or fixed] in the faithful place, shall be taken away, and it shall be broken, and shall fall down; and shall perish that hanged therein, for the Lord spake.

CHAPTER 23

1 The burden of Tyre. Ye ships of the sea, yell, for the house is destroyed, from whence comfort was wont to come; from the land of Chittim, and [it] was showed to them.

2 Be ye still, that dwell in the isle, the merchants of Sidon; [the] men passing [over] the sea filled thee in many waters;

3 the seed of Nile is [the] harvest, the flood is the corn thereof, and it is made the merchandise of heathen men.

4 Thou, Sidon, be ashamed, said the sea, the strength of the sea, and said, I travailed not of child, and I childed not, and I nourished not young men, and I brought not fully virgins to increasing.

5 When it shall be heard in Egypt, they shall make sorrow, when they hear of Tyre.

6 Pass ye the seas; yell ye, that dwell in the isle.

7 Whether this city is not yours, that had glory from eld days in his eldness? the feet thereof shall lead it [a] far, to go in pilgrimage.

8 Who thought this thing on Tyre, sometime crowned, whose merchants were princes, the sellers of merchandise thereof were noble men of [the] earth?

9 The Lord of hosts thought this thing, that he should draw down the pride of all glory, and that he should bring to shame all the noble men of earth.

10 Thou daughter of the sea, pass [over] thy land as a flood; a girdle is no more to thee.

11 It stretched forth his hand above the sea, and troubled realms. The Lord sent against Canaan, for to all-break the strong men thereof;

12 and he said, Thou maiden, the daughter of Sidon, that sufferest challenge, shalt no more add, that thou have glory. Rise thou, and pass over the sea into Chittim; there also no rest shall be to thee.

13 Lo! the land of Chaldees, such a people was not; Assur founded that Tyre; they led over into captivity the strong men thereof; they [under] mined the houses thereof; they setted [or put] it into falling.

14 Yell, ye ships of the sea, for your strength be destroyed.

15 And it shall be, in that day, thou, Tyre, shalt be in forgetting by seventy years, as the days of one king; but after seventy years, as the song of a whore shall be to Tyre.

16 Thou whore, given to forgetting, take an harp, compass the city; sing thou well, use thou oft a song, that mind be of thee.

17 And it shall be, after seventy years, the Lord shall visit Tyre, and shall bring it again to his hire; and again it shall be, when it shall do fornication with all [the] realms of [the] earth, on the face of [the] earth.

18 And the merchandises thereof and the meeds thereof shall be hallowed to the Lord; they shall not be hid, neither shall be laid up; for why the merchandise thereof shall be to them that dwell before the Lord, that they eat to fullness, and be clothed till to eldness [or oldness].

CHAPTER 24

1 Lo! the Lord shall destroy the earth, and shall make it naked, and shall torment the face thereof; and he shall scatter abroad the dwellers thereof.

2 And it shall be, as the people, so the priest; as the servant, so his lord; as the handmaid, so the lady of her; as a buyer, so he that selleth; as the lender, so he that taketh borrowing; as he that asketh again, so he that oweth.

3 By destroying the land shall be destroyed, and shall be made naked by ravishing; for why the Lord spake this word.

4 The earth mourned, and floated away, and is made sick; the world floated away, the highness of the people of [the] earth is made sick,

5 and the earth is slain of his dwellers. For they passed [the] laws, changed [the] right, destroyed [the] everlasting bond of peace.

6 For this thing, cursing shall devour the earth, and the dwellers thereof shall do sin; and therefore the lovers thereof shall be mad, and few men shall be left.

7  [The] Vintage mourned, the vine is sick; all men that were glad in heart wailed.

8 The joy of tympans ceased, the sound of glad men rested; the sweet-ness of [the] harp with song was stilled.

9 They shall not drink wine; a bitter drink shall be to them that shall drink it.

10 The city of vanity is all-broken; each house is closed, for no man entereth.

11 Cry shall be on wine in [the] streets, all gladness is forsaken, the joy of [the] earth is taken away.

12 Desolation is left in the city, and wretchedness shall oppress the gates.

13 For these things shall be in the midst of [the] earth, in the midst of peoples, as if a few fruits of olive trees that be left be shaken off from the olive tree, and raisins, when the vintage is ended.

14 These men shall raise [up] their voice, and shall praise, when the Lord shall be glorified; they shall show signs of gladness from the sea.

15 For this thing glorify ye the Lord in teachings; in the isles of the sea glorify ye the name of the Lord God of Israel.

16 From the ends of [the] earth we have heard praisings, the glory of the just [or the rightwise]. And I said, My private to me, my private to me. Woe to me, [the] trespassers have trespassed, and have trespassed by [the] trespassing of breakers of the law.

17 Fearedfulness, and a ditch, and a snare on thee, that art a dweller of [the] earth.

18 And it shall be, he that shall flee from the face of fearedfulness, shall fall into the ditch; and he that shall deliver himself from the ditch, shall be holden of the snare; for why the windows of high things be opened, and the foundaments of [the] earth shall be shaken together.

19 The earth shall be broken with breaking, the earth shall be defouled with defouling, the earth shall be moved with moving,

20 the earth shall be shaken with shaking, as a drunken man. And it shall be taken away, as the tabernacle of one night, and the wickedness thereof shall grieve it; and it shall fall down, and it shall not add, for to rise again.

21 And it shall be, in that day the Lord shall visit on the knighthood of heaven on high, and on the kings of earth, that be on earth.

22 And they shall be gathered together in the gathering together of a bundle into the pit, and they shall be enclosed there in prison; and after many days they shall be visited.

23 And the moon shall be ashamed, and the sun shall be confounded, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in the hill of Zion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his elder men.

CHAPTER 25

1 Lord, thou art my God, I shall enhance thee, and I shall acknowledge to thy name; for thou hast done marvels, thine eld [or old] faithful thoughts. Amen.

2 For thou hast set the city into a burial, a strong city into falling, the house of aliens, that it be not a city, and be not builded without end.

3 For this thing a strong people shall praise thee, the city of strong folks shall dread thee.

4 For thou art made strength to a poor man, strength to a needy man in his tribulation, hope from [the] whirlwind, a shadowing place from heat; for why the spirit of strong men is as a whirlwind hurling the wall.

5 As by heat in thirst, thou shalt make meek the noise of aliens; and as by heat under a cloud burning, thou shalt make the scions of strong men to fade.

6 And the Lord of hosts shall make in this hill to all peoples the feast of fat things, the feast of vintage of fat things full of marrow, of vintage well-refined.

7 And he shall cast down in this hill the face of [the] bond, bound altogether on all peoples, and the web which he weaved on all nations.

8 And he shall cast down death [into] without end, and the Lord God shall do away each tear from each face; and he shall do away the shame of his people from each land, for the Lord spake.

9 And they shall say in that day, Lo! this is our God; we abided him, and he shall save us; this is the Lord; we suffered him, and we shall make full out joy, and shall be glad in his health.

10 For why the hand of the Lord shall rest in this hill, and Moab shall be threshed under him, as chaffs be stamped in a wain.

11 And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as a swimmer stretcheth forth to swim; and he shall make low the glory of him with [the] hurtling down of his hands.

12 And the strongholds of thine high walls shall fall down, and shall be made low, and shall be drawn down to the earth, till to the dust.

CHAPTER 26

1 In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah. The city of our strength; the saviour shall be set therein, the wall and the forewall, either a stronghold before the wall.

2 Open ye the gates, and the just [or rightwise] folk shall enter, keeping truth.

3 The eld [or old] error is gone away; thou shalt keep peace, peace, for thou, Lord, we hoped in thee.

4 Ye have hoped in the Lord, in everlasting worlds, in the Lord God, strong without end.

5 For he shall bow down them that dwell on high, and he shall make low an high city; he shall make it low till to the earth; he shall draw it down till to the dust.

6 The foot of a poor man shall defoul it, and the steps of needy men shall defoul it.

7 The way of a just man is rightful, the path of a just man is rightful to go. [The way of the rightwise is even, even the path of the rightwise to go.]

8 And in the way of thy dooms, Lord, we suffered thee; thy name, and thy memorial is in desire of soul.

9 My soul shall desire thee in the night, but also with my spirit in mine entrails; from the morrowtide I shall wake to thee. When thou shalt make thy dooms in [the] earth, all dwellers of the world shall learn rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

10 Do we mercy to the wicked man, and he shall not learn to do rightwise-ness; in the land of saints he did wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.

11 Lord, thine hand be enhanced, that they see not; peoples having envy see, and be shamed, and fire devour thine enemies.

12 Lord, thou shalt give peace to us, for thou hast wrought all our works in us.

13 Our Lord God, lords had us in possession, without thee; only in thee have we mind of thy name.

14 They that die, live not, and giants, rise not again. Therefore thou hast visited, and hast all-broken them, and thou hast lost all the mind of them;

15 and Lord, thou hast forgiven to a folk, thou hast forgiven to a folk. Whether thou art glorified? thou hast made far from thee all the ends of [the] earth.

16 Lord, in anguish they sought thee; in the tribulation of grutching, thy doctrine to them.

17 As she that conceived, when she nigheth sorrowful to the child bearing, crieth in her sorrows, so we be made, Lord, of thy face.

18 We have conceived, and we have as travailed of child, and we have childed the spirit of health; we did not rightfulness [or rightwiseness] in earth. Therefore the dwellers of [the] earth fell not down;

19 thy dead men shall live, and my slain men shall rise again. Ye that dwell in dust, awake, and praise; for why the dew of light is thy dew, and thou shalt draw down the land of giants into falling.

20 Go thou, my people, enter into thy beds, close thy doors on thee, be thou hid a little at a moment, till indignation pass.

21 For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, to visit the wickedness of the dwellers of [the] earth against him; and the earth shall show his blood, and shall no more cover his slain men.

CHAPTER 27

1 In that day the Lord shall visit in his hard sword, and great, and strong, on leviathan, serpent, a bar [or a lever], and on leviathan, the crooked serpent; and he shall slay the whale, which is in the sea.

2 In that day the vinery [or the vineyard] of clean wine and good shall sing to him.

3 I am the Lord that keep that vinery; suddenly I shall give drink to it, lest peradventure it be visited against it; night and day I keep it,

4 indignation is not to me. Who shall give me a thorn and [a] briar? In battle I shall go on it, I shall burn it altogether.

5 Whether rather I shall hold my strength? It shall make peace to me, it shall make peace to me,

6  for the merit of them that shall go out with fierceness from Jacob. Israel shall flower and bring forth seed, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed.

7 Whether he smote it by the wound of the people of Jews smiting him? either as it killed the slain men of him, so it was slain?

8 In measure against measure, when it shall be cast away, he shall deem it; he bethought in his hard spirit, by the day of heat.

9 Therefore on this thing wickedness shall be forgiven to the house of Jacob, and this shall be all the fruit, that the sin thereof be done away, when it hath set all the stones of the altar as the stones of ashes hurtled down. Woods and temples shall not stand.

10 Forsooth the strong city shall be desolate, the fair city shall be left, and shall be forsaken as a desert; there a calf shall be pastured, and shall lie there, and shall waste the highness thereof.

11 In the dryness of ripe corn thereof women coming, and they that teach it, shall be all-broken. Forsooth it is not a wise people; therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it, and he that formed it, shall not spare it.

12 And it shall be, in that day the Lord shall smite thee, from the bottom of the flood till to the strand [or stream] of Egypt; and ye sons of Israel, shall be gathered one and one.

13 And it shall be, in that day men shall come with a great trump, and they that were lost, shall come from the land of Assyrians, and they that were cast out, shall come from the land of Egypt; and they shall worship the Lord, in the holy hill of Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 28

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunken men of Ephraim, and to the flower falling down of the glory of the full out joying thereof, that were in the top of the fattest valley, and erred of wine.

2 Lo! the mighty and strong Lord, as the fierceness of hail, and whirlwind breaking altogether, as the fierceness of many waters flowing, and sent out on a large land.

3 The crown of pride of the drunken men of Ephraim shall be defouled with feet,

4 and the flower of [the] glory of the full out joying of him, that is on the top of the valley of fat things, shall be falling down, as a timely thing before the ripeness of harvest; which when a man seeing beholdeth, anon as he taketh with hand, he shall devour it.

5 In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of full out joying, to the residue of his people;

6 and a spirit of doom to him that sitteth on the throne, and strength to them that turn again from [the] battle to the gate.

7 But also they knew not for wine, and erred for drunkenness; the priest and prophet knew not for drunken-ness; they were sopped up of wine, they erred in drunkenness; they knew not a prophet, they knew not doom.

8 For why all boards were filled with spewing and filths, so that there was no more place.

9 Whom shall he teach knowing, and whom shall he make to understand [the] hearing? Men weaned from milk, men drawn away from teats.

10 For why command thou, command thou again; command thou, command thou again; abide thou, abide thou again; abide thou, abide thou again; a little there, a little there.

11 For why in [the] speech of lip, and in other language, he shall speak to this people,

12 to which he said, This is my rest; refresh ye a weary man, and this is my refreshing; and they would not hear.

13 And the word of the Lord shall be to them, Send thou, send thou again; send thou, send thou again; abide thou, abide thou again; abide thou, abide thou again; a little there, a little there; that they go, and fall backward, and be all-broken, and be snared, and be taken.

14 For this thing, ye men scorners, that be lords over my people which is in Jerusalem, hear the word of the Lord.

15 For ye said, We have smitten a bond of peace with death, and we have made covenant with hell; a scourge flowing, when it shall pass, shall not come [up] on us, for we have set a leasing our hope, and we be covered with a leasing.

16 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall send in the foundaments of Zion a cornerstone precious, proved, founded in the foundament; he that believeth, shall not hasten.

17 And I shall set doom in weight, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] in measure; and hail shall destroy the hope of leasing, and waters shall flow on protection.

18 And your bond of peace with death shall be done away, and your covenant with hell shall not stand; when the scourge flowing shall pass, ye shall be to it into defouling.

19 Whenever it shall pass, it shall take away you; for why early in the gray morrowtide it shall pass, in day and night; and only travail alone shall give understanding to [the] hearing.

20 Forsooth the bed is strait, so that the tother fall down; and a short mantle shall not cover ever either.

21 For as in the hill of partings [or divisions] the Lord shall stand, as in the valley, which is in Gibeon, he shall be wroth, that he do his work; his work alien [or alien is his work], that he work his work; his work is strange from him.

22 And now do not ye scorn, lest peradventure your bonds be made strait together; for I heard of the Lord God of hosts, ending and abridging on all earth.

23 Perceive ye with ears, and hear ye my voice; perceive ye, and hear ye my speech.

24 Whether he that eareth, shall ear all day, for to sow, and shall he carve, and purge his land?

25 Whether when he hath made even the face thereof, shall he not sow gith, and sprinkle abroad cumin? and he shall not set wheat by order, and barley, and millet, and fitches in his coasts?

26 And his God shall teach him, in doom he shall teach him.

27 Forsooth gith shall not be threshed in saws, and a wheel of a wain shall not compass on [the] cumin; but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and [the] cumin with a staff.

28 Soothly bread shall be made less, but he that thresheth shall not thresh it without end, neither shall travail it with a wheel of a wain, neither shall make it less with his claws.

29 And this thing went out of the Lord God of hosts, that he should make wonderful counsel, and magnify rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

CHAPTER 29

1 Woe! [to] Ariel, Ariel, the city which David overcame; year is added to year, solemnities be passed.

2 And I shall compass Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning; and Jerusalem shall be to me as Ariel.

3 And I shall compass as a round spear, either trundle, in thy compass, and I shall cast [an heap of] earth against thee, and I shall set strongholds, either engines, into thy besieging.

4 Thou shalt be made low, thou shalt speak of [the] earth, and thy speech shall be heard from the earth; and thy voice shall be as the voice of a dead man raised by conjuring, and thy speech shall oft grutch of the earth.

5 And the multitude of them that winnowed thee, shall be as thin dust; and the multitude of them that had the mastery against thee, shall be as [a] dead spark passing. And it shall be suddenly,

6 anon it shall be visited of the Lord of hosts, in thunder, and in moving of the earth, and in great voice of whirlwind, and of tempest, and of flame of fire devouring.

7 And the multitude of all folks that fought against Ariel shall be as the dream of a night’s vision; and all men that fought, and besieged, and had the mastery against it.

8 And as an hungry man dreameth, and eateth, but when he is awakened, his soul is void; and as a thirsty man dreameth, and drinketh, and after that he is awakened, he is weary, and thirsteth yet, and his soul is void; so shall be the multitude of all folks, that fought against the hill of Zion.

9 Be ye astonied, and wonder; wake ye, and doubt ye; be ye drunk, and not of wine; be ye moved, and not with drunkenness.

10 For the Lord hath meddled [or mingled] to you the spirit of sleep; he shall close your eyes, and [he] shall cover your prophets, and princes that see visions.

11 And the vision of all prophets shall be to you as the words of a book asealed; which when they shall give to him that knoweth letters, they shall say, Read thou this book; and he shall answer, I may not, for it is asealed.

12 And the book shall be given to him that knoweth not letters, and it shall be said to him, Read thou; and he shall answer, I know no letters.

13 And the Lord said, For that this people nigheth with their mouth, and glorifieth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; and they dreaded me for the commandment and teachings of men,

14 therefore lo! I shall add, that I make [great] wondering to this people, in a great miracle and wonderful; for why wisdom shall perish from wise men thereof, and the understanding of prudent men thereof shall be hid.

15 Woe to you that be deep of heart, that ye hide counsel from the Lord; the works of which be in darknesses, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?

16 This thought of you is wayward, as if clay think against a potter, and the work say to his maker, Thou madest not me; and a thing made, say to his maker, Thou understandest not.

17 Whether not yet in a little time and short, the Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be areckoned into the forest?

18 And in that day deaf men shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of blind men shall see from darknesses and misty;

19 and mild men shall increase gladness in the Lord, and poor men shall make full out joy in the Holy of Israel.

20 For he that had the mastery, failed, and the scorner is ended, and all they be cut down that waked on wickedness;

21 which made men to do sin in word, and deceived a reprover in the gate, and bowed away in vain from a just [or rightwise] man.

22 For this thing the Lord, that again-bought Abraham, saith these things to the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not be confounded now, neither now his cheer shall be ashamed;

23 but when he shall see his sons, the works of mine hands, hallowing my name in the midst of him. And they shall hallow the Holy of Jacob, and they shall preach [the] God of Israel;

24 and they that err in spirit, shall know understanding, and idle men, either grutchers, shall learn the law.

CHAPTER 30

1 Woe! sons forsakers, saith the Lord, that ye shall make a counsel, and not of me; and weave a web, and not by my spirit, that ye should increase sin on sin.

2 Which go, to go down into Egypt, and ye asked not my mouth; ye hoping help in the strength of Pharaoh, and ye having trust in the shadow of Egypt.

3 And the strength of Pharaoh shall be to you into confusion, and the trust of the shadow of Egypt into shame.

4 For why thy princes were in Tanis, and thy messengers came till to Hanes.

5 All they were shamed on the people, that might not profit to them; they were not into help, and into any profit, but into shame and shame.

6 The burden of [the] work beasts of the south. In the land of tribulation and of anguish, a lioness, and a lion, of them a serpent, and a [flying] cockatrice; they were bearing their riches on the shoulders of work beasts, and their treasures on the botch of camels, to a people that might not profit to them.

7 For why Egypt shall help in vain, and idly. Therefore I cried on this thing, It is pride only; cease thou.

8 Now therefore enter thou, and write to it on [a] box [table], and write thou it diligently in a book; and it shall be in the last day into witnessing, till into without end.

9 For it is a people stirring me to wrathfulness [or wrath], and sons liars, sons that will not hear the law of God.

10 Which say to prophets, Do not ye prophesy; and to beholders, Do not ye behold to us those things that be rightful [or right]; speak ye things pleasing to us, see ye errors to us.

11 Do ye away from me the way, bow ye away from me the path; the Holy of Israel cease from our face.

12 Therefore the Holy of Israel saith these things, For that that ye reproved this word, and hoped on false challenge, and on noise, and trusted on it,

13 therefore this wickedness shall be to you as a breaking falling down, and sought in an high wall; for suddenly while it is not hoped, the breaking thereof shall come.

14 And it shall be made less, as a vessel of a potter is broken with full strong breaking; and a shard shall not be found of the gobbets, either remnants, thereof, in which shard a little fire shall be borne of burning, either a little of water shall be drawn of the ditch.

15 For why the Lord God, the Holy of Israel, saith these things, If ye turn again, and rest, ye shall be safe; in stillness and in hope shall be your strength. And ye would not.

16 And ye said, Nay, but we shall flee to horses; therefore ye shall flee. And we shall ascend [or go up] on swift horses; therefore they shall be swifter, that shall pursue you.

17 A thousand men shall flee from the face of the dread of one; and ye shall flee from the face of [the] dread of five, till ye be left as the mast of a ship in the top of a mountain, and as a sign on a little hill.

18 Therefore the Lord abideth, that he have mercy on you, and therefore he shall be enhanced sparing you; for why God is Lord of doom, blessed be all they that abide him.

19 Forsooth the people of Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem; thou weeping shalt not weep, he doing mercy shall have mercy on thee; at the voice of thy cry, anon as he heareth, he shall answer to thee.

20 And the Lord shall give to thee strait bread, and short water, and shall no more make thy teacher to flee away from thee; and thine eyes shall be seeing thy commander,

21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind the back of him that admonisheth; This is the way, go ye therein, neither to the right half, neither to the left half.

22 And thou shalt defoul the plates of the graven images of thy silver, and the cloth of the molten image of thy gold; and thou shalt scatter them, as the uncleanness of a woman in unclean blood; Go thou out, and thou shalt say to it.

23 And rain shall be given to thy seed, wherever thou shalt sow in [the] earth, and the bread of [the] fruits of [the] earth shall be most plenteous and fat; in that day a lamb shall be fed largely in thy possession.

24 And thy bulls and colts of asses, that work the land, shall eat barley with chaff meddled [or mingled] together, as it is winnowed in the cornfloor.

25 And strands [or rivers] of running waters shall be on each high mountain, and on each little hill raised, in the day of slaying of many men, when towers fall down.

26 And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day in which the Lord shall bind together the wound of his people, and shall make whole the smiting of the wounds thereof.

27 Lo! the name of the Lord cometh down from [a] far; his strong vengeance is burning, and grievous to bear; his lips be filled of indignation, and his tongue is as fire devouring.

28 His spirit is as a stiff stream, flowing till to the midst of the neck, to lose folks into nought, and the bridle of error, that was in the cheeks of peoples.

29 Song shall be to you, as the voice of an hallowed solemnity; and gladness of heart, as he that goeth with a pipe, for to enter into the hill of the Lord, to the Strong of Israel.

30 And the Lord shall make heard the glory of his voice, and he shall show the fearedfulness of his arm in menacing [or threatening] of strong vengeance, and in flame of fire burning; he shall hurtle down in whirlwind, and in [the] stone of hail.

31 For why Assur smitten with a rod shall dread of the voice of the Lord;

32 and the passing of the rod shall be founded, which rod the Lord shall make for to rest on him. In tympans, and harps, and in sovereign battles he shall overcome them.

33 For why Tophet, that is, hell, deep and alarged, is made ready of the king from yesterday; the nourishings thereof be fire and many trees; the blast of the Lord, as a stream of brimstone, kindleth it.

CHAPTER 31

1 Woe to them that go down into Egypt to help, and hope in horses, and have trust on carts, for they be many, and on knights, for they be full strong; and they trust not on the Holy of Israel, and they sought not the Lord.

2 Forsooth he that is wise, hath brought evil, and took not away his words; and he shall rise altogether against the house of worst men, and against the help of them that work wickedness.

3 Egypt is a man, and not God; and the horses of them be flesh, and not spirit; and the Lord shall bow down his hand, and the helper shall fall down, and he shall fall, to whom help is given, and all shall be wasted together,

4 For why the Lord saith these things to me, If a lion roareth, and a whelp of a lion on his prey, when the multitude of shepherds cometh against him, he shall not dread of the voice of them, and he shall not dread of the multitude of them; so the Lord of hosts shall come down, for to fight on the mountain [or mount] of Zion, and on the little hill thereof.

5 As birds flying, so the Lord of hosts shall defend Jerusalem; he defending and delivering, passing forth and saving.

6 Ye sons of Israel, be converted, as ye had gone away into depth.

7 Forsooth in that day a man shall cast away the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which your hands made to you into sin.

8 And Assur shall fall by sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee, not from the face of [the] sword, and his young men shall be tributaries;

9 and the strength of him shall pass from fearedfulness, and his princes fleeing shall dread. The Lord said, whose fire is in Zion, and his chimney is in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 32

1 Lo! the king shall reign in rightfulness, and the princes shall be sovereigns in doom.

2 And a man shall be, as he that is hid from [the] wind, and hideth himself from tempest; as streams of waters in thirst, and the shadow of a stone standing far out in a desert land.

3 The eyes of seers, that is, prophets, shall not dim, and the ears of hearers shall hearken diligently;

4 and the heart of fools shall understand knowing, and the tongue of stuttering men shall speak swiftly, and plainly.

5 He that is unwise shall no more be called prince, and a guileful man shall not be called the greater.

6 Forsooth a fool shall speak folly things, and his heart shall do wicked-ness, that he perform feigning, and speak to the Lord guilefully; and he shall make void the soul of an hungry man, and shall take away drink from a thirsty man.

7 The vessels of a guileful man be worst; for he shall make ready thoughts to lose mild men in the word of a lie, when a poor man spake doom.

8 Forsooth a prince shall think those things that be worthy to a prince, and he shall stand over dukes.

9 Rich women, rise ye, and hear my voice; daughters trusting, perceive ye with ears my speech.

10 For why after days and a year, and ye that trust shall be troubled; for why [the] vintage is ended, gathering shall no more come.

11 Ye rich women, be astonied; ye that trust, be troubled; unclothe ye you, and be ye ashamed; gird your loins;

12 wail ye on breasts, on the desirable country, on the plenteous vinery [or vineyard].

13 Thorns and briars shall ascend [or go up] on the earth of my people; how much more on all the houses of joy of the city making full out joy?

14 For why the house is left, the multitude of the city is forsaken; darknesses and groping be made on [the] dens, till into without end. The joy of wild asses is the pasture of flocks;

15 till the spirit be shed [or poured] out on us from on high, and the desert shall be into Carmel, and Carmel shall be areckoned into a forest.

16 And doom shall dwell in wilder-ness, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall sit in Carmel;

17 and the work of rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall be peace, and the tilth of rightfulness [or rightwiseness]shall be stillness and secureness, till into without end.

18 And my people shall sit in the fairness of peace, and in the tabernacles of trust, and in rich rest.

19 But hail shall be in the coming down of the forest, and by lowness the city shall be made low.

20 Blessed be ye, that sow on all waters, and send in the foot of an ox and of an ass.

CHAPTER 33

1 Woe to thee, that robbest; whether and thou shalt not be robbed? and that despisest, whether and thou shalt not be despised? When thou hast ended robbing, thou shalt be robbed; and when thou made weary ceasest to despise, thou shalt be despised.

2 Lord, have thou mercy on us, for we abided thee; be thou our arm in the morrowtide, and our health in the time of tribulation.

3 Peoples fled from the voice of the angel; heathen men be scattered of thine enhancing.

4 And your spoils shall be gathered together, as a bruchus, that is, fruit of locusts, is gathered together, as when ditches be full thereof.

5 The Lord is magnified, for he dwelled on high, he filled Zion with doom and rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

6 And faith shall be in thy times; the riches of health is wisdom and knowing; the dread of the Lord, that is the treasure of him.

7 Lo! the seers withoutforth shall cry, [the] angels of peace shall weep bitterly.

8  [The] Ways be destroyed, a goer by the path ceased; the covenant is made void, he casted down [the] cities, he areckoned not men.

9 The land mourned, and was sick; the Lebanon was shamed, and was foul; and Sharon is made as desert, and Bashan is shaken, and Carmel.

10 Now I shall rise, saith the Lord, now I shall be enhanced, and now I shall be raised up.

11 Ye shall conceive heat, ye shall bring forth stubble; your spirit, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And peoples shall be as ashes of the burning; thorns gathered together shall be burnt in fire.

13 Ye that be far, hear what things I have done; and, ye neighbours, know my strength.

14 Sinners be all-broken in Zion, trembling wielded hypocrites; who of you may dwell with fire devouring? who of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

15 He that goeth in rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses], and speaketh truth; he that casteth away avarice of false challenge, and shaketh away his hands from all gifts, or bribes; he that stoppeth his ears, that he hear not blood, and closeth his eyes, that he see not evil.

16 This man shall dwell in high things, the strongholds of stones be the highness of him; bread is given to him, his waters be faithful.

17 They shall see the king in his fairness; the eyes of him shall behold the land from [a] far.

18  Eliakim, thine heart shall bethink dread; where is the lettered man? Where is he that weigheth the words of the law? where is the teacher of little children?

19 Thou shalt not see a people unwise, a people of deep word, so that thou mayest not understand the fair speaking of his tongue, in which people is no wisdom.

20 Behold thou Zion, the city of your solemnity; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, a tabernacle that may not be borne over, neither the nails thereof shall be taken away without end; and all the cords thereof shall not be broken.

21 For only the worshipful doer, our Lord God, is there; the place of floods is strands [or rivers] full large and open; the ship of rowers shall not enter by it, neither a great ship shall pass over it.

22 For why the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.

23 Thy ropes be slacked, but those shall not avail; thy mast shall be so, that thou may not alarge a sign. Then the spoils of many preys shall be parted, crooked men shall ravish raven.

24 And a neighbour shall say, I was not sick; the people that dwelleth in that Jerusalem, wickedness shall be taken away from it.

CHAPTER 34

1 Nigh, ye heathen men, to hear; ye peoples, perceive; the earth, and the fullness thereof, the world, and all burgeoning thereof, hear ye.

2 For why [the] indignation of the Lord is on all folks, and strong vengeance on all the chivalry of them; he killed them, and gave them into slaying.

3 The slain men of them shall be cast forth, and stink shall ascend [or go up] of the carrions of them; hills [or the mountains] shall flow of the blood of them.

4 And all the chivalry of heavens shall fail, and heavens shall be folded together as a book, and all the knighthood of those shall float down, as the leaf of a vinery [or a vine] and of a fig tree falleth down.

5 For my sword is filled in heaven; lo! it shall come down on Idumea, and on the people of my slaying, to doom.

6 The sword of the Lord is filled of blood, it is made fat of the inner fatness of the blood of lambs and of bucks of goats, of the blood of rams full of marrow; for why the slain sacrifice of the Lord is in Bozrah, and great slaying is in the land of Edom.

7 And unicorns shall go down with them, and bulls with them that be mighty; the land of them shall be filled with blood, and the earth of them with [the] inner fatness of fat beasts;

8 for it is a day of vengeance of the Lord, a year of yielding of the doom of Zion.

9 And the strands [or streams] thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the earth thereof into brimstone; and the land thereof shall be into burning pitch, night and day.

10 It shall not be quenched without end, the smoke thereof shall go up from generation into generation, and it shall be desolate into worlds of worlds; none shall pass thereby.

11 And an onocrotalus, and an urchin, shall wield it; and a capret, and a crow shall dwell therein; and a measure shall be stretched forth thereon, that it be driven to nought, and an hanging plummet into desolation.

12 The noble men thereof shall not be there; rather they shall call the king into help, and all the princes thereof shall be into nought.

13 And thorns and nettles shall grow in the houses thereof, and a teasel in the strongholds thereof; and it shall be the couch of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches.

14 And fiends, and wonderful beasts, like men in the higher part, and like asses in the nether part, and an hairy, shall meet; one shall cry to another. Lamia shall lie there, and find rest there to herself;

15 there an urchin had ditches, and nourished out whelps, and digged about, and fostered in the shadow thereof; there kites were gathered together, one to another.

16 Seek ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read ye; one of those things failed not, one sought not another; for he commanded that thing, that goeth forth of my mouth, and his spirit, he gathered them together.

17 And he sent to them heritage, and his hand parted it in measure; till into without end they shall wield that land, in generation and into generation they shall dwell therein.

CHAPTER 35

1 The forsaken Judah and without a way shall be glad, and [the] wilder-ness shall make full out joy, and shall flower as a lily.

2 It burgeoning shall burgeon, and it glad and praising shall make full out joy. The glory of Lebanon is given to it, the fairness of Carmel and of Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the fairness of our God.

3 Comfort ye [the] benumbed hands, and make ye strong [the] feeble knees.

4 Say ye, Men of little comfort, be ye comforted, and do not ye dread; lo! our God shall bring the vengeance of yielding, God himself shall come, and shall save us.

5 Then the eyes of blind men shall be opened, and the ears of deaf men shall be open[ed].

6 Then a crooked man shall skip as an hart, and the tongue of dumb men shall be opened; for why waters be broken out in desert, and streams in wilderness.

7 And that that was dry, is made into a pond, and the thirsty is made into wells of waters. [The] Greenness of [the] reed, and of [the] spire shall grow in [the] dens, in which dwelled dragons before.

8 And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called an holy way, he that is defouled shall not pass thereby; and this shall be a straight [right] way to you, so that fools err not thereby.

9 A lion shall not be there, and an evil beast shall not ascend [or go up] thereby, neither shall be found there. And they shall go, that be delivered;

10 and again-bought of the Lord; and they shall be converted, and shall come into Zion with praising; and everlasting gladness shall be on the heads of them; they shall have joy and gladness, and sorrow and wailing shall flee away.

CHAPTER 36

1 And it was done in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of Assyrians, ascended [or went up] on all the strong cities of Judah, and took them.

2 And the king of Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with great power; and he stood at the water conduit of the higher cistern, in the way of the field of a fuller, or tucker.

3 And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was on the house, went out to him, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the chancellor.

4 And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye to Hezekiah, The great king, the king of Assyrians, saith these things, What is the trust, in which thou trustest?

5 either by what counsel either strength disposest thou for to rebel? on whom hast thou trust, for thou hast gone away from me?

6 Lo! thou trustest on this broken staff of reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leaneth, either resteth, it shall enter into his hand, and shall pierce it; so doeth Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all men that trust in him.

7 That if thou answerest to me, We trust in our Lord God [or in the Lord our God]; whether it is not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah did away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

8 And now betake thee to my lord, the king of Assyrians, and I shall give to thee two thousand horses, and thou mayest not give of thee riders of those horses.

9 And how shalt thou abide the face of the judge of one place of the less servants of my lord? That if thou trustest in Egypt, and in carts, and in knights;

10 and now whether I ascended [or went up] to this land without the Lord, that I should destroy it? The Lord said to me, Ascend thou [or Go up] on this land, and destroy thou it.

11 And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the language of Syria, for we understand; speak thou not to us by the language of Jews, in the ears of the people, which is on the wall.

12 And Rabshakeh said to them, Whether my lord sent me to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they eat their turds, and drink the piss off their feet, with you?

13 And Rabshakeh stood, and cried with [a] great voice in the language of Jews, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyrians.

14 The king saith these things, Hezekiah deceive not you, for he may not deliver you;

15 and Hezekiah give not to you trust on the Lord, and say, The Lord delivering shall deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyrians.

16 Do not ye hear Hezekiah. For why the king of Assyrians saith these things, Make ye blessing with me, and go ye out to me; and eat ye each man his vinery [or his vine], and each man his fig tree, and drink ye each man the water of his cistern,

17 till I come, and take away you to a land which is as your land; to a land of wheat and of wine, to a land of loaves and of vineries [or vines].

18 Hezekiah trouble not you, and say, The Lord shall deliver us. Whether the gods of folks delivered each his land from the hand of the king of Assyrians?

19 Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Whether they delivered Samaria from mine hand?

20 Who is of all [the] gods of these lands, that delivered his land from mine hand, that the Lord deliver Jerusalem from mine hand?

21 And they were still, and answered not to him a word. For why the king commanded to them, and said, Answer ye not to him.

22 And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was on the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, chancellor, entered with rent clothes to Hezekiah, and told to him the words of Rabshakeh.

CHAPTER 37

1 And it was done, when king Hezekiah had heard, he rent his clothes, and he was wrapped in a sackcloth, and entered into the house of the Lord.

2 And he sent Eliakim, that was on the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elder men of priests, covered with sackcloths, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz.

3 And they said to him, Hezekiah saith these things, A day of tribulation, and of anguish, and of chastising, and of blasphemy is this day; for children came unto childbearing, and strength of childbearing is not.

4 Therefore raise thou [up] prayer for the remnants that be found, if in any manner thy Lord God [or the Lord thy God] hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyrians, his lord, sent, for to blaspheme [the] living God, and to despise by the words, which thy Lord God heard.

5 And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah;

6 and Isaiah said to them, Ye shall say these things to your lord, The Lord saith these things, Dread thou not of the face of [the] words which thou heardest, by which the servants of the king of Assyrians blasphemed me.

7 Lo! I shall give to him a spirit, and he shall hear a messenger; and he shall turn again to his land, and I shall make him to fall down by sword in his land.

8 Forsooth Rabshakeh turned again, and found the king of Assyrians fighting against Libnah; for he had heard, that the king was gone from Lachish.

9 And the king heard messengers saying of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopians, He is gone out to fight against thee. And when he had heard this thing, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, and said,

10 Ye shall say, speaking these things to Hezekiah, king of Judah, Thy God deceive not thee, in whom thou trustest, and sayest, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyrians.

11 Lo! thou heardest all things which the kings of Assyrians did to all lands which they destroyed; and mayest thou be delivered?

12 Whether the gods of folks delivered them, which my fathers destroyed; Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, that were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Ivah?

14 And Hezekiah took the books from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up into the house of the Lord, and spreaded abroad them before the Lord;

15 and prayed to the Lord, and said,

16 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that sittest on cherubim, thou art God alone of all the realms of [the] earth; thou madest heaven and earth.

17 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear; Lord, open thine eyes, and see; and hear thou all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent for to blaspheme living God.

18 For verily, Lord, the kings of Assyrians made lands desert, and the countries of them,

19 and gave the gods of them to fire; for they were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, wood and stones; and they all-brake those gods.

20 And now, our Lord God, save thou us from the hand of him; and all [the] realms of earth know, that thou art the Lord God alone.

21 And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, and said, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, For which things thou prayedest me of Sennacherib, the king of Assyrians,

22 this is the word which the Lord spake on him, Thou virgin, the daughter of Zion, he despised thee, he scorned thee; thou virgin, the daughter of Jerusalem, he moved his head after thee.

23 Whom despisest thou, and whom blasphemedest thou? and on whom raisedest thou thy voice, and raisedest the highness of thine eyes? To the Holy of Israel.

24 By the hand of thy servants thou despisedest the Lord, and saidest, In the multitude of my carts, I ascended [or went up] on the highnesses of hills, on the yokes of Lebanon; and I shall cut down the high things of cedars thereof, and the chosen beeches thereof; and I shall enter into the highness of the top thereof, into the forest of Carmel thereof.

25 I digged, and drank water; and I made dry with the step of my foot all the strands [or rivers] of [the] fields.

26 Whether thou, Sennacherib, heardest not what things I did some-time? From eld days I formed that thing, and now I have brought; and it is made into the drawing up by the root of little hills fighting together, and of strong cities.

27 The dwellers of those cities trembled together with hand made short, and be ashamed; they be made as hay of the field, and as the grass of [the] pasture, and as herb of house roofs, either ridges, that dried up before that it waxed ripe.

28 I knew thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thine entering, and thy strong vengeance against me.

29 When thou were wroth against me, thy pride ascended [or went up] into mine ears; therefore I shall set a ring in thy nostrils, and a bridle in thy lips; and I shall lead thee into the way, by which thou camest.

30 Forsooth to thee, Hezekiah, this shall be a sign; eat thou in this year those things that grow by their free will, and in the second year eat thou apples; but in the third year, sow ye, and reap ye, and plant ye vineries [or vines], and eat ye the fruit of them.

31 And that that is saved of the house of Judah, and that, that is left, shall send [the] root beneath, and shall make fruit above;

32 for why remnants shall go out of Jerusalem, and salvation from the hill of Zion; the fervent love of the Lord of hosts shall do this thing.

33 Therefore the Lord saith these things of the king of Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, and he shall not shoot there an arrow; and a shield shall not occupy it, and he shall not send [an heap of] earth in the compass thereof.

34 In the way in which he came, he shall turn again by it; and he shall not enter into this city, saith the Lord.

35 And I shall defend this city, that I save it, for me, and for David, my servant.

36 Forsooth the angel of the Lord went out, and killed an hundred thousand and fourscore and five thousand in the tents of Assyrians; and they rose early, and lo! all men were[the] carrions of dead men.

37 And Sennacherib went out of Judah, and went away. And Sennach-erib, the king of Assyrians, turned again, and dwelled in Nineveh.

38 And it was done, when he worshipped Nisroch, his god, in the temple, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, killed him with sword, and fled into the land of Ararat, that is, Armenia; and Esarhaddon, his son, reigned for him.

CHAPTER 38

1 In those days Hezekiah was sick unto the death; and Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, entered to him, and said to him, The Lord saith these things, Dispose thy house, for thou shalt die, and thou shalt not live.

2 And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed the Lord,

3 and said, Lord, I beseech; have thou mind, I beseech, how I went before thee in truth, and in perfect heart, and I did that that was good before thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.

4 And the word of the Lord was made to Isaiah, and said,

5 Go thou, and say to Hezekiah, The Lord God of David, thy father, saith these things, I have heard thy prayer, and I saw thy tears. Lo! I shall add on thy days fifteen years;

6 and I shall deliver thee and this city from the hand of the king of Assyrians, and I shall defend it.

7 Forsooth this shall be to thee a sign of the Lord, that the Lord shall do this word, which he hath spoken.

8 Lo! I shall make the shadow of lines, by which it went down in the horologe of Ahaz, in the sun, to turn again backward by ten lines. And the sun turned again by ten lines, by [the] degrees by which it had gone down.

9  The scripture of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness.

10 I said, in the middle of my days, I shall go to the gates of hell. I sought the residue of my years;

11 I said, I shall not see the Lord God in the land of livers; I shall no more behold a man, and a dweller of rest.

12 My generation is taken away, and is folded together from me, as the tabernacle of shepherds is folded together. My life is cut down as of a web; he cutted down me, the while I was woven yet.

13 From the morrowtide till to the eventide I felt like thou shalt end me; I hoped till to the morrowtide; as a lion, so he all-brake my bones. From the morrowtide till to the eventide I felt like thou shalt end me;

14 as the young of a swallow, so I shall cry; I shall bethink as a culver. Mine eyes beholding on high, be made feeble. Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me;

15 what shall I say, either what shall he answer to me, when he hath done? I shall bethink to thee all my years, in the bitterness of my soul.

16 Lord, if men liveth so, and the life of my spirit is in such things, thou shalt chastise me, and shalt quicken me.

17 Lo! my bitterness is most bitter in peace; forsooth thou hast delivered my soul, that it perished not; thou hast cast away behind thy back all my sins.

18 For not hell shall acknowledge to thee, neither death shall praise thee; they that go down into the pit, shall not abide thy truth.

19 A living man, a living man, he shall acknowledge to thee, as and I today; the father shall make known thy truth to [the] sons.

20 Lord, make thou me safe, and we shall sing our psalms in all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

21 And Isaiah commanded, that they should take a gobbet of figs, and make a plaster on the wound; and it should be healed.

22 And Hezekiah said, What sign shall be, that I shall ascend [or go up] into the house of the Lord?

CHAPTER 39

1 In that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent books and gifts to Hezekiah; for he had heard, that Hezekiah had been sick, and was recovered.

2 Forsooth Hezekiah was glad on them, and showed to them the cells of sweet smelling spices, and of silver, and of gold, and of smelling things, and of best ointment, and all the shops of his appurtenance of household, and all things that were found in his treasures; no word was, which Hezekiah showed not to them in his house, and in all his power.

3 Soothly Isaiah, the prophet, entered to king Hezekiah, and said to him, What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, From a far land they came to me, from Babylon.

4 And Isaiah said, What saw they in thine house? And Hezekiah said, They saw all things that be in mine house; nothing was in my treasures, which I showed not to them.

5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear thou the word of the Lord of hosts.

6 Lo! days shall come, and all things that be in thine house, and which things thy fathers treasured till to this day, shall be taken away into Babylon; not anything shall be left, saith the Lord.

7 And they shall take [away] of thy sons, that shall go out of thee, which thou shalt engender; and they shall be honest servants and chaste in the palace of the king of Babylon.

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord is good, which he spake. And Hezekiah said, Peace and truth be made only in my days.

CHAPTER 40

1 My people, be ye comforted, be ye comforted, saith your Lord God.

2 Speak ye to the heart of Jeru-salem, and call ye [to] it, for the malice thereof is [ful] filled, the wickedness thereof is forgiven; it hath received of the hand of the Lord double things for all his sins.

3 The voice of a crier in desert [or The voice of the one crying in desert], Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make ye rightful [or right] the paths of our God in wilderness.

4 Each valley shall be enhanced, and each mountain and little hill shall be made low; and shrewd things shall be into straight things, and sharp things shall be into plain ways.

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be showed, and each man shall see together, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.

6 The voice of God, saying, Cry thou. And I said, What shall I cry? Each flesh is hay, and all the glory thereof is as the flower of the field.

7 The hay is dried up, and the flower fell down, for the spirit of the Lord blew therein. Verily the people is hay;

8 the hay is dried up, and the flower fell down; but the word of the Lord dwelleth, either shall stand, without end.

9 Thou that preachest to Zion, go upon an high hill; thou that preachest to Jerusalem, enhance thy voice in strength; enhance thou, do not thou dread; say thou to the cities of Judah, Lo! your God.

10 Lo! the Lord God shall come in strength, and his arm shall hold lordship; lo! his meed is with him, and his work is before him.

11 As a shepherd he shall feed his flock, he shall gather [the] lambs in his arms, and he shall raise in his bosom; he shall bear [the] sheep with lamb.

12 Who meted [or measured] waters in a fist, and weighed heavens with a span? Who weighed the heaviness of the earth with three fingers, and weighed [the] mountains in a weigh, and [the] little hills in a balance?

13 Who helped the Spirit of the Lord, either who was his counsellor, and showed to him?

14 With whom took he counsel, and who learned him, and taught him the path of rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and learned him in knowing, and showed to him the way of prudence?

15 Lo! folks be as a drop of a bucket, and be areckoned as the tongue of a balance; lo! isles be as a little dust,

16 and the Lebanon shall not suffice to burn his sacrifice, and the beasts thereof shall not suffice to burnt sacrifice.

17 All folks be so before him, as if they be not; and they be reckoned as nothing and vain thing to him.

18 To whom therefore made ye God like? either what image shall ye set to him?

19 Whether a smith shall weld together an image, either a goldsmith shall figure it in gold, and a worker in silver shall dight it with pieces of silver?

20 A wise craftsman chooseth a strong tree, and unable to be rotten; he seeketh how he shall ordain a simulacrum, that shall not be moved.

21 Whether ye know not? whether ye heard not? whether it was not told to you from the beginning? whether ye understood not the foundaments of [the] earth?

22 Which sitteth on the compass of [the] earth, and the dwellers thereof be as locusts; which stretcheth forth heavens as nought, and spreadeth abroad those as a tabernacle to dwell.

23 Which giveth the searchers of privates, as if they be not, and [he] made the judges of [the] earth as a vain thing.

24 And soothly when the stock of them is neither planted, neither is sown, neither is rooted in [the] earth, he blew suddenly on them, and they dried up, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 And to what thing have ye likened me, and have made [me] even? saith the Holy.

26 Raise [up] your eyes on high, and see ye, who made these things of nought; which leadeth out in number the knighthood of them, and calleth all by name, for the multitude of his strength, and stalworth[y] ness, and might; neither one residue thing was.

27 Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest thou, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my doom passed from my God?

28 Whether thou knowest not, either heardest thou not? God, everlasting Lord, that made of nought the ends of [the] earth, shall not fail, neither shall travail, neither ensearching of his wisdom is.

29 That giveth strength to the weary, and strength to them that be not, and multiplieth stalworth[y] ness.

30 Young men shall fail, and shall travail, and young men shall fall down in their sickness.

31 But they that hope in the Lord, shall change strength, they shall take feathers as eagles; they shall run, and shall not travail; they shall go, and shall not fail.

CHAPTER 41

1 Isles, be still to me, and folks change strength; nigh they, and then speak they; nigh we together to doom.

2 Who raised the just [or rightwise] man from the east, and called him to follow himself? He shall give folks in his sight, and he shall wield kings; he shall give as dust to his sword, and as stubble ravished of the wind to his bow.

3 He shall pursue them, he shall go in peace; a path shall not appear in his feet.

4 Who wrought and did these things? calling generations at the beginning. I am the Lord; and I am the first, and the last.

5 Isles saw, and dreaded; the last parts of [the] earth were astonied; they came nigh, and nighed.

6 Each man shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother, Be thou comforted.

7 A smith of metal smiting with an hammer comforted him that polished, either made fair, in that time, saying, It is good to [the] glue; and he fastened him with nails, that he should not be moved.

8 And thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I chose, the seed of Abraham, my friend,

9 in whom I took thee; from the last parts of [the] earth, and from the far parts thereof I called thee; and I said to thee, Thou art my servant; I chose thee, and casted not away thee.

10 Dread thou not, for I am with thee; bow thou not away, for I am thy God. I comforted thee, and helped thee; and the right hand of my just [or rightwise] man up-took thee.

11 Lo! all men shall be shamed, and shall be ashamed, that fight against thee; they shall be as if they be not, and men shall perish, that against-say thee.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and thou shalt not find thy rebel men; they shall be as if they be not, and as the wasting of a man fighting against thee.

13 For I am thy Lord God, taking thine hand, and saying to thee, Dread thou not, I helped thee.

14 Do not thou, worm of Jacob, dread, ye that be dead of Israel. I helped thee, saith the Lord, and thine again-buyer, the Holy of Israel.

15 I have set thee as a new wain threshing, having sawing bills; thou shalt thresh mountains, and shalt make small, and thou shalt set little hills as dust.

16 Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall take them away, and a whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt make full out joy in the Lord, and thou shalt be glad in the Holy of Israel.

17 Needy men and poor seek waters, and those be not; the tongue of them dried for thirst. I the Lord shall hear them, I God of Israel shall not forsake them.

18 I shall open floods in high hills, and wells in the midst of fields; I shall set the desert into ponds of waters, and the land without a way into rivers of waters.

19 I shall give in wilderness a cedar, and a thorn, and a myrtle tree, and the tree of an olive; I shall set in the desert a fir tree, an elm, and a box tree together.

20 That they see, and know, and bethink, and understand together; that the hand of the Lord did this thing, and the Holy of Israel made that of nought.

21 Make ye nigh your doom, saith the Lord; bring ye, if in hap ye have anything, saith the King of Jacob.

22 Nigh, and tell to us, whatever things shall come; tell ye the former things that were, and we shall set our heart, and shall know; show ye to us the last things of them, and those things that shall come.

23 Tell ye what things shall come in time to coming [or to come], and we shall know, that ye be gods; also do ye well, either evil, if ye may; and speak we, and see we together.

24 Lo! ye be of nought, and your work is of that that is not; he that choose you, is abomination.

25 I raised from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun; he shall call my name. And he shall bring magistrates as clay, and as a potter defouling [the] earth.

26 Who told from the beginning, that we know, and from the beginning, that we say, Thou art just? none is telling, neither before-saying, neither hearing your words.

27 The first shall say to Zion, Lo! I am present; and I shall give a gospeller to Jerusalem.

28 And I saw, and none was of these, that took counsel, and he that was asked, answered a word.

29 Lo! all men be unjust, and their works be wind and vain; the simulacra of them be wind, and void thing.

CHAPTER 42

1 Lo! my servant, I shall up-take him; my chosen, my soul pleased to itself in him. I gave my spirit on him, he shall bring forth doom to heathen men.

2 He shall not cry, neither he shall take a person, neither his voice shall be heard withoutforth.

3 He shall not break a shaken reed, and he shall not quench smoking flax; he shall bring out doom in truth.

4 He shall not be sorrowful, neither troubled, till he set doom in [the] earth, and isles shall abide his law.

5 The Lord God saith these things, making heavens of nought, and stretching forth them, making steadfast the earth, and those things that burgeon [out] of it, giving breath to the people, that is on it, and giving spirit to them that tread on it.

6 I the Lord have called thee in rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and I took thine hand, and kept thee, and I gave thee into a bond of peace of the people, and into light of folks.

7 That thou shouldest open the eyes of blind men; that thou shouldest lead out of enclosing together a bound man, from the house of prison men sitting in darknesses.

8 I am the Lord, this is my name; I shall not give my glory to another, and my praising to graven images.

9 Lo! those things that were the first, be come, and I tell new things; I shall make heard to you, before that those [or they] begin to be made.

10 Sing ye a new song to the Lord; his praising is from the last parts of the earth; ye that go down into the sea, and the fullness thereof, isles, and the dwellers of those.

11 The desert be raised [up], and the cities thereof; he shall dwell in the houses of Kedar; ye dwellers of the stone, praise ye; they shall cry from the top of hills.

12 They shall set glory to the Lord, and they shall tell his praising in isles.

13 The Lord as a strong man shall go out, as a man a warrior he shall raise fervent love; he shall speak, and shall cry; he shall be comforted on his enemies.

14 I was still, ever I held [my] silence; I was patient, I shall speak as a woman travailing of child; I shall scatter, and I shall swallow together.

15 I shall make desert high mountains and little hills, and I shall dry up all the burgeoning of them; and I shall set floods into isles, and I shall make ponds dry.

16 And I shall lead out blind men into the way, which they know not, and I shall make them to go in paths, which they knew not; I shall set the darknesses of them before them into light, and shrewd things into rightful [or even] things; I did these words to them, and I forsook not them.

17 They be turned aback; be they shamed with shame, that trust in a graven image; which say to a molten image, Ye be our gods.

18 Ye deaf men, hear; and ye blind men, behold to see.

19 Who is blind, no but my servant? and deaf, but he to whom I sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? and who is blind, but the servant of the Lord?

20 Whether thou that seest many things, shalt not keep? Whether thou that hast open ears, shalt not hear?

21 And the Lord would, that he should hallow it, and magnify the law, and enhance it.

22 But that people was ravished, and wasted; all they be the snare of young men, and be hid in the houses of prisons. They be made into raven, and none is that delivereth; into ravishing, and none there is that saith, Yield thou.

23 Who is among you, that heareth this, perceiveth, and hearkeneth things to coming [or to come]?

24 Who gave Jacob into ravishing, and Israel to destroyers? Whether not the Lord? He it is, against whom they sinned; and they would not go in his ways, and they heard not his law.

25 And he shedded [or poured] out on them the indignation of his strong vengeance, and strong battle; and he burnt it in compass, and it knew not; and he burnt it, and it understood not.

CHAPTER 43

1 And now the Lord God, making of nought thee, Jacob, and forming thee, Israel, saith these things, Do not thou dread, for I again-bought thee, and I called thee by thy name; thou art my servant.

2 When thou shalt go by waters, I shall be with thee, and floods shall not cover thee; when thou shalt go in fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and flame shall not burn in thee.

3 For I am thy Lord God, the Holy of Israel, thy saviour. I gave thy mercy Egypt; Ethiopia, and Seba, for thee.

4 Since thou art made honourable, and glorious in mine eyes; I loved thee, and I shall give men for thee, and peoples for thy soul.

5 Do not thou dread, for I am with thee; I shall bring thy seed from the east, and I shall gather thee together from the west.

6 I shall say to the north, Give thou, and to the south, Do not thou forbid; bring thou my sons from afar, and my daughters from the last parts of [the] earth.

7 And each that calleth my name to help, into my glory I made him of nought; I formed him, and made him.

8 Lead thou forth the blind people, and having eyes; the deaf people, and ears be to it.

9 All heathen men be gathered together, and lineages be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell this, and shall make you to hear those things, that be the first? give they [the] witnesses of them, and be they justified, and hear they, and say.

10 Verily ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants, whom I chose; that ye know, and believe to me, and understand, for I myself am; before me is no God former [or before me is not formed God], and after me shall none be.

11 I am, I am the Lord, and without me is no Saviour [or and there is not without me a saviour].

12 I told, and saved; I made hearing, and none alien God was among you. Ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord; and I am God,

13 from the beginning, I myself am, and none there is that delivereth from mine hand; I shall work, and who shall destroy it?

14 The Lord, your again-buyer, the Holy of Israel, saith these things, For you I sent out into Babylon, and I drew down all [the] bars, and [the] Chaldees having glory in their ships.

15 I am the Lord, your Holy, your king, making Israel of nought.

16 The Lord saith these things, that gave [a] way in the sea, and a path in running waters;

17 which led out a cart, and horse, a company, and strong man; they slept together, neither they shall rise again; they be all-broken as flax, and be quenched.

18 Think ye not on the former things, and behold ye not old things.

19 Lo! I make new things, and now those shall begin to be made; soothly ye shall know them. I shall set [a] way in desert, and floods in a land without a way.

20 And a beast of the field shall glorify me, dragons and ostriches shall glorify me; for I gave waters in desert, and floods in the land without a way, that I should give drink to my people, to my chosen people.

21 I formed this people to me, it shall tell my praising.

22 Jacob, thou calledest not me to help; and thou, Israel, travailedest not for me.

23 Thou offeredest not to me the ram of thy burnt sacrifice, and thou glorifiedest not me with thy slain sacrifices. I made not thee to serve in offering, neither I gave to thee travail in incense.

24 Thou boughtest not to me sweet smelling spicery for silver, and thou filledest not me with [the] fatness of thy slain sacrifices; nevertheless thou madest me to serve in thy sins, thou gavest travail to me in thy wicked-nesses.

25 I am, I myself am, that do away thy wickednesses for me, and I shall not have mind on thy sins.

26 Bring me again into mind, and be we deemed together; tell thou, if thou hast anything, that thou be justified.

27 Thy first father sinned, and thine interpreters trespassed against me.

28 And I made foul holy princes, and I gave Jacob to death, and Israel into blasphemy.

CHAPTER 44

1 And now, Jacob, my servant, hear thou, and Israel, whom I chose.

2 The Lord making and forgiving thee, thine helper from the womb, saith these things, My servant, Jacob, do not thou dread, and thou most rightful [or most right], whom I chose.

3 For I shall shed [or pour] out waters on the thirsty, and floods on the dry land; I shall shed [or pour] out my spirit on thy seed, and my blessing on thy generation.

4 And they shall burgeon among herbs, as sallows beside running waters.

5 This man shall say, I am of the Lord, and he shall call in the name of Jacob; and this man shall write with his hand to the Lord, and shall be likened in the name of Israel.

6 The Lord, King of Israel, and again-buyer thereof, the Lord of hosts saith these things, I am the first, and I am the last, and without me is no God.

7 Who is like me? call he, and tell, and declare order to me, since I made eld people [or I ordained the old people]; tell he to them things to coming [or to come], and that shall be.

8 Do not ye dread, neither be ye troubled; from that time I made thee for to hear, and I told; ye be my witnesses. Whether a God is without me [or Whether is God without me], and a former, whom I knew not?

9 All the formers of an idol be nothing, and the most loved things of them shall not profit; they be witnesses of them, that they see not, neither understand, that they be shamed.

10 Who formed a god, and melted out an image, not profitable to anything?

11 Lo! all the partners thereof shall be shamed; for the smiths be of men. When all shall come, they shall stand, and shall dread, and shall be shamed together.

12 A smith wrought with a file; he formed it in coals, and in hammers, and he wrought with the arm of his strength. He shall be hungry, and he shall fail; he shall not drink water, and he shall be faint.

13 A carpenter stretched forth a rule, he formed it with an adze or an awl, either a joiner’s hook; he made it in the corner places, and he turned it in compass; and he made the image of a man, as a fair man, dwelling in the house.

14 He cutted down cedars, he took an hawthorn, and an oak, that stood among the trees of the forest; he planted a pine apple tree [or the pine tree], which he nourished with rain,

15 and it was made into fire to men. He took of those [or them], and was warmed, and he burnt, and baked loaves; but of the residue he wrought a god, and worshipped it, and he made a graven image, and he was bowed before that.

16 He burnt the half thereof with fire, and of the half thereof he seethed fleshes, and ate; he seethed pottage, and was filled; and he was warmed, and he said, Well! I am warmed; I saw [the] fire.

17 Forsooth the residue thereof he made a god, and a graven image to himself; he is bowed before that, and worshippeth that, and beseecheth, and saith, Deliver thou me, for thou art my god.

18 They knew not, neither under-stood, for they have forgotten, that their eyes see not, and that they understand not with their heart.

19 They bethink not in their soul, neither they know, neither they feel, that they say, I burnt the half thereof in fire, and I baked loaves on the coals thereof, and I seethed fleshes, and ate; and of the residue thereof shall I make an idol? shall I fall down before the stock of a tree?

20 A part thereof is ashes; an unwise heart shall worship it, and he shall not deliver his soul, neither he shall say, A strong leasing is in my right hand.

21 Thou, Jacob, and Israel, have mind of these things, for thou art my servant; I formed thee, Israel, thou art my servant; thou shalt not forget me.

22 I did away thy wickednesses as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist; turn thou again to me, for I again-bought thee.

23 Ye heavens, praise, for the Lord hath done mercy; the last parts of [the] earth, sing ye heartily song; hills, sound ye praising; the forest, and each tree thereof, praise God; for the Lord again-bought Jacob, and Israel shall have glory.

24 The Lord, thine again-buyer, and thy former from the womb, saith these things, I am the Lord, making all things, and I alone stretch forth heavens, and stablish the earth, and none is with me;

25 and I make void the signs of false diviners, and I turn into madness diviners that divine by sacrifices offered to fiends; and I turn wise men back-ward, and I make their science fond [or folly].

26 And the Lord raiseth the word of his servant, and [ful] filleth the counsel of his messengers; and I say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be builded, and I shall raise the deserts thereof;

27 and I say to the depth, Be thou desolate, and I shall make dry thy floods;

28 and I say to Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt fill all my will; and I say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be builded; and to the temple, Thou shalt be founded.

CHAPTER 45

1 The Lord saith these things to my christ, Cyrus, whose right hand I took, that I make subject folks before his face, and turn the backs of kings; and I shall open [the] gates before him, and [the] gates shall not be closed.

2 I shall go before thee, and I shall make low the glorious men of earth; I shall all-break [the] brazen gates, and I shall break altogether [the] iron bars.

3 And I shall give hid treasures to thee, and the privy things of privates, that thou know, that I am the Lord, that call thy name, God of Israel,

4 for my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, and I called thee by thy name; I likened thee, and thou knewest not me.

5 I am the Lord, and there is no more; without me is no God. I have girded thee, and thou knewest not me.

6 That they that be at the rising of the sun, and they that be at the west, know, that without me is no God. I am the Lord, and none other God is;

7 forming light, and making dark-nesses, making peace, and forming evil; I am the Lord, doing all these things.

8 Heavens, send ye out dew from above, and clouds, rain on a just [or rightwise] man; the earth be opened, and bring forth the saviour, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] be born together; I the Lord have made him of nought.

9 Woe to him that against-saith his maker, a tilestone of [the] earth of sands. Whether [the] clay saith to his potter, What makest thou, and thy work is without hands?

10 Woe to him that saith to the father, What engenderest thou? and to a woman, What childest thou?

11 The Lord, the Holy of Israel, the former thereof, saith these things, Ask ye me things to coming [or to come] on my sons, and send ye to me on the works of mine hands.

12 I made earth, and I made a man on it; mine hands held abroad heavens, and I commanded to all the knighthood of them.

13 I raised him to rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and I shall address all his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall deliver my prisoners, not in price, neither in gifts, saith the Lord of hosts.

14 The Lord God saith these things, The travail of Egypt, and the mer-chandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabeans; [the] high men shall go to thee, and shall be thine; they shall go after thee, they shall go bound in manacles, and shall worship thee, and shall beseech thee. They shall say, God is only in thee, and without thee is no God.

15 Verily thou art God hid, God, the saviour of Israel.

16 All makers of errors, that is, idols, be shamed, and were ashamed; they went together into confusion.

17 Israel is saved in the Lord, by everlasting health; ye shall not be shamed, and ye shall not be ashamed, till into the world of world.

18 For why the Lord making heavens of nought, saith these things; he is God forming earth, and making it, he is the maker thereof; he made it of nought, not in vain, but he formed it, that it be inhabited; I am the Lord, and none other is.

19 I spake not in hid place, not in a dark place of earth; I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. I am the Lord speaking rightfulness [or rightwiseness], telling rightful [or right] things.

20 Be ye gathered, and come ye, and nigh ye together, that be saved of heathen men; they that raise a sign of their engraving, knew not, and they pray a god that saveth not.

21 Tell ye, and come ye, and take ye counsel together. Who made this heard from the beginning? from that time I before-said it. Whether I am not the Lord, and no God is further without me? [a] God rightful [or rightwise] and saving is none, besides me.

22 All the coasts of earth, be ye converted to me, and ye shall be safe; for I am the Lord, and none other there is [or and there is not another].

23 I swore in myself, a word of rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall go out of my mouth, and it shall not turn again; for each knee shall be bowed to me, and each tongue shall swear.

24 Therefore they shall say in the Lord, Rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses] and empire be mine; all that fight against him shall come to him, and shall be ashamed.

25 All the seed of Israel shall be justified and praised in the Lord.

CHAPTER 46

1 Bel is broken, Nebo is all-broken; their simulacra like to wild beasts and work beasts be broken; your burdens with heavy charge till to weariness were rotten,

2 and be all-broken together; those might not save the bearer, and the soul of them shall go into captivity.

3 The house of Jacob, and all the residue of the house of Israel, hear ye me, which be borne of my womb, which be borne of my womb.

4 Till to eld I myself, and till to hoar hairs, I shall bear; I made, and I shall bear, and I shall save.

5 To whom have ye likened me, and made even, and have comparisoned me, and have made like?

6 Which bear together gold from the bag, and weigh silver with a balance, and hire a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down, and worship;

7 they bearing bear in shoulders, and setting in his place; and he shall stand, and shall not be moved from his place; but also when they cry to him, he shall not hear, and he shall not save them from tribulation.

8 Have ye mind of this, and be ye ashamed; ye trespassers, go again to the heart.

9 Bethink ye on the former world, for I am God, no God is over me, neither is like me.

10 And I tell from the beginning the last thing, and from the beginning those things that be not made yet; and I say, My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done.

11 And I call a bird from the east, and the man of my will from a far land; and I spake, and I shall bring that thing; I have made of nought, and I shall make that thing.

12 Ye of hard heart, hear me, that be far from rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

13 I made nigh mine rightfulness [or rightwiseness], it shall not be drawn afar, and mine health shall not tarry; I shall give health in Zion, and my glory in Israel.

CHAPTER 47

1 Thou virgin, the daughter of Babylon, go down, sit thou in dust, sit thou in [the] earth; a king’s seat is not to the daughter of [the] Chaldees, for thou shalt no more be called soft and tender.

2 Take thou a quernstone, and grind thou meal; make thou naked thy filth-hood, discover the shoulder, show the hips, pass thou [over the] floods.

3 Thy shame shall be showed, and thy shame shall be seen; I shall take vengeance, and no man shall against-stand me.

4 Our again-buyer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy of Israel.

5 Daughter of Chaldees, sit thou, be thou still, and enter into darknesses, for thou shalt no more be called the lady of realms.

6 I was wroth on my people, I defouled mine heritage, and I gave them in thine hand, and thou settedest not mercies to them; thou madest grievous the yoke greatly on an eld [or old] man,

7 and thou saidest, Without end I shall be [a] lady; thou puttedest not these things on thine heart, neither thou bethoughtest on thy last thing.

8 And now, thou delicate, and dwelling trustily, hear these things, which sayest in thine heart, I am, and besides me there is no more; I shall not sit [a] widow, and I shall not know barrenness.

9 These two things, barrenness and widowhood, shall come to thee suddenly in one day; all things came on thee for the multitude of thy witchcrafts, and for the great hardness of thine enchanters, either tregetours.

10 And thou haddest trust in thy malice, and saidest, None is that seeth me; this, thy wisdom and thy knowing, deceived thee; and thou saidest in thine heart, I am, and besides me there is none other.

11 Evil shall come [up] on thee, and thou shalt not know the beginning thereof; and wickedness or wretched-ness shall fall [up] on thee, which thou shalt not be able to cleanse; wretched-ness which thou knowest not, shall come [up] on thee suddenly.

12 Stand thou with thine enchanters, and with the multitude of thy witches, in which thou travailedest from thy youth; if in hap they profit anything to thee, either if thou mayest be made the stronger.

13 Thou failedest in the multitude of thy counsels; the false diviners of heaven stand, and save thee, which beheld stars, and numbered months, that they should tell by them things to coming [or to come] to thee.

14 Lo! they be made as stubble, the fire hath burnt them; they shall not deliver their life from the power of flame; coals be not, by which they shall be warmed, neither fire, that they sit at it.

15 So those things be made to thee in which ever thou travailedest; thy merchants from thy youth erred, each man in his way; none is, that shall save thee.

CHAPTER 48

1 The house of Jacob, that be called by the name of Israel, and went out of the waters of Judah, hear these things, which swear in the name of the Lord, and have mind on God of Israel, not in truth, neither in rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

2 For they be called of the holy city, and be stablished on the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his name.

3 From that time I told [out] the former things, and those went out of my mouth; and I made them known; suddenly I wrought, and those things came.

4 For I knew that thou art hard, and thy noll is a sinew of iron, and thy forehead is of brass.

5 I before-said to thee from that time; before that those things came, I showed to thee; lest peradventure thou wouldest say, Mine idols did these things, and my graven images, and my molten images, sent these things,

6 which thou heardest. See thou all things, but ye told not. I made heard new things to thee from that time, and things be kept which thou knowest not;

7 now those be made of nought, and not from that time, and before the day, and thou heardest not those things; lest peradventure thou say, Lo! I knew those things.

8 Neither thou heardest, neither thou knewest, neither thine ear was opened from that time; for I know, that thou trespassing shalt trespass, and I called thee a trespasser from the womb.

9 For my name I shall make far my strong vengeance, and with my praising I shall refrain [or bridle] thee, lest thou perish.

10 Lo! I have sodden thee, but not as silver; I chose thee in the chimney of poverty.

11 I shall do for me, that I be not blasphemed, and I shall not give my glory to another.

12 Jacob and Israel, whom I call, hear thou me; I myself, I am the first, and I am the last.

13 And mine hand founded the earth, and my right hand meted [or measured] heavens; I shall call them, and they shall stand together.

14 All ye be gathered together, and hear; who of them told [out] these things? The Lord loved him, he shall do his will in Babylon, and his arm in Chaldees.

15 I, I spake, and called him; I brought him, and his way was addressed.

16 Nigh ye to me, and hear ye these things; at the beginning I spake not in huddles, either private; from time, before that things were made, I was there, and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, sent me.

17 The Lord, thine again-buyer, the Holy of Israel, saith these things, I am thy Lord God, teaching thee profitable things, and I govern thee in the way, wherein thou goest.

18 I would that thou haddest perceived my commandments, thy peace had been made as [a] flood, and thy rightfulness [or rightwiseness] as the swells of the sea;

19 and thy seed had been as gravel, and the generation of thy womb, as the little stones thereof; the name of it had not perished, and had not been all-broken from my face.

20 Go ye out of Babylon, flee ye from Chaldees; tell ye in the voice of full out joying; make ye this heard, and bear ye it unto the last parts of [the] earth; say ye, The Lord again-bought his servant Jacob.

21 They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out; he brought forth to them water of a stone, and he parted the stone, and waters flowed.

22 Peace is not to wicked men, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 49

1 Isles, hear ye, and peoples afar, perceive ye; the Lord called me from the womb, he thought on my name from the womb of my mother.

2 And he hath set [or put] my mouth as a sharp sword, he defended me in the shadow of his hand, and setted [or put] me as a chosen arrow; he hid me in his arrow case,

3 and said to me, Israel, thou art my servant, for I shall have glory in thee.

4 And I said, I travailed in vain, I wasted my strength without cause, and vainly; therefore my doom is with the Lord, and my work is with my God.

5 And now the Lord, forming me a servant to himself from the womb, saith these things, that I bring again Jacob to him. And Israel shall not be gathered together; and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength.

6 And he said, It is little, that thou be a servant to me, to raise the lineages of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel; I gave thee into the light of heathen men, that thou be mine health till to the last part of [the] earth.

7 The Lord, [the] again-buyer of Israel, the Holy thereof, saith these things to a despisable soul, and to a folk had in abomination, to the servant of lords, Kings shall see, and princes shall rise together, and shall worship, for the Lord, for he is faithful, and for the Holy of Israel, that chose thee.

8 The Lord saith these things, In a pleasant time I heard thee, and in the day of health I helped thee; and I kept thee, and gave thee into a bond of peace of the people, that thou shouldest raise tillage upon the earth, and have in possession heritages, that be destroyed;

9 that thou shouldest say to them that be bound, Go ye out, and to them that be in darknesses, Be ye showed. They shall be fed in ways, and the pastures of them shall be in all plain things.

10 They shall not hunger, and they shall no more thirst; and heat, and the sun shall not smite them; for the merciful doer of them shall govern them, and shall give drink to them at the wells of waters.

11 And I shall set all mine hills [or put my mountains] into [a] way, and my paths shall be enhanced.

12 Lo! these men shall come from [a] far, and lo! they shall come from the north, and from the sea, and these from the south land.

13 Heavens, praise ye, and thou earth, make full out joy; hills, sing ye heartily praising; for the Lord [hath] comforted his people, and shall have mercy on his poor men.

14 And Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Whether a woman may forget her young child, that she have not mercy on the son of her womb? though she forget, nevertheless I shall not forget thee.

16 Lo! I have written thee in mine hands; thy walls, be ever before mine eyes.

17 The builders be come; they that destroy thee, and scatter, shall go away from thee.

18 Raise [up] thine eyes in compass, and see; all these men be gathered together, they be come to thee. I live, saith the Lord, for thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and thou as a spousess shalt bind them to thee.

19 For why thy deserts, and thy wildernesses, and the land of thy falling, now shall be strait for [the] inhabiters; and they shall be driven away [a] far, that swallowed thee.

20 Yet the sons of thy barrenness shall say in thine ears, The place is strait to me, make thou a space to me for to dwell.

21 And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who engendered these sons to me? I am barren, not bearing child; I am led over, and prisoner; and who nourished these sons? I am destitute, and alone; and where were these?

22 The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I raise mine hand to heathen men, and I shall enhance my sign to peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in arms, and they shall bear thy daughters on shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursers or nourishers, and queens shall be thy nurses; with cheer cast down into [the] earth they shall worship thee, and they shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know, that I am the Lord, on whom they shall not be shamed, that abide him.

24 Whether prey shall be taken away from a strong man? either that that is taken of a stalworthy man, may be safe?

25 For the Lord saith these things, Soothly and [the] captivity shall be taken away from the strong man, and that that is taken away of a stalworthy man, shall be saved. Forsooth I shall deem them that deemed thee, and I shall save thy sons.

26 And I shall feed thine enemies with their fleshes, and they shall be greatly filled with their blood, as with must; and each man shall know, that I am the Lord, saving thee, and thine again-buyer, the Strong of Jacob.

CHAPTER 50

1 The Lord saith these things, What is this book of forsaking of your mother, by which I let go her? either who is he, to whom I owe, to whom I sold you? For lo! ye be sold for your wickednesses, and for your great trespasses I let go your mother.

2 For I came, and no man was; I called, and none was that heard. Whether mine hand is abridged, and made little, that I may not again-buy? either strength is not in me for to deliver? Lo! in my blaming I shall make the sea forsaken, either desert, I shall set floods in the dry place; fishes without water shall wax rotten, and shall die for thirst.

3 I shall clothe heavens with dark-nesses, and I shall set a sackcloth the covering of them.

4 The Lord gave to me a learned tongue, that I know how to sustain him by word that failed; early the father raiseth [up], early he raiseth [up] an ear to me, that I hear as a master.

5 The Lord God opened an ear to me; forsooth I against-say not, I went not aback.

6 I gave my body to [the] smiters, and my cheeks to [the] pullers; I turned not away my face from men blaming, and spitting on me.

7 The Lord God is mine helper, and therefore I am not shamed; therefore I have set my face as a stone made hard, and I know that I shall not be shamed.

8 He is nigh, that justifieth me; who against-saith me? stand we together. Who is mine adversary? nigh he to me.

9 Lo! the Lord God is mine helper; who therefore is he that condemneth me? Lo! all shall be defouled as a cloth, and a moth shall eat them.

10 Who of you dreadeth the Lord, and heareth the voice of his servant? Who went in darknesses, and light is not to him, hope he in the name of the Lord, and trust he on his God.

11 Lo! all ye kindling fire, and gird with flames, go in the light of your fire, and in the flames which ye have kindled to you. This is made of mine hand to you, ye shall sleep in sorrows.

CHAPTER 51

1 Hear ye me, that follow that that is just, and seek the Lord. Take ye heed to the stone, from whence ye be hewn down, and to the cave of the pit, from which ye be cut down.

2 Take ye heed to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, that childed you; for I called him when he was but one, or without an heir, and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.

3 Therefore the Lord shall comfort Zion, and he shall comfort all the fallings thereof; and he shall set the desert thereof in delights, and the wilderness thereof as a garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, the doing of thankings and the voice of praising.

4 My people, take ye heed to me, and, my lineage, hear ye me; for why a law shall go out from me, and my doom shall rest into the light of peoples.

5 My just [or rightwise]man is nigh, my saviour is gone out, and mine arms shall deem peoples; isles shall abide me, and shall suffer mine arm.

6 Raise your eyes to heaven, and see ye under earth beneath; for why heavens shall melt away as smoke, and the earth shall be all-broken as a cloth, and the dwellers thereof shall perish as these things; but mine health shall be without end, and my rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall not fail.

7 Ye people, that know the just [or rightwise]man, hear me, my law is in the heart of them; do not ye dread the shame of men, and dread ye not the blasphemies of them.

8 For why a worm shall eat them so as a cloth, and a moth shall devour them so as wool; but mine health shall be without end, and my rightfulness [or rightwiseness] into generations of generations.

9 Rise thou, rise thou, arm of the Lord, be thou clothed in strength; rise thou, as in [the] eld days, in generations of worlds. Whether thou smitedest not the proud man, wound-edest not the dragon?

10 Whether thou driedest not the sea, the water of the great depth, which settedest [or puttest] the depth of the sea to be a way, that men that were delivered, should pass [over]?

11 And now they that be again-bought of the Lord shall turn again, and shall come praising into Zion, and everlasting gladness on the heads of them; they shall hold joy and gladness, and sorrow and wailing shall flee away.

12 I, I myself, that is, I am he, I am he, that shall comfort you; who art thou, that thou dreadest of a deadly man, and of the son of man, that shall wax dry so as hay?

13 And thou hast forgotten the Lord, thy Creator, that stretched abroad heavens, and founded the earth; and thou dreadedest continually all day of the face of his strong vengeance, that did tribulation to thee, and made ready for to lose. Where is now the strong vengeance of the troubler?

14 Soon he shall come, going for to open; and he shall not slay till to death, neither his bread shall fail.

15 Forsooth I am thy Lord God, that trouble the sea, and the waves thereof wax great; the Lord of hosts is my name.

16 I have put my words in thy mouth, and I defended thee in the shadow of mine hand; that thou plant heavens, and found the earth, and say to Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Be thou raised, be thou raised, rise thou, Jerusalem, that hast drunk of the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunk unto the bottom of the cup of sleep, thou hast drunk of unto the dregs.

18 None there is that sustaineth it, of all the sons which it engendered; and none there is that taketh the hand thereof, of all the sons which it nourished.

19 Two things there be that came to thee; who shall be sorry on thee? destroying, and defouling, and hunger, and sword. Who shall comfort thee?

20 Thy sons be cast forth, they slept in the head of all ways, as the beast oryx, taken with a snare; they be full of [the] indignation of the Lord, of the blaming of thy God.

21 Therefore thou poor, and drunken, not of wine, hear these things.

22 The Lordly Governor, thy Lord, and thy God, that fought for his people, saith these things, Lo! I have taken from thine hand the cup of sleep, the bottom of the cup of mine indignation; I shall not lay to, that thou drink it any more.

23 And I shall set it in the hand of them that made thee low, and said to thy soul, Be thou bowed, that we pass; and thou hast set thy body as earth, and as a way to them that go forth.

CHAPTER 52

1 Rise thou, Zion, rise thou, be thou clothed in thy strength; Jerusalem, the city of the Holy, be thou clothed in the clothes of thy glory; for a man uncircumcised and a man unclean shall no more lay to, that he pass by thee.

2 Jerusalem, be thou shaken out of [the] dust; rise thou, sit thou; thou daughter of Zion, prisoner, unbind the bonds of thy neck.

3 For the Lord saith these things, Ye be sold without cause, and ye shall be again-bought without silver.

4 For the Lord God saith these things, My people in the beginning went down into Egypt, that it should be there an earth-tiller, either a comeling, and Assur falsely challenged it without any cause.

5 And now what is to me here? saith the Lord; for my people is taken away without cause; the lords thereof do wickedly, saith the Lord, and my name is blasphemed continually all day.

6 For this thing my people shall know my name in that day, for lo! I myself that spake, am present.

7 Full fair be the feet of him that telleth, and preacheth peace on hills [or mountains], of him that telleth good tidings, of him that preacheth health, and saith, Zion, thy God shall reign.

8 The voice of thy beholders; they raised the voice, they shall praise together; for they shall see with eye to eye, when the Lord hath converted Zion.

9 The deserted, either forsaken, things of Jerusalem, make ye joy, and praise ye together; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath again-bought Jerusalem.

10 The Lord hath made ready his holy arm in the eyes of all folks, and all the ends of the earth shall see the health of our God.

11 Go ye away, go ye away, go ye out from thence; do not ye touch [the] defouled thing, go ye out from the midst thereof; be ye cleansed, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

12 For ye shall not go out in noise, neither ye shall haste in flying away; for why the Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall gather you together.

13 Lo! my servant shall understand, and he shall be enhanced, and he shall be raised, and he shall be full high.

14 As many men wondered on him, so his beholding shall be without glory among men, and the form, either shape, of him among the sons of men.

15 He shall besprinkle many folks; kings shall hold together their mouth on him; for they shall see, to which it was not told of him, and they that heard not, beheld.

CHAPTER 53

1 Who believed to our hearing? and to whom is the arm of the Lord showed?

2 And he shall go up as a rod before him, and as a root from [the] thirsty land. And neither shape neither fairness was to him; and we saw him, and no beholding was; and we desired him,

3 despised, and the last of men, a man of sorrows, and knowing sickness. And his cheer was as hid, and despised; wherefore and we areckoned not him.

4 Verily he suffered our sicknesses, and he bare our sorrows; and we areckoned him as a mesel, and smitten of God, and made low.

5 Forsooth he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defouled for our great trespasses; the learning of our peace was on him, and we be made whole by his wanness.

6 All we erred as sheep, each man bowed into his own way, and the Lord putted [or put] in him the wickedness of us all.

7 He was offered, for he would, and he opened not his mouth; as a sheep he shall be led to slaying, and he shall be dumb as a lamb before him that clippeth it, and he shall not open his mouth.

8 He is taken away from anguish and from doom; who shall tell out the generation of him? For he was cut down from the land of livers. I smote him for the great trespass of my people.

9 And he shall give unfaithful men for burying, and rich men for his death; for he did not wickedness, neither guile was in his mouth;

10 and the Lord would defoul him in sickness. If he putteth his life for sin, he shall see his seed long enduring, and the will of the Lord shall be addressed in his hand.

11 For that that his soul travailed, he shall see, and shall be filled, [or For-thy that he travailed, his soul shall see, and be fulfilled]. That my just [or rightwise] servant shall justify many men in his knowing, and he shall bear the wickednesses of them.

12 Therefore I shall yield, either deal, to him full many men, and he shall part the spoils of the strong fiends; for that that he gave his life into death, and was areckoned with felonious men; and he did away the sin of many men, and he prayed for trespassers.

CHAPTER 54

1 Thou barren, that childest not, praise; thou that childest not, sing praising, and make joy; for why many sons be of the forsaken, more than of her that had [the] husband, saith the Lord.

2 Alarge thou the place of thy tent, and stretch forth the skins of thy tabernacles; spare thou not, make long thy ropes, and make firm thy nails.

3 For thou shalt pierce to the right side and to the left side; and thy seed shall inherit heathen men, and shall dwell in forsaken cities.

4 Do not thou dread, for thou shalt not be shamed, neither thou shalt be ashamed. For it shall not shame thee; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and thou shalt no more think on the shame of thy widowhood.

5 For he that made thee, shall be lord of thee; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thine again-buyer, the Holy of Israel, shall be called God of all earth.

6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and mourning in spirit, and a wife, that is cast away from youth. Thy Lord God said,

7 At a point in little time, I forsook thee, and I shall gather thee together in great merciful doings.

8 In a moment of indignation I hid my face a little from thee, and in mercy everlasting I had mercy on thee, said thine again-buyer, the Lord.

9 As in the days of Noah, this thing is to me, to whom I swore, that I should no more bring waters of the great flood on the earth; so I swore, that I shall be no more wroth to thee, and that I blame not thee.

10 Forsooth hills [or mountains] shall be moved together, and little hills shall tremble together; but my mercy shall not go away from thee, and the bond of my peace shall not be moved, saith the merciful doer, the Lord.

11 Thou little and poor, drawn out by tempest, without any comfort, lo! I shall strew thy stones by order, and I shall found thee in sapphires;

12 and I shall set jasper thy towers, and thy gates into engraved stones, and all thine ends into desirable stones.

13  And I shall set all thy sons taught of the Lord; and the multitude of peace to thy sons,

14 and thou shalt be founded in rightfulness [or rightwiseness]. Go thou away far from false challenge, for thou shalt not dread; and from dread, for it shall not nigh to thee.

15 Lo! a stranger shall come, that was not with me; he, that was some-time thy comeling, shall be joined to thee.

16 Lo! I made a smith blowing coals in [the] fire, and bringing forth a vessel into his work; and I have made a slayer, for to lose.

17 Each vessel which is made against thee, shall not be addressed; and in the doom thou shalt deem each tongue against-standing thee. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and the rightfulness [or rightwiseness] of them at me, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 55

1 All that thirst, come ye to waters, [or All ye thirsting, cometh to waters], and ye that have not silver, haste, buy ye, and eat ye; come ye, buy ye, without silver and without any exchanging, wine and milk.

2 Why weigh ye silver, and not in loaves, and your travail, not in fullness? Ye hearing hear me, and eat ye good things, and your soul shall delight in fatness.

3 Bow ye [in] your ear, and come ye to me; hear ye, and your soul shall live; and I shall smite with you a covenant everlasting, the faithful mercies of David.

4 Lo! I gave him a witness to peoples, a duke and a commander to folks.

5 Lo! thou shalt call folks, which thou knewest not; and folks, that knew not thee, shall run to thee; for thy Lord God, and the Holy of Israel, for he glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found; call ye him to help, while he is nigh.

7 An unfaithful man forsake his way, and a wicked man forsake his thoughts; and turn he again to the Lord, and he shall have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is much to forgive.

8 For why my thoughts be not your thoughts, and my ways be not your ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as heavens be raised from earth, so my ways be raised from your ways, and my thoughts from your thoughts.

10 And as rain and snow cometh down from heaven, and turneth no more again thither, but it filleth, or maketh moist, the earth, and beshed-deth it [or poureth into it], and maketh it to burgeon, and giveth seed to him that soweth, and bread to him that eateth,

11 so shall be my word, that shall go out of my mouth. It shall not turn again void to me, but it shall do whatever things I would, and it shall have prosperity in these things to which I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out in gladness, and ye shall be led forth in peace; mountains and little hills shall sing praising before you, and all the trees of the country shall make joy with hands.

13 A fir tree shall grow or go up for a gorse, either furze, and a myrtle tree shall wax for a nettle; and the Lord shall be named into a sign everlasting, that shall not be done away.

CHAPTER 56

1 The Lord saith these things, Keep ye doom, and do ye rightfulness [or rightwiseness], for why mine health is nigh, that it come, and my rightfulness [or rightwiseness], that it be showed.

2 Blessed is the man, that doeth this, and the son of a man, that shall take this; keeping the sabbath, that he defoul not it, keeping his hands, that he do not any evil.

3 And say not the son of a comeling, that cleaveth fast to the Lord, saying, By parting the Lord shall part me from his people; and a gelding, either a chaste man, say not, Lo! I am a dry tree.

4 For the Lord saith these things to geldings, that keep my sabbaths, and choose what things I would, and hold my bond of peace.

5 I shall give to them a place in mine house, and within my walls, and the best name, of sons and daughters; I shall give to them a name everlasting, that shall not perish.

6 And I shall bring in to bless the sons of a comeling, that cleave fast to the Lord, that they worship him, and love his name, that they be to him into servants; each man keeping the sabbath, that he defoul it not, and holding my bond of peace;

7 I shall bring them into mine holy hill, and I shall make them glad in the house of my prayer; their burnt sacrifices and their slain sacrifices shall please me on mine altar; for why mine house shall be called an house of prayer to all peoples,

8 saith the Lord God, that gathereth together the scattered men of Israel. Yet I shall gather together to him all the gathered men thereof.

9 All beasts of the field, come ye to devour, all beasts of the forest.

10 All the beholders thereof be blind, all they knew not; dumb dogs, that may not bark; seeing vain things, sleeping, and loving dreams;

11 and most unshamefast dogs knew not fullness. Those shepherds knew not understanding; all they bowed into their way, each man to his avarice, from the highest till to the last.

12 Come ye, take we wine, and be we filled of drunkenness; and it shall be as today, so and tomorrow, and much more.

CHAPTER 57

1 A just [or rightwise] man perisheth, and none is that thinketh in his heart; and men of mercy be gathered together, for none there is that understandeth; for why a just [or rightwise] man is gathered from the face of malice.

2 Peace come, rest he in his bed, that went in his addressing.

3 But ye, sons of the seeker of false divining by chittering of birds, nigh hither, the seed of adulteress, and of a whore.

4 On whom scorned ye? on whom made ye great the mouth, and putted out the tongue? Whether ye be not cursed sons, a seed of leasings?

5 which be comforted in gods, under each tree full of boughs, and offer little children in strands [or streams], under high stones.

6 Thy part is in the parts of the strand [or stream], this is thy part; and to them thou sheddest [or pourest] out moist [or liquor] offering, thou offeredest sacrifice. Whether I shall not have indignation on these things?

7 Thou puttedest thy bed on an high hill and enhanced, and thither thou ascendedest to offer sacrifices;

8 and thou settedest thy memorial behind the door, and behind the post. For besides me, thou uncoveredest thee, and tookest [the] adulterer; thou alargedest thy bed, and madest a bond of peace with them; thou lovedest the bed of them with open hand,

9 and adornedest thee with [the] king’s ointment, and thou multipliedest thy pigments; thou sentest far thy messengers, and thou art made low till to hells [or hell].

10 Thou travailedest in the multitude of thy ways, and saidest not, I shall rest; thou hast found the way of thine hand, therefore thou prayedest not.

11 For what thing dreadedest thou busy, for thou liedest, and thoughtest not on me? And thou thoughtest not in thine heart, that I am still, and as not seeing; and thou hast forgotten me.

12 I shall tell [out] thy rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and thy works shall not profit to thee.

13 When thou shalt cry, thy gathered treasures deliver thee; and the wind shall take away all them, a blast shall do away them; but he that hath trust on me, shall inherit the land, and shall have in possession mine holy hill [or holy mountain].

14 And I shall say, Make ye way, give ye journey, bow ye from the path, do ye away hurtings from the way of my people.

15 For the Lord high, and enhanced, saith these things, that dwelleth in everlastingness, and his holy name in high place, and that dwelleth in holy-ness, and with a contrite, either full sorry, and meek spirit, that he quicken the spirit of meek men, and quicken the heart of contrite men.

16 For I shall not strive without end, neither I shall be wroth till to the end; for why a spirit shall go out from my face, and I shall make blasts.

17 I was wroth for the wickedness of his avarice, and I smote him. I hid my face from thee, and I had indignation; and he went without steadfast dwelling, in the way of his heart.

18 I saw his ways, and I healed him, and I brought him again; and I gave comfortings to him, and to the mourners of him.

19 I made the fruit of lips peace, peace to him that is far, and to him that is nigh, said the Lord; and I healed him.

20 But wicked men be as the boiling sea, that may not rest; and the waves thereof float again into defouling, and fen.

21 The Lord God said, Peace is not to wicked men.

CHAPTER 58

1 Cry thou, cease thou not; as a trump enhance thy voice, and show thou to my people their great trespasses, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For they seek me from day into day, and they will to know my ways; as a folk, that hath done rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and that hath not forsaken the doom of their God; they pray me dooms of rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and they will to nigh to God.

3 Why fasted we, and thou beheldest not; we meeked our souls, and thou knewest not? Lo! your will is found in the day of your fasting, and ye ask all your debtors.

4 Lo! ye fast to chidings and strivings, and smite with the fist wickedly. Do not ye fast, as ye have unto this day, that your cry be heard on high.

5 Whether such is the fasting which I choose, a man to torment his soul by day? whether to bind his head as a circle, and to make ready a sackcloth and ashes? Whether thou shalt call this a fasting, and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Whether not this is more the fasting, which I choose? Unbind thou the bindings together of unpity, either of cruelty, release thou [the] burdens pressing down; deliver thou them free, that be broken, and break thou each burden.

7 Break thy bread to the hungry man, and bring into thine house needy men and harbourless; when thou seest a naked man, cover thou him, and despise not thy flesh, that is, brother or sister.

8 Then thy light shall break out as the morrowtide, and thine health shall rise full soon; and thy rightful-ness [or rightwiseness] shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee to rest.

9 Then thou shalt call to help, and the Lord shall hear; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Lo! I am present, for I am merciful, thy Lord God. If thou takest away the chain from the midst of thee, and ceasest to hold forth the finger, and to speak that that profiteth not;

10 when thou sheddest [or shalt pour] out thy soul, either thy will, to an hungry man, and [ful] fillest a soul that is tormented, thy light shall rise in darknesses, and thy darknesses shall be as midday.

11 And the Lord thy God shall give ever rest to thee, and shall [ful] fill thy soul with shinings, and shall deliver thy bones; and thou shalt be as a watered garden, and as a well of waters, whose waters shall not fail.

12 And the forsaken things of world’s shall be builded in thee, and thou shalt raise the foundaments of generation and generation; and thou shalt be called, A builder of hedges, turning away the paths of wicked-nesses.

13 If thou turnest away thy foot from the sabbath, to do thy [own] will in mine holy day; and callest the sabbath delicate, and holy, the glorious of the Lord; and glorifiest him, while thou doest not thy ways, and thy will is not found, that thou speak a word;

14 then thou shalt delight on the Lord, and I shall raise thee [up] on the highness of the earth, and I shall feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy father; for why the mouth of the Lord spake.

CHAPTER 59

1 Lo! the hand of the Lord is not abridged, that he may not save, neither his ear is made hard, that he hear not;

2 but your wickednesses have parted betwixt you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he should not hear.

3 For why your hands be defouled with blood, and your fingers with wickedness; your lips spake leasing, and your tongue speaketh wickedness.

4 None there is, that calleth rightful-ness to help, and none is, that deemeth verily; but they trust in nought, and speak vanities; they conceived travail, and childed wickedness.

5 The have broken eggs of snakes, and made webs of an araneid; he that eateth of the eggs of them, shall die, and that that is nursed, or hatched, shall break out into a cockatrice.

6 The webs of them shall not be into cloth[ing], neither they shall be covered with their works; the works of them be unprofitable works, and the work of wickedness is in the hands of them.

7 The feet of them run to evil, and haste to shed out innocent blood; the thoughts of them be unprofitable thoughts; destroying and defouling be in the ways of them.

8 They knew not the way of peace, and doom is not in the goings of them; the paths of them be bowed to them; each that treadeth in those [or in them], knoweth not peace.

9 Therefore doom is made far from us, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall not take us; we abided light, and lo! darknesses be; we abided shining, and we went in darknesses.

10 We groped as blind men the wall, and we as without eyes touched; we stumbled in midday, as in darknesses, in dark places, as dead men.

11 All we shall roar as bears, and we shall wail thinking as culvers; we abided doom, and none there is; we abided health, and it is made far from us.

12 For why our wickednesses be multiplied before thee, and our sins answered to us; for our great trespasses be with us, and we knew our wickednesses,

13 to do sin, and to lie against the Lord. And we be turned away, that we went not after the back of our God, that we speak false challenge, and trespassing. We conceived, and spake of heart, words of leasing;

14 and doom was turned aback, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] stood [a] far; for why truth fell down in the street, and equity, either evenness, might not enter.

15 And truth was made into forgetting, and he that went away from evil, was open to prey, either robbing. And the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, for there is no doom.

16 And God saw, that a man is not, and he was anguished, for none there is that runneth to. And his arm shall save to himself, and his rightfulness [or rightwiseness] itself shall confirm him.

17 He is clothed with rightfulness [or rightwiseness] as with an habergeon, and the helmet of health is in his head; he is clothed with [the] clothes of vengeance, and he is covered as with a mantle of fervent working.

18 As to vengeance, as to yielding of indignation to his enemies, and to requiting of time to his adversaries, he shall yield while to [the] isles.

19 And they that be at the west, shall dread the name of the Lord, and they that be at the rising of the sun, shall dread the glory of him; when he shall come as a violent flood, whom the spirit of the Lord compelleth.

20 When [the] again-buyer shall come to Zion, and to them that go again from wickedness in Jacob, saith the Lord.

21 This is my bond of peace with them, saith the Lord; My spirit which is in thee, and my words which I have set in thy mouth, shall not go away from thy mouth, and from the mouth of thy seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and till into without end.

CHAPTER 60

1 Rise thou, Jerusalem, be thou lightened [or lighted], for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen on thee.

2 For lo! darknesses shall cover the earth, and mist shall cover peoples; but the Lord shall rise [up] on thee, and his glory shall be seen in thee.

3 And heathen men shall go in thy light, and kings in the shining of thy rising.

4 Raise thine eyes in compass, and see; all these men be gathered together, they be come to thee; thy sons shall come from [a] far, and thy daughters shall rise from the side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and shalt flow; and thine heart shall wonder, and shall be alarged, when the multitude of the sea is converted to thee, the strength of heathen men is come to thee;

6 the flowing of camels shall cover thee, the leaders of dromedaries of Midian and of Ephah; all men of Sheba shall come, bringing gold and incense, and telling praising to the Lord.

7 Each sheep of Kedar shall be gathered to thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to thee; they shall be offered on mine acceptable altar, and I shall glorify the house of my majesty.

8 Who be these, that fly as clouds, and as culvers at their windows?

9 Forsooth isles abide me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning; that I bring thy sons from [a] far, the silver of them, and the gold of them is with them, to the name of thy Lord God, and to the Holy of Israel; for he shall glorify thee.

10 And the sons of pilgrims shall build thy walls, and the kings of them shall minister to thee. For I smote thee in mine indignation, and in my reconciling I had mercy on thee.

11 And thy gates shall be opened continually, day and night those [or they] shall not be closed; that the strength of heathen men be brought to thee, and the kings of them be brought.

12 For why the folk and realm that serveth not thee, shall perish, and heathen men shall be destroyed by wilderness.

13 The glory of the Lebanon shall come to thee, a fir tree, and box tree, and pine apple tree [or pine tree] together, to adorn the place of mine hallowing; and I shall glorify the place of my feet.

14 And the sons of them that made thee low, shall come low to thee, and all that backbited thee, shall worship the steps of thy feet; and they shall call thee, A city of the Lord of Zion, of the Holy of Israel.

15 For that that thou were forsaken, and hated, and none was that passed by thee, I shall set thee into pride, that is, glory and honour, of worlds, joy in generation and into generation.

16 And thou shalt suck the milk of folks, and thou shalt be suckled with the teat of kings; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, saving thee, and thine again-buyer, the Strong of Jacob.

17 For brass I shall bring gold, and for iron I shall bring silver; and brass for wood, and iron for stones; and I shall set thy visitation peace, and thy prelates [or provosts], either sovereigns, rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

18 Wickedness shall no more be heard in thy land, neither destroying and defouling in thy coasts; and health shall occupy thy walls, and praising shall occupy thy gates.

19 The sun shall no more be to thee for to shine by day, neither the brightness of the moon shall lighten thee; but the Lord shall be into everlasting light to thee, and thy God shall be into thy glory.

20 Thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not be decreased; for the Lord shall be into everlasting light to thee, and the days of thy mourning shall be [ful] filled.

21 Forsooth thy people, all just [or rightwise] men, without end shall inherit the land, the seed of my planting, the work of mine hand for to be glorified.

22 The least shall be into a thousand, and a little man shall be into a full strong folk. I, the Lord, shall make this thing suddenly, in the time thereof.

CHAPTER 61

1 The spirit of the Lord is[up] on me, for the Lord anointed me; he sent me to tell [out] to mild men, that I should heal men contrite in heart, and preach forgiveness to captives, and opening to prisoners;

2 and preach a pleasant year to the Lord, and a day of vengeance to our God; that I should comfort all that mourn;

3 that I should set comfort to the mourners of Zion, and that I should give to them a crown for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, a mantle of praising for the spirit of wailing. And strong men of rightfulness [or rightwiseness] shall be called therein, the planting of the Lord, for to glorify.

4 And they shall build things that be forsaken from the world, and they shall raise eld [or old] fallings, and they shall restore cities that be forsaken and destroyed, in generation and into generation.

5 And aliens shall stand, and feed your beasts; and the sons of pilgrims shall be your earth-tillers and vine-tillers.

6 But ye shall be called the priests of the Lord; it shall be said to you, Ye be ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the strength of heathen men, and ye shall be honoured in the glory of them.

7 For your double shame and shame, they shall praise the part of them; for this thing they shall have peaceably double things in their land, and everlasting gladness shall be to them.

8 For I am the Lord, loving doom, and hating raven in burnt sacrifices. And I shall give the work of them in truth, and I shall smite to them an everlasting bond of peace.

9 And the seed of them shall be known among folks, and the bur-geoning of them in the midst of peoples. All men that see them, shall know them, for these be the seed, whom the Lord blessed.

10 I joying shall have joy in the Lord, and my soul shall make full out joying in my God. For he hath clothed me with [the] clothes of health, and he hath compassed me with [the] clothes of rightfulness [or rightwiseness], as a spouse made fair with a crown, and as a spousess adorned with her brooches.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth his fruit, and as a garden burgeoneth his seed, so the Lord God shall make to grow rightfulness [or rightwiseness] and praising before all folks.

CHAPTER 62

1 For Zion I shall not be still, and for Jerusalem I shall not rest, till the just [or rightwise]man thereof go out as shining, and the saviour thereof be tended as a lamp.

2 And heathen men shall see thy just [or rightwise]man, and all kings shall see thy noble man; and a new name, which the mouth of the Lord named, shall be called to thee.

3 And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the realm in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be called forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called desolate; but thou shalt be called My will in that, and thy land That that shall be inhabited; for it pleased the Lord in thee, and thy land shall be inhabited.

5 For a young man shall dwell with a virgin, and thy sons shall dwell in thee; and the spouse shall have joy on the spousess, and thy God shall have joy on thee.

6 Jerusalem, I have ordained keepers on thy walls, all day and all night without end they shall not be still. Ye that think on the Lord, be not still,

7 and give ye not silence to him, till he stablish, and till he set Jeru-salem praising in [the] earth.

8 The Lord swore in his right hand, and in the arm of his strength, I shall no more give thy wheat to be meat to thine enemies, and alien sons shall not drink thy wine, in which thou hast travailed.

9 For they that shall gather it together, shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord; and they that bear it together, shall drink in mine holy foreyards.

10 Pass ye, pass ye by the gates; make ye ready a way to the people, make ye a plain path; and choose ye [the] stones, and raise ye [up] a sign to peoples.

11 Lo! the Lord made heard in the last parts of the earth. Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Lo! thy saviour cometh; lo! his meed is with him, and his work is before him.

12 And they shall call them the holy people, again-bought of the Lord. Forsooth thou shalt be called a city sought, and not forsaken.

CHAPTER 63

1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, in dyed clothes from Bozrah? this fair man in his stole, either long cloth, going in the multitude of his strength? I that speak rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and am a for-fighter for to save.

2 Why therefore is thy clothing red? and thy clothes as of men stamping in a presser [or the wine press]?

3 I alone stamped the press, and of folks, either Gentiles, no man is, either was, with me; I stamped them in my strong vengeance, and I defouled them in my wrath; and their blood is sprinkled on my clothes, and I made foul all my clothes.

4 For why a day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my yielding cometh.

5 I looked about, and none helper was; I sought, and none was that helped; and mine arm saved to me, and mine indignation, that helped me.

6 And I defouled peoples in my strong vengeance; and I made them drunken in mine indignation, and I drew down their strength into the earth.

7 I shall have mind on the merciful doings of the Lord, I shall preach the praising of the Lord, on all things which the Lord [hath] yielded to us, and the multitude of [the] goods of the house of Israel, which he gave to them, by his forgiveness, and by the multitude of his mercies.

8 And the Lord said, Nevertheless it is my people, sons not denying, and he was made a saviour to them,

9 in all the tribulation of them. It was set in tribulation, and the angel of his face saved them. In his love and in his forgiveness he again-bought them, and he bare them, and raised them in all [the] days of the world.

10 Forsooth they excited him to wrathfulness [or wrath], and tormented the spirit of his holy or his Holy Spirit; and he was turned into an enemy of them, and he overcame them in battle.

11 And he had mind on the days of the world, of Moses, and of his people. Where is he, that led them out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he, that setted [or set] the spirit of his holy or his Holy Spirit in the middle thereof;

12 which led out Moses to the right half in the arm of his majesty? which parted waters before them, that he should make to himself a name ever-lasting;

13 which led them out through depths of waters, as an horse not stumbling in desert,

14 as a beast going down in the field? The Spirit of the Lord was the leader thereof; so thou leddest thy people, that thou madest to thee a name of glory.

15 Behold thou from heaven, and see from thine holy dwelling place, and from the seat of thy glory. Where is thy fervent love, and thy strength, the multitude of thine entrails, and of thy merciful doings? They withheld themselves on me.

16 Forsooth thou art our father, and Abraham knew not us, and Israel knew not us. Thou, Lord, art our father, and our again-buyer; thy name is from the world.

17 Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? thou hast made hard our heart, that we dreaded not thee? be thou converted, for thy servants, the lineages of thine heritage.

18 They had as nought thine holy people in possession, and our enemies defouled thine hallowing.

19 We be made as in the beginning, when thou were not Lord of us, neither thy name was called to help on us.

CHAPTER 64

1 I would that thou brakest heavens, and camest down, that hills floated away from thy face,

2 and failed [or vanish away], as the burning of fire, and [waters] burnt in [or with] fire; that thy name were made known to thine enemies, and folks were troubled of thy face.

3 When thou shalt do marvels, we shall not abide. Thou camest down, and hills [or mountains] floated away from thy face.

4 From the world they heard not, neither perceived with ears; God, none eye saw, without thee, what things thou hast made ready to them that abide thee.

5 Thou mettest him that is glad, and doeth rightfulness [or rightwiseness]; in thy ways they shall bethink on thee. Lo! thou art wroth, and we sinned; in those sins we were ever, and we shall be saved.

6 And all we be made as an unclean man; all our rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses]be as the cloth of a woman in menstruation, or unclean blood; and all we fell down as a leaf, and our wickednesses, as wind, have taken away us.

7 None is, that calleth thy name to help, that riseth, and holdeth thee; thou hast hid thy face from us, and thou hast hurtled down us in the hand of our wickedness.

8 And now, Lord, thou art our father; forsooth we be clay, and thou art our maker, and all we be the works of thine hands.

9 Lord, be thou not wroth enough, and have thou no more mind on our wickedness. Lo! Lord, behold thou, all we be thy people.

10 The city of thy holy, either thy saintuary, is forsaken, Zion is made desert, Jerusalem is made desolate;

11 the house of our hallowing and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is made into burning of fire; and all our desirable things be turned into fallings.

12 Lord, whether on these things thou shalt withhold thee? shalt thou be still, and shalt thou torment us greatly?

CHAPTER 65

1 They sought me, that asked not before; they that sought not me, found me. I said, Lo! I, lo! I, to heathen men that knew not me, and that called not my name to help.

2 I stretched forth mine hands all day to a people unbelieveful, that goeth in a way not good, after their thoughts.

3  It is a people that stirreth me to wrathfulness [or wrath], ever before my face; which offer in gardens, and make sacrifice on tilestones;

4 which dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temples of idols; which eat swine’s flesh, and unholy juice, either broth, is in the vessels of them;

5 which say to an heathen man, Go thou away from me, nigh thou not to me, for thou art unclean; these shall be smoke in my strong vengeance, fire burning all day.

6 Lo! it is written before me; I shall not be still, but I shall yield, and I shall requite into the bosom of them

7 your wickednesses, and the wickednesses of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which made sacrifice on mountains, and did shame to me on little hills; and I shall mete [or measure] again the first work of them in their bosom.

8 The Lord saith these things, As if a grape be found in a cluster, and it is said, Destroy thou not it, for it is blessing; so I shall do for my servants, that I lose not all.

9 And I shall lead out of Jacob a seed, and of Judah a man having in possession mine holy hills [or holy mountains]; and my chosen men shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

10 And the field places shall be into folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a resting place of droves of neat, to my people that sought me.

11 And I shall number you in sword, that forsook the Lord, that forgot mine holy hill [or holy mountain], which set a board to fortune, and make sacrifice thereon,

12 and all ye shall fall by slaying; for that that I called, and ye answered not; I spake, and ye heard not; and ye did evil before mine eyes, and ye choosed those things which I would not.

13 For these things, the Lord God saith these things, Lo! my servants shall eat, and ye shall have hunger; lo! my servants shall drink, and ye shall be thirsty; lo! my servants shall be glad, and ye shall be ashamed;

14 lo! my servants shall praise, for the full joy of heart, and ye shall cry, for the sorrow of heart, and ye shall yell, for [the] desolation of spirit.

15 And ye shall leave your name into an oath to my chosen men; and the Lord God shall slay thee, and he shall call his servants by another name.

16 In which he that is blessed on earth, shall be blessed in God, amen; and he that sweareth in earth, shall swear in God faithfully; for the former anguishes be given to forgetting, and for those be hid from your eyes.

17 For lo! I make new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be in mind, and shall not ascend [or go up] on the heart.

18 But ye shall have joy, and make full out joying till into without end, in these things which I make; for lo! I make Jerusalem full out joying, and the people thereof joy.

19 And I shall make full out joying in Jerusalem, and I shall have joy in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of cry shall no more be heard therein.

20 A young child of days shall no more be there, and an eld [or old] man, that filleth not his days; for why a child of an hundred years shall die, and a sinner of an hundred years shall be cursed.

21 And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them, and they shall plant vines, and shall eat the fruits of those [or them].

22 They shall not build houses, and another shall inhabit, they shall not plant, and another shall eat; for why the days of my people shall be after the days of the tree, and the works of their hands shall be eld to my chosen men.

23 They shall not travail in vain, neither they shall engender in troubling; for it is the seed of them that be blessed of the Lord, and the cousins of them be with them.

24 And it shall be, before that they cry, I shall hear; yet while they speak, I shall hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall be fed together, and a lion and an ox shall eat straw, and to a serpent dust shall be his bread; they shall not harm, neither shall slay, in all mine holy hill [or holy mountain], saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 66

1 The Lord saith these things, Heaven is my seat, and the earth is the stool of my feet. Which is this house, which ye shall build to me, and which is this place of my rest?

2 Mine hand made all these things, and all these things be made, saith the Lord; but to whom shall I behold, no but to a poor man and contrite in spirit, and greatly dreading my words?

3 He that offereth an ox, is as he that slayeth a man; he that slayeth a sheep, is as he that braineth a dog; he that offereth an offering, is as he that offereth swine’s blood; he that thinketh on incense, is as he that blesseth an idol; they choosed all these things in their ways, and their soul delighted in their abominations.

4 Wherefore and I shall choose the scornings of them, and I shall bring to them those things which they dreaded; for I called, and none there was that answered; I spake, and they heard not; and they did evil before mine eyes, and choosed those things, which I would not.

5 Hear ye the word of the Lord, which quake at his word; your brethren hating you, and casting away for my name, said, The Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your gladness; forsooth they shall be shamed.

6 The voice of the people from the city, the voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord yielding a reward to his enemies.

7 Before that she travailed of child, she childed; before that the sorrow of her childbearing came, she childed a son.

8 Who heard ever such a thing, and who saw a thing like this? Whether the earth shall travail of child in one day, either a folk shall be childed together? For why Zion travailed of child, and childed her sons.

9 Whether that I make others to bear child, shall not bear child myself? saith the Lord. Whether I that give gener-ation to other men, shall be barren? saith thy Lord God.

10 Be ye glad with Jerusalem, and all ye that love that, make full out joy therein; all ye that mourn on that Jerusalem, make ye joy with it in joy;

11 that both ye suck, and be [ful] filled of the teats and comfort thereof, that ye milk, and flow in delights, of all manner glory thereof.

12 For why the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall bow down on it, as a flood of peace, and as a flowing stream, the glory of heathen men, which ye shall suck; ye shall be borne at teats, and on knees, they shall speak pleasantly to you.

13 As if a mother speaketh fair to any child, so I shall comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14 Ye shall see, and your heart shall have joy, and your bones shall burgeon as an herb. And the hand of the Lord shall be known in his servants, and he shall have indignation to his enemies.

15 For lo! the Lord shall come in fire, and as a whirlwind his chariots, to yield in indignation his strong vengeance, and his blaming in the flame of fire.

16 For why the Lord shall deem in fire, and in his sword to each flesh; and slain men of the Lord shall be multiplied,

17 that were hallowed, and guessed them clean, in gardens after one gate within; that eat swine’s flesh, and abomination, and a mouse, they shall be wasted together, saith the Lord.

18 Forsooth I come to gather together the works of them, and the thoughts of them, with all folks and languages; and they shall come, and shall see my glory.

19 And I shall set [or put] a sign in them, and I shall send of them that be saved to heathen men, into the sea, into Africa, and into Lydia, and to them that hold [an] arrow, into Italy, and Greek land [or Greece], to isles far, to them that heard not of me, and saw not my glory. And they shall tell my glory to heathen men,

20 and they shall bring all your brethren out of [or from] all folks as a gift to the Lord, in horses, and [in] chariots, and in litters, and in mules, and in carts, to mine holy hill [or holy mountain], Jerusalem, saith the Lord; as if the sons of Israel bring a gift in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.

21 And I shall take of them into priests and deacons [or Levites], saith the Lord.

22 For as new heavens and new earth, which I make to stand before me, saith the Lord, so your seed shall stand, and your name.

23 And a month shall be of month, and a sabbath of sabbath; each man shall come for to worship before my face, saith the Lord.

24 And they shall go out, and shall see the carrions of men, that trespassed against me; the worm of them shall not die, and the fire of them shall not be quenched; and they shall be unto filling of sight to each man.

* CHAPTER 2:4 In other writings, John Wycliffe renders this word in this verse as ‘plowghschares’ (‘ploughshares’/‘plowshares’).

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JEREMIAH

CHAPTER 1

1 The words of Jeremy, son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.

2 For the word of the Lord was made to him in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his realm.

3 And it was done in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, unto the ending of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, till to the passing over, either captivity, of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.

4 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

5 Before that I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before that thou wentest out of the womb, I hallowed thee; and I gave thee to be a prophet among folks.

6 And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, lo! I cannot speak, for I am a child.

7 And the Lord said to me, Do not thou say, that I am a child; for thou shalt go to all things, to which I shall send thee, and thou shalt speak all things, whatever things I shall command to thee.

8 Dread thou not of the face of them; for I am with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

9 And the Lord sent his hand, and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, Lo! I have given my words in thy mouth;

10 lo! I have ordained thee today on folks, and on realms, that thou draw up, and destroy, and lose, and scatter, and build, and plant.

11 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said, What seest thou, Jeremy? And I said, I see a rod waking or watching.

12 And the Lord said to me, Thou hast seen well, for I shall wake or watch* on my word, to do it.

13 And the word of the Lord was made the second time to me, and said, What seest thou? [And I said], I see a pot boiling, and the face thereof from the face of the north.

14 And the Lord said to me, From the north shall be showed all evil on all the dwellers of the land.

15 For lo! I shall call together all the nations of [the] realms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and set each man his seat in the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all the walls thereof in compass, and on all the cities of Judah.

16 And I shall speak my dooms with them on all the malice of them, that forsook me, and made sacrifice to alien gods, and worshipped the work of their hands.

17 Therefore gird [up] thou thy loins, and rise thou, and speak to them all things which I command to thee; dread thou not of the face of them, for I shall not make thee for to dread the cheer of them.

18 For I gave thee today into a strong city, and into an iron pillar, and into a brazen wall, on all the land, to the kings of Judah, and to the princes thereof, and to the priests thereof, and to all the people of the land.

19 And they shall fight against thee, and they shall not have the mastery; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, that I deliver thee.

CHAPTER 2

1 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

2 Go thou, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, and say, The Lord saith these things, I had mind on thee, and I had mercy on thee in thy young waxing age, and on the charity of thy espousing, when thou followedest me in desert, in the land which is not sown.

3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of fruits of him; men that devour that Israel, trespass; evils shall come [up] on them, saith the Lord.

4 The house of Jacob, and all the lineages of the house of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord.

5 The Lord saith these things, What of wickedness found your fathers in me, for they went far away from me, and went after vanity, and were made vain?

6 And they said not, Where is the Lord, that made us to go up from the land of Egypt, that led us over through desert, by the land unhabitable and without way, by the land of thirst, and by the image of death, by the land in which a man went not, neither a man dwelled.

7 And I brought you into the land of Carmel, that ye should eat the fruit thereof, and the goods thereof; and ye entered, and defouled my land, and setted mine heritage into abomination.

8 Priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held the law, knew not me; and shepherds trespassed against me, and prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols.

9 Therefore yet I shall strive with you in doom, saith the Lord, and I shall dispute with your sons.

10 Go ye to the isles of Chittim, and see ye; and send ye into Kedar, and behold ye greatly; and see ye, if such a thing is done,

11 if a folk changed his gods; and certainly they be no gods; but my people changed his glory into an idol.

12 Heavens, be ye astonied on this thing, and, ye gates of heaven, be ye desolate greatly, saith the Lord.

13 For why my people hath done twain [or two] evils; they have forsaken me, the well of quick water, and have digged to them cisterns, that were destroyed, that may not hold waters.

14 Whether Israel is a bondman, either is born bond? Why therefore is he made into prey?

15 Lions roared on him, and gave their voice; they have set the land of him into wilderness, the cities of him be burnt [up], and none there is that dwelleth in those [or them].

16 Also the sons of Memphis and Tahpanhes have defouled thee, unto the top of the head.

17 Whether this is not done to thee, for thou forsookest thy Lord God, in that time in which he led thee by the way?

18 And now what wilt thou to thee in the way of Egypt, that thou drink troubled water? And what is to thee with the way of Assyrians, that thou drink water of the flood?

19 Thy malice shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall blame thee; know thou and see, that it is evil and bitter, that thou hast forsaken thy Lord God, and that his dread is not at thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

20 From the world thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast broken my bonds, and saidest, I shall not serve. For thou whore didest whoredom in each high little hill, and under each tree full of boughs.

21 Forsooth I planted thee a chosen vinery [or vine], all true seed; how therefore art thou, an alien vinery [or vine], turned to me into a shrewd thing?

22 Though thou wash thee with fuller’s clay, and multipliest to thee the [cleansing] herb boreth, thou art defouled in thy wickedness before me, saith the Lord God.

23 How sayest thou, I am not defouled, I went not after Baalim? See thy ways in the great valley, know thou what thou hast done; a swift runner ordaining his ways.

24 A wild ass accustomable in wilderness, drew the wind of his love in the desire of his soul; no man shall turn away it. All that seek it, shall not fail; they shall find it in the flux of unclean blood thereof.

25 Forbid thy foot from nakedness, and thy throat from thirst; and thou saidest, I despaired, I shall not do; for I loved burningly alien gods, and I shall go after them.

26 As a thief is shamed, when he is taken, so the house of Israel be shamed; they, and [the] kings of them, the princes, and priests, and the prophets of them,

27 that say to a tree, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast engendered me. They turned to me the back, and not the face; and in the time of their torment they shall say, Rise thou, and deliver us.

28 Where be thy gods, which thou madest to thee? Rise they, and deliver thee in the time of thy torment; for after the number of thy cities were thy gods, thou Judah.

29 What, will ye strive with me in doom? All ye have forsaken me, saith the Lord.

30 In vain I smote your sons, they received not chastising; your sword devoured your prophets, your gener-ation is destroyed as a lion.

31 See ye the word of the Lord, whether I am made a wilderness to Israel, either a land late bringing forth fruit? Why therefore said my people, We have gone away, we shall no more come to thee?

32 Whether a virgin shall forget her ornament? and a spousess her breast-girdle? But my people hath forgotten me by days without number.

33 What enforcest or endeavourest thou to show thy way good to seek love, which furthermore both hast taught thy malices thy ways,

34 and the blood of poor men and innocents is found in thy wings? I found not them in ditches, but in all things which I remembered before.

35 And thou saidest, I am without sin and innocent; and therefore thy strong vengeance be turned away from me. Lo! I shall strive with thee in doom; for thou saidest, I sinned not.

36 How vile art thou made, rehearsing thy ways? and thou shalt be shamed of Egypt, as thou were shamed of Assur.

37 For why and thou shalt go out of this land, and thine hands shall be on thine head; for why the Lord hath all-broken thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing to prosperity.

CHAPTER 3

1 It is said commonly, If a man forsaketh his wife, and she go away from him, and be wedded to another husband, whether he shall turn again [any] more to her? whether that woman shall not be defouled, and made unclean? Forsooth thou hast done fornication with many lovers; nevertheless turn thou again to me, saith the Lord, and I shall receive thee.

2 Raise thine eyes into straight, and see, where thou art not cast down. Thou hast sat in ways, abiding them as a thief in wilderness, and thou hast defouled the earth in thy fornications and in thy malices.

3 Wherefore the drops of rains were forbidden, and no late rain was. The forehead of a woman whore is made to thee; thou wouldest not be ashamed.

4 Namely from this time forth call thou me, Thou art my father, the leader of my virginity.

5 Whether thou shalt be wroth without end, either shalt continue into the end? Lo! thou hast spoken, and hast done evils, and thou were mighty. And for words of penance thou blasphemedest by words of pride; and thou filledest thine evil thought, and showedest thy strength against thy husband, that thou mayest do that thing that thou treatedest by word.

6 And the Lord said to me, in the days of Josiah, the king, Whether thou hast seen what thing the adversary, Israel, hath done? She went [away] to herself on each high hill, and under each tree full of boughs, and did fornication there.

7 And I said, when she had done all these things, Turn thou again to me; and she turned not again. And her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, saw,

8 that for the adversary, Israel, did adultery, I had let her go, and I had given to her a libel, or a little book, of forsaking; and Judah, her sister, breaker of the law, dreaded not, but also she went, and did fornication.

9 And by lightness of her fornication she defouled the earth, and did adultery with a stone, and with a tree.

10 And in all these things her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, turned not again to me, in all her heart, but in a leasing, saith the Lord God.

11 And the Lord said to me, The adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison of Judah, breaker of the law.

12 Go thou, and cry these words against the north; and thou shalt say, Thou adversary, Israel, turn again, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be wroth without end.

13 Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against thy Lord God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to aliens under each tree full of boughs; and thou heardest not my voice, saith the Lord.

14 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one of a city, and twain [or two] of a kindred, and I shall lead you into Zion;

15 and I shall give to you shepherds after mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowing and teaching.

16 And when ye shall be multiplied, and increase in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no more say, The ark of [the] testament of the Lord; neither it shall ascend [or go up] on the heart, neither they shall think on it, neither it shall be visited, neither it shall be further.

17 In that time they shall call Jerusalem The seat of the Lord, and all heathen men shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the shrewdness of their worst heart.

18 In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel; and they shall come together from the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

19 Forsooth I said, How shall I set [or put] thee among sons, and shall give to thee a desirable land, a full clear heritage of the hosts of heathen men? And I said, Thou shalt call me, Father, and thou shalt not cease to enter after me.

20 But as if a woman despiseth her lover, so the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

21 A voice is heard in ways, the weeping and yelling of the sons of Israel; for they made wicked their way, they forgat their Lord God.

22 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, and I shall heal your turnings away. Lo! we come to thee; for thou art our Lord God.

23 Verily the little hills were liars, the multitude of mountains was false; verily in our Lord God is the health of Israel.

24 Shame ate the travail of our fathers, from our youth; shame ate the flocks of them, and the droves of them, the sons of them, and the daughters of them.

25 We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we sinned to our Lord God, both we and our fathers, from our youth unto this day; and we have not heard the voice of our Lord God.

CHAPTER 4

1 Israel, if thou turnest again, saith the Lord, turn thou to me; if thou takest away thine offendings from my face, thou shalt not be moved.

2 And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, and in doom, and in rightfulness [or rightwiseness]; and all folks shall bless him, and shall praise him.

3 For the Lord God saith these things to a man of Judah, and to a dweller of Jerusalem, Make ye new to you a land tilled of new, either a fallow, and do not ye sow on thorns.

4 Men of Judah, and dwellers of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, either filths, of your hearts; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none there be that quench, for the malice of your thoughts.

5 Tell ye in Judah, and make ye heard in Jerusalem; speak ye, and sing ye with a trump in the land; cry ye strongly, and say ye, Be ye gathered together, and enter we into [the] strong cities.

6 Raise ye a sign in Zion, comfort ye, and do not ye stand; for I [shall] bring evil from the north, and a great sorrow.

7 A lion shall go up from his den, and the robber of folks shall raise himself. He is gone out of his place, to set thy land into wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, abiding still without dweller.

8 On this thing gird you with hair-shirts; wail ye, and yell, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away from you.

9 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of princes; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonied.

10 And I said, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therefore whether thou hast deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be to you, and lo! a sword is come unto the soul?

11 In that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind in the ways that be in desert, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge.

12 A spirit full of them shall come to me; and now I, but I shall speak my dooms with them.

13 Lo! he shall ascend [or go up] as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest; his horses be swifter than eagles; woe to us, for we be destroyed.

14 Thou Jerusalem, wash thine heart from malice, that thou be made safe. How long shall harmful thoughts dwell in thee?

15 For why the voice of a teller from Dan, and making known an idol from the hill or mount of Ephraim.

16 Raise, ye folks; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that keepers be come from a far land, and give their voice on the cities of Judah.

17 As the keepers of fields, they be made on it in compass; for it stirred me to wrathfulness [or to wrath], saith the Lord.

18 Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart.

19 My womb acheth, my womb acheth; the wits of mine heart be troubled in me. I shall not be still, for my soul heard the voice of a trump, the cry of battle.

20 Sorrow is called on sorrow, and all the land is destroyed; my taber-nacles be wasted suddenly, my skins be wasted suddenly.

21 How long shall I see them that flee, shall I hear the voice of a clarion?

22 For my fond [or foolish] people knew not me; they be unwise sons, and cowards; they be wise to do evils, but they know not to do well.

23 I beheld the land, and lo! it was void, and nought; and I beheld heavens, and no light there was in them.

24 I saw mountains, and lo! they were moved, and all little hills were troubled.

25 I looked, and no man there was, and each bird of heaven was gone away.

26 I beheld, and lo! Carmel is forsaken, and all cities thereof be destroyed from the face of the Lord, and from the face of the ire [or the wrath] of his strong vengeance.

27 For the Lord saith these things, All the land shall be forsaken, but nevertheless, I shall not make a [full] ending.

28 The earth shall mourn, and heavens above shall make sorrow, for that I spake; I thought, and it repented not me, neither I am turned away from it.

29 Each city fled from the voice of a knight, and a man shooting an arrow; they entered into hard places, and ascended [or went up] into rocks of stone; all [the] cities be forsaken, and no man dwelleth in them.

30 But what shalt thou destroyed, do? When thou shalt clothe thee with red scarlet, when thou shalt be adorned with a golden brooch, and shalt anoint thine eyes with woman’s ointment, thou shalt be arrayed in vain; thy lovers have despised thee, they shall seek thy soul.

31 For I heard a voice as a woman travailing of child, the anguishes as of a woman childing; the voice of the daughter of Zion among them that die, and spread abroad her hands; Woe to me, for my soul failed for them that be slain.

CHAPTER 5

1 Compass ye the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and behold ye, and seek ye in the streets thereof, whether ye find a man doing doom, and seeking faith; and I shall be merciful to them.

2 That if also they say, The Lord liveth, yea, they shall swear this falsely.

3 Lord, thine eyes behold faith; thou hast smitten them, and they made not sorrow; thou hast all-broken them, and they forsook to take chastising; they made their faces harder than a stone, and would not turn again.

4 Forsooth I said, In hap they be poor men, and fools, that know not the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God.

5 Therefore I shall go to the principal men, and I shall speak to them; for they knew the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God. And lo! they have more broken together the yoke, and have broken [the] bonds.

6 Therefore a lion of the wood smote them; a wolf at eventide wasted them, a leopard waking or watching on the cities of them. Each man that goeth out of them, shall be taken; for the trespassings of them be multiplied, the turnings away of them be comforted.

7 On what thing may I be merciful to thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and swear by them that be not gods. I [full-]filled them, and they did adultery, and in the house of an whore they did lechery.

8 They be made horses, and stallions, lovers to women; each man neighed to the wife of his neighbour.

9 Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk?

10 Go ye up on the walls thereof, and destroy ye; but do not ye make an ending. Do ye away the scions thereof, for they be not servants of the Lord.

11 For why the house of Israel and the house of Judah hath trespassed by trespassing against me, saith the Lord;

12 they denied the Lord, and said, He is not, neither evil shall come [up] on us; we shall not see sword and hunger.

13 The prophets spake against the wind, and none answer was in them; therefore these things shall come to them.

14 The Lord God of hosts saith these things, For ye spake this word, lo! I give my words in thy mouth into fire, and this people into trees, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo! thou house of Israel, saith the Lord, I shall bring on you a folk from [a] far; a strong folk, an eld [or old] folk, a folk whose language thou shalt not know, neither shalt understand what it speaketh.

16 The arrow case thereof is as an open sepulchre; all be strong men.

17 And it shall eat thy corns, and it shall devour thy bread, thy sons and thy daughters; it shall eat thy flock, and thy droves, it shall eat also thy vinery [or vines], and thy fig tree; it shall all-break thy strong cities with sword, in which thou hast trusted.

18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I shall not make you into [full] ending.

19 That if ye say, Why hath our Lord God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them, As ye forsook me, and served an alien god in your land, so ye shall serve alien gods in a land not yours.

20 Tell ye this to the house of Jacob, and make ye heard in Judah, and say ye,

21 Hear, thou fond [or foolish] people, that hast none heart; which have eyes, and see not, and ears, and hear not.

22 Therefore shall not ye dread me, saith the Lord, and shall not ye make sorrow for my face? Which have set gravel to be a term, either end, to the sea, an everlasting commandment, which it shall not pass; and the waves thereof shall be moved, and shall not have power; and shall wax great, and shall not pass it.

23 Forsooth an heart unbelieveful and stirring to wrath is made to this people; they departed, and went away,

24 and they said not in their heart, Dread we our Lord God, that giveth to us rain timeful, and lateful in his time; that keepeth to us the plenty of harvest of the year.

25 Your wickednesses did away these things, and your sins forbidded good from you.

26 For there be found wicked men in my people, setting treason, as fowlers setting snares and traps, to take men.

27 As a net, either a trap, full of birds, so the houses of them be full of guile.

28 Therefore they be magnified, and made rich, made fat within, and made fat withoutforth, and they passed worst my words; they deemed not the cause of a widow, they dressed not the cause of a fatherless child, and they deemed not the doom of poor men.

29 Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, either shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk?

30 Wonder and marvelous things be made in the land;

31 prophets prophesied leasing, and priests joyed with their hands, and my people loved such things. What therefore shall be done in the last thing thereof?

CHAPTER 6

1 Sons of Benjamin, be ye comforted in the middle of Jerusalem, and make ye noise with a clarion in Tekoa, and raise ye a banner on Bethhaccerem; for why evil and great sorrow is seen from the north.

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a fair woman and delicate.

3 Shepherds and their flocks shall come to it; they have pitched tents in it in compass; each man shall feed them, that be under his hand.

4 Hallow ye battle on it. Rise ye together, and ascend we [or go we up] in midday. Woe to us, for the day hath bowed down, for shadows be made longer in the eventide.

5 Rise ye, and ascend we [or go we up] in the night, and destroy we the houses thereof.

6 For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down the tree thereof, and shed ye earth about Jerusalem; this is the city of visitation; all false challenge is in the midst thereof.

7 As a cistern maketh his water cold, so it made his malice cold; wickedness and destroying shall ever be heard therein before me, sickness and wound.

8 Jerusalem, be thou taught, lest peradventure my soul go away from thee; lest peradventure I set thee forsaken, a land unhabitable.

9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, They shall gather till to a raisin, they shall gather the remnants of Israel as in a vinery [or a vine]; turn thine hand, as a gatherer of grapes to the basket.

10 To whom shall I speak, and to whom shall I say witnessing, that he hear? Lo! the ears of them be uncircumcised, and they may not hear; lo! the word of the Lord is made to them into despite, and they shall not receive it.

11 Therefore I am full of the strong vengeance of the Lord, and I travailed suffering. Shed thou [or Pour] out vengeance on a little child withoutforth, and on the counsel of young men together; for a man with his wife shall be taken, and an eld [or old] man with him that is full of days.

12 And the houses of them, the fields and wives together, shall go to other men; for I shall stretch forth mine hand on the dwellers of the land, saith the Lord.

13 For from the less unto the greater, all study to avarice; and all do guile, from the prophet unto the priest.

14 And they healed the sorrow of the daughter of my people with evil fame, saying, Peace, peace, and no peace was.

15 They be shamed, that did abomination; yea, rather they were not shamed by confusion, and they could not be ashamed. Wherefore they shall fall down among them that shall fall down; they shall fall down in the time of their visitation, saith the Lord.

16 The Lord saith these things, Stand ye on ways, and see ye, and ask ye of [the] eld [or old] paths, which is the good way; and go ye therein, and ye shall find refreshing to your souls. And they said, We shall not go.

17 And I ordained espyers, either beholders, on you, and I said, Hear ye the voice of a trump. And they said, We shall not hear.

18 Therefore, heathen men, hear ye, and, thou congregation, know, how great things I shall do to them.

19 Thou earth, hear, lo! I shall bring evils on this people, the fruit of their thoughts; for they heard not my words, and casted away my law.

20 Whereto bring ye to me incense from Sheba, and a tree of spicery smelling sweetly from a far land? Your burnt sacrifices be not accepted, and your slain sacrifices pleased not me.

21 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall give fallings into this people, and fathers and sons together, a neighbour and kinsman, shall fall in them, and shall perish.

22 The Lord God saith these things, Lo! a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great folk shall rise together from the ends of [the] earth.

23 It shall take arrow and shield; it is cruel, and shall not have mercy; the voice thereof shall sound as the sea, and they made ready as a man to battle shall ascend [or go up] on horses against thee, thou daughter of Zion.

24 We [have] heard the fame thereof, our hands be made numb; tribulation hath taken us, sorrows have taken us as a woman travailing of child.

25 Do not ye go out to the fields, and go ye not in the way, for the sword of the enemy, dread in compass.

26 The daughter of my people, be thou girded with hair-shirt, and be thou sprinkled together with ashes; make to thee mourning of [the] one alone begotten son, a bitter wailing, for why a waster shall come suddenly [up] on you.

27 I gave thee to be a strong prover in my people, and thou shalt know, and prove the way of them.

28 All these princes bowing away, going guilefully, be metal and iron; all be corrupt.

29 The bellow failed, lead is wasted in the fire, the weller welled in vain; for the malices of them be not wasted.

30 Call ye them reprovable silver, for the Lord hath cast them away.

CHAPTER 7

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and preach there this word, and say, All Judah, that enter [in] by these gates for to worship the Lord, hear ye the word of the Lord.

3 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Make ye good your ways, and your studies, and I shall dwell with you in this place.

4 Do not ye trust in the words of leasing, and say, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord is.

5 For if ye bless your ways, and your studies; if ye do doom betwixt a man and his neighbour;

6 if ye make not false challenge to a comeling, and to a fatherless child, and to a widow; neither shed out innocent blood in this place, and go not after alien gods, into evil to yourselves,

7 I shall dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers, from the world and till into the world.

8 Lo! ye trust to you in the words of leasing, that shall not profit to you;

9 to steal, to slay, to do adultery, to swear falsely, to make sacrifice to Baalim, and to go after alien gods, which ye know not.

10 And ye came, and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called to help; and ye said, We be delivered, for we have done all these abominations.

11 Whether therefore this house, wherein my name is called to help before your eyes, is made a den of thieves? I, I am, I saw, saith the Lord.

12 Go ye to my place in Shiloh, where my name dwelled at the beginning, and see ye what things I did to it, for the malice of my people Israel.

13 And now, for ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake to you, and rose early, and I spake, and ye heard not, and I called you, and ye answered not;

14 I shall do to this house, wherein my name is called to help, and in which house ye have trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

15 And I shall cast you forth from my face, as I casted forth all your brethren, all the seed of Ephraim.

16 Therefore do not thou pray for this people, neither take thou praising and prayer for them; and against-stand thou not me, for I shall not hear thee.

17 Whether thou seest not, what these men do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The sons gather sticks, and the fathers kindle a fire; and women sprinkle together inner fatness, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, to make sacrifice to alien gods, and to stir me to wrathfulness [or to wrath].

19 Whether they stir me to wrathful-ness [or to wrath]? saith the Lord; whether they stir not themselves into [the] shame of their cheer?

20 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! my strong vengeance and mine indignation is welled together on this place, on men, and on beasts, and on the tree of the country, and on the fruits of [the] earth; and it shall be kindled, and it shall not be quenched.

21 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Heap ye your burnt sacrifices to your slain sacrifices, and eat ye fleshes.

22 For I spake not with your fathers, and I commanded not to them of the word of burnt sacrifices, and of slain sacrifices, in the day in which I led them out of the land of Egypt.

23 But I commanded this word to them, and I said, Hear ye my voice, and I shall be God to you, and ye shall be a people to me; and go ye in all the way which I commanded to you, that it be well to you.

24 And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, but they went in their lusts, and in the shrewdness of their evil heart; and they be made behind, and not before,

25 from the day in which their fathers went out of the land of Egypt till to this day. And I sent to you all my servants prophets, and I rose early by the day, and I sent.

26 And they heard not me, neither bowed down their ear; but they made hard their noll, and wrought worse than the fathers of them.

27 And thou shalt speak to them all these words, and they shall not hear thee; and thou shalt call them, and they shall not answer to thee.

28 And thou shalt say to them, This is the folk, that heard not the voice of their Lord God, neither received chastising; faith perished, and is taken away from the mouth of them.

29 Clip thine hair, and cast away, and take thou wailing straightly; for the Lord hath cast away, and hath forsaken the generation of his strong vengeance.

30 For the sons of Judah have done evil before mine eyes, saith the Lord; they have set their offendings in the house, in which my name is called to help, that they should defoul that house;

31 and they builded high things in Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that they should burn their sons and their daughters by fire, which things I commanded not, neither thought in mine heart.

32 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said Tophet, and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaying; and they shall bury in Tophet, for there is no place.

33 And the dead carrion of this people shall be into meat to the birds of heaven, and to the beasts of earth; and none there shall be that shall drive away.

34 And I shall make to cease the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of [the] spouse, and the voice of [the] spousess from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land shall be in desolation.

CHAPTER 8

1 In that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of princes thereof, and the bones of priests, and the bones of prophets, and the bones of them that dwelled in Jerusalem, from their sepulchres;

2 and they shall lay abroad those bones to the sun, and [the] moon, and to all the knighthood of heaven, which they loved, and which they served, and after which they went, and which they sought, and worshipped; they shall not be gathered, and shall not be buried; they shall be into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth.

3 And all men shall choose death more than life, which be residue, either left, of this worst kindred, in all places that be left, to which places I casted them out, saith the Lord of hosts.

4 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, Whether he that shall fall, shall not rise again? and whether he that is turned away, shall not turn again?

5 Why therefore is this people in Jerusalem turned away by turning away full of strife? They have taken leasing, and would not turn again.

6 I perceived, and hearkened; no man speaketh that that is good, none there is that doeth penance for his sin, and saith, What have I done? All be turned together to their course, as an horse going by fierceness to battle.

7 A kite in the air knew his time; a turtle, and a swallow, and a ciconia, kept the time of their coming; but my people knew not the doom of the Lord,

8 How say ye, We be wise men, and the law of the Lord is with us? Verily the false stylus, either writing, of scribes wrought leasing.

9  [The] Wise men be shamed, they be made afeared and taken. For they cast away the word of the Lord, and no wisdom is in them.

10 Therefore I shall give the women of them to strangers, and the fields of them to alien heirs; for from the least unto the most all follow avarice, from a prophet unto the priest all make leasing;

11 and they healed the sorrow of the daughter of my people to shame, saying, Peace, peace, when no peace was.

12 They be shamed, for they did abomination; yea, rather they were not shamed by shame, and could not be ashamed. Therefore they shall fall among fallers, in the time of their visitation they shall fall, saith the Lord.

13 I gathering shall gather them, saith the Lord; no grape is in the vines, and figs be not in the fig tree; a leaf fell down, and I gave to them those things that be gone out over.

14 Why sit we? come ye together, enter we into a strong city, and be we still there; for our Lord hath made us to be still, and gave to us drink the water of gall; for we have sinned to the Lord.

15 We abided peace, and no good was; we abided time of medicine, and lo! dread is.

16  [The] Gnashing of horses thereof is heard from Dan; all the land is moved of the voice of neighings of his warriors; and they came, and devoured the land, and the plenty thereof, the city, and the dwellers thereof.

17 For lo! I shall send to you the worst serpents, to which is no charming; and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

18 My sorrow is on sorrow, mine heart is mourning in me.

19 And lo! the voice of cry of the daughter of my people cometh from a far land. Whether the Lord is not in Zion, either the king thereof is not therein? Why therefore stirred they me to wrathfulness [or to wrath] by their graven images, and by alien vanities?

20 Harvest is passed, summer is ended; and we be not saved.

21 I am tormented, and sorry on the sorrow of the daughter of my people; astonishing held me.

22 Whether resin, that is, a gum of great odour and medicinal, is not in Gilead, either a leech is not there? Why therefore the wound of the daughter of my people is not healed perfectly?

CHAPTER 9

1 Who shall give water to mine head, and a well of tears to mine eyes? And I shall beweep day and night the slain men of the daughter of my people.

2 Who shall give me into a wilderness of diverse way-goers? And I shall forsake my people, and I shall go away from them. For why all be adulterers, and the companies of trespassers against the law;

3 and they held forth their tongue as a bow of leasing, and not of truth. They be comforted in earth, for they went out from evil to evil, and they knew not me, saith the Lord.

4 Each man keep him from his neighbour, and have no trust in any brother of him; for why each brother deceiving shall deceive, and each friend shall go guilefully.

5 And a man shall scorn his brother, and shall not speak truth; for they taught their tongue to speak leasing; they travailed to do wickedly.

6 Thy dwelling is in the midst of guile; in guile they forsook to know me, saith the Lord.

7 Therefore the Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! I shall well together, and I shall prove them; for why what other thing shall I do from the face of the daughter of my people?

8 The tongue of them is an arrow wounding, and [it] spake guile; in his mouth he speaketh peace with his friend, and privily he setteth treasons to him.

9 Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, either shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk?

10 On hills [or mountains] I shall take weeping and mourning, and wailing on the fair things of desert, for they be burnt [up]; for no man is passing forth, and they heard not the voice of him that wieldeth; from a bird of the air unto [the] sheep, they passed over, and went away.

11 And I shall give Jerusalem into heaps of gravel, and into dens of dragons; and I shall give the cities of Judah into desolation, for there is no dweller.

12 Who is a wise man that shall understand these things, and to whom the word of the mouth of the Lord shall be made, that he tell this? Why the earth perished, it is burnt as desert, for none is that passeth?

13 And the Lord said, For they forsook my law, which I gave to them, and they heard not my voice, and they went not therein;

14 and they went after the shrewd-ness of their heart, and after Baalim, which they learned of their fathers;

15 therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall feed this people with wormwood, and I shall give to them drink the water of gall.

16 And I shall scatter them among heathen men, which they and their fathers knew not; and I shall send sword after them, till they be wasted.

17 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Behold ye, and call ye women that wail, and come they; and send ye to those women that be wise, and haste they.

18 Haste they, and take they wailing on you; your eyes bring down tears, and your eyelids flow with waters;

19 for the voice of wailing is heard from Zion. How be we destroyed, and shamed greatly? for we have forsaken the land, for our tabernacles be forsaken.

20 Therefore, women, hear ye the word of the Lord, and your ears take the word of his mouth; and teach ye your daughters wailing, and each woman teach her neighbour mourning.

21 For why death ascended [or went up] by your windows, it entered into your houses, to lose little children withoutforth, and young men from the streets.

22 Speak thou, The Lord saith these things, And the dead body of a man shall fall down as a turd on the face of the country, and as hay behind the back of the mower, and none there is that gathereth.

23 The Lord saith these things, A wise man have not glory in his wisdom, and a strong man have not glory in his strength, and a rich man have not glory in his riches;

24 but he that hath glory, have glory in this, to know and know me, for I am the Lord, that do mercy, and doom, and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] in [the] earth. For why these things please me, saith the Lord.

25 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on each man that hath prepuce uncircumcised;

26 on Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, and on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, and on all men that be clipped on long hair, and dwell in desert; for why all heathen men have prepuce, forsooth all the house of Israel be uncircumcised in heart.

CHAPTER 10

1 The house of Israel, hear ye the word which the Lord spake on you.

2 The Lord saith these things, Do not ye learn after the ways of heathen men, and do not ye dread of the signs of heaven, which signs heathen men dread.

3 For the laws of peoples be vain, for why the work of [the] hands of a craftsman hath cut down with an ax a tree of the forest.

4 He made it fair with silver and gold; with nails and hammers he joined it together, that it be not loosed [atwain].

5  Idols be made in the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak; those [or they] shall be taken and be borne, for those [or they] may not go; there-fore do not ye dread those [or them], for they may neither do evil, neither well.

6 Lord, none is like thee; thou art great, and thy name is great in strength.

7 A! thou king of folks, who shall not dread thee? for why honour is thine among all wise men of heathen men, and in all the realms of them none is like thee.

8 They shall be proved unwise and fools together; the teaching of their vanity is a tree.

9 Silver wrapped is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz; it is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a worker in metal; jacinth and purple be the clothing of them; all these things be the work of workmen.

10 Forsooth the Lord is very God; he is God living, and a king everlasting; the earth shall be moved together of his indignation, and heathen men shall not suffer the menacing of him [or his threatening].

11 Therefore thus ye shall say to them, Gods that made not heaven and earth, perish from the earth, and from these things that be under heaven.

12  He is God, that maketh the earth in his strength, that maketh ready the world in his wisdom, and stretcheth forth heavens by his prudence.

13 At his voice he giveth the multitude of waters in heaven, and he raiseth [up] mists from the ends of earth; he maketh lightnings into rain, and leadeth out wind of his treasures/ of his treasuries.

14 Each man is made a fool of [his] knowing, each craftsman is shamed in a graven image; for why that that he welled together is false, and no spirit is in them.

15 Those [or they] be vain, and a work worthy of scorn; those [or they] shall perish in the time of their visitation.

16 The part of Jacob is not like these [or them], for he that formed all things is God of Jacob, and Israel is the rod of his heritage; the Lord of hosts is name to him.

17 Thou that dwellest in besieging, gather from the land thy shame;

18 for the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall cast away far the dwellers of the land in this while; and I shall give tribulation to them, so that they be not found.

19 Woe to me on my sorrow, my wound is full evil; forsooth I said, Plainly this is my sickness, and I shall bear it.

20 My tabernacle is destroyed, all my ropes be broken; my sons went out from me, and be not; none is that shall stretch forth more my tent, and shall raise [up] my skins.

21 For the shepherds did follily, and sought not the Lord; therefore they understood not, and all the flock of them is scattered.

22 Lo! the voice of hearing cometh, and a great moving together from the land of the north, that it set the cities of Judah into wilderness, and a dwelling place of dragons.

23 Lord, I know, that the way of a man is not of him, neither it is of a man that he go, and dress his steps.

24 Lord, chastise thou me; never-theless in doom, and not in thy strong vengeance, lest peradventure thou drive me to nought.

25 Pour out thine indignation on heathen men that knew not thee, and on provinces that called not thy name to help; for they ate Jacob, and devoured him, and wasted him, and destroyed the honour of him.

CHAPTER 11

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak ye to the men of Judah, and to the dwellers of Jerusalem;

3 and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,

4 which I commanded to your fathers, in the day in which I led them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace; and I said, Hear ye my voice, and do ye all things which I commanded to you, and ye shall be into a people to me, and I shall be into God to you;

5 that I raise the oath which I swore to your fathers, that I should give to them a land flowing with milk and honey, as this day is. And I answered, and said, Amen, Lord.

6 And the Lord said to me, Cry thou [out] all these words in the cities of Judah, and without[forth] Jerusalem, and say thou, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do ye them;

7 for I witnessing have witnessed to your fathers, in the day in which I led them out of the land of Egypt, unto this day; I rose early, and witnessed, and said, Hear ye my voice.

8 And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, but they went forth each man in the shrewdness of his evil heart; and I brought in on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded that they should do, and they did not.

9 And the Lord said to me, Swearing together is found in the men of Judah, and in the dwellers of Jerusalem;

10 they turned again to the former wickednesses of their fathers, that would not hear my words; and therefore these men went after alien gods, for to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah made void my covenant, which I made with the fathers of them.

11 Wherefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in on them evils, of which they shall not be able to go out; and they shall cry to me, and I shall not hear them.

12 And the cities of Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem shall go, and shall cry to them to which they offer sacrifices; and they shall not save them in the time of their torment.

13 For thou, Judah, thy gods were by the number of thy cities, and thou settedest altars of shame, by the number of the ways of Jerusalem, altars to offer sacrifices to Baalim.

14 Therefore do not thou pray for this people, and take thou not praising and prayer for them; for I shall not hear in the time of the cry of them to me, in the time of the torment of them.

15 What is it, that my darling doeth many great trespasses in mine house? whether holy fleshes shall do away from thee thy malice, in which thou hast glory?

16 The Lord called thy name an olive tree, fair, full of fruit, shapely; at the voice of a great speech, fire burnt on high therein, and the bushes thereof be burnt.

17 And the Lord of hosts that planted thee, spake evil on thee, for the evils of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, which they did to themselves, and offered to Baalim, to stir me to wrath.

18 Forsooth, Lord, thou showedest to me, and I knew; thou showedest to me the studies of them.

19 And I am as a mild lamb, which is borne to slain sacrifice; and I knew not, that they thought counsels on me, and said, Send we a tree into the bread of him, and raze we him away from the land of livers, and his name be no more had in mind.

20 But thou, Lord of hosts, that deemest justly [or rightwisely], and provest reins and hearts, see I thy vengeance of them; for to thee I showed my cause.

21 Therefore the Lord saith these things to the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, and say, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and thou shalt not die in our hands.

22 Therefore the Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! I shall visit on them; the young men of them shall die by sword, the sons of them, and the daughters of them, shall die for hunger;

23 and no remnants, either children left, shall be of them; for I shall bring in evil on the men of Anathoth, the year of the visitation of them.

CHAPTER 12

1 Forsooth, Lord, thou art just [or rightwise]; if I dispute with thee, nevertheless I shall speak just [or right] things to thee. Why hath the way of wicked men prosperity? It is well to all men that break the law, and do wickedly?

2 Thou hast planted them, and they sent root; they increase, and make fruit; thou art nigh to the mouth of them, and far from the reins of them.

3 And thou, Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me, and hast proved mine heart with thee. Gather thou them together as a flock to slain sacrifice, and hallow thou them in the day of slaying.

4 How long shall the earth mourn, and each herb of the field shall be dried, for the malice of them that dwell therein? A beast is wasted, and a bird, for they said, The Lord shall not see our last things.

5 If thou travailest running with footmen, how shalt thou be able to strive with horses? but when thou art secure in the land of peace, what shalt thou do in the pride of Jordan?

6 For why both thy brethren and the house of thy father, yea, they fought against thee, and cried with full voice after thee; believe thou not to them, when they speak goods to thee.

7 I have left mine house, I have forsaken mine heritage; I gave my beloved soul into the hands of enemies thereof.

8 Mine heritage is made as a lion in the wood to me; it gave voice against me, therefore I hated it.

9 Whether mine heritage is a bird of diverse colours to me? whether it is a bird dyed throughout? All beasts of the field, come ye, be ye gathered together; haste ye for to devour.

10 Many shepherds destroyed my vinery [or vineyard], defouled my part, gave my desirable portion into desert of wilderness;

11 they setted it into scattering, and it mourned on me; all the land is desolate by desolation, for none is that again-thinketh in heart.

12 All destroyers of the land came on all the ways of desert, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the last part of the land unto the last part thereof; no peace is to all flesh.

13 They sowed wheat, and reaped thorns; they took heritage, and it shall not profit to them. Ye shall be shamed of your fruits, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord.

14 The Lord saith these things against all my worst neighbours, that touch the heritage which I parted to my people Israel, Lo! I shall draw them out of their land, and I shall draw the house of Judah out of the midst of them.

15 And when I shall draw out those Jews, I shall turn again, and have mercy on them; and I shall lead them again, a man to his heritage, and a man into his land.

16 And it shall be, if they that be taught learn the ways of my people, that they swear in my name, The Lord liveth, as they taught my people to swear in Baal, they shall be builded in the midst of my people.

17 That if they hear not, I shall draw out that folk by drawing out and perdition, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 13

1 The Lord saith these things to me, Go, and take in possession to thee a linen breech-girdle; and thou shalt put it on thy loins, and thou shalt not bear it into water.

2 And I took in possession a breech-girdle, by the word of the Lord; and I putted about my loins.

3 And the word of the Lord was made to me in the second time, and said,

4 Take the breech-girdle, which thou haddest in possession, which is about thy loins; and rise thou, and go to Euphrates, and hide thou it there, in the hole of a stone.

5 And I went, and hid it in Euphrates, as the Lord commanded to me.

6 And it was done after full many days, the Lord said to me, Rise thou, and go to Euphrates, and take from thence the breech-girdle, which I commanded to thee, that thou shouldest hide it there.

7 And I went to Euphrates, and digged out, and I took the breech-girdle from the place, where I had hid it; and lo! the breech-girdle was rotten, so that it was not able to any use.

8 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

9 The Lord saith these things, So I shall make rotten the pride of Judah, and the much pride of Jerusalem,

10 and this worst people, that will not hear my words, and go in the shrewdness of their heart; and they went after alien gods, to serve them, and to worship them; and they shall be as this breech-girdle, which is not able to any use.

11 For as a breech-girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so I joined fast to me all the house of Israel, and all the house of Judah, saith the Lord, that they should be to me into a people, and into name, and into praising, and into glory; and they heard not.

12 Therefore thou shalt say to them this word, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Each pottle shall be filled of wine. And they shall say to thee, Whether we know not, that each pottle shall be filled of wine?

13 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall fill with drunkenness all the dwellers of this land, and the kings of the generation of David, that sit on his throne, and the priests, and prophets, and all the dwellers of Jerusalem.

14 And I shall scatter them, a man from his brother, and the fathers and sons together, saith the Lord; I shall not spare, and I shall not grant, neither I shall do mercy, that I lose not them.

15 Hear ye, and perceive with ears; do not ye be raised [up], for the Lord spake.

16 Give ye glory to your Lord God, before that it wax dark, and before that your feet hurt at [the] dark hills; ye shall abide light, and he shall set [or put] it into the shadow of death, and into darkness.

17 That if ye hear not this, my soul shall weep in hid place for the face of pride; it weeping shall weep, and mine eye shall cast out a tear, for the flock of the Lord is taken.

18 Say thou to the king, and to the lady, Be ye meeked, sit ye, for the crown of your glory shall go down from your head.

19 The cities of the south be closed, and none is that openeth; all Judah is translated by perfect passing over, either going out of their land.

20 Raise ye your eyes, and see ye, what men come from the north; where is the flock which is given to thee, thy noble sheep?

21 What shalt thou say, when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and thou hast taught against thine head. Whether sorrows have not taken thee, as a woman travailing of child?

22 That if thou sayest in thine heart, Why came these things to me? for the multitude of thy wickedness thy shamefuller things be showed, thy feet be defouled.

23 If a man of Ethiopia may change his skin, either a leopard may change his diversities, and ye may do well, when ye have learned evil.

24 And I shall sow them abroad, as stubble which is ravished, or taken away, of the wind in desert.

25 This is thy lot, and the part of thy measure of me, saith the Lord; for thou forgettedest me, and trustedest in a leasing.

26 Wherefore and I made naked thine hips against thy face, and thy shame appeared,

27 thine adulteries, and thine neighing, and the felony of thy fornication on little hills in the field; I saw thine abominations. Jerusalem, woe to thee, thou shalt not be cleansed after me till yet.

CHAPTER 14

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, of the words of dryness.

2 Judah wailed, and the gates thereof fell down, and be made dark in [the] earth, and the cry of Jerusalem went up.

3 Greater men sent their lesser men to water; they came to draw water, and they found no water, they brought again their vessels void; they were shamed and tormented, and they covered their heads,

4 for [the] destroying of the land, for rain came not in the land. Earth-tillers were shamed, they covered their heads.

5 For why and an hind calved in the field, and left her calves, for none herb was;

6 and wild asses stood in rocks, and drew wind as dragons; their eyes failed, for none herb was.

7 If our wickednesses answer to us, Lord, do thou for thy name, for our turnings away be many; we have sinned against thee.

8 Thou abiding of Israel, the saviour thereof in the time of tribulation, why shalt thou be as a comeling in the land, and as a way-goer bowing [down] to dwell?

9 why shalt thou be as a man of unstable dwelling, as a strong man that may not save? Forsooth, Lord, thou art in us, and thine holy name is called to help on us; forsake thou not us.

10 The Lord saith these things to this people, that loved to stir his feet, and rested not, and pleased not the Lord; now he shall have mind on the wickednesses of them, and he shall visit the sins of them.

11 And the Lord said to me, Do not thou pray for this people into good.

12 When they shall fast, I shall not hear the prayers of them; and if they offer burnt sacrifices and slain sacrifices, I shall not receive them, for I shall waste them by sword and hunger and pestilence.

13 And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, [the] prophets say to them, Ye shall not see sword, and hunger shall not be in you, but he shall give to you very peace in this place.

14 And the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy falsely in my name; I sent not them, and I commanded not to them, neither I spake to them; they prophesy to you a false revelation, and a guileful divining, and the deceiving of their heart.

15 Therefore the Lord saith these things of the prophets that prophesy in my name, which I sent not, and say, Sword and hunger shall not be in this land; Those prophets shall be wasted by sword and hunger.

16 And the peoples, to which they prophesied, shall be cast forth in the ways of Jerusalem, for hunger and sword, and none there shall be, that shall bury them; they and the wives of them, the sons and the daughters of them; and I shall shed [or pour] out on them their evil.

17 And thou shalt say to them this word, Mine eyes lead down a tear by night and day, and be it not still; for the virgin, the daughter of my people, is defouled by great defouling, with the worst wound greatly.

18 If I go out to [the] fields, lo! men be slain with sword; and if I enter into the city, lo! men be made lean for hunger; also a prophet and a priest went into the land which they knew not.

19 Whether thou casting away hast cast away Judah, either thy soul hath loathed Zion? why therefore hast thou smitten us, so that no health there is? We abided peace, and no good is; and we abided time of healing, and lo! troubling is.

20 Lord, we have known our unfaith-fulness, and the wickednesses of our fathers, for we have sinned to thee.

21 Give thou not us into shame, for thy name, neither do thou despite to us; have thou mind on the seat of thy glory, make thou not void thy bond of peace with us.

22 Whether in graven images of heathen men be they that rain, either heavens may give rains? whether thou art not our Lord God, whom we abided? For thou madest all these things.

CHAPTER 15

1 And the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul is not to this people; cast thou them out from my face, and go they out.

2 That if they say to thee, Whither shall we go out? thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, They that to death, to death, and they that to sword, to sword, and they that to hunger, to hunger, and they that to captivity, to captivity.

3 I shall visit on them four species, saith the Lord; a sword to slaying, and dogs for to rend, and volatiles [or fowls] of the air, and beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.

4 And I shall give them into fervor to all realms of earth, for Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, on all things which he did in Jerusalem.

5 For why who shall have mercy on thee, Jerusalem, either who shall be sorry for thee, either who shall go to pray for thy peace?

6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou hast gone aback; and I shall stretch forth mine hand on thee, and I shall slay thee; I travailed praying.

7 And I shall scatter them with a winnowing instrument in the gates of [the] earth; I killed, and lost my people, and nevertheless they turned not again from their ways.

8 The widows thereof be multiplied to me above the gravel of the sea; and I brought into them a destroyer in midday on the mother of a young man, I sent dread suddenly on [the] cities.

9 She was sick that childed seven, her soul failed; the sun went down to her, when day was yet. She was shamed, and was ashamed; and I shall give the residue thereof into sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord.

10 My mother, woe to me; why engenderedest thou me a man of chiding, a man of discord in all the land? I lent not, neither any man lent to me; all men curse me,

11 the Lord saith. No man believe to me, if thy remnants be not into good, if I run not to thee in the time of torment, and in the time of tribulation and of anguish, against the enemy.

12 Whether iron and metal shall be joined by peace to iron from the north?

13 And I shall give freely thy riches and thy treasures into ravishing, for all thy sins, and in all thine ends.

14 And I shall bring thine enemies from the land which thou knowest not; for fire is kindled in my strong vengeance, and it shall burn on you.

15 Lord, thou knowest, have thou mind on me, and visit me, and deliver me from them that pursue me; do not thou take me in thy patience, know thou, that I suffered shame for thee.

16 Thy words be found, and I ate those [or them]; and thy word was made to me into joy, and into gladness of mine heart; for thy name, Lord God of hosts, is called to help on me.

17 I sat not in the council of players, and I had glory for the face of thine hand; I sat alone, for thou filledest me with bitterness.

18 Why is my sorrow made ever-lasting, and my wound despaired, forsook to be cured? it is made to me, as a leasing of unfaithful waters.

19 For this thing the Lord saith these things, If thou turnest, I shall turn thee, and thou shalt stand before my face; and if thou partest precious thing from vile thing, thou shalt be as my mouth; and they shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not be turned to them.

20 And I shall give thee into a brazen wall and strong to this people, and they shall fight against thee, and they shall not have the victory; for I am with thee, to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

21 And I shall deliver thee from the hand of the worst men, and I shall again-buy thee from the hand of strong men.

CHAPTER 16

1 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

2 Thou shalt not take a wife, and sons and daughters shall not be to thee in this place.

3 For the Lord saith these things on sons and daughters, that be engendered in this place, and on the mothers of them, that engendered them, and on the fathers of them, of whose generation they be born in this land.

4 They shall die by deaths of sicknesses, they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth, and they shall be wasted by sword and hunger; and the carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles [or fowls] of heaven, and to [the] beasts of the earth.

5 For the Lord saith these things, Enter thou not into an house of feast, neither go thou to bewail, neither comfort thou them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, and mercy and merciful doings.

6 And great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall be bewailed; and they shall not cut themselves, neither bald-ness shall be made for them.

7 And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort on a dead man, and they shall not give to them drink of a cup, to comfort on their father and mother.

8 And thou shalt not enter into the house of feast, that thou sit with them, and eat, and drink.

9 For why the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall take away from this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the spouse, and the voice of spousess.

10 And when thou shalt tell all these words to this people, and they shall say to thee, Why spake the Lord all this great evil on us? what is our wickedness, either what is our sin which we sinned to our Lord God?

11 thou shalt say to them, For your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after alien gods, and served them, and worshipped them, and they forsook me, and kept not my law.

12 But also ye wrought worse than your fathers; for lo! each man goeth after the shrewdness of his evil heart, that he hear not me.

13 And I shall cast you out of this land, into the land which ye and your fathers know not; and ye shall serve there to alien gods day and night, which shall not give rest to you.

14 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

15 but, The Lord liveth, that led [out] the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all lands to which I casted them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to the fathers of them.

16 Lo! I shall send many fishers to them, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after these things I shall send many hunters to them, and they shall hunt them from each mountain, and from each little hill, and from the caves of stones.

17 For mine eyes be on all the ways of them; those ways be not hid from my face, and the wickedness of them was not privy from mine eyes.

18 And I shall yield first the double wickednesses and [the] sins of them, for they defouled my land in the slain beasts of their idols, and filled mine heritage with their abominations.

19 Lord, my strength, and my stal-worth[y] ness, and my refuge in the day of tribulation, heathen men shall come to thee from the farthest places of earth, and shall say, Verily our fathers held a leasing in possession, vanity that profited not to them.

20 Whether a man shall make gods to himself? and those [or they] be no gods.

21 Therefore lo! I shall show to them by this while, I shall show to them mine hand, and my strength; and they shall know, that the name to me is [the] Lord.

CHAPTER 17

1 The sin of Judah is written with an iron pointel, in a nail of adamant; it is written on the breadth of the heart of them, and in the horns of the altars of them.

2 When the sons of them bethink on their altars, and [maumet] woods, and on the trees full of boughs,

3 making sacrifice in the field in high mountains, I shall give thy strength and all thy treasures into ravishing, thine high things for sins in all thine ends.

4 And thou shalt be left alone from thine heritage which I gave to thee; and I shall make thee to serve thine enemies, in the land which thou knowest not; for thou hast kindled fire in my strong vengeance, it shall burn till into without end.

5 The Lord saith these things, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and setteth [or putteth] flesh his arm, and his heart goeth away from the Lord.

6 For he shall be as brooms in desert, and he shall not see, when good shall come; but he shall dwell in dryness in desert, in the land of saltness, and unhabitable.

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his trust.

8 And he shall be as a tree, which is planted over waters, which sendeth his roots to moisture; and it shall not dread, when heat shall come; and the leaf thereof shall be green, and it shall not be moved in the time of dryness, neither any time it shall fail to make fruit.

9 The heart of man is shrewd, and unsearchable; who shall know it?

10 I am the Lord seeking the heart, and proving the reins, either kidneys, and I give to each man after his way, and after the fruit of his findings.

11 A partridge nourished those things which she breeded not; he made riches, and not in doom; in the midst of his days he shall forsake them, and in his last time he shall be unwise.

12 The seat of glory of highness was at the beginning the place of our hallowing, the abiding of Israel.

13 Lord, all they that forsake thee, shall be shamed; they that go away from thee, shall be written in [the] earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, a vein of quick waters.

14 Lord, heal me, and I shall be healed; make thou me safe, and I shall be safe; for thou art my praising.

15 Lo! they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? come it.

16 And I am not troubled, pursuing [or following] thee shepherd, and I desired not the day of man, thou knowest. That that went out of my lips was rightful [or right] in thy sight.

17 Be thou not to dread to me; thou art mine hope in the day of torment.

18 Be they shamed, that pursue me, and be I not shamed; dread they, and dread not I; bring in on them a day of torment, and defoul thou them by double defouling.

19 The Lord saith these things to me, Go thou, and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah enter [in], and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

20 And thou shall say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the dwellers of Jerusalem, that enter [in] by these gates.

21 The Lord God saith these things, Keep ye your souls, and do not ye bear burdens in the day of sabbath, neither bring in by the gates of Jerusalem.

22 And do not ye cast burdens out of your houses in the day of sabbath, and ye shall not do any work; hallow ye the day of sabbath, as I commanded to your fathers.

23 And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, but they made hard their noll, that they should not hear me, and that they should not take chastising.

24 And it shall be, if ye hear me, saith the Lord, that ye bear not in burdens by the gates of this city in the day of sabbath, and if ye hallow the day of sabbath, that ye do not work therein,

25 kings and princes sitting on the seat of David shall enter [in] by the gates of this city, and ascending [or going] in chariots and horses; they, and the princes of them, the men of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited without end.

26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the compass of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from [the] field places, and from [the] hilly [or mountainous] places, and from the south, bearing burnt sacrifice, and slain sacrifice, and incense; and they shall bring offering into the house of the Lord.

27 Forsooth if ye hear not me, that ye hallow the day of sabbath, and that ye bear not a burden, and that ye bring not in by the gates of Jerusalem in the day of sabbath, I shall kindle fire in the gates thereof; and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

CHAPTER 18

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 Rise thou, and go down into the house of a potter, and there thou shalt hear my words.

3 And I went down into the house of a potter, and lo! he made a work on a wheel.

4 And the vessel was destroyed, which he made of clay with his hands; and he turned it, and made it another vessel, as it pleased in his eyes to make.

5 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

6 Whether as this potter doeth, I may not do to you, the house of Israel? saith the Lord. Lo! as clay is in the hand of a potter, so ye, the house of Israel, be in mine hand.

7 Suddenly I shall speak against a folk, and against a realm, that I draw out, and destroy, and lose [or scatter] it.

8 If that folk doeth penance of his evil, which I spake against it, also I shall do penance on the evil, which I thought to do to it.

9 And I shall speak suddenly of a folk, and of a realm, that I build, and plant it.

10 If it doeth evil before mine eyes, that it hear not my voice, I shall do penance on the good which I spake, that I should do to it.

11 Now therefore say thou to a man of Judah, and to the dweller of Jerusalem, and say, The Lord saith these things, Lo! I make evil against you, and I think a thought against you; each man turn again from his evil way, and dress ye your ways and your studies.

12 Which said, We have despaired, for we shall go after our thoughts, and we shall do each man the shrewdness of his evil heart.

13 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Ask ye heathen men, who heard such horrible things, which the virgin of Israel hath done greatly?

14 Whether [the] snow of the Lebanon shall fail from the stone of the field? either cold waters breaking out, and floating down, may be taken away?

15 For my people hath forgotten me, and they offered sacrifices in vain, and stumbled in their ways, and in the paths of the world, that they went by those [or them] in a way not trodden;

16 that the land of them should be into desolation, and into an hissing everlasting; for why each that passeth by it, shall be astonied, and shall move his head.

17 As a burning wind I shall scatter them before the enemy; I shall show to them the back and not the face, in the day of the perdition of them.

18 And they said, Come ye, and think we thoughts against Jeremy; for why the law shall not perish from a priest, neither counsel shall perish from a wise man, neither word shall perish from a prophet; come ye, and smite we him with tongue, and take we none heed to all the words of him.

19 Lord, give thou attention to me, and hear thou the voice of mine adversaries.

20 Whether evil is yielded for good, for they have digged a pit to my soul; have thou mind, that I stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thine indignation from them.

21 Therefore give thou the sons of them into hunger, and lead forth them into the hands of [the] sword; the wives of them be made without children, and be made widows, and the husbands of them be slain by death; the young men of them be pierced together by sword in battle.

22 Cry be heard of the houses of them, for thou shalt bring suddenly a thief on them; for they digged a pit to take me, and hid snares to my feet.

23 But thou, Lord, knowest all the counsel of them against me into death; do thou not mercy to the wickedness of them, and the sin of them be not done away from thy face; be they made falling down in thy sight, in the time of thy strong vengeance; use thou them to other thing than they were ordained.

CHAPTER 19

1 The Lord saith these things, Go thou, and take an earthen pottle of a potter, [and] of the elder men of the people, and of the elder men of the priests.

2 And go thou out to the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which is beside the entering of the earthen gate; and there thou shalt preach the words which I shall speak to thee;

3 and thou shalt say, Kings of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem, hear ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in torment on this place, so that each man that heareth it, his ears tingle.

4 For they have forsaken me, and made alien this place, and offered sacrifices to alien gods therein, which they, and the fathers of them, and the kings of Judah, knew not; and they filled this place with the blood of innocents,

5 and builded high things to Baalim, to burn their sons in fire, into burnt sacrifice to Baalim; which things I commanded not, neither spake, neither those ascended [or went up] into mine heart.

6 Therefore the Lord saith, Lo! days shall come, and this place shall no more be called Tophet, and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaying.

7 And I shall destroy the counsel of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I shall destroy them by sword, in the sight of their enemies, and in the hand of men seeking the lives of them; and I shall give their dead bodies to be meat to the birds of the air, and to [the] beasts of earth.

8 And I shall set this city into wondering, and into hissing; each that passeth by it, shall wonder, and hiss on all the vengeance thereof.

9 And I shall feed them with the fleshes of their sons, and with the fleshes of their daughters; and each man shall eat the fleshes of his friend in the besieging and anguish, in which the enemies of them, and they that seek the lives of them, shall enclose them altogether.

10 And thou shalt all-break the pottle before the eyes of the men, that shall go with thee.

11 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things, So I shall all-break this people, and this city, as the vessel of a potter is all-broken, which may no more be restored; and they shall be buried in Tophet, for none other place is to bury.

12 So I shall do to this place, saith the Lord, and to dwellers thereof, that I set this city as Tophet.

13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be as the place of Tophet; all the unclean houses, in whose roofs they sacrificed to all the chivalry of heaven, and offered moist sacrifices to alien gods.

14 Forsooth Jeremy came from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him for to prophesy; and he stood in the porch of the house of the Lord, and said to all the people,

15 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in on this city, and on all the cities thereof, all the evils which I spake against it; for they made hard their noll, that they heard not my words.

CHAPTER 20

1 And Pashur, the son of Immer, the priest, that was ordained prince in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremy prophesying these words.

2 And Pashur smote Jeremy, the prophet, and sent him into the stocks, that were in the higher gate of Benjamin, in the house of the Lord.

3 And when it was clear in the morrow, Pashur led Jeremy out of the stocks. And Jeremy said to him, The Lord called not Pashur thy name, but Dread on each side.

4 For the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall give thee and all thy friends into dread, and they shall fall down by the sword of their enemies; and thine eyes shall see; and I shall give all Judah in the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall lead them over into Babylon, and he shall smite them with sword.

5 And I shall give all the chattel [or substance] of this city, and all the travail thereof, and all the price; and I shall give all the treasures of the kings of Judah in the hand of their enemies; and they shall ravish them, and shall take, and lead [them] forth into Babylon.

6 Forsooth thou, Pashur, and all the dwellers of thine house, shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come into Babylon, and thou shalt die there; and thou shalt be buried there, thou and all thy friends, to which thou prophesiedest leasing.

7 Lord, thou deceivedest me, and I am deceived; thou were stronger than I, and thou haddest the mastery; I am made into scorn all day. All men bemock me,

8 for now a while ago I spake, crying [out] wickedness, and I cried destroying. And the word of the Lord is made to me into shame, and into scorn all day.

9 And I said, I shall not have mind on him, and I shall no more speak in his name. And the word of the Lord was made, as fire swelling in mine heart, and enclosed in my bones; and I failed, not suffering to bear.

10 For I heard despisings of many men, and dread in compass, Pursue ye, and pursue we him, of all men that were peaceable to me, and keeping my side; if in any manner he be deceived, and we have the mastery against him, and get vengeance of him.

11 Forsooth the Lord as a strong warrior is with me, therefore they that pursue me shall fall, and they shall be feeble; and they shall be shamed greatly, for they understood not everlasting shame, that shall never be done away.

12 And thou, Lord of hosts, the prover of a just [or rightwise] man, which seest the reins and [the] heart, I beseech, see I thy vengeance of them; for I have showed my cause to thee.

13 Sing ye to the Lord, praise ye the Lord, for he delivered the soul of a poor man from the hand of evil men.

14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born, the day wherein my mother childed me be not blessed.

15 Cursed be the man, that told to my father, and said, A knave child is born to thee, and made him glad as with joy.

16 That man be as the cities be, which the Lord destroyed, and it repented not him; [Be that man as be the cities, that the Lord turned upside-down, and it repented him not; hear he cry early, and yelling in midday time,]

17 he that killed not me from the womb, hear cry early, and yelling in the time of midday; that my mother were [made] a sepulchre to me, and her womb were an everlasting conceiving. [that me he slew not from the privy womb; that made were to me my mother a sepulchre, and her privy womb conceiving everlasting.]

18 Why went I out of the womb, that I should see travail and sorrow, and that my days shall be wasted in shame?

CHAPTER 21

1 The word which was made of the Lord to Jeremy, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, and said,

2 Ask thou the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, fighteth against us; if in hap the Lord do with us by all his marvels, and he go away from us.

3 And Jeremy said to them, Thus ye shall say to Zedekiah,

4 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Lo! I shall turn the instruments of battle that be in your hands, and with which ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against Chaldees, that besiege you in the compass of [the] walls; and I shall gather those [or them] together in the midst of this city.

5 And I shall overcome you in [a] hand stretched forth, and in [a] strong arm, and in strong vengeance, and in indignation, and in great wrath;

6 and I shall smite the dwellers of this city, men and beasts shall die by great pestilence.

7 And after these things, saith the Lord, I shall give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and his people, and that be left in this city from pestilence, and sword, and hunger, in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and in the hand of their enemies, and in the hand of men seeking the life of them; and he shall smite them by the sharpness of sword; and he shall not be bowed, neither shall spare, neither shall have mercy.

8 And thou shalt say to this people, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I give before you the way of life, and the way of death.

9 He that dwelleth in this city, shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence; but he that goeth out, and fleeth over to [the] Chaldees that besiege you, shall live, and his life shall be as a prey to him.

10 For I have set my face on this city into evil, and not into good, saith the Lord; it shall be given in the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

11 And thou shall say to the house of the king of Judah, the house of David, Hear ye the word of the Lord.

12 The Lord saith these things, Deem ye early doom, and deliver ye him that is oppressed by violence from the hand of the false challenger; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none be that quench, for the malice of your studies.

13 Lo! I do to thee, dwelleress of the firm valley, and plain, saith the Lord, [ye] which say, Who shall smite us, and who shall enter into our houses?

14 And I shall visit on you by the fruit of your studies, saith the Lord; and I shall kindle fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things in the compass thereof.

CHAPTER 22

1 The Lord saith these things, Go thou down into the house of the king of Judah, and thou shalt speak there this word,

2 and shalt say, Hear thou the word of the Lord, thou king of Judah, that sittest on the seat of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter [in] by these gates.

3 The Lord saith these things, Do ye doom, and rightfulness [or right-wiseness], and deliver ye him that is oppressed by violence from the hand of the false challenger; and do not ye make sorry, neither oppress ye wickedly a comeling, and a fatherless child, and a widow, and shed ye not out innocent blood in this place.

4 For if ye doing do this word, kings of the kin of David sitting on his throne shall enter [in] by the gates of this house, and shall ascend or go upon chariots and horses, they, and the servants, and the people of them.

5 That if ye hear not these words, I swore in myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall be into wilderness.

6 For the Lord saith these things on the house of the king of Judah; Gilead, thou art to me the head of the Lebanon; credence be not given to me, if I set not thee a wilderness, cities unhabitable.

7 And I shall hallow on thee a man slaying, and his arms; and they shall cut down thy chosen cedars, and shall cast down into fire.

8 And many folks shall pass by this city, and each man shall say to his neighbour, Why did the Lord thus to this great city?

9 And they shall answer, For they forsook the covenant of their Lord God, and worshipped alien gods, and served them.

10 Do not ye beweep him that is dead, neither wail ye on him by weeping; bewail ye him that goeth out, for he shall no more turn again, neither he shall see the land of his birth.

11 For the Lord saith these things to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that reigned for Josiah, his father, He that went out of this place, shall no more turn again hither;

12 but in the place to which I have translated him, there he shall die, and he shall no more see this land.

13 Woe to him that buildeth his house in unrightfulness [or unrightwise-ness], and his solars not in doom; he shall oppress his friend in vain, and he shall not yield his hire to him.

14 Which saith, I shall build to me a large house, and wide solars; which openeth windows to himself, and maketh couples of cedar, and painteth with red colour.

15 Whether thou shalt reign, for thou comparisonest thee to a cedar? whether thy father ate not, and drank, and did doom and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] then, when it was well to him?

16 He deemed the cause of a poor man, and needy, into his good; whether not therefore for he knew me? saith the Lord.

17 Forsooth thine eyes and heart be to avarice, and to shed innocent blood, and to false challenge, and to the performing of evil work.

18 Therefore the Lord saith these things to Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, They shall not bewail him, Woe brother! and woe sister! they shall not sound together to him, Woe lord! and woe noble man!

19 He shall be buried with the burying of an ass, he shall be rotten, and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Ascend [or Go] thou [up] on the Lebanon, and cry thou, and give thy voice in Bashan, and cry to them that pass forth, for all thy lovers be all-broken.

21 I spake to thee in thy plenty, and thou saidest, I shall not hear; this is thy way from thy youth, for thou heardest not my voice.

22 Wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity;

23 and then thou that sittest in the Lebanon, and makest nest in cedars, shalt be shamed, and ashamed of all thy malice. How wailedest thou, when sorrows were come to thee, as the sorrow of a woman travailing of child?

24 I live, saith the Lord, for thou Jeconiah*, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a ring in my right hand, from thence I shall draw away him.

25 And I shall give thee in the hand of them that seek thy life, and in the hand of them whose face thou dreadest, and in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and in the hand of Chaldees.

26 And I shall send thee, and thy mother that engendered thee, into an alien land, in which ye were not born, and there ye shall die;

27 and they shall not turn again into the land, to which they raise their soul, that they turn again thither.

28 Whether this man Jeconiah is an earthen vessel, and all-broken? whether a vessel without all-liking? Why be he and his seed cast away, and cast forth into a land which they knew not?

29 Earth, earth, earth, hear thou the word of the Lord.

30 The Lord saith these things, Write thou this man barren, a man that shall not have prosperity in his days; for of his seed shall be no man, that shall sit on the seat of David, and have power further in Judah.

CHAPTER 23

1 Woe to the shepherds, that scatter and draw the flock of my pasture, saith the Lord.

2 Therefore the Lord God of Israel saith these things to the shepherds that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock, and have cast them out, and have not visited them; lo! I shall visit on you the malice of your studies, saith the Lord.

3 And I shall gather together the remnants of my flock from all lands, to which I shall cast them out thither; and I shall turn them to their fields, and they shall increase, and shall be multiplied.

4 And I shall raise up shepherds on them, and they shall feed them; they shall no more dread, and shall not be afeared; and none shall be sought of the number, saith the Lord.

5 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall raise a just [or rightwise] burgeoning, either seed, to David; and he shall reign a king, and he shall be wise, and he shall make doom and rightfulness [or rightwiseness] in earth.

6 In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell trustily; and this is the name which they shall call him, The Lord our rightful [or Our rightwise Lord].

7 For this thing lo! days come, saith the Lord, and they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, that led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

8 but, The Lord liveth, that led out, and brought the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north, and from all lands to which I had cast them out thither; and they shall dwell in their [own] land.

9 To the prophets; Mine heart is contrite, either all-broken for sorrow, in the midst of me, all my bones trembled together; I am made as a man drunken, and as a man wet of wine, of the face of the Lord, and of the face of the holy words of him;

10 for the land is filled with adulterers. For the earth mourned of the face of cursing; the fields of desert be made dry, the course of them is made evil, and their strength is unlike.

11 For why the prophet and the priest be defouled; and in mine house, saith the Lord, I found the evil of them.

12 Therefore the way of them shall be as slidery thing in darknesses, for they shall be hurtled, either shoved, and shall fall down therein; for I shall bring on them evils, the year of [the] visitation of them, saith the Lord.

13 And in the prophets of Samaria I saw fondness [or folly], and they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel.

14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem I saw, likeness, adultery, and the way of leasing; and they comforted the hands of the worst men, that each man should not convert from his malice; all they be made as Sodom to me, and all the dwellers thereof be made as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore the Lord of hosts saith these things to the prophets, Lo! I shall feed them with wormwood, and I shall give drink to them with gall; for why defouling is gone out of the prophets of Jerusalem on all the land.

16 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Do not ye hear the words of [the] prophets, that prophesy to you, and deceive you; they speak the vision of their heart, not of the mouth of the Lord.

17 They say to them that blaspheme me, The Lord spake, Peace shall be to you; and they said to each man that goeth in the shrewdness of his heart, Evil shall not come [up] on you.

18 For why who is present in the counsel of the Lord, and saw, and heard his word? who beheld, and heard the word of him?

19 Lo! the whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation shall go out, and tempest breaking [out] shall come [up] on the head of wicked men.

20 The strong vengeance of the Lord shall not turn again, till that he do, and till that he [ful] fill the thought of his heart. In the last days ye shall understand the counsel of him.

21 I sent not the prophets, and they ran; I spake not to them, and they prophesied.

22 If they had stood in my counsel, and had made known my words to my people, forsooth I had turned them away from their evil way, and from their worst thoughts.

23 Guessest thou, whether I am God of nigh, saith the Lord, and not God afar?

24 A man shall not be privy in hid places, and I shall not see him, saith the Lord. Whether I fill not heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

25 I heard what things the prophets said, prophesying leasing in my name, and saying, I dreamed dreams.

26 How long is this thing in the heart of prophets, prophesying leasing, and prophesying the deceit of their heart?

27 Which will make, that my people forget my name for the dreams of them, which each man telleth to his neighbour, as the fathers of them forgat my name for Baal.

28 A prophet that hath a dream, tell a dream; and he that hath my word, speak verily my word. What is with [the] chaffs to the wheat? saith the Lord.

29 Whether my words be not as fire burning, saith the Lord, and as an hammer all-breaking a stone?

30 Therefore lo! I am ready to the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words, each man from his neighbour.

31 Lo! I to the prophets, saith the Lord, that take their tongues, and say, The Lord saith.

32 Lo! I to the prophets, dreaming leasing, saith the Lord; which told them, and deceived my people in their leasing, and in their miracles, when I had not sent them, neither had commanded to them; which profited nothing to this people, saith the Lord.

33 Therefore if this people, either prophet, either priest, asketh thee, and saith, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them, Ye be the burden, for I shall cast you away, saith the Lord;

34 and a prophet, and a priest, and the people, that saith, The burden of the Lord, I shall visit on that man, and on his house.

35 Ye shall say these things, each man to his neighbour, and to his brother, What answered the Lord? and, What spake the Lord?

36 For the burden of the Lord shall no more be remembered, and the word of each man shall be a burden to him; and ye have perverted the words of [the] living God, of the Lord of hosts, your God.

37 Thou shalt say these things to the prophet, What answered the Lord to thee? and, What spake the Lord?

38 Forsooth if ye say, The burden of the Lord, for this thing the Lord saith these things, For ye said this word, The burden of the Lord, and I sent to you, and I said, Do not ye say, The burden of the Lord;

39 therefore lo! I shall take you away, and shall bear, and I shall forsake you, and the city which I gave to you, and to your fathers, from my face.

40 And I shall give you into everlasting shame, and into everlasting scandal, that shall never be done away by forgetting.

CHAPTER 24

1 The Lord showed to me, and lo! two panniers full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, translated Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and the princes of him, and a subtle craftsman, and a goldsmith, from Jerusalem, and brought them into Babylon.

2 And one pannier had full good figs, as figs of the first time be wont to be; and one pannier had full evil figs, that might not be eaten, for those [or they] were evil figs.

3 And the Lord said to me, Jeremy, what thing seest thou? And I said, Figs, good figs, full good; and evil figs, full evil, that may not be eaten, for those [or they] be evil figs.

4 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

5 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, As these figs be good, so I shall know the transmigration of Judah, which I sent out from this place into the land of Chaldees, into good.

6 And I shall set [or put] mine eyes on them to please, and I shall bring them again into this land; and I shall build them, and I shall not destroy them; and I shall plant them, and I shall not draw up by the root.

7 And I shall give to them an heart, that they know me, for I am the Lord; and they shall be into a people to me, and I shall be into God to them, for they shall turn again to me in all their heart.

8 And as the worst figs be, that may not be eaten, for those [or they] be evil figs, the Lord saith these things, So I shall give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and the princes of him, and other men of Jerusalem, that dwell in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt.

9 And I shall give them into travailing and torment in all realms of earth, into reproof, and into parable, and into a proverb, and into cursing, in all places to which I casted them out.

10 And I shall send in them sword, and hunger, and pestilence, till they be wasted from the land which I gave to them, and to the fathers of them.

CHAPTER 25

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, of all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, after that Jeconiah was translated into Babylon; that is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon;

2 which word Jeremy, the prophet, spake to all the people of Judah, and to all the dwellers of Jerusalem, and said,

3 From the thirteenth year of the realm of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, unto this day, this is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord was made to me; and I spake to you, and I rose by night and spake, and ye heard not.

4 And the Lord sent to you all his servants prophets, and rose full early, and sent, and ye heard not, neither ye bowed [in] your ears, for to hear;

5 when he said, Turn ye again, each man from his evil way, and from your worst thoughts, and ye shall dwell in the land which the Lord gave to you, and to your fathers, from the world and till into the world.

6 And do not ye go after alien gods, that ye serve them, and worship them, neither stir ye me to wrath-fulness [or to wrath], in the works of your hands, and I shall not torment you.

7 And ye heard not me, saith the Lord, that ye stirred me to wrathful-ness [or to wrath] in the works of your hands, into your [own] evil.

8 Therefore the Lord of hosts saith these things, For that that ye heard not my words,

9 lo! I shall send, and take all the kindreds of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, the king of Babylon; and I shall bring them on this land, and on the dwellers thereof, and on all nations, that be in the compass thereof; and I shall slay them, and I shall set them into wondering, and into hissing, and into everlasting wildernesses.

10 And I shall lose of them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of spouse, and the voice of spousess, the voice of [the] quern, and the light of the lantern.

11 And all the land thereof shall be into wilderness, and into wondering; and all these folks shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 And when seventy years be [ful] filled, I shall visit on the king of Babylon, and on that folk, the wicked-ness of them, saith the Lord, and on the land of Chaldees, and I shall set [or put] it into everlasting wildernesses.

13 And I shall bring on that land all my words which I spake against it, all thing that is written in this book; whatever things Jeremy prophesied against all folks;

14 for they served to them, when they were many folks, and great kings; and I shall yield to them after the works of them, and after the deeds of their hands.

15 For the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith thus, Take thou the cup of wine of this strong vengeance from mine hand, and thou shall pour out drink thereof to all heathen men, to which I shall send thee.

16 And they shall drink, and shall be troubled [or disturbed], and shall be mad, of the face of sword, which I shall send among them.

17 And I took the cup from the hand of the Lord, and I poured out drink to all folks, to which the Lord sent me;

18 to Jerusalem, and to all the cities of Judah, and to the kings thereof, and to the princes thereof; that I should give them into wilderness, and into wondering, and into hissing, and into cursing, as this day is;

19 to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his servants, and to his princes, and to all his people;

20 and to all men generally, to all the kings of the land Uz, and to all the kings of the land of Philistines, and to Ashkelon, and to Azzah, and to Ekron, and to the residues of Ashdod;

21 to Idumea, and to Moab, and to the sons of Ammon;

22 and to all the kings of Tyre, and to all the kings of Sidon, and to the kings of the land of isles that be beyond the sea;

23 and to Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and to all men that be clipped on the long hair;

24 and to all the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the west, that dwell in desert;

25 and to all the kings of Zimri, and to all the kings of Elam, and to all the kings of Medes;

26 and to all the kings of the north, of nigh and of far, to each man against his brother; and to all the realms of earth, that be on the face thereof; and the king of Sheshach* shall drink after them.

27 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Drink ye, and be ye drunken, and spew ye, and fall ye down, and do not ye rise from the face of [the] sword which I shall send among you.

28 And when they will not take the cup from thine hand, that they drink, thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Ye drinking shall drink;

29 for lo! in the city in which my name is called to help, I begin to torment, and shall ye as innocents be without pain? ye shall not be without pain, for I call sword on all the dwellers of earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

30 And thou shalt prophesy to them all these words, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and from his holy dwelling place he shall give his voice; he roaring shall roar on his fairness; a merry song, as of men treading in pressers [or in wine presses], shall be sung against all [the] dwellers of earth.

31  [The] Sound is come unto the last parts of [the] earth, for why doom is to the Lord with folks, he is deemed with each flesh; the Lord saith, I have given wicked men to the sword.

32 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! torment shall go out from folk into folk, and a great whirlwind shall go out from the ends of [the] earth.

33 And the slain men of the Lord shall be in that day from the end of the earth unto the end thereof; they shall not be bewailed, neither shall be gathered together, neither shall be buried; they shall lie into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth.

34 Yell, ye shepherds, and cry, and, ye principals of the flock, besprinkle you with ashes; for your days be [ful] filled, that ye be slain, and your scatterings be[ful]filled, and ye shall fall as precious vessels.

35 And fleeing shall perish from [the] shepherds, and saving shall perish from the principals of the flock.

36 The voice of the cry of shepherds, and the yelling of the principals of the flock, for the Lord hath wasted the pastures of them.

37 And the fields of peace were stilled, for the face of [the] wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord.

38 He as a lion hath forsaken his tabernacle, for the land of them is made into desolation, of the face of wrath of the culver, and of the face of wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord.

CHAPTER 26

1 In the beginning of the realm of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was made of the Lord, and said,

2 The Lord said these things, Stand thou in the foreyard of the house of the Lord, and thou shalt speak to all the cities of Judah, from which they come for to worship in the house of the Lord, all the words which I command to thee, that thou speak to them; do not thou withdraw a word;

3 if peradventure they hear, and be converted, each man from his evil way, and it repent me of the evil, which I thought to do to them, for the malices of their studies.

4 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord saith these things, If ye hear not me, that ye go in my law which I gave to you,

5 that ye hear the words of my servants, prophets, which I rising by night, and dressing, sent to you, and ye heard not;

6 I shall give this house as Shiloh, and I shall give this city into cursing to all folks of earth.

7 And the priests, and prophets, and all the people heard Jeremy speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

8 And when Jeremy had [ful] filled speaking all things, which the Lord had commanded to him, that he should speak to all the people, the priests, and [the] prophets, and all the people took him, and said, Die he by death;

9 why prophesied he in the name of the Lord, and said, This house shall be as Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, for no dweller there is? And all the people was gathered together against Jeremy, in the house of the Lord.

10 And the princes of Judah heard all these words; and they ascended [or went up] from the king’s house into the house of the Lord, and sat in the entering [or the entry] of the new gate of the house of the Lord.

11 And the priests and [the] prophets spake to the princes, and to all the people, and said, Doom of death is to this man, for he prophesied against this city, as ye heard with your ears.

12 And Jeremy said to all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me, that I should prophesy to this house, and to this city, all the words which ye heard.

13 Now therefore make ye good your ways, and your studies, and hear ye the voice of your Lord God; and it shall repent the Lord of the evil which he spake against you.

14 Lo! forsooth I am in your hands; do ye to me, as it is good and rightful [or right] before your eyes.

15 Nevertheless know ye, and [well] know, that if ye slay me, ye shall betray innocent blood against yourselves, and against this city, and the dwellers thereof; for in truth the Lord sent me to you, that I should speak in your ears all these words.

16 And the princes and all the people said to the priests and prophets, Doom of death is not to this man; for he spake to us in the name of our Lord God.

17 Therefore men of the elder men of the land rose up, and said to all the company of the people, and spake,

18 Micah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and he said to all the people of Judah, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Zion shall be eared as a field, and Jerusalem shall be into an heap of stones, and the hill of the house of the Lord shall be into high things of woods.

19 Whether Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah condemned him by death? Whether they dreaded not the Lord, and besought the face of the Lord? and it repented the Lord of the evil which he spake against them. Therefore do we not great evil against our souls.

20 Also Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, of Kiriathjearim, was a man prophesying in the name of the Lord; and he prophesied against this city, and against this land, by all the words of Jeremy.

21 And king Jehoiakim, and all the mighty men, and princes of them, heard these words; and the king sought to slay him; and Urijah heard, and dreaded, and he fled, and entered into Egypt.

22 And king Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and men with him, into Egypt;

23 and they led Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to king Jehoiakim; and the king killed him with sword, and casted forth his carrion in the sepulchres of the common people unnoble.

24 Therefore the hand of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, was with Jeremy, that he was not betaken into the hands of the people, and that it killed not him.

CHAPTER 27

1 In the beginning of the realm of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 The Lord saith these things to me, Make thou to thee bonds and chains, and thou shalt put them in thy neck;

3 and thou shalt send those [or them] to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of [the] messengers that came to Jerusalem, and to Zedekiah, king of Judah.

4 And thou shalt command to them, that they speak to their lords, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel saith these things, Ye shall say these things to your lords,

5 I made earth, and man, and beasts that be on the face of all earth, in my great strength, and in mine arm holden forth; and I gave it to him that pleased before mine eyes.

6 And now therefore I gave all these lands in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, the king of Babylon; furthermore and I gave to him the beasts of the field, that they serve him.

7 And all folks shall serve him, and his son, and the son of his son, till the time of his land and of him come; and many folks and great kings shall serve him.

8 Forsooth the folk and realm that serveth not Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and whoever boweth not his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall visit on that folk in sword, and hunger, and pestilence, saith the Lord, till I waste them in his hand.

9 Therefore do not ye hear your prophets, and false diviners, and dreamers, and diviners by chittering and flying of birds, and witches, that say to you, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon;

10 for they prophesy a leasing to you, that they make you far from your land, and cast out you [or cast you out], and ye perish.

11 Certainly the folk that maketh subject their noll under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serveth him, I shall leave, either deliver, it in his land, saith the Lord; and it shall till that land, and shall dwell therein.

12 And I spake by all these words to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and I said, Make ye subject your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve ye him, and his people, and ye shall live.

13 Why shall ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, and hunger, and pestilence, as the Lord spake to the folk, that would not serve to the king of Babylon?

14 Do not ye hear the words of prophets saying to you, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they speak leasing to you,

15 for I sent not them, saith the Lord; and they prophesy falsely in my name, that they cast out you [or throw you out], and that ye perish, both ye and the prophets that prophesy to you.

16 And I spake to the priests, and to this people, and I said, The Lord God saith these things, Do not ye hear the words of your prophets, that prophesy to you, and say, Lo! the vessels of the Lord shall turn again now soon from Babylon; for they prophesy a leasing to you.

17 Therefore do not ye hear them, but serve ye the king of Babylon, that ye live; why is this city given into wilderness?

18 And if they be prophets, and if the word of God is in them, run they to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels, which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, come not into Babylon.

19 For the Lord of hosts saith these things to the pillars, and to the sea, that is, a great washing vessel, and to the foundaments, and to the remnants of [the] vessels, that were left in this city,

20 which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took not, when he translated Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem into Babylon, and all the principal men of Judah and of Jerusalem.

21 For the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things to the vessels that be left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem,

22 They shall be translated, either led over, into Babylon, and shall be there unto the day of their visitation, saith the Lord; and I shall make those [or them] to be brought, and to be restored in this place.

CHAPTER 28

1 And it was done in that year, in the beginning of the realm of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah, the son of Azur, a prophet of Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord, before the priests, and all the people, saying,

2 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, I have all-broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 Yet two years of days there be, and I shall make to be brought again to this place all the vessels of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took from this place, and translated them into Babylon.

4 And I shall turn to this place, saith the Lord, Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the passing over of Judah, that entered into Babylon; for I shall all-break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

5 And Jeremy, the prophet, said to Hananiah, the prophet, before the eyes of priests, and before the eyes of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord.

6 And Jeremy, the prophet, said to Hananiah, Amen! so do the Lord; the Lord raise thy words which thou prophesiedest, that the vessels be brought again into the house of the Lord, and all the passing over from Babylon, to this place.

7 Nevertheless hear thou this word, which I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people.

8 Prophets that were before me, and before thee, from the beginning, and prophesied on many lands, and on many realms, of battle, and of torment, and of hunger.

9 The prophet that prophesied peace, when his word cometh, shall be known the prophet whom the Lord sent in truth.

10 And Hananiah, the prophet, took the chain from the neck of Jeremy, the prophet, and brake it.

11 And Hananiah, the prophet, spake in the sight of all the people, saying, The Lord saith these things, So I shall break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, after two years of days, from the neck of all folks. And Jeremy, the prophet, went into his way.

12 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, after that Hananiah, the prophet, brake the chain from the neck of Jeremy; and the Lord said,

13 Go thou, and say to Hananiah, The Lord saith these things, Thou hast all-broken the chains of wood, and thou shalt make iron chains for them.

14 For the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, I have set an iron yoke on the neck of all these folks, that they serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; furthermore and I gave to him the beasts of [the] earth.

15 And Jeremy, the prophet, said to Hananiah, the prophet, Hananiah, hear thou; the Lord sent not thee, and thou madest this people for to trust in leasing.

16 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall send thee out from the face of [the] earth; in this year thou shalt die, for thou spakest against the Lord.

17 And Hananiah, the prophet, died in that year, in the seventh month.

CHAPTER 29

1 And these be the words of the book, which Jeremy, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the residues of [the] elder men of [the] passing over, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebu-chadnezzar had led over from Jeru-salem into Babylon,

2 after that Jeconiah, the king, went out, and the lady, and the honest servants and chaste, and the princes of Judah went out of Jerusalem, and a subtle craftsman, and a goldsmith of Jerusalem,

3 in the hand of Elasah, son of Shaphan, and of Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, which Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, into Babylon. And Jeremy said,

4 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things to all the passing over, which I translated from Jerusalem into Babylon,

5 Build ye houses, and inhabit, and plant ye orchards, and eat ye [the] fruit of them;

6 take ye wives, and engender ye sons and daughters, and give ye wives to your sons, and give ye your daughters to husbands, and bear they sons and daughters; and be ye multiplied there, and do not ye be few in number.

7 And seek ye [the] peace of the cities, to which I made you to pass over; and pray ye the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall be peace to you.

8 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Your prophets, that be in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you not; and take ye none heed to your dreams, which ye dream;

9 for they prophesy falsely to you in my name, and I sent not them, saith the Lord.

10 For the Lord saith these things, When seventy years begin to be [ful] filled in Babylon, I shall visit you, and I shall raise on you my good word, and I shall bring you again to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts which I think on you, saith the Lord, the thoughts of peace, and not of torment, that I give to you an end and patience.

12 And ye shall call me to help, and ye shall go, and shall worship me, and I shall hear you;

13 ye shall seek me, and ye shall find, when ye seek me in all your heart.

14 And I shall be found of you, saith the Lord, and I shall bring again your captivity, and I shall gather you from all folks, and from all places, to which I casted out you [or put you out], saith the Lord; and I shall make you to turn again from the place, to which I made you to pass over.

15 For ye said, The Lord shall raise prophets to us in Babylon.

16 For the Lord saith these things to the king, that sitteth on the seat of David, and to all the people, dweller of this city, to your brethren, that went not out with you into the passing over,

17 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! I shall send among them sword, and hunger, and pestilence; and I shall set them as evil figs, that may not be eaten, for those be full evil [or they be worst].

18 And I shall pursue them in sword, and in hunger, and in pestilence; and I shall give them into travailing in all realms of earth, into cursing, and into wondering, and into scorning, and into shame to all folks, to which I casted [or cast] them out.

19 For they heard not my words, saith the Lord, which I sent to them by my servants, prophets, and rose by night, and sent, and ye heard not, saith the Lord.

20 Therefore all the passing over, which I sent out from Jerusalem into Babylon, hear ye the word of the Lord.

21 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things to Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and to Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, that prophesy to you leasing in my name, Lo! I shall betake them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall smite them before your eyes.

22 And cursing shall be taken of them to all the passing over of Judah, which is in Babylon, of men saying, The Lord set [or put] thee as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, which the king of Babylon fried in fire,

23 for they did folly in Israel, and did adultery on the wives of their friends; and they spake a word falsely in my name, which I commanded not to them; I am judge and witness, saith the Lord.

24 And thou shalt say to Shemaiah the Nehelamite,

25 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, For that that thou sentest books in my name to all the people, which is in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, and saidest,

26 The Lord gave thee priest for Jehoiada, the priest, that thou be duke in the house of the Lord on each man that is travailed of the fiend, and prophesying, that thou send him into stocks, and into prison.

27 And now why blamest thou not Jeremy of Anathoth, that prophesieth to you?

28 For on this thing he sent to us into Babylon, and said, It is long; build ye houses, and inhabit, and plant ye orchards, and eat ye the fruit of them.

29 Therefore Zephaniah, the priest, read this book in the ears of Jeremy, the prophet.

30 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

31 Send thou to all the passing over, and say, The Lord saith these things to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, For that that Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I sent not him, and he made you to trust in a leasing;

32 therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall visit on Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and on his seed; and no man sitting in the midst of this people shall be to him; and he shall not see the good, which I shall do to my people, saith the Lord, for he spake trespassing against the Lord.

CHAPTER 30

1 This is the word, that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, and speaketh, Write to thee in a book, all these words which I spake to thee.

3 For lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall turn the turning of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I shall turn them to the land which I gave to the fathers of them, and they shall have it in possession.

4 And these be the words, which the Lord spake to Israel, and to Judah,

5 For the Lord saith these things, We heard a word of dread; inward dread is, and peace is not.

6 Ask ye, and see, if a male beareth child; why therefore saw I the hand of each man on his loins, as of a woman travailing of child, and all faces be turned into yellow colour?

7 Woe! for that day is great, neither any is like it; and it is a time of tribulation to Jacob, and of him [he] shall be saved.

8 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I shall all-break the yoke of him from thy neck, and I shall break his bonds; and aliens shall no more be lords of it,

9 but they shall serve to their Lord God, and to David, their king, whom I shall raise for them.

10 Therefore, Jacob, my servant, dread thou not, saith the Lord, and Israel, dread thou not; for lo! I shall save thee from a far land, and thy seed from the land of the captivity of them. And Jacob shall turn again, and shall rest, and shall flow with all goods; and none shall be whom he shall dread.

11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, for to save thee. For I shall make [full] ending in all folks, in which I scattered thee; soothly I shall not make thee into [full] ending, but I shall chastise thee in doom, that thou be not seen to thee to be guiltless.

12 For the Lord saith these things, Thy breaking is uncurable, thy wound is the worst.

13 None is, that deemeth thy doom to bind together; the profit of healings is not to thee.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee, they shall not seek thee; for I have smitten thee with the wound of an enemy, with cruel chastising; for the multitude of thy wickedness, thy sins be made hard.

15 What criest thou on thy breaking? thy sorrow is uncurable; for the multitude of thy wickedness, and for thine hard sins, I have done these things to thee.

16 Therefore all that eat thee, shall be devoured, and all thine enemies shall be led into captivity; and they that destroy thee, shall be destroyed, and I shall give all thy robbers into raven.

17 For I shall heal perfectly thy wound, and I shall make thee whole of thy wounds, saith the Lord; for thou, Zion, they called thee Cast out; this is it that had no seeker.

18 The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall turn the turning of the tabernacles of Jacob, and I shall have mercy on the houses of him; and the city shall be builded [up] in his highness, and the temple shall be founded by his order.

19 And praising and the voice of players shall go out of them, and I shall multiply them, and they shall not be decreased; and I shall glorify them, and they shall not be made thin.

20 And the sons thereof shall be as at the beginning, and the company thereof shall dwell before me; and I shall visit against all that do tribulation to it.

21 And the duke thereof shall be of it, and a prince shall be brought forth of the midst thereof; and I shall join him, and he shall nigh to me; for who is this, that shall join his heart, that he nigh to me? saith the Lord.

22 And ye shall be into a people to me, and I shall be into God to you.

23 Lo! the whirlwind of the Lord, a strong vengeance going out, a tempest falling down, shall rest in the head of wicked men.

24 The Lord shall not turn away the ire [or the wrath] of indignation, till he do, and [ful] fill the thought of his heart; in the last days ye shall understand those things.

CHAPTER 31

1 In that time, saith the Lord, I shall be God to all the kindreds of Israel; and they shall be into a people to me.

2 The Lord saith these things, The people that was left of sword, found grace in desert; Israel shall go to his rest.

3 Far the Lord appeared to me, and in everlasting charity I loved thee; therefore I doing mercy drew thee.

4 And again I shall build thee, and thou, virgin Israel, shalt be builded; yet thou shalt be adorned with thy tympans, and shalt go out in the quire, either company, of players.

5 Yet thou shalt plant vines in the hills [or the mount] of Samaria; men planting shall plant, and till the time come, they shall not gather grapes.

6 For why a day shall be, wherein keepers shall cry in the hill [or the mount] of Samaria, and in the hill [or the mount] of Ephraim, Rise ye, and ascend we [or go we up] into Zion, to our Lord God.

7 For the Lord saith these things, Jacob, make ye full out joy in gladness, and neigh ye against the head of heathen men; sound ye, sing ye, and say ye, Lord, save thy people, the residues of Israel.

8 Lo! I shall bring them from the land of the north, and I shall gather them from the farthest parts of [the] earth; among which shall be a blind man, and crooked, and a woman with child, and travailing of child together, a great company of them that shall turn again hither.

9 They shall come in weeping, and I shall bring them again in mercy; and I shall bring them by the strands [or streams] of waters in a rightful [or right] way, they shall not spurn therein; for I am made a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my engendered son.

10 Ye heathen men, hear the word of the Lord, and tell ye in isles that be [a] far, and say, He that scattered Israel, shall gather it, and shall keep it, as a shepherd keepeth his flock.

11 For the Lord again-bought Jacob, and delivered him from the hand of the mightier.

12 And they shall come, and praise in the hill [or the mount] of Zion; and they shall flow together to the goods of the Lord, on wheat, wine, and oil, and on the fruit of sheep, and of neat; and the soul of them shall be as a watery garden, and they shall no more hunger.

13 Then a virgin shall be glad in a company, young men and eld together; and I shall turn the mourning of them into joy, and I shall comfort them, and I shall make them glad of their sorrow.

14 And I shall greatly fill the soul of [the] priests with fatness, and my people shall be [ful] filled with my goods, saith the Lord.

15 The Lord saith these things, A voice of wailing, and of weeping, and of mourning, was heard on high; the voice of Rachel beweeping her sons, and not willing to be comforted on them, for they be not.

16 The Lord saith these things, Thy voice rest of weeping, and thine eyes rest of tears; for why meed is to thy work, saith the Lord; and they shall turn again from the land of the enemy.

17 And hope is to thy last things, saith the Lord; and thy sons shall turn again to their ends.

18 I hearing heard Ephraim passing over; saying, thou chastisedest me, and I am learned as a young one untamed, either wild; turn thou me, and I shall be turned again, for thou art my Lord God.

19 For after that thou convertedest me, I did penance; and after that thou showedest to me, I smote mine hip; I am ashamed, and I am shamed, for I suffered the shame of my youth.

20 For Ephraim is a worshipful son to me, for he is a delicate child; for since I spake of him, yet I shall have mind on him; therefore mine entrails be troubled on him, I doing mercy shall have mercy on him, saith the Lord.

21 Ordain to thee an high lookout place, set to thee bitternesses; dress thine heart into a straight way, in which thou went; turn again, thou virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.

22 How long, daughter of unsteadfast dwelling, art thou made dissolute in delights? for the Lord hath made a new thing on earth, a woman shall compass a man.

23 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Yet they shall say this word in the land of Judah, and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn the captivity of them, The Lord bless thee, thou fairness of rightfulness [or rightwiseness], thou holy hill [or mount].

24 And Judah, and all the cities thereof shall dwell in it together, earth-tillers, and they that drive flocks.

25 For I filled greatly a faint soul, and I have [full-]filled each hungry soul.

26 Therefore I am as raised from sleep, and I saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men, and with the seed of work beasts.

28 And as I waked on them, to draw up by the root, and to destroy, and to scatter, and to lose, and to torment; so I shall wake on or watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.

29 In those days they shall no more say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the teeth of [the] sons were astonied;

30 but each man shall die in his wickedness, each man that eateth a sour grape, his teeth shall be astonied.

31 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall smite a new bond of peace to the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah;

32 not by the covenant which I made with your fathers, in the day in which I took the hand of them, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, the covenant which they made void; and I was Lord of them, saith the Lord.

33 But this shall be the covenant, which I shall smite with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I shall give my law in the entrails of them, and I shall write it in the heart of them, and I shall be into God to them, and they shall be into a people to me.

34 And a man shall no more teach his neighbour, and a man his brother, and say, Know thou the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least of them unto the most, saith the Lord; for I shall be merciful to the wickednesses of them, and I shall no more be mindful on the sin of them.

35 The Lord saith these things, that giveth the sun in the light of day, the order of the moon and of the stars in the light of the night, which troubleth the sea, and the waves thereof sound, the Lord of hosts is name to him.

36 If these laws fail before me, saith the Lord, then and the seed of Israel shall fail, that it be not a folk before me in all days.

37 The Lord saith these things, If heavens above may be measured, and the foundaments of [the] earth beneath be sought out, and I shall cast away all the seed of Israel, for all things which they did, saith the Lord.

38 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and a city shall be builded to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.

39 And it shall go out over the rule of [the] measure, in the sight thereof, on the hill [of] Gareb, and it shall compass Goath,

40 and all the valley of carrions, and it shall compass[the] ashes, and all the country of death, unto the strand [or stream] of Kidron, and to the corner of the east gate of horses; the holy thing of the Lord shall not be drawn out, and it shall no more be destroyed without end.

CHAPTER 32

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah; that is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 Then the host of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem; and Jeremy, the prophet, was enclosed in the porch of the prison, that was in the house of the king of Judah.

3 For why Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had enclosed him, and said, Why prophesiest thou, saying, The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall give this city in[to] the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

4 and Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape from the hand of Chaldees, but he shall be betaken into the hand of the king of Babylon; and his mouth shall speak with the mouth of him, and his eyes shall see the eyes of him;

5 and he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and he shall be there, till I visit him, saith the Lord; forsooth if ye fight against [the] Chaldees, ye shall have nothing in prosperity?

6 And Jeremy said, The word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

7 Lo! Hanameel, the son of Shallum, the son of thy father’s brother, shall come to thee, and say, Buy thou to thee my field, which is in Anathoth; for it befalleth to thee by nigh kindred, that thou buy it.

8 And Hanameel, the son of my father’s brother, came to me, by the word of the Lord, to the porch of the prison, and said to me, Wield thou my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; for why the heritage befalleth to thee, and thou art the next of blood, that thou wield it. Forsooth I understood, that it was the word of the Lord.

9 And I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, of Hanameel, the son of my father’s brother. And I paid to him silver, seven staters, and ten pieces of silver;

10 and I wrote in a book, and I sealed, and I gave witnesses. And I weighed silver in a balance;

11 and I took the book asealed of possession, and [the] askings and [the] answerings of the seller and [the] buyer, and [the] covenants, and [the] seals withoutforth.

12 And I gave the book of possession to Baruch, the son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, the son of my father’s brother, and before the eyes of witnesses that were written in the book of [the] buying, before the eyes of all Jews, that sat in the porch of the prison.

13 And I commanded to Baruch before them, and I said,

14 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Take thou these books, this sealed book of buying, and this book which is open, and put thou those [or them] in an earthen vessel, that they may dwell many days.

15 For why the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Yet houses, and fields, and vines shall be wielded in this land.

16 And I prayed to the Lord, after that I betook the book of possession to Baruch, the son of Neriah; and I said,

17 Alas! alas! alas! Lord God, Lord, thou madest heaven and earth in thy great strength, and in thine arm stretched forth; each word shall not be hard to thee;

18 which doest mercy in thousands, and yieldest the wickedness of fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Thou strongest, great, mighty, Lord of hosts is name to thee;

19 great in counsel, and uncompre-hensible in thought, whose eyes be open on all the ways of the sons of Adam, that thou yield to each after his ways, and after the fruit of his findings;

20 which settedest signs and great wonders in the land of Egypt, unto this day, both in Israel, and in men; and madest to thee a name, as this day is.

21 And thou leddest thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt, in signs and in great wonders, and in a strong hand, and in an arm holden forth, and in great dread;

22 and thou gavest to them this land, which thou sworest to the fathers of them, that thou wouldest give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 And they entered, and had it in possession; and they obeyed not to thy voice, and they went not in thy law; all things which thou commandedest to them to do, they did not; and all these evils befell to them.

24 Lo! strongholds be builded against the city, that it be taken, and the city is given into the hands of Chaldees, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, that fight against it, of the face of [the] sword, and of hunger, and of pestilence; and whatever things thou spakest, befell, as thou thyself seest.

25 And thou saidest to me, Lord God, Buy thou a field for silver, and give thou witnesses, when the city is given in the hands of Chaldees.

26 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

27 Lo! I am the Lord God of all flesh. Whether any word shall be hard to me?

28 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall betake this city into the hands of Chaldees, and into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

29 And Chaldees shall come, and fight against this city, and they shall burn it with fire, and they shall burn it, and [the] houses, in whose roofs they sacrificed to Baal, and offered moist sacrifices to alien gods, to stir me to wrath.

30 For why the sons of Israel, and the sons of Judah, did evil continually, from their young waxing age, before mine eyes; the sons of Israel, which till to now wrathed me by the work of their hands, saith the Lord.

31 For why this city is made to me in my strong vengeance and indignation, from the day in which they built it, unto this day, in which it shall be taken away from my sight;

32 for the malice of the sons of Israel, and of the sons of Judah, which they did, stirring me to wrath-fulness, they, and the kings of them, the princes of them, and the priests, and prophets of them, the men of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem.

33 And they turned to me the backs, and not the faces, when I taught, and informed them early; and they would not hear, that they should take teaching.

34 And they setted their idols in the house, in which my name is called to help, that they should defoul it.

35 And they builded high things to Baal, that be in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that they should hallow their sons and their daughters to Molech, which thing I commanded not to them, neither it ascended [or went up] into mine heart, that they should do this abomination, and bring [down] Judah into sin.

36 And now for these things, the Lord God of Israel saith these things to this city, of which ye say, that it shall be betaken into the hands of the king of Babylon, in sword, and in hunger, and in pestilence,

37 Lo! I shall gather them from all lands, to which I casted them out in my strong vengeance, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I shall bring them again to this place, and I shall make them to dwell trustily.

38 And they shall be into a people to me, and I shall be into God to them.

39 And I shall give to them one heart, and one soul, that they dread me in all days, and that it be well to them, and to their sons after them.

40 And I shall smite to them a covenant everlasting, and I shall not cease to do well to them, and I shall give my dread in the heart of them, that they go not away from me.

41 And I shall be glad on them, when I shall do well to them; and I shall plant them in this land in truth, in all mine heart, and in all my soul.

42 For the Lord saith these things, As I brought on this people all this great evil, so I shall bring on them all the good, which I shall speak to them.

43 And fields shall be wielded in this land, of which ye say, that it is desert, for no man and beast is left; and it is given into the hands of Chaldees.

44 Fields shall be bought for money, and shall be written in a book, and a seal shall be imprinted; and witnesses shall be given, in the land of Benjamin, and in the compass of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities in [the] hilly places, and in the cities in [the] field places, and in the cities that be at the south; for I shall turn the captivity of them, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 33

1 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, in the second time, when he was enclosed yet in the porch of the prison, and said,

2 The Lord saith these things, The Lord is name of him that shall do, and form, and make ready that thing;

3 Cry thou to me, and I shall hear thee, and I shall tell to thee great things, and steadfast, which thou knowest not.

4 For the Lord God of Israel saith these things to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Judah, that be destroyed, and to the strongholds, and to the sword of men

5 coming to fight with Chaldees, and to fill those houses with carrions of men, which I smote in my strong vengeance, and in mine indignation; and I hid my face from this city, for all the malice of them.

6 Lo! I shall close together to them a wound and health, and I shall make them whole, and I shall show to them the beseeching of peace and of truth;

7 and I shall convert the conversion of Judah, and I shall convert the conversion of Jerusalem, and I shall build them [up], as at the beginning.

8 And I shall cleanse them from all their wickedness, in which they sinned to me, and I shall be merciful to all the wickednesses of them, in which they trespassed to me, and forsook me.

9 And they shall be to me into a name, and into joy, and into praising, and into full out joying to all folks of earth, that heard all the goods which I shall do to them; and they shall dread, and shall be troubled in all goods, and in all the peace, which I shall do to them.

10 The Lord saith these things, Yet in this place, which ye say to be forsaken, for no man is, neither beast, in the cities of Judah, and in the gates of Jerusalem, that be desolate, without man, and without dweller, and without beast,

11 the voice of joy shall be heard, and the voice of gladness, the voice of spouse, and the voice of spousess, the voice of men, saying, Acknowledge ye to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy is without end, and of men bearing vows into the house of the Lord; for I shall bring again the conversion of the land, as at the beginning, saith the Lord.

12 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet in this forsaken place, without man, and without beast, and in all cities thereof, shall be a dwelling place of shepherds, of flocks lying.

13 And in the cities in [the] hilly places, and in the cities in [the] field places, and in the cities that be at the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the compass of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, yet flocks shall pass, at the hand of the numberer, saith the Lord.

14 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall raise the good word, which I spake to the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah.

15 In those days, and in that time, I shall make the seed of rightfulness [or rightwiseness] to burgeon to David, and he shall make doom and rightful-ness [or rightwiseness] in [the] earth.

16 In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell trustily; and this is the name which they shall call him, Our rightful Lord [or The Lord our rightwiseness].

17 For the Lord saith these things, A man of David shall not perish, that shall sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

18 and of [the] priests and deacons, a man shall not perish from my face, that shall offer burnt sacrifices, and burn sacrifices, and slay sacrifices, in all days.

19 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

20 The Lord saith these things, If my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night, may be made void, that the day and the night be not in his time;

21 and my covenant with David, my servant, may be voided, that of him be no son, that shall reign in his throne, and no deacons, and priests, my ministers;

22 as the stars of heaven may not be numbered, and the gravel of the sea may not be meted [or measured], so I shall multiply the seed of David, my servant, and deacons, my ministers.

23 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

24 Whether thou hast not seen, that this people spake, saying, Two kindreds which the Lord chose, be cast away, and they despised my people, for it is no more a folk before them.

25 The Lord saith these things, If I setted not my covenant betwixt day and night, and if I setted not laws to heaven and earth;

26 soothly and I shall cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David, my servant, that I take not of the seed of him princes of the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; for I shall bring again the conversion of them, and I shall have mercy on them.

CHAPTER 34

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his host, and all the realms of [the] earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all peoples fought against Jerusalem, and against all cities thereof; and he said,

2 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Go thou, and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah; and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall betake this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it by fire.

3 And thou shalt not escape from his hand, but thou shalt be taken by taking, and thou shalt be betaken into his hand; and thine eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt enter into Babylon.

4 Nevertheless Zedekiah, the king of Judah, hear thou the word of the Lord; the Lord saith these things to thee, Thou shalt not die by sword,

5 but thou shalt die in peace; and by the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so they shall burn thee, and they shall bewail thee, Woe! lord; for I spake a word, saith the Lord.

6 And Jeremy, the prophet, spake to Zedekiah, king of Judah, all these words in Jerusalem.

7 And the host of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah, that were left; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for why these strong cities were left of the cities of Judah.

8 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, after that king Zedekiah smote bond of peace with all the people in Jerusalem, and preached,

9 that each man should deliver his servant, and each man his handmaid, an Hebrew man and an Hebrew woman, free, and that they should not be lords of them, that is, in a Jew, and their brother.

10 Therefore all the princes and all the people heard, which made covenant, that they should deliver each man his servant, and each man his handmaid, free, and should no more be lords of them; therefore they heard, and delivered;

11 and they were turned afterward, and drew again their servants, and handmaids, which they had let go free, and they made them subject into servants, and into servantesses.

12 And the word of the Lord was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

13 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, I smote a bond of peace with your fathers, in the day in which I led them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servage; and I said,

14 When seven years be [ful] filled, each man deliver his brother, an Hebrew man, which is sold to him, and he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt deliver him from thee; and your fathers heard not me, neither bowed [in] their ear.

15 And ye be converted today, and ye did that, that is rightful [or right] before mine eyes, that ye preached each man freedom to his friend, and ye made covenant in my sight, in the house wherein my name is called to help on that freedom.

16 And ye turned again, and defouled my name, and ye brought again each man his servant, and each man his handmaid, which ye delivered, that they should be free, and of their own power; and ye made them subject, that they be servants and handmaids to you.

17 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Ye heard not me, that ye preached freedom, each man to his brother, and each man to his friend; lo! I preach to you freedom, saith the Lord, and to sword, and to hunger, and to pestilence; and I shall give you into stirring to all realms of earth.

18 And I shall give the men, that brake my bond of peace, and kept not the words of [the] bond of peace, to which they assented in my sight, and kept not the calf which they cutted into two parts;

19 and the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, and the honest servants, and priests went between the partings thereof, and all the people of the land, that went between the partings of the calf;

20 and I shall give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and the dead carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles [or fowls] of the air, and to the beasts of earth.

21 And I shall give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the hosts of the king of Babylon, that went away from you.

22 Lo! I command, saith the Lord, and I shall bring them again into this city; and they shall fight against it, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire; and I shall give the cities of Judah into wilderness, for there is no dweller.

CHAPTER 35

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and said,

2 Go thou to the house of Rechabites, and speak thou to them; and thou shalt bring them into the house of the Lord, into one chamber of [the] treasuries [or treasures], and thou shalt give to them to drink wine.

3 And I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremy, son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all the sons of him, and all the house of Rechabites.

4 And I led them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of God; which treasury was beside the treasury of [the] princes, above the treasury of Maaseiah, son of Shallum, that was keeper of the vestiary.

5 And I setted before the sons of the house of Rechabites pecks, and great cups full of wine; and I said to them, Drink ye wine.

6 And they answered, We shall not drink wine; for why Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, commanded to us, and said, Ye shall not drink wine, ye and your sons, till into without end;

7 and ye shall not build an house, and ye shall not sow seed, and ye shall not plant vines, neither shall have, but ye shall dwell in tabernacles in all your days, that ye live many days on the face of [the] earth, in which ye go in pilgrimage.

8 Therefore we obeyed to the voice of Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, in all things which he commanded to us; so that we drank not wine in all our days, we, and our women, our sons, and daughters;

9 and we builded not houses to dwell, and we had not a vinery [or vineyards], and a field, and seed;

10 but we dwelled in tabernacles, and were obeying, and did by all things, which Jonadab, our father, commanded to us.

11 But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had ascended [or gone up] to this land, we said, Come ye, and enter we into Jerusalem, from the face of the host of Chaldees, and from the face of the host of Syria; and we dwelled in Jerusalem.

12 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

13 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Go thou, and say to the men of Judah, and to the dwellers of Jerusalem, Whether ye shall not take teaching, that ye obey to my words, saith the Lord?

14 The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, had the mastery, which he commanded to his sons, that they should not drink wine; and they drink not, unto this day; for they obeyed to the commandment of their father; but I spake to you, and I rose full early, and spake, and ye obeyed not to me.

15 And I sent to you all my servants prophets, and I rose full early, and I sent, and said, Be ye converted, each man from his worst way, and make ye good your studies, and do not ye follow alien gods, neither worship ye them, and ye shall dwell in the land, which I gave to you, and to your fathers; and ye bowed not [in] your ear, neither heard me.

16 Therefore the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, made steadfast the commandment of their father, which he commanded to them; but this people obeyed not to me.

17 Therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring on Judah, and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem, all the torment which I spake against them; for I spake to them, and they heard not; I called them, and they answered not to me.

18 Forsooth Jeremy said to the house of Rechabites, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, For that that ye obeyed to the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his commandments, and did all things, which he commanded to you;

19 therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, A man of the generation of Jonadab, son of Rechab, shall not fail standing in my sight in all days.

CHAPTER 36

1 And it was done, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was made of the Lord to Jeremy, and said,

2 Take thou the volume of a book, and thou shalt write therein all the words, which I spake to thee against Israel and Judah, and against all folks, from the day in which I spake to thee, from the days of Josiah unto this day.

3 If peradventure when the house of Judah heareth all the evils which I think to do to them, each man turn again from his worst way, and I shall be merciful to the wickedness and sin of them.

4 Therefore Jeremy called Baruch, the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote of the mouth of Jeremy in the volume of a book all the words of the Lord, which he spake to him.

5 And Jeremy commanded to Baruch, and said, I am enclosed, and I may not enter into the house of the Lord.

6 Therefore enter thou, and read of the book, in which thou hast written of my mouth the words of the Lord, in hearing of the people, in the house of the Lord, in the day of fasting; furthermore and in hearing of all Judah, that come from their cities, thou shalt read to them;

7 if peradventure the prayer of them fall in the sight of the Lord, and each man turn again from his worst way; for why the strong vengeance and indignation is great, which the Lord spake against this people.

8 And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did after all things, which Jeremy, the prophet, commanded to him; and he read of the book the words of the Lord, in the house of the Lord.

9 Forsooth it was done, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, they preached fasting in the sight of the Lord, to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the multitude, that came together from the cities of Judah into Jerusalem.

10 And Baruch read of the volume the words of Jeremy, in the house of the Lord, in the treasury of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, scribe, in the higher porch, in the entering of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in audience of all the people.

11 And when Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord, of the book,

12 he went down into the house of the king, to the treasury of the scribe. And lo! all the princes sat there, Elishama, the scribe, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all [the] princes.

13 And Michaiah told to them all the words, which he heard Baruch reading of the book, in the ears of the people.

14 Therefore all the princes sent to Baruch Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, and said, Take in thine hand the book, of which thou readest in audience of the people, and come thou. Therefore Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the book in his hand, and came to them.

15 And they said to him, Sit thou, and read these things in our ears; and Baruch read in the ears of them.

16 Therefore when they had heard all the words, they wondered each man to his neighbour, and they said to Baruch, Ought we to tell to the king all these words?

17 And they asked him, and said, Show thou to us, how thou hast written all these words of his mouth.

18 Forsooth Baruch said to them, Of his mouth he spake, as reading to me, all these words; and I wrote in a book with ink.

19 And all the princes said to Baruch, Go, be thou hid, thou and Jeremy; and no man know where ye be.

20 And they entered to the king, into the hall; forsooth they betook the book to be kept into the treasury of Elishama, the scribe. And they told all the words, in audience of the king.

21 Therefore the king sent Jehudi, that he should take the book. Which took the book from the treasury of Elishama, the scribe, and read in audience of the king, and of all the princes that stood about the king.

22 Forsooth the king sat in the winter house, in the ninth month; and a pan full of coals was set before him.

23 And when Jehudi had read three pages, either four, he cutted it with the knife of a scribe, and casted into the fire, that was in the pan, till all the book was wasted by the fire, that was in the pan.

24 And the king, and all his servants, that heard all these words, dreaded not, neither rent their clothes.

25 Nevertheless Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah against-said [to] the king, that he should not burn the book; and he heard not them.

26 And the king commanded to Jerahmeel, son of Hammelech, and to Seraiah, son of Azriel, and to Shelem-iah, son of Abdeel, that they should take Baruch, the writer, and Jeremy, the prophet; forsooth the Lord hid them.

27 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, after that the king had burnt the book, and [the] words, which Baruch had written of Jeremy’s mouth; and he said,

28 Again take thou another book, and write therein all the former words, that were in the first book, which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, burnt.

29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim, king of Judah, The Lord saith these things, Thou burntest that book, and saidest, What hast thou written therein, telling, The king of Babylon shall come hasting, and shall destroy this land, and shall make man and beast to cease thereof?

30 Therefore the Lord saith these things against Jehoiakim, king of Judah, None there shall be of him, that shall sit on the seat of David; and his carrion shall be cast forth to the heat by day, and to the frost by night.

31 And I shall visit against him, and against his seed, and against his servants, their wickednesses. And I shall bring on them, and on the dwellers of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil which I spake to them, and they heard not.

32 Forsooth Jeremy took another book, and gave it to Baruch, the writer, the son of Neriah, which wrote therein of Jeremy’s mouth all the words of the book, which book Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had burnt by fire; and furthermore many more words were added than were before.

CHAPTER 37

1 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for Jeconiah*, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

2 And he, and his servants, and his people obeyed not to the words of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet.

3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God.

4 Forsooth Jeremy went freely in the midst of the people; for they had not sent him into the keeping of the prison.

5 Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jeru-salem.

6 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, and said,

7 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt.

8 And Chaldees shall come again, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire.

9 The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive your souls, saying, Chaldees going shall go away, and shall depart from us; for they shall not go away.

10 But though ye slay all the host of Chaldees, that fight against you, and some wounded men of them be left, each man shall rise from his tent, and they shall burn this city with fire.

11 Therefore when the host of Chaldees had gone away from Jerusalem, for the host of Pharaoh,

12 Jeremy went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to part there the possession in the sight of [the] citizens.

13 And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, there was a keeper of the gate by whiles, Irijah by name, the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Thou fleest to [the] Chaldees.

14 And Jeremy answered, It is false; I flee not to [the] Chaldees. And he heard not Jeremy, but Irijah took Jeremy, and brought him to the princes.

15 Wherefore the princes were wroth against Jeremy, and beat him, and sent him into the prison, that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe; for he was sovereign on the prison.

16 Therefore Jeremy entered into the house of the pit, and into the prison of travail; and Jeremy sat there many days.

17 Therefore king Zedekiah sent, and took him away, and asked him privily in his house, and said, Guessest thou, whether a word is of the Lord? And Jeremy said, There is. And Jeremy said, Thou shalt be betaken into the hand of the king of Babylon.

18 And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, the king, What have I sinned to thee, and to thy servants, and to thy people, for thou hast sent me into the house of [the] prison?

19 Where be your prophets, that prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come [up] on you, and on this land?

20 Now therefore, my lord the king, I beseech, hear thou, my prayer be worthy in thy sight, and send thou not me again into the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there.

21 Therefore Zedekiah commanded, that Jeremy should be betaken into the porch of the prison, and that a cake of bread should be given to him each day, without stew, till all the loaves of the city were wasted; and Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison.

CHAPTER 38

1 Forsooth Shephatiah, son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, son of Pashur, and Jucal, son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, son of Malchiah, heard the words which Jeremy spake to all the people, saying,

2 The Lord saith these things, Who-ever dwelleth in this city, shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence; but he that fleeth to [the] Chaldees, shall live, and his soul shall be whole and living.

3 The Lord saith these things, This city to be betaken shall be betaken into the hand of the host of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

4 And the princes said to the king, We pray, that this man be slain; for of before-casting he discomforteth or weakeneth the hands of men warriors, that dwelled in this city, and the hands of all the people, and speaketh to them by all these words. For why this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.

5 And king Zedekiah said, Lo! he is in your hands, for it is not leaveful that the king deny anything to you.

6 Therefore they took Jeremy, and casted him down into the pit of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the porch of the prison; and they sent down Jeremy by cords into the pit, wherein was no water, but fen; therefore Jeremy went down into the filth.

7 Forsooth Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a chaste man and honest, heard, that was in the king’s house, that they had sent Jeremy into the pit; soothly the king sat in the gate of Benjamin.

8 And Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, and said,

9 My lord the king, these men did evil all things, whatever things they did against Jeremy, the prophet, sending him into the pit, that he die there for hunger; for why loaves be no more in the city.

10 Therefore the king commanded to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, and said, Take with thee thirty men from hence, and raise thou [up] Jeremy, the prophet, from the pit, before that he die.

11 Therefore when Ebedmelech had taken men with him, he entered into the house of the king, that was under the cellar; and he took from thence old clothes, and old rags, that were rotten; and he sent them down to Jeremy, into the pit, by cords.

12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremy, Put thou [the] old clothes, and these rent and rotten things under the cubit of thine hands, and on the cords. Therefore Jeremy did so.

13 And they drew out Jeremy with cords, and led him out of the pit. Forsooth Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison.

14 And king Zedekiah sent, and took [to] him Jeremy, the prophet, at the third door that was in the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremy, I ask of thee a word; hide thou not anything from me.

15 Forsooth Jeremy said to Zedekiah, If I tell to thee, whether thou shalt not slay me? And if I give counsel to thee, thou shalt not hear me.

16 Therefore Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremy privily, and said, The Lord liveth, that made to us this soul, I shall not slay thee, and I shall not betake thee into the hands of these men, that seek thy life.

17 And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, If thou goest forth, and goest out to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire, and thou shalt be safe, thou and thine house.

18 Forsooth if thou goest not out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be betaken into the hands of Chaldees; and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape from the hand of them.

19 And king Zedekiah said to Jeremy, I am anguished for the Jews that fled over to [the] Chaldees, lest peradventure I be betaken into the hands of them, and they scorn me.

20 Forsooth Jeremy answered, and said to him, They shall not betake thee; I beseech, hear thou the voice of the Lord, which I shall speak to thee, and it shall be well to thee, and thy soul shall live.

21 That if thou wilt not go out, this is the word which the Lord showed to me,

22 Lo! all the women, that were left in the house of the king of Judah, shall be led out to the princes of the king of Babylon; and those women shall say, Thy peaceable men deceived thee, and had the mastery against thee; they drowned thee [down] in [the] filth, and thy feet in sliderness, and [they] went away from thee.

23 And all thy wives and thy sons shall be led out to [the] Chaldees, and thou shalt not escape the hands of them; but thou shalt be betaken into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn this city with fire.

24 Therefore Zedekiah said to Jeremy, No man know these words, and thou shalt not die.

25 Soothly if the princes hear, that I spake with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Show thou to us what thou spakest with the king, hide thou not from us, and we shall not slay thee; and what the king spake with thee,

26 thou shalt say to them, Kneelingly I setted forth my prayers before the king, that he should not command me to be led again into the house of Jonathan, and I should die there.

27 Therefore all the princes came to Jeremy, and asked him, and he spake to them by all the words which the king had commanded to him, and they ceased from him; for why nothing was heard.

28 Therefore Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison, till to the day in which Jerusalem was taken; and it was done, that Jerusalem should be taken.

CHAPTER 39

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his host, came to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

2 Forsooth in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, the city was opened;

3 and all the princes of the king of Babylon entered, and sat in the middle gate, Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all [the] other princes of the king of Babylon.

4 And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men warriors had seen them, they fled, and went out by night from the city, by the way of the garden of the king, and by the gate that was betwixt two walls; and they went out to the way of desert.

5 Forsooth the host of Chaldees pursued them, and they took Zedekiah in the field of wilderness of Jericho; and they took him, and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and Nebuchadnezzar spake dooms to him.

6 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah, before his eyes; and the king of Babylon killed all the noble men of Judah.

7 Also he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, that he should be led into Babylon.

8 And [the] Chaldees burnt with fire the house of the king, and the houses of the common people, and destroyed the wall of Jerusalem.

9 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, translated into Babylon the residues of the people, that dwelled in the city, and the fleers-away, that had fled over to him, and the super-fluous men of the common people, that were left.

10 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, left in the land of Judah, of the people of poor men, and gave to them vineries [or vineyards] and cisterns in that day.

11 Forsooth Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had commanded of Jeremy to Nebuzaradan, master of the chivalry, and said,

12 Take thou him, and set thine eyes on him, and do thou nothing of evil to him; but as he will, so do thou to him.

13 Therefore Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, sent Nebushazban, and Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, and Rabmag, and all the principal men of the king of Babylon,

14 sent, and took Jeremy from the porch of the prison, and they betook him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should enter into the house, and dwell among the people.

15 Forsooth the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, when he was enclosed in the porch of the prison, and said,

16 Go thou, and say to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, and speak thou, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring my words on this city into evil, and not into good; and those [or they] shall be in thy sight in that day.

17 And I shall deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord, and thou shalt not be betaken into the hands of [the] men, which thou dreadest;

18 but I delivering shall deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall down by sword; but thy soul shall be into health to thee, for thou haddest trust in me, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 40

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, after that he was delivered of Nebuzaradan, master of the chivalry, from Ramah, when he took him bound with chains, in the midst of all men that passed from Jerusalem, and from Judah, and were led into Babylon.

2 Therefore the prince of the chivalry took Jeremy, and said to him, Thy Lord God spake this evil on this place,

3 and the Lord hath brought, and hath done, as he spake; for ye sinned to the Lord, and heard not the voice of him, and this word is done to you.

4 Now therefore lo! I have released thee today from the chains that be in thine hands; if it pleaseth thee to come with me into Babylon, come thou, and I shall set mine eyes on thee; soothly if it displeaseth thee to come with me into Babylon, sit thou here; lo! all the land is in thy sight, that that thou choosest, and whither it pleaseth thee to go, thither go thou,

5 and do not thou come with me. But dwell thou with Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon made sovereign to the cities of Judah; therefore dwell thou with him in the midst of the people, either go thou, whither ever it pleaseth thee to go. And the master of [the] chivalry gave to him meats, and gifts, and let him go.

6 Forsooth Jeremy came to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, in Mizpah, and dwelled with him, in the midst of the people that was left in the land.

7 And when all princes of the host had heard, that were scattered by countries, they and the fellows of them, that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah sovereign of the land, the son of Ahikam, and that he had betaken to Gedaliah men, and women, and little children, and of [the] poor men of the land, that were not translated into Babylon,

8 they came to Gedaliah, in Mizpah; and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jonathan, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai, that were of the Netophathites, and Jezaniah, the son of Maachathite; both they and their men came to Gedaliah.

9 And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them, and to the fellows of them, and said, Do not ye dread to serve [the] Chaldees; but dwell ye in the land, and serve ye the king of Babylon, and it shall be well to you.

10 Lo! I dwell in Mizpah, for to answer to the commandment of [the] Chaldees, that be sent to us; forsooth gather ye vintage, and ripe corn, and oil, and keep ye in your vessels, and dwell ye in your cities which ye hold.

11 But also all the Jews, that were in Moab, and in the hosts of Ammon, and in Idumea, and in all the countries, when it is heard, that the king of Babylon had given residues, either remnants, in Judah, and that he had made sovereign on them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan,

12 soothly all [the] Jews turned again from all [the] places, to which they had fled; and they came into the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and gathered wine and ripe corn full much.

13 Forsooth Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of the host, that were scattered in the countries, came to Gedaliah in Mizpah,

14 and said to him, Know thou, that Baalis, king of the sons of Ammon, hath sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to smite thy life. And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, believed not to them.

15 Forsooth Johanan, the son of Kareah, said to Gedaliah asides half in Mizpah, and spake, I shall go, and slay Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, while no man knoweth, lest he slay thy life, and all the Jews be scattered, that be gathered to thee, and the remnants of Judah shall perish.

16 And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, Do not thou do this word, for thou speakest false of Ishmael.

CHAPTER 41

1 And it was done in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the king’s seed, and the principal men of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah; and they ate there loaves together in Mizpah.

2 Forsooth Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, rose up, and killed with sword Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; and they killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made sovereign of the land.

3 Also Ishmael killed all the Jews, that were with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldees, that were found there, and the men warriors.

4 Forsooth in the second day, after that he had slain Gedaliah, while no man knew yet,

5 fourscore men with shaven beards, and rent clothes, and pale men, came from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria; and they had gifts and incense in the hand, for to offer in the house of the Lord.

6 Therefore Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out of Mizpah into the meeting of them; and he went going and weeping. Soothly when he had met them, he said to them, Come ye to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam;

7 and when they were come to the midst of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, killed them about the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him.

8 But ten men were found among them, that said to Ishmael, Do not thou slay us, for we have treasures of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey, in the field. And he ceased, and killed not them with their brethren.

9 Forsooth the pit into which Ishmael casted forth all the carrions of [the] men, which he killed for Gedaliah, is that pit, which king Asa made for Baasha, the king of Israel; Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled that pit with slain men.

10 And Ishmael led prisoners all the remnants of the people, that were in Mizpah, the daughters of the king, and all the people that dwelled in Mizpah, which Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, had betaken to keeping to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took them, and went to pass over to the sons of Ammon.

11 Forsooth Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, that were with him, heard all the evil, which Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done.

12 And when they had taken all [the] men, they went forth to fight against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah; and they found him at the many waters, that be in Gibeon.

13 And when all the people, that was with Ishmael, had seen Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, that were with him, they were glad.

14 And all the people, whom Ishmael had taken in Mizpah, turned again; and it turned again, and went to Johanan, the son of Kareah.

15 Forsooth Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, fled with eight men from the face of Johanan, and went to the sons of Ammon.

16 Therefore Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, that were with him, took all the remnants of the common people, which they brought again from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, that were of Mizpah, after that he killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam; he took strong men to battle, and women, and children, and geldings, which he had brought again from Gibeon.

17 And they went, and sat being pilgrims in Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, that they should go, and enter into Egypt, from the face of Chaldees;

18 for they dreaded those Chaldees, for Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had slain Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king Nebuchadnezzar had made sovereign in the land of Judah.

CHAPTER 42

1 And all the princes of warriors nighed, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and the residue common people, from a little man unto a great man.

2 And they said to Jeremy, the prophet, Our prayer fall in thy sight, and pray thou for us to thy Lord God, for all these remnants; for we be left a few of many, as thine eyes behold us;

3 and thy Lord God tell to us the way, by which we shall go, and the word which we shall do.

4 Forsooth Jeremy, the prophet, said to them, I have heard; lo! I pray to our Lord God, by your words; I shall show to you each word, whatever word the Lord shall answer to me, neither I shall hide anything from you.

5 And they said to Jeremy, The Lord be witness of truth and of faith betwixt us; if not by each word, in which thy Lord God shall send thee to us, so we shall do,

6 whether it be good either evil. We shall obey to the voice of our Lord God, to whom we send thee, that it be well to us, when we have heard the voice of our Lord God.

7 Forsooth when ten days were [ful] filled, the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy.

8 And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, that were with him, and all the people from the least unto the most;

9 and he said to them, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, to whom ye sent me, that I should meekly set forth your prayers in his sight.

10 If ye rest, and dwell in this land, I shall build you, and I shall not destroy; I shall plant, and I shall not draw out; for now I am pleased on the evil which I did to you.

11 Do not ye dread of the face of the king of Babylon, whom ye that be fearful, dread; do not ye dread him, saith the Lord, for I am with you, to make you safe, and to deliver [you] from his hand.

12 And I shall give mercies to you, and I shall have mercy on you, and I shall make you dwell in your land.

13 Forsooth if ye say, We shall not dwell in this land, neither we shall hear the voice of our Lord God,

14 and say, Nay, but we shall go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see battle, and shall not hear the noise, either sound, of trump, and we shall not suffer hunger, and there we shall dwell;

15 for this thing, ye remnants of Judah, hear now the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, If ye set your face, for to enter into Egypt, and if ye enter, to dwell there,

16 the sword which ye dread shall take you there in the land of Egypt, and the hunger for which ye be anguished shall cleave to you in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

17 And all the men that setted their face, to enter into Egypt, and to dwell there, shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence; no man of them shall dwell still, neither shall escape from the face of [the] evil, which I shall bring on them.

18 For why the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, As my strong vengeance and mine indignation is welled together on the dwellers of Jerusalem, so mine indignation shall be welled together on you, when ye have entered into Egypt; and ye shall be into swearing, and into wondering, and into cursing, and into shame; and ye shall no more see this place.

19 The word of the Lord is on you, ye remnants of Judah; do not ye enter into Egypt; ye witting shall know, that I have witnessed to you today;

20 for ye have deceived your souls, for ye sent me to your Lord God, and said, Pray thou for us to our Lord God, and by all things whatever things our Lord [God] shall say to thee, so tell thou to us, and we shall do.

21 And I told to you today, and ye heard not the voice of your Lord God, on all things for which he sent me to you.

22 Now therefore, ye witting shall know, for ye shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence, in the place to which ye would enter, to dwell there.

CHAPTER 43

1 Forsooth it was done, when Jeremy, speaking to the people, had [ful] filled all the words of the Lord God of them, for which the Lord God of them sent him to them, all these words,

2 Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, said, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all proud men, saying to Jeremy, Thou speakest leasing; our Lord God sent not thee, and said, Enter ye not into Egypt, to dwell there;

3 but Baruch, the son of Neriah, stirreth thee against us, that he betake us in the hands of Chaldees, that he slay us, and make to be led over into Babylon.

4 And Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, and all the people, heard not the voice of the Lord, that they dwell in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, took all of the remnants of Judah, that turned again from all folks, to which they were scattered before, that they should dwell in the land of Judah;

6  they took men, and women, and little children, and the daughters of the king, and each person, whom Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. And they took Jeremy, the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Neriah,

7 and they entered into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not to the voice of the Lord, and they came unto Tahpanhes.

8 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy in Tahpanhes, and said,

9 Take in thine hand great stones, and hide thou those in a den [or hide them in the cave], which is under the wall of tilestone, in the gate of the house of Pharaoh, in Tahpanhes, while all the Jews see it.

10 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall send, and I shall take Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, the king of Babylon; and I shall set his throne on these stones, which I [have] hid; and he shall set his seat on those stones.

11 And he shall come, and smite the land of Egypt, which in death into death, and which in captivity into captivity, and which in sword into sword.

12 And he shall kindle fire in the temples of [the] gods of Egypt, and he shall burn those temples, and shall lead them prisoners; and the land of Egypt shall be wrapped, as a shepherd is wrapped in his mantle; and he shall go out from thence in peace.

13 And he shall all-break the images of the house of the sun, that be in the land of Egypt; and he shall burn in fire the temples of the gods of Egypt.

CHAPTER 44

1 The word that was made to Jeremy, and to all the Jews, that dwelled in the land of Egypt, dwelling in Migdol, and in Tahpanhes, and in Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, and said,

2 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Ye saw all this evil, which I brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah; and lo! those [or they] be forsaken today, and no dweller is in them;

3 for the malice which they did, to stir me to wrathfulness [or to wrath], and that they went, and made sacrifice, and worshipped alien gods, which they knew not, both ye, and they, and your fathers.

4 And I sent to you all my servants prophets; and I rose by night, and sent, and said, Do not ye do the word of such abomination.

5 And they heard not, neither bowed down their ear, that they shall be converted from their evils, and should not make sacrifice to alien gods.

6 And mine indignation and my strong vengeance is welled together, and is kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they be turned into wilderness, and wasteness, by this day.

7 And now the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Why do ye this great evil against your souls, that a man of you perish and a woman, a little child and a sucking infant, from the midst of Judah, neither any residue thing be left in you,

8 that stir me to wrath by the works of your hands, in making sacrifice to alien gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered, that ye dwell there, and that ye perish, and be into cursing, and into shame to all the folks of earth?

9 Whether ye have forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your evils, and the evils of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah, and in the countries of Jerusalem?

10 They be not cleansed unto this day, and they dreaded not, and they went not in the law of the Lord, and in my behests, which I gave before you, and before your fathers.

11 Therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall set my face in you into evil, and I shall lose all Judah,

12 and I shall take the remnants of Judah, that setted their faces, to go into the land of Egypt, and to dwell there; and all shall be wasted in the land of Egypt, they shall fall down by sword, and shall be wasted in hunger, from the least unto the most, they shall die by sword and hunger, and shall be into swearing, and into miracle, or wonder, and into cursing, and into shame.

13 And I shall visit on the dwellers of Egypt, as I visited on Jerusalem, in sword, and in hunger, and in pestilence.

14 And none shall be, that shall escape, and be [the] residue of the remnants of Jews, that go to be pilgrims in the land of Egypt, and to turn again to the land of Judah, to which they raise [up] their souls, that they turn again, and dwell there; they shall not turn again thither, no but they that fled.

15 Forsooth all men answered to Jeremy, and knew, that their wives made sacrifice to alien gods, and all [the] women, of which a great multitude stood, and all the people of dwellers in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, and said,

16 We shall not hear of thee the word which thou speakest to us in the name of our Lord God,

17 but we doing shall do each word that shall go out of our mouth, that we make sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and that we offer to it moist sacrifices, as we did, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and we were [full-]filled with loaves, and it was well to us, and we saw none evil.

18 But from that time, in which we ceased to make sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to offer to it moist sacrifices, we had need to all things, and we were wasted by sword and hunger.

19 That if we make sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and offer to it moist sacrifices, whether without our hus-bands we made to it cakes, to worship it, and loaves to be offered?

20 And Jeremy said to all the people, against the men, and against the women, and against all the people, that answered to him the word, and he said,

21 Whether not the sacrifices which ye sacrificed in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, stirred God to vengeance? The Lord had mind on these things, and it ascended [or went up] on his heart;

22 and the Lord might no more bear, for the malice of your studies, and for the abominations which ye did. And your land is made into desolation, and into wondering, and into curse, for no dweller is, as this day is.

23 Therefore for ye made sacrifice to idols, and sinned to the Lord, and heard not the voice of the Lord, and went not in the law, and in the commandments, and in the witnesses of him, therefore these evils befell to you, as this day is.

24 Forsooth Jeremy said to all the people, and to all the women, All Judah, that be in the land of Egypt, hear ye the word of the Lord.

25 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, and speaketh, Ye and your wives spake with your mouths, and [ful] filled with your hands, and said, Make we our vows which we vowed, that we make sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and offer to it moist sacrifices; ye [ful] filled your vows, and did those [or them] in work.

26 Therefore, all Judah, that dwell in the land of Egypt, hear ye the word of the Lord; Lo! I swore in my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be called by the mouth of each man Jew, saying, The Lord God liveth, in all the land of Egypt.

27 Lo! I shall wake on them into evil, and not into good; and all the men of Judah, that be in the land of Egypt, shall be wasted, by sword and hunger, till they be wasted utterly.

28 And a few men that fled the sword, shall turn again from the land of Egypt into the land of Judah; and all the remnants of Judah, of them that enter into the land of Egypt, to dwell there, shall know, whose word shall be [ful] filled, mine either theirs.

29 And this shall be a sign to you, saith the Lord, that I shall visit on you in this place, that ye know, that verily my words shall be [ful] filled against you into evil.

30 The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall betake Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life, as I betook Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, his enemy, and seeking his life.

CHAPTER 45

1 The word that Jeremy, the prophet, spake to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in the book, of the mouth of Jeremy, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and said,

2 The Lord God of Israel saith these things to thee, Baruch.

3 Thou saidest, Woe to me wretch, for the Lord increased sorrow to my sorrow; I travailed in my wailing, and I found not rest.

4 The Lord saith these things, Thus thou shalt say to him, Lo! I destroy them, which I builded, and I draw out them, which I planted, and all this land.

5 And seekest thou great things to thee? do not thou seek, for lo! I shall bring evil on each man, saith the Lord, and I shall give to thee thy life into health, in all places, to which ever places thou shalt go.

CHAPTER 46

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, the prophet, against heathen men;

2 to Egypt, against the host of Pharaohnecho, king of Egypt, that was beside the flood Euphrates, in Carche-mish, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, smote, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 Make ye ready shield and target, and go ye forth to battle.

4 Join ye horses, and ascend [or go up], ye knights; stand ye in helmets, polish ye spears, clothe ye you in habergeons.

5 What therefore? I saw them dreadful, either afeared, and turning the backs, the strong men of them slain; and they fled swiftly, and beheld not; dread was on each side, saith the Lord.

6 A swift man shall not flee, and a strong man guess not himself to be saved; at the north, beside the flood Euphrates, they were overcome, and fell down.

7 Who is this, that ascendeth [or goeth up] as a flood, and his swells waxed great as of floods?

8 Egypt ascended [or goeth up] at the likeness of a flood, and his waves shall be moved as [the] floods; and it shall say, I shall ascend, and cover the earth; I shall lose the city, and dwellers thereof.

9 Ascend ye [or Goeth] upon horses, and make ye full out joy in chariots; and strong men, come forth, Ethiopia and Libya, holding shield, and Lydia, taking and shooting arrows.

10 Forsooth that day of the Lord God of hosts is a day of vengeance, that he take vengeance of his enemies; the sword shall devour, and shall be [full-]filled, and shall greatly be filled with the blood of them; for why the slain sacrifice of the Lord of hosts is in the land of the north, beside the flood Euphrates.

11 Thou virgin, the daughter of Egypt, go up into Gilead, and take medicine. In vain thou shalt multiply medicines; health shall not be to thee.

12 Heathen men heard thy shame, and thy yelling filled the earth; for a strong man hurtled against a strong man, and both fell down together.

13 The word which the Lord spake to Jeremy, the prophet, on that that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was to coming, and to smiting the land of Egypt.

14 Tell ye to Egypt, and make ye heard in Migdol, and sound it in Memphis, and say ye in Tahpanhes, Stand thou, and make thee ready, for a sword shall devour those things that be by thy compass.

15 Why hath thy strong man waxed rotten? He stood not, for the Lord underturned him.

16 He multiplied fallers, and a man fell down to his neighbour; and they shall say, Rise ye, and turn we again to our people, and to the land of our birth, from the face of sword of the culver.

17 Call ye the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, The time hath brought noise.

18 I live, saith the king, the Lord of hosts is his name; for it shall come as Tabor in hills, and as Carmel in the sea.

19 Thou dwelleress, the daughter of Egypt, make to thee vessels of passing over; for why Memphis shall be into wilderness, and it shall be forsaken [and] unhabitable.

20 Egypt is a shapely cow calf, and fair; a pricker from the north shall come to it.

21 Also the hired men thereof, that lived as calves made fat in the midst thereof, be turned, and fled together, and might not stand; for the day of slaying of them shall come [up] on them, the time of the visiting of them.

22 The voice of them shall sound as of brass, for they shall hasten with host, and with axes they shall come to it. As men cutting down trees,

23 they cutted down the forest thereof, saith the Lord, which may not be numbered; they be multiplied over locusts, and no number is in them.

24 The daughter of Egypt is shamed, and betaken into the hand of the people of the north,

25 said the Lord of hosts, God of Israel. Lo! I shall visit on the noise of Alexandria, and on Pharaoh, and on Egypt, and on the gods thereof, and on the kings thereof, and on them that trust in him.

26 And I shall give them into the hands of men that seek the life of them, and into the hands of Nebu-chadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hands of his servants; and after these things it shall be inhabited, as in the former days, saith the Lord.

27 And thou, Jacob, my servant, dread thou not, and Israel, dread thou not; for lo! I shall make thee safe from a far place, and thy seed from the land of his captivity; and Jacob shall turn again, and shall rest, and shall have prosperity, and none shall be, that shall make him afeared.

28 And Jacob, my servant, do not thou dread, saith the Lord, for I am with thee; for I shall waste all folks, to which I casted thee out; but I shall not waste thee, but I shall chastise thee in doom, and I shall not spare thee as innocent.

CHAPTER 47

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, the prophet, against Palestines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

2 The Lord saith these things, Lo! waters shall ascend [or go up] from the north, and they shall be as a strand [or stream] overflowing, and they shall cover the land, and the fullness thereof, the city, and the dwellers thereof. Men shall cry, and all the dwellers of the land shall yell,

3 for the noise of boast of armed men, and of warriors of him, and for moving of his carts, and multitude of his wheels. Fathers beheld not sons with benumbed hands,

4 for the coming of the day in which all Philistines shall be destroyed; and Tyrus shall be destroyed, and Sidon with all their other helps. For the Lord hath destroyed Palestines, the remnants of the isle of Cappadocia.

5 Baldness came on Gaza; Ashkelon was still, and the remnants of the valley of them. How long shalt thou fall down,

6 O! sword of the Lord, how long shalt thou not rest? Enter thou into thy sheath, be thou refreshed, and be still.

7 How shall it rest, when the Lord commanded to it against Ashkelon, and against the sea coasts thereof, and there [he] hath said to it?

CHAPTER 48

1 To Moab, the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things. Woe on Nebo, for it is destroyed, and shamed; Kiriathaim is taken, the strong city is shamed, and trembled.

2 And full out joying is no more in Moab; they thought evil against Hesh-bon. Come ye, and lose we it from [the] folk. Therefore thou being still, [thou] shalt be stilled, and sword shall follow thee.

3 A voice of cry from Horonaim, destroying, and great sorrow.

4 Moab is defouled, tell ye [out the] cry to little children thereof.

5 For a man weeping, ascended [or went up] with weeping, by the ascending [or going up] of Luhith; for in the coming down of Horonaim, [the] enemies heard the yelling of sorrow.

6 Flee ye, save ye your lives; and ye shall be as brooms in desert.

7 For that that thou haddest trust in thy strongholds, and in thy treasures, also thou shalt be taken. And Chemosh shall go into passing over, the priests thereof and the princes thereof together.

8 And a robber shall come to each city, and no city shall be saved; and valleys shall perish, and field places shall be destroyed, for the Lord said.

9 Give ye the flower of Moab, for it shall go out flowering; and the cities thereof shall be forsaken, and unhabitable.

10  He is cursed, that doeth the work of God guilefully; and he is cursed, that forbiddeth his sword from blood.

11 Moab was plenteous from his young waxing age, and rested in his dregs, neither was shed [or poured] out from vessel into vessel, and went not into passing over; therefore his taste dwelled in him, and his odour is not changed.

12 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall send to it ordainers, and arrayers of pottles; and they shall array it, and they shall waste the vessels thereof, and hurtle together the pottles of them.

13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, in which it had trust.

14 How say ye, We be strong, and stalworthy men to fight?

15 Moab is destroyed, and they have burnt the cities thereof, and the chosen young men thereof went down into slaying, saith the king, the Lord of hosts is his name.

16 The perishing of Moab is nigh, that it come, and the evil thereof runneth full swiftly.

17 All ye that be in the compass thereof, comfort it; and all ye that know the name thereof, say, How is the strong rod broken, the glorious staff?

18 Thou dwelling of the daughter of Dibon, go down from glory, sit thou in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab shall ascend [or go up] to thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds.

19 Thou dwelling of Aroer, stand in the way, and behold; ask thou him that fleeth, and him that escaped; say thou, What befell?

20 Moab is shamed, for he is over-come; yell ye, and cry; tell ye in Arnon, that Moab is destroyed.

21 And doom is come to the land of the field, on Holon, and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

22 and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on the house of Diblathaim,

23 and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Bethmeon,

24 and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, that be far, and that be nigh.

25 The horn of Moab is cut away, and the arm thereof is all-broken, saith the Lord.

26 Fill ye him greatly, for he is raised against the Lord; and he shall hurtle down the hand of Moab in his spewing, and he also shall be into scorn.

27 For why, Israel, he was into scorn to thee, as if thou haddest found him among thieves; therefore for thy words which thou spakest against him, thou shalt be led prisoner.

28 Ye dwellers of Moab, forsake cities, and dwell in the stone, and be ye as a culver making nest in the highest mouth of an hole.

29 We have heard the pride of Moab; he is full proud. I know, saith the Lord, the highness thereof, and pride in word, and pride in bearing, and the highness of heart,

30 and the boast thereof, and that the virtue thereof is not nigh, either like it, neither it enforced or endeavoured to do after that that it might.

31 Therefore I shall wail on Moab, and I shall cry to all Moab, to the men of the earthen wall, that wail.

32 Of the wailing of Jazer I shall weep to thee, thou vine of Sibmah; thy scions passed the sea, those [or they] came unto the sea of Jazer; a robber fell in on thy ripe corn, and on thy vintage.

33 Full out joy and gladness is taken away from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I have taken away wine from [the] pressers [or wine presses]; a stamper of [the] grape shall not sing a customable merry song.

34 Of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh and Jahaz they gave their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim a cow calf of three years; forsooth the waters of Nimrim shall be full evil.

35 And I shall take away from Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in high places, and him that maketh sacrifice to the gods thereof.

36 Therefore mine heart shall sound as a pipe of brass to Moab, and mine heart shall give sound of pipes to the men of the earthen wall; for it did more than it might, therefore they perished.

37 For why each head shall be bald-ness, and each beard shall be shaved; in all hands shall be binding together, and an hair-shirt shall be on each back.

38 And all wailing shall be on all the roofs of Moab, and in the streets thereof, for I have all-broken Moab as an unprofitable vessel, saith the Lord.

39 How is it overcome, and they yelled? how hath Moab cast down the noll, and is shamed? And Moab shall be into scorn, and into ensample to all men in his compass.

40 The Lord saith these things, Lo! as an eagle he shall fly out, and he shall stretch forth his wings to Moab.

41 Kerioth is taken, and strongholds be taken; and the heart of strong men of Moab shall be in that day, as the heart of a woman travailing of child.

42 And Moab shall cease to be a people, for it had glory against the Lord.

43 Dread, and ditch, and snare is on thee, thou dweller of Moab, saith the Lord.

44 He that fleeth from the face of dread, shall fall into a ditch; and they that ascend [or go up] from the ditch, shall be taken with a snare. For I shall bring on Moab the year of the visitation of them, saith the Lord.

45 Men fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon, for why fire went out of Heshbon, and flame from the midst of Sihon; and [it] devoured a part of Moab, and the top of the sons of noise.

46 Moab, woe to thee; thou people of Chemosh, hast perished, for why thy sons and thy daughters be taken into captivity.

47 And I shall turn the captivity of Moab in the last days, saith the Lord. Hitherto be the dooms of Moab.

CHAPTER 49

1 To the sons also of Ammon. The Lord saith these things. Whether no sons be of Israel, either an heir is not to it? why therefore wielded Malcham the heritage of Gad, and the people thereof dwelled in the cities of Gad?

2 Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall make the gnashing of battle heard on Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and it shall be destroyed into noise, and the villages thereof shall be burnt with fire, and Israel shall wield his wielders, saith the Lord.

3 Yell, ye Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with hair-shirts, wail ye, and compass by hedges; for why Malcham shall be led into passing over, the priests thereof and princes thereof together.

4 What hast thou glory in valleys? Thy valleys floated away [or flowed down], thou delicate daughter, that haddest trust in thy treasures, and saidest, Who shall come to me?

5 Lo! I shall bring in dread on thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, of all men that be in thy compass; and ye shall be scattered, each by himself, from your sight, and none shall be, that gather them that flee.

6 And after these things I shall make the fleers and [the] prisoners of the sons of Ammon to turn again, saith the Lord.

7 To Idumea, the Lord of hosts saith these things. Whether wisdom is no more in Teman? Counsel perished from sons, the wisdom of them is made unprofitable.

8 Flee ye, and turn ye the backs; go down into a swallow, ye dwellers of Dedan, for I have brought the perdition of Esau on him, the time of his visitation.

9 If gatherers of grapes had come [up] on thee, they should have left a cluster; if thieves in the night, they should have ravished that that sufficed to them.

10 Forsooth I have uncovered Esau, and I have showed the hid things of him, and he may not be able to be hid; his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and it shall not be.

11 Forsake thy fatherless children, and I shall make them to live, and thy widows shall hope in me.

12 For the Lord saith these things, Lo! they drinking shall drink, to whom was no doom, that they should drink the cup. And shalt thou be left as innocent? thou shalt not be innocent, but thou drinking shalt drink.

13 For I swore by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall be into wilderness, and into shame, and into forsaking, and into cursing; and all the cities thereof shall be into everlasting wildernesses.

14 I heard an hearing of the Lord, and I am sent a messenger to heathen men; Be ye gathered together, and come ye against them, and rise we together into battle.

15 For lo! I have given thee a little one among heathen men, despisable among men.

16 Thy boast, and the pride of thine heart, hath deceived thee, that dwellest in the caves of stone, and enforcest or endeavourest to take the highness of a little hill; when thou as an eagle hast raised thy nest, from thence I shall draw thee down, saith the Lord.

17 And Idumea shall be forsaken; each man that shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss on all the wounds thereof;

18 as Sodom and Gomorrah is destroyed, and the nigh cities thereof, saith the Lord. A man shall not dwell there, and the son of man shall not inhabit it.

19 Lo! as a lion he shall ascend [or go up] from the pride of Jordan to the strong fairness; for I shall make him run suddenly to it; and who shall be the chosen man whom I shall set [or put] before him? For who is like to me, and who shall suffer me? and who is this shepherd, that shall against-stand my cheer?

20 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he took to Edom, and his thoughts, which he thought of the dwellers of Teman. If the little of the flock cast not them down, if they destroy not with them the dwelling of them, else no man give credence to me.

21 The earth was moved of the voice of [the] falling of them; the cry of voice thereof was heard in the Red Sea.

22 Lo! as an eagle he shall ascend [or go up], and fly out, and he shall spread abroad his wings on Bozrah; and the heart of the strong men of Idumea shall be in that day, as the heart of a woman travailing of child.

23 To Damascus. Hamath is shamed, and Arpad, for they heard a full wicked hearing; they were troubled in the sea, for anguish they might not have rest.

24 Damascus was discomforted, it was turned into flight; trembling took it, anguishes and sorrows held it, as a woman travailing of child.

25 How forsook they a praiseable city, the city of gladness?

26 Therefore the young men thereof shall fall in the streets thereof, and all men of battle shall be stilled in that day, saith the Lord of hosts.

27 And I shall kindle fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the buildings of Benhadad.

28 To Kedar, and to the realm[s] of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, smote, the Lord saith these things. Rise ye, and ascend [or goeth up] to Kedar, and destroy ye the sons of the east.

29 They shall take the tabernacles of them, and the flocks of them; they shall take to them the skins of them, and all the vessels of them, and the camels of them; and they shall call on them inward dread in compass.

30 Flee ye, go ye away greatly, ye that dwell in Hazor, sit in swallows, saith the Lord. For why Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath taken counsel against you, and he thought thoughts against you.

31 Rise ye together, and ascend ye [or goeth up] to a peaceable folk, and dwelling trustily, saith the Lord; not doors nor bars be to it, and they dwell alone.

32 And the camels of them shall be into ravishing, and the multitude of their beasts into prey; and I shall scatter them into each wind, that be beclipped on the long hair, and by each coast of them I shall bring perishing on them, saith the Lord.

33 And Hazor shall be into a dwelling place of dragons; it shall be forsaken till into without end; a man shall not dwell there, neither the son of man shall inhabit it.

34 The word of the Lord that was made to Jeremy, the prophet, against Elam, in the beginning of the realm of Zedekiah, king of Judah, and said,

35 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall break the bow of Elam, and I shall take the strength of them.

36 And I shall bring on Elam four winds, from [the] four coasts of heaven, and I shall winnow them into all these winds, and no folk shall be, to whom the fleers of Elam shall not come.

37 And I shall make Elam for to dread before their enemies, and in the sight of men seeking the life of them; and I shall bring on them evil, the wrath of my strong vengeance, saith the Lord; and I shall send after them a sword, till I waste them.

38 And I shall set my king’s seat in Elam, and I shall lose thereof kings, and princes, saith the Lord.

39 But in the last days I shall make the prisoners of Elam to turn again, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 50

1 The word which the Lord spake of Babylon, and of the land of Chaldees, in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet.

2 Tell ye among heathen men, and make ye heard; raise ye [up] a sign; preach ye, and do not ye hold still; say ye, Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed, Merodach is overcome; the graven images thereof be shamed, the idols of them be overcome.

3 For a folk shall ascend [or go up] from the north against it, which folk shall set the land thereof into wilder-ness; and none shall be that shall dwell therein, from man unto beast; and they be moved, and went away.

4 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall haste, and seek their Lord God in Zion,

5 and they shall ask the way. Hither the faces of them shall come, and they shall be set to the Lord with bond of peace everlasting, which shall not be done away by any forgetting.

6 My people is made a lost flock, the shepherds of them deceived them, and made them to go unstably in hills; they passed from mountain into a little hill, they forgot their bed.

7 All men that found, ate them, and the enemies of them said, We sinned not, for that they sinned to the Lord, the fairness of rightfulness, and to the Lord, the abiding of their fathers.

8 Go ye away from the midst of Babylon, and go ye out of the land of Chaldees, and be ye as kids before the flock.

9 For lo! I shall raise, and bring into Babylon the gathering together of great folks, from the land of the north; and they shall be made ready against it, and it shall be taken in the day; the arrows thereof as of a strong man, a slayer, shall not turn again [void].

10 And Chaldea shall be into prey, all that destroy it, shall be [ful] filled, saith the Lord.

11 For ye make full out joy, and speak great things, and ravish mine heritage; for ye be shed [or poured] out as calves on herb, and lowed, or bellowed, as bulls.

12 Your mother is shamed greatly, and she that engendered you, is made even to dust; lo! she shall be the last among folks, and forsaken, without way, and dry.

13 For the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be driven all into wilderness; each that shall pass by Babylon, shall wonder, and shall hiss on all the wounds thereof.

14 All ye that bend bow, be made ready against Babylon by compass; overcome ye it, spare ye not arrows, for it sinned to the Lord.

15 Cry ye against it, everywhere it gave hand; the foundaments thereof fell down, and the walls thereof be destroyed; for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take ye vengeance of it; as it did, do ye to it.

16 Lose ye a sower of Babylon, and him that holdeth a sickle in the time of harvest, from the face of [the] sword of the culver; each man shall be turned to his people, and each man shall flee to his land.

17 Israel is a scattered flock, lions casted out it; first king of Assur ate it, this last, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did away the bones thereof.

18 Therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall visit the king of Babylon, and his land, as I visited the king of Assur;

19 and I shall bring again Israel to his dwelling place. Carmel and Bashan shall be fed, and his soul shall be [ful] filled in the hill [or mount] of Ephraim, and of Gilead.

20 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the wickedness of Israel shall be sought, and it shall not be; and the sin of Judah shall be sought, and it shall not be found; for I shall be merciful to them, which I shall forsake or leave.

21 Ascend thou [or go thou up] on the land of the lords, and visit thou on the dwellers thereof; scatter thou, and slay those things, that be after them, saith the Lord; and do thou by all things which I commanded to thee.

22 The voice of battle and great sorrow in the land.

23 How is the hammer of all earth broken and all-defouled? how is Babylon turned into desert, among heathen men?

24 Babylon, I have snared thee, and thou art taken, and thou knewest not; thou art found, and taken, for thou stirredest the Lord to wrath.

25 The Lord opened his treasure, and brought forth the vessels of his wrath; for why a work is to the Lord God of hosts in the land of Chaldees.

26 Come ye to it from the farthest ends, open ye, that they go out, that shall defoul it; take ye away stones from the way, and drive ye into heaps, and slay ye it, and nothing be residue.

27 Destroy ye all the strong men thereof, go they down into slaying; woe to them, for the day of them cometh, the time of visiting of them.

28 The voice of fleers, and of them that escaped from the land of Babylon, that they tell in Zion the vengeance of our Lord God, the vengeance of his temple.

29 Tell ye against Babylon to full many men, to all that bend bow. Stand ye together against it by compass, and let none escape; yield ye to it after his work, after all things which it did, do ye to it; for it was raised against the Lord, against the Holy of Israel.

30 Therefore young men thereof shall fall down in the streets thereof, and all men warriors thereof shall be stilled in that day, saith the Lord.

31 Lo! thou proud, I to thee, saith the Lord of hosts, for thy day is come, the time of thy visitation.

32 And the proud shall fall, and shall fall down together, and none shall be, that shall raise him; and I shall kindle fire in the cities of him, and it shall devour all things in compass of it.

33 The Lord of hosts saith these things, The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah together suffer false challenge; all that took them, hold, they will not deliver them.

34 The again-buyer of them is strong, the Lord of hosts is his name; by doom he shall defend the cause of them, that he make the land afeared, and stir together the dwellers of Babylon.

35 A sword to Chaldees, saith the Lord, and to the dwellers of Babylon, and to the princes, and to the wise men thereof.

36 A sword to the false diviners thereof, that shall be fools; a sword to the strong men thereof, that shall dread.

37 Sword to the horses thereof, and to the chariots thereof, and to all the common people which is in the midst thereof, and they shall be as women; a sword to the treasures thereof, that shall be ravished.

38 Dryness shall be on the waters thereof, and they shall be dry; for it is the land of graven images, and hath glory in false feignings.

39 Therefore dragons shall dwell with fond wild men, and ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall no more be inhabited till into without end, and it shall not be builded till to generation and generation;

40 as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nigh cities there-of, saith the Lord. A man shall not dwell there, and the son of man shall not dwell in it.

41 Lo! a people cometh from the north, and a great folk, and many kings shall rise together from the ends of [the] earth.

42 They shall take bow and sword, they be cruel and unmerciful; the voice of them shall sound as the sea, and they shall ascend [or go up] on horses as a man made ready to battle, against thee, thou daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon heard the fame of them, and his hands be made numb; anguish took him, sorrow took him, as a woman travailing of child.

44 Lo! as a lion he shall ascend [or goeth up] from the pride of Jordan to the strong fairness, for I shall make him to run suddenly to it; and who shall be the chosen man whom I shall set [or put] before him? For who is like me? and who shall suffer me? and who is this shepherd, that shall against-stand my cheer?

45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he conceived in mind against Babylon, and his thoughts, which he thought on the land of Chaldees, no but the little of the flocks draw them down, no but the dwelling place of them be destroyed with them, else no man give credence to me.

46 The earth is moved of the voice of [the] captivity of Babylon, and cry is heard among heathen men.

CHAPTER 51

1 The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall raise on Babylon, and on the dwellers thereof, that raised their heart against me, as a wind of pestilence.

2 And I shall send into Babylon winnowers, and they shall winnow it, and shall destroy the land of it; for they came on it on each side, in the day of the torment thereof.

3 He that bendeth his bow, bend not, and a man clothed in habergeon, ascend not [or go not up]; do not ye spare the young men thereof, slay ye all the chivalry thereof.

4 And slain men shall fall in the land of Chaldees, and wounded men in the countries thereof.

5 For why Israel and Judah was not made widow from their God, the Lord of hosts; but the land of them was filled with trespass of the Holy of Israel.

6 Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, that each man save his soul; do not ye be still on the wickedness thereof, for why time of vengeance thereof is to the Lord; he shall yield while to it.

7 Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, and filleth all [the] earth; heathen men drank of the wine thereof, and therefore they be moved.

8 Babylon fell down suddenly, and is all-broken; yell ye on it, take ye resin to the sorrow thereof, if peradventure it be healed.

9 We healed Babylon, and it is not made whole; forsake we it and go we each into his land; for the doom thereof came till to heavens, and is raised [up] till to [the] clouds.

10 The Lord hath brought forth our rightfulnesses [or rightwisenesses]; come ye, and tell we in Zion the work of our Lord God.

11 Sharpen ye arrows, fill ye arrow cases; the Lord hath raised the spirit of the kings of Medes, and his mind is against Babylon, that he lose it, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. The king of Medes is raised of the Lord against Babylon.

12 Raise ye a sign on the walls of Babylon, increase ye [the] keeping, raise ye keepers, make ye ready ambushments; for the Lord thought, and did, whatever thing he spake against the dwellers of Babylon.

13  A! thou Babylon, that dwellest on many waters, rich in thy treasures, thine end cometh, the foot-measure of thy cutting down.

14 The Lord of hosts swore by his soul, that I shall fill thee with men, as with bruchuses, and a merry song shall be sung on thee.

15  The Lord swore, which made [the] earth by his strength, made ready the world by his wisdom, and stretched forth heavens by his prudence.

16 When he giveth voice, waters be multiplied in heaven; which Lord raiseth clouds from [the] last of the earth, he made lightnings into rain, and brought forth wind of his treasures or treasuries.

17 Each man is made a fool of knowing, each weller together is shamed in a graven image; for his welling together is false, and a spirit is not in those [or them].

18 The works be vain, and worthy of scorn; they shall perish in the time of their visiting.

19 The part of Jacob is not as these things; for he that made all things is the part of Jacob, and Israel is the sceptre of his heritage; the Lord of hosts is his name.

20 Thou hurtlest down to me the instruments of battle, and I shall hurtle down folks in thee, and I shall lose realms in thee;

21 and I shall hurtle down in thee an horse, and the rider thereof; and I shall hurtle down in thee a chariot, and the rider thereof;

22 and I shall hurtle down in thee man and woman; and I shall hurtle down in thee eld [or old] man and child; and I shall hurtle down in thee a young man and a virgin;

23 and I shall hurtle down in thee a shepherd and his flock; and I shall hurtle down in thee an earth-tiller and his yoke beasts; and I shall hurtle down in thee dukes and magistrates.

24 And I shall yield, saith the Lord, to Babylon, and to all the dwellers of Chaldea, all their evil, which they did in Zion, before your eyes.

25 Lo! I, saith the Lord, to thee, thou hill bearing pestilence, which corruptest all [the] earth. I shall stretch forth mine hand on thee, and I shall unwrap thee from stones, and I shall give thee into an hill of burning.

26 And I shall not take of thee a stone into a corner, and a stone into foundaments; but thou shalt be lost without end, saith the Lord.

27 Raise ye a sign in the land, sound ye with a clarion in hills; hallow ye folks on it, tell ye to the kings of Ararat, of Minni, and of Ashchenaz against it; number ye Tifsar, that is, the leader of the host, against it, and bring ye an horse, as a bruchus having a prick.

28 Hallow ye folks against it, the kings of Media, the dukes thereof, and all the magistrates thereof, and all the land of his power.

29 And the earth shall be moved, and shall be troubled; for the thought of the Lord shall fully awaken against Babylon, that he set the land of Babylon desert, and unhabitable.

30 The strong men of Babylon ceased of battle, they dwelled in strongholds; the strength of them is devoured, and they be made as women; the tabernacles thereof be burnt, the bars thereof be all-broken.

31 A runner shall come to meet a runner, and a messenger to meet a messenger, to tell to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken from the one end till to the tother end;

32 and the forths be before-occupied, and the marishes be burnt with fire, and the men warriors be troubled.

33 For the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, The daughter of Babylon is as a cornfloor, the time of threshing thereof; yet a little, and the time of reaping thereof shall come.

34 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ate me, and devoured me; he made me as a void vessel, he as a dragon swallowed me; he filled his womb with my tenderness, and he casted me out.

35 Wickedness against me, and my flesh on Babylon, saith the dwelling [or the dwellers] of Zion; and my blood on the dwellers of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem.

36 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall deem thy cause, and I shall avenge thy vengeance; and I shall make the sea thereof forsaken, and I shall make dry the vein thereof.

37 And Babylon shall be into burials, it shall be the dwelling of dragons, wondering, and hissing, for that no dweller is.

38 They shall roar together as lions, and they shall shake [their] locks, as the whelps of lions.

39 In the heat of them I shall set [or put] the drinks of them; and I shall make them drunken, that they be brought asleep, and that they sleep everlasting sleep, and rise not, saith the Lord.

40 I shall lead forth them, as lambs to slain sacrifice, and as wethers with kids.

41 How is Sheshach* taken, and the noble city of all earth is taken? How is Babylon made into wonder among heathen men?

42 And the sea ascended [or went up] on Babylon, it was covered with the multitude of his waves.

43 The cities thereof be made into wondering, the land is made unhabitable and forsaken; the land wherein no man dwelleth, and the son of man shall not pass by it.

44 And I shall visit on Bel into Babylon, and I shall cast out of his mouth that, that he had swallowed, and folks shall no more flow to it; for also the wall of Babylon shall fall down.

45 My people, go ye out from the midst thereof, that each man save his soul from the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord;

46 and lest peradventure your heart wax nesh, and lest ye dread the hearing, that shall be heard in the land; and hearing shall come in a year, and after this year shall come hearing, and wickedness in the land, and a lord on a lord.

47 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon; and all the land thereof shall be shamed, and all slain men thereof shall fall down in the midst thereof.

48 And heaven’s, and earth’s, and all things that be in those [or them], shall praise on Babylon; for raveners shall come from the north to it, saith the Lord.

49 And as Babylon did, that slain men fell down in Israel, so of Babylon slain men shall fall down and in all the land.

50 Come ye, that fled the sword, do not ye stand; have ye mind afar on the Lord, and Jerusalem ascend [or go up] on your heart.

51 We be shamed, for we heard shame; shame covered our faces, for aliens came on the hallowing of the house of the Lord.

52 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon, and in all the land thereof a wounded man shall bellow.

53 If Babylon ascendeth [or go up] into heaven, and maketh steadfast his strength on high, destroyers thereof shall come of me, saith the Lord.

54 The voice of a crier of Babylon, and great sorrow of the land of Chaldees,

55 for the Lord destroyed Babylon, and lost [or destroyed] of it a great voice; and the waves of them shall sound as many waters. The voice of them gave sound,

56 for a ravener came [up] on it, that is, [up] on Babylon; and the strong men thereof be taken, and the bow of them withered, for the strong avenger, the Lord, yielding [again] shall yield.

57 And I shall make drunken the princes thereof, and the wise men thereof, the dukes thereof, and the magistrates thereof, and the strong men thereof; and they shall sleep everlasting sleep, and they shall not be awakened, saith the king, the Lord of hosts is name of him.

58 The Lord God of hosts saith these things, That broadest wall of Babylon shall be [under] mined with [under]-mining, and the high gates thereof shall be burnt with fire; and the travails of peoples shall be to nought, and the travails of heathen men shall be into fire, and shall perish.

59 The word which Jeremy, the prophet, commanded to Seraiah, son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king, into Babylon, in the fourth year of his realm; forsooth Seraiah was prince of prophecy.

60 And Jeremy wrote all the evil, that was to coming [or to come] [up] on Babylon, in a book, all these words that were written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremy said to Seraiah, When thou comest into Babylon, and seest, and readest all these words,

62 thou shalt say, Lord, thou spakest against this place, that thou shouldest lose it, that none be that dwell therein, from man unto beast, and that it be an everlasting wilderness.

63 And when thou hast [ful] filled to read this book, thou shalt bind to it a stone, and thou shalt cast it forth into the midst of Euphrates;

64 and thou shalt say, So Babylon shall be drowned, and it shall not rise from the face of torment, which I bring [up] on it, and it shall be destroyed. Hitherto be the words of Jeremy.

CHAPTER 52

1 Zedekiah was a son of one and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.

2 And he did evils before the eyes of the Lord, by all things which Jehoiakim had done.

3 For the strong vengeance of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and in Judah, till he casted them away from his face. And Zedekiah went away from the king of Babylon.

4 Forsooth it was done in the ninth year of his realm, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem; and they besieged it, and builded against it strongholds in compass.

5 And the city was besieged, till to the eleventh year of the realm of Zedekiah.

6 Forsooth in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, hunger held the city; and foods were not to the people of the land.

7 And the city was broken, and all men warriors thereof fled; and they went out of the city in the night, by the way of the gate, which is betwixt two walls, and leadeth to the garden of the king, while [the] Chaldees besieged the city in compass; and they went forth by the way that leadeth into desert.

8 Soothly the host of Chaldees pursued the king; and they took Zedekiah in desert, which is beside Jericho, and all his fellowship fled away from him.

9 And when they had taken the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and the king of Babylon spake dooms to him.

10 And the king of Babylon strangled the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; but also he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11 And he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in stocks; and the king of Babylon brought him into Babylon, and putted him in the house of the prison, till to the day of his death.

12 Forsooth in the ninth month, in the tenth day of the month, that is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, that stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.

13 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and he burnt with fire each great house.

14 And all the host of Chaldees, that was with the master of the chivalry, destroyed all the wall of Jerusalem by compass.

15 Soothly Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, translated of the poor men of the people, and of the residue common people, that was left in the city, and of the fleers-over, that fled over to the king of Babylon; and he translated or brought over other men of the multitude.

16 But Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, left of the poor men of the land vine-tillers, and earth-tillers.

17 Also Chaldees brake the brazen pillars, that were in the house of the Lord, and the foundaments, and the brazen washing vessel, that was in the house of the Lord; and they took all the metal of those [or of them] into Babylon.

18 And they took cauldrons, and fleshhooks, and psalteries, and vials, and mortars, and all brazen vessels, that were in service;

19 they took also [the] water pots, and vessels of incense, and pots, and basins, and candlesticks, and mortars, and little cups; how many ever golden, golden, and how many ever silveren, silveren.

20 The master of the chivalry took two pillars, and one washing vessel, and [the] twelve brazen calves, that were under the foundaments, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. No weight was of the metal of all these vessels.

21 Forsooth of the pillars, eighteen cubits of height were in one pillar, and a rope of twelve cubits encompassed it; certainly the thickness thereof was of four fingers, and was hollow within.

22 And brazen pommels were on ever either; and the height of one pommel was of five cubits; and works like nets and pomegranates were on the crown in compass, [all was brazen. Like manner was the second pillar, and the pomegranates; and they were upon the head in compass, all brazen, like manner of the tother pillar].

23 And the pomegranates were ninety and six hanging down, and all [the] pomegranates were encompassed with an hundred works like nets.

24 And the master of the chivalry took Seraiah, the first priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and [the] three keepers of the vestiary.

25 And of the city he took one chaste servant and honest, that was sovereign on the men warriors; and seven men of them that saw the face of the king, which were found in the cities; and a scribe, prince of knights, that proved [the] young knights; and sixty men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

26 Forsooth Nebuzaradan, the master of [the] chivalry, took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and killed them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and Judah was translated from his land.

28 This is the people, whom Nebu-chadnezzar translated in the seventh year; Jews, three thousand and three and twenty.

29 In the eighteenth year, Nebuchad-nezzar translated from Jerusalem eight hundred and two and thirty persons.

30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the master of [the] chivalry, translated seven hundred and five and forty persons of Jews. Therefore all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

31 And it was done, in the seven and thirtieth year of the passing over of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, raised [up] in that year of his realm the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah; and led him out of the house of the prison,

32 and spake good things with him. And he setted the throne of him [or put his throne] above the thrones of kings, that were after him in Babylon,

33 and changed the clothes of his prison. And Jehoiachin ate bread before him ever[more], in all the days of his life;

34 and his meats, everlasting meats were given to him of the king of Babylon, ordained by each day, till to the day of his death, in all the days of his life.

* CHAPTER 1:12 This word in Hebrew sounds like the Hebrew for ‘almond’.

* CHAPTER 22:24 Also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin.

* CHAPTER 25:26 Sheshach is another name for Babylon.

* CHAPTER 37:1 Also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin.

* CHAPTER 51:41 Sheshach is another name for Babylon.

HOSEA

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HOSEA

CHAPTER 1

1 The word of the Lord that was made to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah*, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Jehoash†, the king of Israel.

2 The beginning of the speaking to the Lord in Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go thou, take to thee a wife of fornications, and make to thee sons of fornications, for the land doing fornication shall do fornication, going away from the Lord.

3 And he went, and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and childed a son to him.

4 And the Lord said to him, Call thou the name of him Jezreel; for yet a little, and I shall visit the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and I shall make to rest the realm of the house of Israel.

5 And in that day, I shall all-break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

6 And she conceived yet, and childed a daughter. And the Lord said to him, Call thou the name of her Without mercy, for I shall no more lay to, for to have mercy on the house of Israel, but by forgetting I shall forget them.

7 And I shall have mercy on the house of Judah, and I shall save them in their Lord God; and I shall not save them in bow, and sword, and battle, and in horses, and in horsemen, either knights.

8 And she weaned her that was Without mercy. And she conceived, and childed a son to him.

9 And he said, Call thou his name Not my people, for ye shall not be my people, and I shall not be your God.

10 And the number of the sons of Israel shall be as gravel of the sea, which gravel is without measure, and it shall not be numbered; and it shall be in the place, where it shall be said to them, Ye be not my people; it shall be said to them, Ye be the sons of God living.

11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall set one head to themselves, and they shall go up from the earth, for the day of Jezreel is great.

CHAPTER 2

1 Say ye to your brethren, They be my people; and to your sisters, That that hath gotten mercy,

2 Deem ye your mother, deem ye, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Do she away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts;

3 lest peradventure I spoil her naked, and set her naked by the day of her nativity [or of her birth]. And I shall set [or put] her as a wilderness, and I shall ordain her as a land without a way, and I shall slay her in thirst.

4 And I shall not have mercy on the sons of her, for they be the sons of fornications;

5 for the mother of them did forni-cation, she is shamed that conceived them, for she said, I shall go after my lovers, that give [my] loaves to me, and my waters, and my wool, and my flax, and mine oil, and my drink.

6 For this thing, lo! I shall hedge thy way with thorns, and I shall hedge it with a wall, and she shall not find her paths.

7 And she shall follow her lovers, and shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, and shall not find [them]; and she shall say, I shall go, and turn again to my former husband, for it was well to me then more than now.

8 And this Jerusalem knew not, that I gave to her wheat, wine, and oil; and I multiplied silver and gold to her, of which they made offering to Baal.

9 Therefore I shall turn, and take my wheat in his time, and my wine in his time; and I shall deliver my wool, and my flax, by which they covered the shame thereof.

10 And now I shall show the folly of her before the eyes of her lovers, and a man shall not deliver her from mine hand;

11 and I shall make to cease all the joy thereof, the solemnity thereof, the new moon thereof, that is, the feast of the new moon, the sabbath thereof, and all the feast times thereof.

12 And I shall destroy the vinery [or the vineyard] thereof, [and her fig tree], of which she said, These be mine hires or wages which my lovers gave to me; and I shall set [or put] it into a forest, and a beast of the field shall eat it.

13 And I shall visit on it*for the days of Baalim, in which it burnt incense, and was adorned with her earrings, and her brooch, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.

14 For this thing lo! I shall give milk to it, and I shall bring it into wilder-ness, and I shall speak to the heart thereof.

15 And I shall give to it vine-tillers thereof of the same place, and the valley of Achor, that is, of troubling, for to open hope. And it shall sing there by the days of her youth, and by the days of her ascending or going up from the land of Egypt.

16 And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, she shall call me Mine husband, and she shall no more call me Baali;

17 and I shall take away the names of Baalim from her mouth, and she shall no more have mind of the names of those.

18 And I shall smite to them a bond of peace in that day, with the beast of the field, and with the bird of the air, and with the creeping beast of the earth. And I shall all-break bow, and sword, and battle from [the] earth; and I shall make them to sleep trustily.

19 And I shall spouse thee to me without end; and I shall spouse thee to me in rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and in doom, and in mercy, and in merciful doings.

20 And I shall spouse thee to me in faith; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

21 And it shall be, in that day I shall hear, saith the Lord, and I shall hear heavens, and those shall hear the earth;

22 and the earth shall hear wheat, and wine, and oil, and these shall hear Jezreel.

23 And I shall sow it to me into a land, and I shall have mercy on it that was without mercy. And I shall say to that, that is not my people, Thou art my people, and it shall say, Thou art my God.

CHAPTER 3

1 And the Lord said to me, Yet go thou, and love a woman loved of a friend, and a woman adulteress, as the Lord loveth the sons of Israel; and they behold to alien gods, and love the dregs of grapes.

2 And I delved it to me by fifteen pence, and by a cor of barley, and by half a cor of barley.

3 And I said to it, By many days thou shalt abide me; thou shalt not do fornication, and thou shalt not be with an husband, but also I shall abide thee.

4 For by many days the sons of Israel shall sit without king, without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without priest’s cloth, and without teraphim, that is, images.

5 And after these things the sons of Israel shall turn again, and shall seek their Lord God, and David, their king; and they shall dread at the Lord, and at the good of him, in the last days.

CHAPTER 4

1 Sons of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord, for why doom is to the Lord with the dwellers of earth; for why truth is not, and mercy is not, and knowing of the Lord is not in earth.

2 Curse, and leasing, and man-quelling, and theft, and adultery flowed, and blood touched blood.

3 For this thing the earth shall mourn, and each that dwelleth in that land shall be sick, in the beast of the field, and in the bird of the air; but also the fishes of the sea shall be gathered together.

4 Nevertheless each man deem not, and a man be not reproved; for thy people is as they that against-say the priest.

5 And thou shalt fall today, and the prophet also shall fall with thee; in the night I made thy mother to be still.

6 My people was still, for it had not knowing; for thou hast put away knowing, I shall put thee away, that thou use not priesthood to me; and for thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, also I shall forget thy sons.

7 By the multitude of them, so they sinned against me. I shall change the glory of them into shame.

8 They shall eat the sins of my people, and they shall raise the souls of them to the wickedness of them.

9 And it shall be, as the people, so the priest; and I shall visit on him the ways of him, and I shall yield to him the thoughts of him.

10 And they shall eat, and they shall not be [ful] filled; they did fornication, and ceased not, for they forsook the Lord in not keeping his word.

11 Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness do away the heart.

12 My people asked in his tree, and the staff thereof told to it; for the spirit of fornication deceived them, and they did fornication, going away from their God.

13 On the heads, either tops, of mountains they made sacrifice, and on the little hills they burnt incense under an oak, and a poplar, and a terebinth, for the shadow thereof was good. Therefore your daughters shall do fornication, and your wives shall be adulteresses.

14 I shall not visit on your daughters, when they do fornication, and on your wives, when they do adultery; for they lived with whores, and made sacrifice with men turned into women’s conditions. And the people that understandeth not, shall be beaten.

15 If thou, Israel, doest fornication, namely Judah, trespass not; and do not ye enter into Gilgal, and go ye not into Bethaven, neither swear ye, The Lord liveth.

16 For as a wild cow Israel bowed away; now the Lord shall feed them as a lamb in broadness.

17 Ephraim*is the partner of idols, leave thou him;

18 the feast of them is parted. By fornication they did fornication, the defenders thereof loved to bring shame.

19 The spirit bound him in his wings, and they shall be ashamed of their sacrifices.

CHAPTER 5

1 Priests, hear ye this, and the house of Israel, perceive ye, and the house of the king, hearken ye; for why doom is to you, for ye be made a snare to looking afar, and as a net spread abroad on Tabor.

2 And ye bowed down sacrifices into depth; and I am the learner of all them.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now Ephraim did fornication, Israel is defouled.

4 They shall not give their thoughts that they turn again to their God; for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they knew not the Lord.

5 And the boast of Israel shall answer into the face thereof, and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their wickedness; also Judah shall fall with them.

6 In their flocks and in their droves, they go to seek the Lord, and they shall not find; he is taken away from them.

7 They trespassed against the Lord, for they engendered alien sons; now the month shall devour them with their parts.

8 Sound ye with a clarion in Gibeah, with a trump in Ramah; yell ye in Bethaven, after thy back, Benjamin.

9 Ephraim shall be into desolation, in the day of amending, and in the lineages of Israel I showed faith.

10 The princes of Judah be made as those taking over the term; I shall shed out on them my wrath as water.

11 Ephraim suffereth false challenge, and is broken by doom; for he began to go after filths.

12 And I am as a moth to Ephraim, and as rot to the house of Judah.

13 And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his bond. And Ephraim went to Assur, and sent to the king avenger. And he may not save you, neither he may unbind the bond from you.

14 For I am as a lioness to Ephraim, and as a whelp of a lion to the house of Judah. I myself shall take, and go, and take away, and none is that shall deliver.

15 I shall go, and turn again to my place, till ye fail, and seek my face. In their tribulation they shall rise early to me.

CHAPTER 6

1 Come ye, and turn we again to the Lord; for he took, and shall heal us; he shall smite, and shall make us whole.

2 He shall quicken us after two days, and in the third day he shall raise us, and we shall live in his sight.

3 We shall know, and follow, that we know the Lord. His going out is made ready at the morrowtide, and he shall come as a rain to us, which is timeful and lateful to the earth.

4 Ephraim, what shall I do to thee? Judah, what shall I do to thee? Your mercy is as a cloud of the morrow-tide, and as dew passing forth early.

5 For this thing, I [have] hewed them in prophets, I killed them in the words of my mouth; and thy dooms shall go out as light.

6 For I would or desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and I would the knowing of God, more than burnt sacrifices.

7 But they as Adam brake the covenant; there they trespassed against me.

8 Gilead, the city of them that work idol, is supplanted with blood;

9 and as the cheeks of men that be thieves. So be the partners of priests slaying in the way men going from Shechem, for they wrought great trespass.

10 In the house of Israel I saw an horrible thing; there the fornications of Ephraim. Israel is defouled;

11 but also thou, Judah, set [the] harvest to thee, when I shall turn the captivity of my people.

CHAPTER 7

1 When I would heal Israel, the wickedness of Ephraim was showed, and the malice of Samaria was showed, for they wrought leasing. And a night thief entered, and robbed; a day thief was withoutforth.

2 And lest they say in their hearts, that I have mind on all the malice of them, now their findings have encom-passed them, those be made before my face.

3 In their malice they gladded the king, and in their leasings the princes.

4 All that do adultery, be as an oven made hot of a baker. The city rested a little from the meddling [or mingling together] of sourdough, till all was made sour.

5 The day of our king, the princes began to be wild of wine; he stretched forth his hand with scorners.

6 For they applied or made ready their heart as an oven, when he setted treason to them. All the night he slept while baking them; in the morrowtide he was made hot, as the fire of flame.

7 All were made hot as an oven, and they devoured their judges. All the kings of them fell down, and none is among them that crieth to me.

8 Ephraim himself was meddled [or mingled together] among peoples; Ephraim was made a loaf baken under ashes, which is not turned again.

9 Aliens ate the strength of him, and he knew not; but also hoar hairs were shed out in him, and he knew not.

10 And the pride of Israel shall be made low in the face thereof; they turned not again to their Lord God, and they sought not him in all these things.

11 And Ephraim was made like to a culver deceived, not having heart. They called Egypt to help, they went to Assyrians.

12 And when they be gone forth, I shall spread abroad on them my net, I shall draw them down as a bird of the air. I shall beat them, by the hearing of the company of them.

13 Woe to them for they went away from me; they shall be destroyed, for they trespassed against me. And I again-bought them, and they spake leasings against me.

14 And they cried not to me in their heart, but yelled in their beds. They chewed cud on wheat, and wine, and they went away from me.

15 And I taught, and comforted the arms of them, and they thought malice against me.

16 They turned again, that they should be without yoke; they be made as a guileful bow. The princes of them shall fall down by sword for the strong vengeance of their tongue; this is the scorning of them in the land of Egypt.

CHAPTER 8

1 A trump be in thy throat, as an eagle on the house of the Lord; for that that they went over my bond of peace, and brake my law.

2 They called me to help, A! my God, we Israel have known thee.

3 Israel hath cast away good [thing], the enemy shall pursue him.

4 They reigned, and not of me; they were princes, and I knew not. They made their gold and silver into idols to them, that they should perish.

5 A! Samaria, thy calf is cast away; my strong vengeance is wroth against them. How long may they not be cleansed?

6 for also it is of Israel. A craftsman made it, and it is not a god; for the calf of Samaria shall be into webs of araneida or spiders.

7 For they shall sow wind, and they shall reap whirlwind. A stalk standing up is not in them, the seed shall not make meal; that if also it maketh meal, aliens shall eat it.

8 Israel is devoured; now Israel is made as an unclean vessel among nations,

9 for they ascended or went up to Assur. Ephraim is a wild ass, solitary to himself. They gave gifts to [their] lovers;

10 but also with meed they hired nations. Now I shall gather them together, and they shall rest a little from burden of the king and of princes.

11 For Ephraim multiplied altars to do sin, altars were made to him into trespass.

12 I shall write to them my manyfold laws, that be areckoned as alien laws.

13 They shall bring sacrifices, they shall offer, and eat fleshes; and the Lord shall not receive those [or them]. Now he shall have mind on the wickednesses of them, and he shall visit the sins of them; they shall turn into Egypt.

14 And Israel forgat his maker, and builded temples to his idols, and Judah multiplied strong cities; and I shall send fire into the cities of him, and it shall devour the houses of him.

CHAPTER 9

1 Israel, do not thou be glad, do not thou make full out joy as other peoples; for thou hast done fornication, going away from thy God. Thou lovedest meed on all the cornfloors of wheat.

2 The cornfloor and presser shall not feed them, and wine shall lie to them.

3 They shall not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim turned again in to Egypt, and ate defouled thing among Assyrians.

4 They shall not offer wine to the Lord, and they shall not please him. The sacrifices of them be as bread of mourners; all that shall eat it shall be defouled. For the bread of them is to the life of them; they shall not enter into the house of the Lord.

5 What shall ye do in the solemn day, in the day of the feast of the Lord?

6 For lo! they be gone out from destroying. Egypt shall gather them together, Memphis shall bury them. A nettle shall inherit the desirable silver of them, a clote shall be in the tabernacles of them.

7 Days of visitation be come, days of yielding be come. Know ye, that Israel is a fool, a mad prophet, a spiritual man, for the multitude of thy wickedness is also the multitude of madness.

8 The beholder of Ephraim with my God is a prophet; a snare of falling is made now on all the ways of him, strong vengeance is in the house of his God.

9 They sinned deeply, as in the days of Gibeah. The Lord shall have mind on the wickedness of them, and shall visit the sins of them.

10 I found Israel as grapes in desert, I saw the fathers of them as the first apples of a fig tree, in the top thereof; but they entered to Baalpeor, and were alienated [away] in[to] confusion, and they were made abominable as those things which they loved.

11 Ephraim as a bird flew away; the glory of them is of child-bearing, and of the womb, and of conceiving.

12 That if they nurse their sons, I shall make them without children among men. But also woe to them, when I shall go away from them.

13 I saw that Ephraim was as Tyre, founded in fairness; and Ephraim shall lead out his sons to the slayer.

14 Lord, give thou to them; what shalt thou give to them? give thou to them a womb without children, and dry teats.

15 All the wickednesses of them be in Gilgal, for there I had them hateful; for the malice of their findings. I shall cast them out of mine house; I shall not lay to, that I love them. All the princes of them go away from me.

16 Ephraim is smitten, the root of them is dried up; they shall not make fruit. That though they engender, I shall slay the most loved things of their womb.

17 My God shall cast them away, for they heard not him; and they shall be of unstable dwelling among nations.

CHAPTER 10

1 Israel was a vine full of boughs, fruit was made even to him; by [or after] the multitude of his fruit he multiplied altars, by the plenty of his land he was plenteous, [or after the plenty of his land he was plenteous in simulacra, or false gods].

2 In simulacra the heart of them is parted [or The heart of them is parted], now they shall perish. He shall break the simulacra of them, he shall rob [or spoil] the altars of them.

3 For then they shall say, A king is not to us, for we dread[ed] not the Lord. And what shall a king do to us?

4 Speak ye words of unprofitable vision, and ye shall smite bond of peace with leasing; and doom as bitterness shall burgeon on the furrows of the field.

5 The dwellers of Samaria worship-ped the kine of Bethaven. For the people thereof mourned on that calf, and the keepers of the house thereof; they made full out joy on it in the glory thereof, for it passed from that people.

6 For also it was borne to Assur, a gift to the king avenger. Confusion shall take Ephraim, and Israel shall be shamed in his will.

7 Samaria made his king to pass as froth on the face of water.

8 And the high things of idol, the sin of Israel, shall be lost. A clote and a briar shall ascend [or go up] on the altars of them. And they shall say to mountains, Cover ye us, and to little hills, Fall ye down on us.

9 From the days of Gibeah Israel sinned; there they stood. Battle shall not overtake them in Gibeah, on the sons of wickedness.

10 By my desire I shall chastise them; peoples shall be gathered together on them, when they shall be chastised for their two wickednesses.

11 Ephraim is a cow calf, taught for to love threshing; and I went on the fairness of the neck thereof. I shall go upon Ephraim. Judah shall ear, and Jacob shall break furrows to himself.

12 Sow ye to you rightfulness [or rightwiseness] in truth, and reap ye in the mouth of mercy, and make ye new to you a field newly brought to tilth. Forsooth time is to seek the Lord, when he cometh, that shall teach you rightfulness [or rightwiseness].

13 Ye have eared unfaithfulness, ye have reaped wickedness, ye have eaten the corn of leasing. For thou trustedest in thy ways, and in the multitude of thy strong men.

14 Noise shall rise in thy people, and all thy strongholds shall be destroyed; as Shalman was destroyed of the house of him, that took vengeance on Betharbel; in the day of battle, when the mother was hurtled down on the sons.

15 So Bethel did to you, for the face of malice of your wickednesses. As the morrowtide passeth, the king of Israel shall pass forth.

CHAPTER 11

1 For Israel was a child, and I loved him; and from Egypt I called my son.

2 They called them, so they went away from the face of them. They offered to Baalim, and made sacrifice to simulacra.

3 And I as a nurse of Ephraim bare them in mine arms, and they knew not, that I kept them.

4 I shall draw them in the ropes of Adam, in the bonds of charity. And I shall be to them as he that enhanceth the yoke on the cheeks of them; and I bowed down to him that he should eat.

5 He shall not turn again into the land of Egypt. And Assur, he shall be king of him, for they would not turn again to me.

6 A sword began in the cities thereof, and it shall waste the chosen men thereof, and shall eat the heads of them.

7 And my people shall hang, at my coming again. But a yoke shall be put to them altogether, that shall not be taken away.

8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? shall I defend thee, Israel? how shall I give thee up? As Admah I shall set thee; as Zeboiim. Mine heart is turned within me; my repentance is disturbed [or troubled] altogether.

9 I shall not do the strong vengeance of my wrath. I shall not turn, to lose Ephraim; for I am God, and not man. I am Holy in the midst of thee, and I shall not enter into a city.

10 They shall go after the Lord. He shall roar as a lion, for he shall roar, and the sons of the sea shall dread.

11 And they shall fly away as a bird from Egypt, and as a culver from the land of Assyrians. And I shall set them in their houses, saith the Lord.

12 Ephraim compassed me in denying, the house of Israel in guile. But Judah a witness went down with God, and with faithful saints.

CHAPTER 12

1 Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth heat. All day he multiplieth leasing, and destroying; and he made bond of peace with Assyrians, and bare oil into Egypt.

2 Therefore the doom of the Lord is with Judah, and visiting is on Jacob; by the ways of him, and by the findings of him, he shall yield to him.

3 In the womb he supplanted his brother, and in his strength he wrestled with the angel.

4 And he was strong to the angel, and was comforted, [or And he had victory at the angel, and he was comforted]; he wept, and prayed to him; in Bethel he found him, and there he spake with us.

5 And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, is the memorial of him.

6 And thou shalt turn to thy God. Keep thou mercy and doom, and hope thou ever[more] in thy God.

7 Canaan loved false challenge, a guileful balance in his hand.

8 And Ephraim said, Nevertheless I am made rich, I have found an idol to me; all my travails shall not find to me the wickedness, which I sinned.

9 And I am thy Lord God from the land of Egypt; yet I shall make thee to sit in tabernacles, as in the days of feast.

10 And I spake by prophets, and I multiplied vision, either prophesy, and I was likened in the hand of prophets.

11 If Gilead worshippeth an idol, therefore they err in vain offering to oxes in Gilgal; for why and the altars of them shall be as heaps on the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and served, either kept sheep for a wife.

13 But by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept.

14 Ephraim stirred me to wrathfulness in his bitternesses, and the blood of him shall come on him; and his Lord shall restore to him the shame of him.

CHAPTER 13

1 For Ephraim spake, hideousness assailed Israel; and he trespassed in Baal, and was dead.

2 And now they added to do sin, and made to them a molten image of their silver, as the likeness of idols; all is the making of craftsmen. To these they say, A! ye men, offer, and worship calves.

3 Therefore they shall be as a morrowtide cloud, and as the dew of morrowtide, that passeth forth, as dust ravished by whirlwind from the cornfloor, and as smoke of a chimney.

4 Forsooth I am thy Lord God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt not know God, except me, and no saviour is, except me.

5 I knew thee in the desert, in the land of wilderness.

6 By their pastures they were [ful] filled, and had abundance; they raised [up] their heart, and forgat me.

7 And I shall be as a lioness to them, as a leopard in the way of Assyrians.

8 I as a female bear, when the whelps be ravished, shall meet them; and shall all-break the inner things of the maw of them. And I as a lion shall waste them there; a beast of the field shall rend them.

9 Israel, thy perdition is of thee; thine help is only of me.

10 Where is thy king? mostly save he thee now in all thy cities; and where be thy judges, of which thou saidest, Give thou to me a king and princes?

11 I shall give to thee a king in my strong vengeance, and I shall take away in mine indignation.

12 The wickedness of Ephraim is bound together; his sin is hid.

13 The sorrows of a woman travailing of child shall come to him; he is a son not wise. For now he shall not stand in the defouling of sons.

14 I shall deliver them from the hand of death, and I shall again-buy them from death. Thou death, I shall be thy death; thou hell, I shall be thy morsel. Comfort is hid from mine eyes,

15 for he shall part betwixt brethren. The Lord shall bring a burning wind, going up from desert; and it shall make dry the veins thereof, and it shall make desolate the wells thereof; and he shall ravish the treasure of each desirable vessel.

16 Samaria perish, for it stirred his God to bitterness; perish it by sword. The little children of them be hurtled down, and the women with child thereof be carved.

CHAPTER 14

1 Israel, be thou turned again to thy Lord God, for thou falledest down in thy wickedness.

2 Take ye words with you, and be ye turned again to the Lord; and say ye to him, Do thou away all wicked-ness, and take thou good; and we shall yield the calves of our lips.

3 Assur shall not save us, we shall not go upon horse; and we shall no more say, Our gods be the works of our hands; for thou shalt have mercy on that motherless child, which is in thee.

4  And the Lord saith, I shall make whole the sorrows of them; I shall love them willfully, for my strong vengeance is turned away from them. [I shall heal the contrition of them; I shall love them of my free will, for my strong vengeance is turned away from them.]

5 I shall be as dew, and Israel shall burgeon as a lily. And the root thereof shall break out as of the Lebanon;

6 the branches thereof shall go forth. And the glory thereof shall be as an olive tree, and the odour thereof shall be as of the Lebanon.

7 They shall be turned again, and sit in the shadow of him; they shall live by wheat, and shall burgeon as a vine. The memorial thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim, what shall idols do more to me? I shall hear him, and I shall address him as a green fir tree. Thy fruit is found of me.

9 Who is wise, and shall understand these things? who is understanding, and shall know these things? For the ways of the Lord be rightful, and just men shall go in those [or them]; but trespassers shall fall in those [or them].

* CHAPTER 1:1 Also known as Azariah.

† CHAPTER 1:1 Also known as Joash.

* CHAPTER 2:13 In Chapters 2 and 3 of Hosea, where the “Later Version” uses ‘it’ and ‘thereof’, the “Early Version” and other translations use ‘she’ and ‘her’.

* CHAPTER 4:17 Throughout Hosea (and also Isaiah), Ephraim is another name for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, consisting of the Ten Tribes.

JOEL

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JOEL

CHAPTER 1

1 The word of the Lord is this, that was made to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Eld [or old] men, hear ye this, and all dwellers of the land, perceive ye with ears. If this thing was done in your days, either in the days of your fathers.

3 Of this thing tell ye to your sons, and your sons tell to their sons, and the sons of them tell to another generation.

4 A locust ate the residue of a wortworm, and a bruchus ate the residue of a locust, and rust ate the residue of a bruchus.

5 Drunken men, wake ye, and weep; and yell ye, all that drink wine in sweetness; for it perished from your mouth.

6 For why a folk strong and unnumberable ascended [or went up] on my land. The teeth thereof be as the teeth of a lion, and the cheek teeth thereof be as of a whelp of a lion.

7 It setted my vinery [or put my vineyard] into desert, and took away the rind of my fig tree. It made naked and spoiled that vinery, and casted forth; the branches thereof be made white.

8 Wail thou, as a virgin girded with a sackcloth on the husband of her time of marriage.

9 Sacrifice and moist sacrifice perished from the house of the Lord; and priests, the ministers of the Lord, mourned.

10 The country is made bare of people. The earth mourned; for wheat is destroyed. Wine is shamed, and oil was sick, either failed.

11 The earth-tillers be shamed, the vine-tillers yelled on wheat and barley; for the ripe corn of the field is perished.

12 The vinery is shamed [or the vine-yard is confounded]; and the fig tree was sick. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fir tree, and all the trees of the field dried up; for joy is shamed from the sons of men.

13 Ye priests, gird you, and wail; ye ministers of the altar, yell. Ministers of my God, enter ye, lie ye in sackcloth; for why sacrifice and moist sacrifice perished from the house of your God.

14 Hallow ye fasting, call ye the company, gather ye together eld [or old] men, and all dwellers of the earth, into the house of your God; and cry ye to the Lord,

15 A! A! A! to the day; for the day of the Lord is nigh, and shall come as a tempest from the Almighty.

16 Whether foods perished not before your eyes; gladness and full out joy perished from the house of your God?

17 Beasts waxed rotten in their drit. Barns be destroyed, cellars be destroy-ed, for wheat is shamed.

18 Why wailed a beast? why lowed the flocks of oxen and kine? for no pasture is to them; but also the flocks of sheep perished.

19 Lord, I shall cry to thee, for fire ate the fair things of desert, and flame burnt all the trees of the country.

20 But also beasts of the field, as a cornfloor thirsting rain, beheld [up] to thee; for the wells of waters be dried up, and fire devoured the fair things of desert.

CHAPTER 2

1 Sing ye with a trump in Zion, yell ye in mine holy hill [or mountain]. All the dwellers of earth be disturbed [or troubled]; for the day of the Lord cometh,

2 for the day of darknesses and of mist is nigh, the day of cloud and of whirlwind. These locusts be as the morrowtide spread abroad on hills, a much people and strong. None was like it from the beginning, and after it shall not be, till into years of generation and of generation.

3 Before the face thereof shall be fire devouring, and after it shall be burning flame; as a garden of liking or Eden the land shall be before them, and wilderness of desert shall be after them, and none is that shall escape them.

4 The looking of them shall be as the looking of horses; and as horsemen, so they shall run.

5 As the sound of carts on the heads [or tops] of hills they shall skip; as the sound of the flame of fire devouring stubble, as a strong people made ready to battle.

6 Peoples shall be tormented of the face thereof, all faces shall be as driven into a pot.

7 As strong men they shall run, as men warriors they shall ascend on the wall. These men shall go in their ways, and they shall not bow away from their paths.

8 Each man shall not make strait his brother, each man shall go in his own path; but also they shall fall down by windows, and shall not be hurt.

9 They shall enter into the city, they shall run on the wall; they shall ascend on houses, they shall enter as a night thief by windows.

10 The earth trembled of his face, heavens were moved, the sun and the moon were made dark, and stars withdrew their shining.

11 And the Lord gave his voice before the face of his host, for his hosts be full many; for those be strong, and do the word of him. For the day of the Lord is great, and full fearedful, and who shall suffer it?

12 Now therefore saith the Lord, Be ye turned again to me in all your heart, in fasting, and weeping, and wailing;

13 and carve ye your hearts, and not your clothes, and be ye turned again to your Lord God, for he is benign, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and abiding, either forgiving, on malice.

14 Who knoweth, if God be turned again, and forgive, and leave blessing after him? sacrifice and moist sacrifice to our Lord God.

15 Sing ye with a trump in Zion, hallow ye fasting, call ye a company;

16 gather together the people, hallow ye the church, gather ye together eld [or old] men, gather ye together little children, and those sucking the breasts; a spouse go out of his bed, and a spousess out of her chamber.

17 Priests, the ministers of the Lord, shall weep betwixt the porch and the altar, and shall say, Lord! spare thou, spare thy people, and give thou not thine heritage into shame, that nations be lords of them. Why say they among peoples, Where is the God of them?

18 The Lord loved jealously his land, and spared his people.

19 And the Lord answered, and said to his people, Lo! I shall send to you wheat, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be [ful] filled with those; and I shall no more give you to be a shame among heathen men.

20 And I shall make him that is at the north far from you; and I shall cast him out into a land without way, and desert; his face against the east sea, and the last part thereof at the last sea; and the stink thereof shall ascend or go up, and the root thereof shall ascend [or go up], for he did proudly.

21 Earth, do not thou dread, make thou full out joy, and be glad; for the Lord magnified that he should do.

22 Beasts of the country, do not ye dread, for the fair things of desert burgeoned; for the tree brought his fruit, the fig tree and vinery [or the vineyard] gave their strength.

23 And the sons of Zion, make ye full out joy, and be ye glad in your Lord God, for he gave to you a teacher of rightfulness [or rightwiseness], and he shall make morrowtide rain and eventide rain to come down to you, as in the beginning.

24 And cornfloors shall be [full-]filled of wheat, and pressers shall flow with wine and oil.

25 And I shall yield to you the years which the locust, bruchus, and rust, and wortworm, my great strength, ate, which I sent into you.

26 And ye shall eat eating, and ye shall be [ful] filled; and ye shall praise the name of your Lord God, that made marvels with you; and my people shall not be shamed without end.

27 And ye shall know, that I am in the midst of Israel; and I am your Lord God, and none is more; and my people shall not be shamed without end.

28 And it shall be, after these things I shall shed [or pour] out my spirit on each man; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your eld [or old] men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

29 But also I shall shed [or pour] out my spirit on my servants, and hand-maids, in those days;

30 and I shall give great wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and the heat of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darknesses, and the moon into blood, before that the great day and horrible of the Lord come.

32 And it shall be, each that calleth to help the name of the Lord shall be safe; for why salvation, either saving, shall be in the hill of Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord said, and in the residue men, which the Lord calleth.

CHAPTER 3

1 For lo! in those days, and in that time, when I shall turn the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem,

2 I shall gather all folks, and I shall lead them [forth] into the valley of Jehoshaphat*; and I shall dispute there with them on my people, and mine heritage Israel, which they scattered among nations; and they parted my land,

3 and sent lot on my people; and they setted [or putted] a knave child in the bordel house, and sold a damsel for wine, that they should drink.

4 But what to me and to you, thou Tyre, and Sidon, and each end of Palestine or Philistia? Whether ye shall yield avenging to me? and if ye venge you against me, soon swiftly I shall yield while to you onto your head.

5 Ye took away my silver and gold, and ye brought my desirable things and fairest things into your temples of idols.

6 And ye sold the sons of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, to the sons of Greeks, that ye should make them far from their coasts.

7 Lo! I shall raise them from the place in which ye sold them; and I shall turn your yielding into your head.

8 And I shall sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they shall sell them to Sabeans, a far-off folk, for the Lord spake.

9 Cry ye this thing among heathen men, hallow ye battle, raise ye up strong men; all men warriors, nigheth, and ascend or goeth up.

10 Beat ye together your plows† into swords, and your mattocks, either pickaxes, into spears; a feeble man say, that I am strong.

11 All folks, break ye out, and come from compass about, and be ye gathered together; there the Lord shall make thy strong men to die.

12 Folks rise together, and ascend or goeth up into the valley of Jehoshaphat; for I shall sit there, to deem all folks in compass.

13 Send ye sickles, either scythes, for [the] ripe corn waxed; come ye, and go ye down, for the presser is full; pressers be plenteous, for the malice of them is multiplied.

14 Peoples, peoples in the valley of cutting down [or the valley of concision, or slaying together]; for the day of the Lord is nigh in the valley of cutting down [or the valley of concision].

15 The sun and the moon be made dark, and stars withdraw their shining.

16 And the Lord shall roar from Zion, and shall give his voice from Jerusalem, and heavens and earth shall be moved; and the Lord is the hope of his people, and the strength of the sons of Israel.

17 And ye shall know, that I am your Lord God, dwelling in Zion, in mine holy hill; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and aliens shall no more pass by it.

18 And it shall be, in that day, mountains shall drop with sweetness, and little hills shall flow with milk, and waters shall go by all the rivers of Judah; and a well shall go out of the house of the Lord, and shall moist the strand of thorns.

19 Egypt shall be into desolation, and Idumea into desert of perdition; for that that they did wickedly against the sons of Judah, and shedded out innocent blood in their land.

20 And Judah shall be inhabited without end, and Jerusalem into generation and into generation.

21 And I shall cleanse the blood of them, which I had not cleansed; and the Lord shall dwell in Zion.

* CHAPTER 3:2 Also known as the Kidron Valley; it is the setting for the Last Judgement, and so it is also called the ‘Valley of Doom’.

† CHAPTER 3:10 In other writings, Wycliffe renders this word as ‘plowghschares’ (‘plough/plowshares’).

MICAH

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MICAH

CHAPTER 1

1 The word of the Lord, which was made to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; which word he saw on Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear ye, all peoples, and the earth perceive, and the plenty thereof, and be the Lord God to you into a witness, the Lord from his holy temple.

3 For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, and shall come down, and shall tread on high things of earth.

4 And mountains shall be wasted under him, and valleys shall be cut, as wax from the face of fire, and as waters that run down into a pit.

5 In the great trespass of Jacob is all this thing, and in the sins of the house of Israel. Which is the great trespass of Jacob? whether not Samaria? and which be the high things of Judah? whether not Jerusalem?

6 And I shall put Samaria as an heap of stones in the field, when a vine-yard is planted; and I shall draw away the stones thereof into a valley, and I shall show the foundaments thereof.

7 And all graven images thereof shall be beaten together, and all hires thereof shall be burnt in fire; and I shall put all the idols thereof into perdition; for of the hires of an whore those be gathered, and to hire of an whore those shall turn again.

8 On this thing I shall wail and yell, I shall go spoiled and naked; I shall make wailing as of dragons, and mourning as of ostriches.

9 For wound thereof is despaired; for it came till to Judah, it touched the gate of my people, till to Jerusalem.

10 In Gath do not ye tell, by tears weep ye not; in the house of dust with dust altogether sprinkle you.

11 And ye of a fair dwelling, pass to you, which is confounded with evil fame; it is not gone out, which dwelleth in the going out; a nigh house shall take of you wailing, which stood to itself.

12 For it is made sick [in] to good, which dwelleth in bitternesses. For evil came down from the Lord into the gate of Jerusalem,

13 the noise of [a] four-horsed cart, of dread to the people dwelling at Lachish. It is the beginning of sin of the daughter of Zion, for the great trespasses of Israel be found in thee.

14 Therefore he shall give warriors on the heritage of Gath, on the houses of leasing into deceit to kings of Israel.

15 Yet I shall bring an heir to thee, that dwellest in Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come till to the cave at Adullam.

16 Be thou made bald, and be thou clipped on the sons of thy delights; alarge thy baldness as an eagle, for they be led captive from thee.

CHAPTER 2

1 Woe to you, that think unprofitable thing, and work evil in your beds; in the morrowtide light they do it, for the hand of them is against God.

2 They coveted fields, and took violently; and ravished houses, and falsely challenged a man and his house, a man and his heritage.

3 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think on this meine evil, from which ye shall not take away your necks; and ye shall not walk proud, for the worst time is.

4 In that day a parable shall be taken on you, and a song shall be sung with sweetness of men, saying, By robbing we be destroyed; a part of my people is changed; how shall he go away from me, when he turneth again that shall part your countries?

5 For this thing, none shall be to thee sending a little cord of lot, in company of the Lord.

6 A! thou Israel, speak ye not speaking; it shall not drop a word on these men, confusion shall not catch,

7 saith the house of Jacob. Whether the Spirit of the Lord is abridged, either such be the thoughts of him? Whether my words be not good, with him that goeth rightly?

8 And on the contrary, my people rose together into an adversary; ye took away the mantle above the coat, and ye turned into battle them that went simply.

9 Ye casted the women of my people out of the house of their delights; from the little children of them ye took away my praising without end.

10 Rise ye, and go, for here ye have no rest; for the uncleanness thereof it shall be corrupted with the worst rot.

11 I would that I were not a man having spirit, and rather that I spake a leasing. I shall drop a word to thee into wine, and into drunkenness; and this people shall be, on whom it is dropped.

12 With gathering I shall gather Jacob; I shall lead together thee all into one, the remnants of Israel. I shall put him together, as a flock in the fold; as sheep in the middle of folds they shall make noise, because of multitude of men.

13 For he shall go up showing the way before them; they shall depart, and pass the gate, and shall go out thereby; and the king of them shall pass before them, and the Lord in the head of them.

CHAPTER 3

1 And I said, Ye princes of Jacob, and dukes of the house of Israel, hear. Whether it is not yours for to know doom,

2 which hate good, and love evil? Which violently take away the skins of them from above them, and the flesh of them from above the bones of them.

3 Which ate the flesh of my people, and uncovered, [or flayed off], the skin of them from above; and brake altogether the bones of them, and cutted them up altogether as in a cauldron, and as flesh in the middle of a pot.

4 Then they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them; and he shall hide his face from them in that time, as they did wickedly in their findings.

5 The Lord saith these things on the prophets that deceive my people, that bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if any man giveth not in the mouth of them anything, they hallow battle on him.

6 Therefore night shall be to you for vision, or prophecy, and darknesses to you for divination; and the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be made dark on them.

7 And they shall be confounded that see visions, and diviners shall be confounded, and all shall cover their cheers, for it is not the answer of God.

8 Nevertheless I am filled with strength of the Spirit of the Lord, and with doom and power, that I show to Jacob his great trespass, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear these things, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and doomsmen of the house of Israel, which loathe doom, and pervert all right things;

10 which build Zion in bloods, and Jerusalem in wickedness.

11 The princes thereof deemed for gifts, and [the] priests thereof taught for hire, and the prophets thereof divined for money; and on the Lord they rested, and said, Whether the Lord is not in the middle of us? evils shall not come on us.

12 For this thing because of you, Zion as a field shall be eared; and Jerusalem shall be as an heap of stones, and the hill of the temple shall be into high things of woods.

CHAPTER 4

1 And in the last days, the hill of the house of the Lord shall be made ready in the top of [the] hills, and shall be high over small hills. And peoples shall flow to him,

2 and many peoples shall hasten, and shall say, Come ye, ascend or go we up to the hill of the Lord, and to the house of God of Jacob; and he shall teach us of his ways, and we shall go in his paths. For the law shall go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;

3 and he shall deem betwixt many peoples, and shall chastise strong folks till into far. And they shall beat together their swords into shares*, and their spears into pickaxes; folk shall not take sword against folk, and they shall no more learn to fight.

4 And a man shall sit under his vineyard, and under his fig tree; and there shall not be that shall make afeared, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts spake.

5 For all peoples shall go, each man in the name of his Lord God; but we shall walk in the name of our Lord God into the world, and over.

6 In that day, saith the Lord, I shall gather the halting, and I shall gather her that I casted away, and whom I tormented I shall comfort.

7 And I shall put the halting into remnants, and her that travailed in[to] a strong folk. And the Lord shall reign on them in the hill of Zion, from this time now and till into without end.

8 And thou, dark tower of the flock of the daughter of Zion, unto thee he shall come, and the first power shall come, the realm of the daughter of Jerusalem.

9 Now why art thou drawn together with mourning? whether a king is not to thee, either thy counsellor perished? for sorrow hath taken thee as a woman travailing of child.

10 Thou daughter of Zion, make sorrow, and haste, as a woman travailing of child; for now thou shalt go out of the city, and shalt dwell in the country, and shalt come unto Babylon; there thou shalt be delivered, there the Lord shall again-buy thee, from the hand of thine enemies.

11 And now many folks be gathered on thee, which say, Be it stoned, and our eye behold into Zion.

12 Forsooth they knew not the thoughts of the Lord, and understood not the counsel of him, for he gathered them as the hay of the field.

13 Rise thou, and thresh, daughter of Zion, for I shall put thine horn of iron, and I shall put thy nails brazen; and thou shalt lose, either waste, many peoples, and shalt slay to the Lord for an offering the ravens of them, and the strength of them to the Lord of all earth.

CHAPTER 5

1 Now thou, daughter of a thief, shalt be destroyed; they putted on us besieging, in a rod they shall smite the cheek of the judge of Israel.

2 And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, art little in the thousands of Judah; he that is the lordly governor in Israel shall go out of thee to me; and the going out of him is from [the] beginning, from days of everlastingness.

3 For this thing he shall give them up, till to the time in which the woman travailing of child shall bear child, and the remnants of his brethren shall be turned again to the sons of Israel.

4 And he shall stand, and shall feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of his Lord God; and they shall be converted, for now he shall be magnified till to the ends of all earth.

5 And this shall be peace, when Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our houses; and we shall raise on him seven shepherds, and eight primates men, either the first in dignity.

6 And they shall waste the land of Assur by sword, and the land of Nimrod by spears of him; and he shall deliver us from Assur, when he shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our coasts.

7 And remnants of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew of the Lord, and as drops on herb, which abideth not man, and shall not abide the sons of men.

8 And remnants of Jacob shall be in heathen men, in the middle of many peoples, as a lion among beasts of the woods, and as a whelp of a lion roaring in flocks of sheep; and when he passeth, and defouleth, and taketh, there is not that shall deliver.

9 And thine hand shall be raised on thine enemies, and all thine enemies shall perish.

10 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, I shall take away thine horses from the middle of thee, and I shall destroy thy four-horsed carts.

11 And I shall lose the cities of thy land, and I shall destroy all thy strongholds, either wardings;

12 and I shall do away witchcrafts from thine hand, and divinations, either tellings by devil’s craft, shall not be in thee.

13 And I shall make for to perish thy graven images, and I shall break altogether from the middle of thee thine images, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thine hands.

14 And I shall draw out of the midst of thee thy woods dedicated to idols, and I shall all-break thy cities.

15 And I shall make in wrath and indignation vengeance in all folks, which heard not.

CHAPTER 6

1 Hear ye which things the Lord speaketh. Rise thou, strive thou by doom against mountains, and little hills hear thy voice.

2 Mountains and the strong foundaments of earth, hear the doom of the Lord; for the doom of the Lord shall be with his people, and he shall be deemed with Israel.

3 My people, what have I done to thee, either in what was I grievous to thee? Answer thou to me.

4 For I led thee out of the land of Egypt, and of the house of servage I delivered thee; and I sent before thy face Moses, and Aaron, and Mary.

5 My people, bethink, I pray, what Balak, king of Moab, thought, and what Balaam, son of Beor, of Shittim, answered to him till to Gilgal, that thou shouldest know the rightwiseness of the Lord.

6 What worthy thing shall I offer to the Lord? shall I bow the knee to the high God? Whether shall I offer to him brunt sacrifices, and calves of one year?

7 Whether God may be satisfied in thousands of wethers, either in many thousands of fat goat bucks? Whether I shall give my first begotten for my great trespass, the fruit of my womb for sin of my soul?

8 I shall show to thee, thou man, what is good, and what the Lord asketh of thee; forsooth for to do doom, and for to love mercy, and be busy for to walk with thy God.

9 The voice of the Lord crieth to the city, and health shall be to all men dreading thy name. Ye lineages, hear; and who shall approve it?

10 Yet fire is in the house of unpious men, the treasures of wickedness, and a less measure, which make me full of wrath.

11 Whether I shall justify the wicked balance, and the guileful weights of a little sack,

12 in which rich men thereof be filled with wickedness? And men dwelling therein spake leasing, and the tongue of them was guileful in the mouth of them.

13 And I therefore began for to smite thee, into perdition on thy sins.

14 Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be [ful] filled, and thy meeking is in the middle of thee; and thou shalt take, and shalt not save; and which thou shalt save, I shall give into sword.

15 Thou shalt sow, and shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olive, and shalt not be anointed with oil; and make must, and shalt not drink wine.

16 And thou keptest the behests of Omri, and all the work of the house of Ahab, and hast walked in the lusts of them, that I should give thee into perdition, and men dwelling in it into hissing, either scorning, and ye shall bear the shame of my people.

CHAPTER 7

1 Woe to me, for I am made as he that gathereth in harvest raisins of grapes; there is no cluster for to eat; my soul desired figs ripe before others.

2 The holy perished from [the] earth, and rightful is not in men; all ambush, either set treason, in blood; a man hunteth his brother to death.

3 The evil of their hands they say good; the prince asketh, and the doomsman is in yielding; and a great man spake the desire of his soul, and they troubled altogether it.

4 He that is the best in them, is as a paliurus, that is, a teasel, either a sharp bush; and he that is rightful is as a thorn of hedge. The day of thy beholding, thy visiting cometh, now shall be destroying of them.

5 Do not ye believe to a friend, and do not ye trust in a duke; from her that sleepeth in thy bosom, keep thou the closings of thy mouth.

6 For the son doeth wrong to the father, and the daughter shall rise against her mother, and the wife of the son against the mother of her husband; the enemies of a man be the ones at home, either the house-hold meine, of him.

7 Forsooth I shall behold to the Lord, I shall abide God my saviour; the Lord my God shall hear me.

8 Thou, mine enemy, be not glad on me, for I fell down, I shall rise up again; when I sit in darknesses, the Lord is my light.

9 I shall bear wrath of the Lord, for I have sinned to him, till he deem my cause, and make my doom; he shall lead out me into light, I shall see [the] rightwiseness of him.

10 And mine enemy shall behold me, and she shall be covered with confusion, which saith to me, Where is thy Lord God? Mine eyes shall see her, now she shall be into defouling, as clay, either fen, of streets.

11 Day shall come, that thy walls be builded; in that day law shall be made afar.

12 In that day, and Assur shall come till to thee, and till to strong cities, and from strong cities till to [the] flood; and to sea from sea, and to hill from hill.

13 And [the] earth shall be into desolation for her dwellers, and for fruit of the thoughts of them.

14 Feed thou thy people in thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, that dwell alone in [the] wild wood; in the middle of Carmel they shall be fed of Bashan and of Gilead, as by eld [or old] days,

15 by days of thy going out of the land of Egypt. I shall show to him wonderful things;

16 heathen men shall see, and they shall be confounded on all their strength; they shall put hands on their mouth, the ears of them shall be deaf;

17 they shall lick dust as a serpent; as creeping things of [the] earth they shall be disturbed, or troubled, out of their houses; they shall not desire our Lord God, and they shall dread thee.

18 God, who is like thee, that doest away wickedness, and bearest over the sin of the remnants of thine heritage? He shall no more send in his strong vengeance, for he is willing or desiring mercy;

19 he shall turn again, and have mercy on us. He shall put down our wickednesses, and shall cast far into deepness of the sea all our sins.

20 Thou shalt give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which thou sworest to our fathers from eld [or old] days.

* CHAPTER 4:3 In other writings, John Wycliffe renders this word in this verse as ‘plowghschares’ (‘ploughshares’/‘plowshares’).

HAGGAI

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HAGGAI

CHAPTER 1

1 In the second year of Darius, king of Persia, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Haggai, prophet, to Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, duke of Judah, and to Joshua, the great priest, [the] son of Josedech*, and said,

2 The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, This people saith, Yet cometh not the time of the house of the Lord to be builded.

3 And the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Haggai, the prophet, and said,

4 Whether it is time to you, that ye dwell in houses coupled with timber, and this house be deserted, either forsaken?

5 And now the Lord God of hosts saith these things, Put ye your hearts on your ways.

6 Ye have sown much, and brought in little; ye have eaten, and ye be not [ful] filled; ye have drunk, and ye be not full of drink; ye covered you, and ye be not made hot; and he that gathered hires sent those into a sack holed, either broken.

7 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Put ye your hearts on your ways.

8 Go ye up into the mountain, bear ye trees, and build ye an house; and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord.

9 Ye beheld to more, and lo! it is made less; and ye brought into the house, and I blew it out. For what cause, saith the Lord of hosts? for mine house is deserted, and ye hasten each man into his house.

10 For this thing heavens be forbidden, that they should not give dew on you; and the earth is forbidden, that it should not give his burgeoning.

11 And I called dryness on earth, and on mountains, and on wheat, and on wine, and on oil, and whatever things the earth bringeth forth; and on men, and on beasts, and on all labour of hands.

12 And Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, and Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech, and all remnants of the people, heard the voice of their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as the Lord God of them sent him to them; and all the people dreaded of the face of the Lord.

13 And Haggai, a messenger of the Lord, of the messengers of the Lord, said to the people, and spake, I am with you, saith the Lord.

14 And the Lord raised the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, duke of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech, and the spirit of the remnants of all people; and they entered, and made work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.

15 In the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of king Darius.

CHAPTER 2

1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Haggai, the prophet, and said,

2 Speak thou to Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, the duke of Judah, and to Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech, and to others of the people, and say thou,

3 Who in you is left, that saw this house in his first glory? and what see ye this now? whether it is not thus, as if it be not before your eyes?

4 And now, Zerubbabel, be thou strengthened, saith the Lord, and Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech, be thou comforted, and all the people of the land, be thou comforted, saith the Lord of hosts; and do ye, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.

5  This is The word that I covenanted with you, when ye went out of the land of Egypt, and my Spirit shall be in the midst of you. Do not ye dread,

6 for the Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet one little thing is, and I shall move heaven, and earth, and sea, and dry land;

7 and I shall move all folks, and the desired to all folks shall come; and I shall fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

8 Mine is silver, and mine is gold, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 The glory of this last house shall be great, more than of the first, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place I shall give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.

10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Haggai, the prophet, and said,

11 The Lord God of hosts saith these things, Ask thou priests the law, and say thou,

12 If a man taketh hallowed flesh in the hem of his clothing, and toucheth of the highness thereof bread, either pottage, either wine, either oil, either any meat, whether it shall be hallowed? Soothly priests answered, and said, Nay.

13 And Haggai said, If a man defouled in soul toucheth of all these things, whether it shall be defouled? And priests answered, and said, It shall be defouled.

14 And Haggai answered, and said, So is this people, and so is this folk before my face, saith the Lord, and so is all the work of their hands; and all things which they offer there shall be defouled.

15 And now put ye this on your hearts, from this day and above, before that a stone on a stone was put in the temple of the Lord,

16 when ye went to an heap of twenty bushels, and there were made ten; ye entered to the presser, that ye should press out fifty gallons, and there were made twenty.

17 I smote you with burning wind, and with mildew, and hail, all the works of your hands; and there was none in you that turned again to me, saith the Lord.

18 Put ye this on your hearts from this day, and into coming, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, from the day in which foundaments of the temple of the Lord be casted, put ye this on your heart.

19 Whether now seed is in burgeoning? and yet vineyard, and fig tree, and pomegranate, and the tree of olive flowered not. From this day I shall bless.

20 And the word of the Lord was made the second time to Haggai, in the four and twentieth day of the month, and said,

21 Speak thou to Zerubbabel, duke of Judah, and say thou, I shall move heaven and earth together,

22 and I shall destroy the seat of realms, and I shall all-break the strength of [the] realms of heathen men, and I shall destroy a four-horsed cart, and the rider thereof; and [the] horses shall go down, and [the] riders of them, a man by sword of his brother.

23 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, thou Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, my servant, I shall take thee, saith the Lord; and I shall put thee as a signet, for I chose thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

* CHAPTER 1:1 In the “Early Version”, throughout Haggai, it is ‘Joshua, the son of Josedech, the great priest’.

ZECHARIAH

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ZECHARIAH

CHAPTER 1

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, prophet, and said,

2 The Lord is wroth on your fathers with wrathfulness [or wrath].

3 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things. Be ye turned again to me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall be turned again to you, saith the Lord of hosts.

4 Be ye not as your fathers, to which the former prophets cried, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Be ye converted from your evil ways, and your worst thoughts; and they heard not, neither took attention to me, saith the Lord of hosts.

5 Where be your fathers and prophets? whether they shall live without end?

6 Nevertheless my words and my lawful things, which I commanded to my servants prophets, whether they caught not your fathers? And they were turned again, and said, As the Lord of hosts thought for to do to us by our ways, and by our findings, he did to us.

7 In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month Sebat, that is, January, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, prophet, and said,

8 I saw by night, and lo! a man going on a red horse; and he stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, that were in the depth, and after him were horses red, diverse, and white.

9 And I said, My lord, who be these? And an angel of the Lord said to me, that spake in me, I shall show to thee what these be.

10 And the man that stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, answered, and said, These it be, which the Lord sent, that they walk through earth.

11 And they answered to the angel of the Lord, that stood betwixt places where myrtles waxed, and said, We have walked through earth, and lo! all earth is inhabited, and resteth.

12 And the angel of the Lord answered, and said, Lord of hosts, how long shalt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on [the] cities of Judah, to which thou art wroth? This now is the seventieth year.

13 And the Lord answered to the angel, that spake in me, good words, and words of comfort.

14 And the angel that spake in me, said to me, Cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, I loved Jerusalem and Zion in great fervor;

15 and in great wrath I shall be wroth on rich folks; for I was wroth a little, forsooth they helped into evil.

16 Therefore the Lord saith these things, I shall turn again to Jerusalem in mercies. Mine house shall be builded in it, saith the Lord of hosts; and a plummet shall be stretched out on Jerusalem.

17 Yet cry thou, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet my cities shall flow with goods, and yet the Lord shall comfort Zion, and yet he shall choose Jerusalem.

18 And I raised mine eyes, and I saw, and lo! four horns.

19 And I said to the angel, that spake in me, What be these? And he said to me, These be horns that winnowed Judah, and Israel, and Jerusalem.

20 And the Lord showed to me four smiths.

21 And I said, What come these for to do? Which spake, saying, These be the horns, that winnowed Judah by all men, and no man of them raised his head; and these came for to make them afeared, that they cast down the horns of heathen men, which raised the horn on the land of Judah, for to scatter it.

CHAPTER 2

1 And I raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! a man, and lo! in his hand, a little cord of meters.

2 And I said, Whither goest thou? And he said to me, That I mete Jerusalem, and Judah; how much is the breadth thereof, and how much is the length thereof.

3 And lo! the angel that spake in me, went out, and another angel went out into the meeting of him,

4 and said to him, Run thou, speak to this young man, and say thou, Jerusalem shall be inhabited without wall, for the multitude of men and beasts in the middle thereof.

5 And I shall be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire in compass; and I shall be in glory in [the] middle thereof.

6 A! A! A! flee ye from the land of the north, saith the Lord, for in four winds of heaven I scattered you, saith the Lord.

7 A! thou Zion, flee, that dwellest at the daughter of Babylon.

8 For the Lord of hosts saith these things, After glory he sent me to heathen men, which robbed you; for he that shall touch you, shall touch the apple of mine eye.

9 For lo! I raise mine hand on them, and they shall be preys to these that served them; and ye shall know, that the Lord of hosts sent me.

10 Daughter of Zion, praise thou, and be glad; for lo! I come, and I shall dwell in [the] middle of thee, saith the Lord.

11 And many folks shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to me into a people, and I shall dwell in the middle of thee; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts sent me to thee.

12 And the Lord shall wield Judah into his part, in the land hallowed, and shall choose yet Jerusalem.

13 Each flesh be still from the face of the Lord, for he rose of his holy dwelling place.

CHAPTER 3

1 And the Lord showed to me the great priest Joshua, standing before the angel of the Lord; and Satan stood on his right half, that he should be adversary to him.

2 And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord blame in thee, Satan, and the Lord that chose Jerusalem, blame in thee. Whether this is not a dead brand ravished from the fire?

3 And Joshua was clothed with foul clothes, and stood before the face of the angel.

4 Which answered, and said to them that stood before him, and he said, Do ye away foul clothes from him. And he said to him, Lo! I have done away from thee thy wickedness, and I have clothed thee with changing of clothes.

5 And he said, Put ye a clean mitre [or cap] on his head. And they putted a clean mitre [or cap] on his head, and clothed him with clothes. And the angel of the Lord stood,

6 and the angel of the Lord witnessed to Joshua, and said,

7 The Lord of hosts saith these things, If thou shalt go in my ways, and shalt keep my keeping, also and thou shalt deem mine house, and shalt keep my porches; and I shall give to thee goers, of these that now here stand nigh.

8 Hear thou, Joshua, great priest, thou and thy friends that dwell before thee, for they be men signifying thing[s] to coming. Lo! soothly I shall bring my servant springing up, either Christ born.

9 For lo! the stone which I gave before Joshua, on one stone be seven eyes; and lo! I shall engrave the engraving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall do away the wickedness of that land in one day.

10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, a man shall call his friend under a vine, and under a fig tree.

CHAPTER 4

1 And the angel turned again, that spake in me, and raised me, as a man that is raised up out of his sleep.

2 And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I saw, and lo! a candlestick all of gold, and the lamp thereof on the head thereof, and seven lanterns thereof on it, and seven vessels for to hold oil to the lanterns, that were on the head thereof.

3 And two olives thereon, one of the right half of the lamp, and another on the left half thereof.

4 And I answered, and said to the angel that spake in me, and I said, What be these things, my lord?

5 And the angel that spake in me, answered, and said to me, Whether thou knowest not what be these things? And I said, No, my lord.

6 And he answered, and said to me, and spake, This is the word of the Lord, saying to Zerubbabel, Not in host, neither in strength, but in my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

7 Who art thou, great hill, before Zerubbabel, into plain? and he shall lead out the first stone, and shall make even grace to grace thereof.

8 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

9 The hands of Zerubbabel founded this house, and the hands of him shall perform it; and ye shall know, that the Lord of hosts sent me to you.

10 Who forsooth despised little days? and they shall be glad, and shall see a stone of tin in the hand of Zerubbabel. These be the seven eyes of the Lord, that run about into all earth.

11 And I answered, and said to him, What be these twain [or two] olives on the right half of the candlestick, and at the left half thereof?

12 And I answered the second time, and said to him, What be the twain [or two] ears, either ripe fruit, of olives that be beside the two pipes of gold, in which be oil vessels of gold?

13 And he said to me, and spake, Whether thou knowest not what be these things? And I said, No, my lord.

14 And he said, These be two sons of oil shining, which stand nigh to the lordly governor of all earth.

CHAPTER 5

1 And I was converted, and raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! a book flying.

2 And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, Lo! I see a book flying; the length thereof was of twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof of ten cubits.

3 And he said to me, This is the curse, that goeth on the face of all earth; for each thief shall be deemed, as it is written there; and each man swearing falsely shall be deemed of this also.

4 I shall lead out it, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the house of a thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall dwell in the middle of his house, and shall waste him, and his trees, and his stones.

5 And the angel went out, that spake in me, and said to me, Raise up thine eyes, and see, what this thing is that goeth out.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an amphora, either a pot, going out. And he said, This is the eye of them in all earth.

7 And lo! a talent of lead was borne up from it; and lo! a woman sitting in middle of the pot.

8 And he said, This is unpiety, either unfaithfulness. And he casted down her in the middle of the pot, and sent a gobbet of lead into the mouth thereof.

9 And I raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! two women going out, and a spirit in the wings of them; and they had wings as the wings of a kite, and raised the pot betwixt heaven and earth.

10 And I said to the angel that spake in me, Whither bear these the pot?

11 And he said to me, That an house be builded thereto in the land of Shinar, and be stablished, and set there on his foundament.

CHAPTER 6

1 And I was converted, and raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! four [four-]horsed carts going out of the middle of twain [or two] hills, and the hills were hills of brass.

2 In the first four-horsed cart were red horses, and in the second four-horsed cart were black horses;

3 and in the third four-horsed cart were white horses, and in the fourth four-horsed cart were diverse horses, and strong.

4 And I answered, and said to the angel that spake in me, What be these things, my lord?

5 And the angel answered, and said to me, These be four winds of heaven, which go out, that they stand before the lordshipper of all earth.

6 In which were black horses, they went out into the land of the north; and the white went out after them; and the diverse went out into the land of the south.

7 Forsooth they that were strongest went out, and sought for to go, and run about by all earth. And he said, Go ye, and walk ye through the earth. And they walked through the earth.

8 And he called me, and spake to me, and said, Lo! they that go out into the land of the north, made my spirit for to rest in the land of the north.

9 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

10 Take thou of them that be of the transmigration, either captivity, of Heldai, and of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and thou shalt come in that day, and shalt enter into the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah, that came from Babylon.

11 And thou shalt take gold and silver, and shalt make crowns, and put on the head of Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech;

12 and shalt speak to him, and say, The Lord of hosts saith these things, saying, Lo! a man, Coming forth, either Born, is his name, and under him it shall spring. And he shall build a temple to the Lord,

13 and he shall make a temple to the Lord; and he shall bear glory, and shall sit, and shall be lord on his seat; and the priest shall be on his seat, and counsel of peace shall be betwixt them twain [or them two].

14 And crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

15 And they that be far, shall come, and build in the temple of the Lord; and ye shall know, that the Lord of hosts sent me to you. Soothly this thing shall be, if by hearing ye shall hear the voice of your Lord God.

CHAPTER 7

1 And it is made in the fourth year of Darius, king, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, in the fourth day of the ninth month, that is Chisleu, that is, November.

2 And Sherezer, and Regemmelech, and men that were with them, sent to the house of the Lord, for to pray the face of the Lord;

3 that they should say to priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to prophets, and speak, Whether it is to weep to me in the fifth month, either I shall hallow me, as I did now many years?

4 And the word of the Lord [of hosts] was made to me, and said,

5 Speak thou to all the people of the land, and to priests, and say thou, When ye fasted, and wailed in the fifth and seventh months, by these seventy years, whether ye fasted a fast to me?

6 And when ye ate, and drank, whether ye ate not to you, and drank not to yourselves?

7 Whether the words of prophets be not, which the Lord spake in the hand of the former prophets, when yet Jerusalem was inhabited, and was full of riches, and it, and the cities thereof in compass thereof, and at the south and in field place was inhabited?

8 And the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, and said,

9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, Deem ye true doom, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother.

10 And do not ye falsely challenge a widow, and fatherless, either mother-less, and comeling, and poor man; and a man think not in his heart evil to his brother.

11 And they would not take heed, and they turned away the shoulder, and went away, and made heavy their ears, lest they heard.

12 And they set their heart as an adamant stone, lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts.

13 And it is done, as he spake; and as they heard not, so they shall cry, and I shall not hear [them], saith the Lord of hosts.

14 And I scattered them by all realms, which they knew not, and the land is desolate from them; for that there was not a man going and turning again, and they have put [the] desirable land into desert.

CHAPTER 8

1 And the word of the Lord of hosts was made to me, and said,

2 The Lord of hosts saith these things, I hated Zion with great fervor, and with great indignation I hated it.

3 The Lord of hosts saith these things, I am turned again to Zion, and I shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and [the] hill of the Lord of hosts shall be called an hill hallowed.

4 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet eld [or old] men and eld [or old] women shall dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the staff of a man shall be in his hand, for the multitude of years.

5 And the streets of the city shall be filled with young children and damsels, playing in the streets thereof.

6 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Though it shall be seen as hard to do before the eyes of the remnants of this people in those days, whether before mine eyes it shall be hard to do, saith the Lord of hosts?

7 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! I shall save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun;

8 and I shall bring them back, and they shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem; and they shall be to me into a people, and I shall be to them into God, and in truth, and in rightwiseness.

9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Be your hands comforted, which hear in these days these words by the mouth of prophets, in the day in which the house of the Lord of hosts is founded, that the temple should be builded again.

10 Soothly before those days hire of men was not, neither hire of work beasts was, neither to man entering and going out was peace for tribulation; and I let all men go, each against his neighbour.

11 But now not after the former days I shall do to the remnants of this people, saith the Lord of hosts,

12 but the seed of peace shall be; the vine shall give his fruit, and the earth shall give his burgeoning, and heavens shall give their dew; and I shall make the remnants of this people for to wield all these things.

13 And it shall be, as ye, the house of Judah, and the house of Israel, were cursing among heathen men, so I shall save you, and ye shall be blessing. Do not ye dread, be your hands comforted;

14 for the Lord of hosts saith these things, As I thought to torment you, when your fathers had stirred me to wrath, saith the Lord, and I had not mercy,

15 so I converted thought in these days to do well to the house of Judah and to Jerusalem; do not ye dread.

16 Therefore these be the words which ye shall do; speak ye truth, each man with his neighbour; deem ye truth and the doom of peace in your gates;

17 and think ye not in your hearts, any man, evil against his friend, and love not a false oath; for all these things it be which I hate, saith the Lord.

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts was made to me, and said,

19 The Lord of hosts saith these things, The fasting of the fourth month, and the fasting of the fifth, and the fasting of the seventh, and the fasting of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah into joy and gladness, and into solemnities full clear; love ye only truth and peace.

20 The Lord of hosts saith these things, Peoples shall come on each side, and dwell in many cities;

21 and the dwellers shall go, one to another, and say, Go we, and beseech the face of the Lord, and seek we the Lord of hosts; also I shall go.

22 And many peoples shall come, and strong folks, for to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to beseech the face of the Lord.

23 The Lord of hosts saith these things, In those days, in which ten men of all languages of heathen men shall take hold, and they shall take the hem of a man a Jew, and say, We shall go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.

CHAPTER 9

1 The burden of the word of the Lord, in the land of Hadrach, and of Damascus, which shall be the rest thereof; for of the Lord is the eye of man, and of all [the] lineages of Israel.

2 And Hamath shall be in the terms thereof, and Tyrus, and Sidon; for they took to them wisdom greatly.

3 And Tyrus builded his stronghold, and gathered silver as earth, and gold as fen of streets.

4 Lo! the Lord shall wield it, and shall smite in the sea the strength thereof, and it shall be devoured by fire.

5 Ashkelon shall see, and shall dread; and Gaza, and shall sorrow full much; and Ekron, for the hope thereof is confounded; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited;

6 and a parter shall sit in Ashdod, and I shall destroy the pride of Philistines.

7 And I shall take away the blood of him from the mouth of him, and the abominations of him from the middle of the teeth of him, and he also shall be left to our God; and he shall be as a duke in Judah, and Ekron as Jebusite.

8 And I shall compass mine house of these that hold knighthood to me, and go, and turn again; and an exactor, or unjust asker, shall no more pass on them, for now I saw with mine eyes.

9 Thou daughter of Zion, make joy withoutforth enough; sing, thou daughter of Jerusalem; lo! thy king shall come to thee, he is just, and a saviour; he is poor, and ascending [or going up] on a she-ass, and on a colt or a foal, the son of a she-ass.

10 And I shall lose the four-horsed cart of Ephraim, and an horse of Jerusalem, and the bow of battle shall be destroyed; and he shall speak peace to heathen men, and the power of him shall be from sea till to sea, and from floods, till to the ends of [the] earth.

11 And thou in the blood of thy testament sentest out thy bound men from the pit in which is no water.

12 Ye bound of hope, be turned again to stronghold; and today I tell, and I shall yield to thee double things,

13 for I shall stretch forth to me Judah as a bow, I filled the land of Ephraim. And I shall raise thy sons, thou Zion, on thy sons, thou land of Greeks, and I shall set thee as the sword of strong men.

14 And the Lord God shall be seen on them, and the dart of him shall go out as lightning. And the Lord God shall sing in a trump, and shall go in whirlwind of the south;

15 the Lord of hosts shall defend them, and they shall devour, and make subject with stones of a sling; and they drinking, shall be filled as with wine, and shall be filled as vials, or cruets, and as horns of the altar.

16 And the Lord God of them shall save them in that day, as a flock of his people, for holy stones shall be raised [up] on the land of him.

17 For what is the good of him, and what is the fair thing of him, no but wheat of chosen men, and wine of burgeoning for the virgins?

CHAPTER 10

1 Ask ye of the Lord rain in late time, and the Lord shall make snows, and rain of might of cloud; and he shall give to them, to each by himself, herb in the field.

2 For simulacra spake unprofitable things, and diviners saw leasing; and dreamers spake vainly, idly they comforted; therefore they be led away as a flock, they shall be tormented, for a shepherd is not to them.

3 On shepherds my strong vengeance is wroth, and on the bucks of goats I shall visit; for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and hath put them as an horse of his glory in battle.

4 Of him shall be a cornerstone, and of him a little pale, of him a bow of battle, and of him each exactor, either unjust asker, shall go out together.

5 And they shall be as strong men, defouling clay of ways in battle, and they shall fight, for the Lord is with them; and riders of horses shall be confounded.

6 And I shall comfort the house of Judah, and I shall save the house of Joseph; and I shall convert them, for I shall have mercy on them; and they shall be as they were, when I had not cast away them; for I shall be the Lord God of them, and I shall graciously hear them.

7 And they shall be as the strong men of Ephraim, and the heart of them shall be glad, as of wine; and the sons of them shall see, and be glad, and the heart of them shall make joy withoutforth in the Lord.

8 I shall hiss to them, and I shall gather them, for I again-bought them, and I shall multiply them, as they were multiplied before.

9 And I shall sow them among peoples, and from far they shall bethink of me; and they shall live with their sons, and shall turn again.

10 And I shall bring again them from the land of Egypt, and I shall gather them from Assyrians; and I shall bring them to the land of Gilead and of Lebanon, and place shall not be found to them.

11 And he shall pass in the wave of the sea, and shall smite waves in the sea, and all depths of flood shall be confounded; and the pride of Assur shall be meeked, and the sceptre of Egypt shall go away.

12 I shall comfort them in the Lord, and they shall walk in the name of him, saith the Lord.

CHAPTER 11

1 Thou Lebanon, open thy gates, and then the fire shall eat thy cedars.

2 Yell, thou fir tree, for the cedar fell down, for great men be destroyed; yell, ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is cut down.

3 The voice of yelling of shepherds, for the great worship of them is destroyed; the voice of roaring of lions, for the pride of Jordan is wasted.

4 My Lord God saith these things, Feed thou beasts of slaughter,

5 which they that wielded slew; and sorrowed not, and sold them, and they said, Blessed be the Lord, we be made rich. And the shepherds of them spared not them,

6 and I shall no more spare on them that inhabit the earth, saith the Lord. Lo! I shall betake men, each into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king, and they shall rend together the land; and I shall not deliver from the hand of them,

7 and I shall feed the beast of slaying. For this thing, ye poor men of the flock, hear. And I took to me two staffs; one I called Fairness, and the tother I called Little Cord; and I fed the flock.

8 And I cutted down three shepherds in one month, and my soul was drawn altogether in them; for also the soul of them varied in me.

9 And I said, I shall not feed you; that that dieth, die; and that that is cut down, be cut down; and the residues devour, each man the flesh of his neighbour.

10 And I took my staff, that was called Fairness, and I cutted down it, that I should make void my covenant, which I smote with all peoples.

11 And it was made void in that day; and the poor men of the flock that kept to me, knew thus, for it is the word of the Lord.

12 And I said to them, If it is good in your eyes, bring ye my meed; and if nay, rest ye. And they weighed my meed, thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, Cast away it to the maker of images, the fair price, by which I am appraised of them. And I took [the] thirty pieces of silver, and casted forth them in the house of the Lord, to the maker of images.

14 And I cutted down my second staff, that was called Little Cord, that I should part, or unbind, the brother-hood betwixt Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said to me, Yet take to thee the vessels of a fond [or foolish] shepherd;

16 for lo! I shall raise a shepherd in earth, which shall not visit forsaken things, and shall not seek scattered things, and he shall not heal a thing all-broken, and shall not nourish forth that that standeth. And he shall eat fleshes of the fat, and shall unbind the claws of them.

17 A! the shepherd, and idol, forsaking the flock; sword on his arm, and on his right eye; the arm of him shall be dried with dryness, and his right eye waxing dark shall be made dark.

CHAPTER 12

1 The burden of the word of the Lord on Israel. And the Lord said, stretching forth heaven, and founding the earth, and making the spirit of a man in him,

2 Lo! I shall set Jerusalem as a lintel of gluttony to all peoples in compass, but also Judah shall be in besieging against Jerusalem.

3 And it shall be, in that day I shall set Jerusalem a stone of burden to all peoples; all that shall lift it shall be drawn with cutting down, and all realms of earth shall be gathered against it.

4 In that day, saith the Lord, I shall smite each horse in[to] dread, either losing of mind, and the rider of him in[to] madness; and on the house of Judah I shall open mine eyes, and shall smite with blindness each horse of peoples.

5 And the dukes of Judah shall say in their hearts, Be the dwellers of Jerusalem comforted to me in the Lord of hosts, the God of them.

6 In that day I shall set the dukes of Judah as a chimney of fire in wood, and as a brand of fire in hay; and they shall devour at the right side and left side all peoples in compass. And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in his place, in Jerusalem.

7 And the Lord shall save the tabernacles of Judah, as in the beginning, that the house of David glory not greatly, and the glory of men dwelling in Jerusalem be not against Judah.

8 In that day the Lord shall defend the dwellers of Jerusalem; and he that shall offend of them, shall be in that day as David, and the house of David shall be as of God, as the angel of the Lord in the sight of him.

9 And it shall be, in that day I shall seek to all-break all folks that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I shall pour out on the house of David, and on the dwellers of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace, and of prayers; and they shall behold to me, whom they pricked. And they shall bewail him with wailing, as on the one begotten son; and they shall make sorrow on him, as sorrow is wont to be made in the death of the first begotten son.

11 In that day great wailing shall be in Jerusalem, as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the field of Megiddon.

12 And the land shall wail; families and families by themselves; the families of the house of David by themselves, and the women of them by themselves; families of the house of Nathan by themselves, and the women of them by themselves;

13 families of the house of Levi by themselves, and the women of them by themselves; families of Shimei by themselves, and the women of them by themselves.

14 All other families, families and families by themselves, and the women of them by themselves.

CHAPTER 13

1 In that day an open well shall be to the house of David, and to men dwelling at Jerusalem, into washing away of a sinful man, and of a woman defouled in unclean blood.

2 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I shall destroy the names of idols from the land, and they shall no more be thought on; and I shall take away from earth false prophets, and an unclean spirit.

3 And it shall be, when any man shall prophesy any more, his father and mother that engendered him, shall say to him, Thou shalt not live, for thou hast spoken leasing in the name of the Lord; and his father and his mother, the engenderers of him, shall prick him, when he hath prophesied.

4 And it shall be, in that day, prophets shall be ashamed, each of his vision, when he shall prophesy; neither they shall be covered with a mantle of sackcloth, that they lie;

5 but he shall say, I am not a prophet; I am a man an earth-tiller, for Adam is mine ensample from my youth.

6 And it shall be said to him, What be these wounds in the middle of thine hands? And he shall say, With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me.

7 Sword, be thou raised on my shepherd, and on a man cleaving to me, saith the Lord of hosts; smite thou the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. And I shall turn mine hand to the little ones.

8 And two parts of the people shall be in each land, saith the Lord, and they shall be scattered, and shall fail, and the third part shall be left in it.

9 And I shall lead the third part by fire, and I shall burn them, as silver is burnt, and I shall prove them, as gold is proved. He shall call to help my name, and I shall graciously hear him; and I shall say, Thou art my people, and he shall say, Thou art my Lord God.

CHAPTER 14

1 Lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and thy spoils shall be parted in the middle of thee.

2 And I shall gather all folks to Jerusalem, into battle; and the city shall be taken, and houses shall be destroyed, and women shall be defouled. And the half part of the city shall go out into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be taken away from the city.

3 And the Lord shall go out, and shall fight against those folks, as he fought in the day of strife.

4 And his feet shall stand in that day on the hill of Olives, which is against Jerusalem at the east. And the hill of Olives shall be carved or parted of the middle part thereof to the east, and to the west, by full great before-breaking; and the half of the hill shall be departed to the north, and the half thereof to the south.

5 And ye shall flee to the valley of mine hills, for the valley of hills shall be joined together till to the next. And ye shall flee, as ye fled from the face of earth-moving in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; and my Lord God shall come, and all saints with him.

6 And it shall be, in that day light shall not be, but cold and frost.

7 And there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, not day, neither night, and in the time of eventide light shall be.

8 And it shall be, in that day quick waters shall go out of Jerusalem, the half of them shall go out to the east sea, and the half of them to the last sea; in summer and in winter they shall be.

9 And the Lord shall be king on all earth; in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one.

10 And all earth shall turn again till to [or unto] desert, from the little hill Rimmon to the south of Jerusalem. And it shall be raised, and shall dwell in his place, from the gate of Benjamin till to the place of the former gate, and till to the gate of the corners, and from the tower of Hananeel till to the pressers of the king.

11 And they shall dwell therein, and cursedness shall no more be, but Jerusalem shall sit secure.

12 And this shall be the wound by which the Lord shall smite all folks that fought against Jerusalem; the flesh of each man standing on his feet shall fail, either rot, and his eyes shall fail altogether in their holes, and their tongue shall fail altogether in their mouth.

13 In that day great noise of the Lord shall be in them, and a man shall catch the hand of his neighbour; and his hand shall be locked altogether on the hand of his neighbour.

14 But also Judah shall fight against Jerusalem; and the riches of all folks in compass shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and many clothes enough.

15 And so falling shall be of horse, and mule, and camel, and ass, and of all work beasts that were in those castles, as this falling.

16 And all that shall be residue of all folks, that came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year into year, that they worship the king, Lord of hosts, and hallow the feast of tabernacles.

17 And it shall be, rain shall not be on them that shall not go up of the meines of earth to Jerusalem, that they worship the king, Lord of hosts.

18 That and if the meine

of Egypt shall not go up, and shall not come, neither on them shall be rain; but falling shall be, by which the Lord shall smite all folks, which went not up, for to hallow the feast of tabernacles.

19 This shall be the sin of Egypt, and this the sin of all folks, that ascended not [or went not up], for to hallow the feast of tabernacles.

20 In that day, that that is on the bridle of the horse shall be inscribed, Holy to the Lord; and cauldrons shall be in the house of the Lord, as vials, or cruets, before the altar.

21 And every cauldron in Jerusalem and Judah shall be hallowed to the Lord of hosts. And all men shall come offering, and shall take of those [or them], and shall seethe in those [or In them]; and a merchant shall no more be in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.

MALACHI

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MALACHI

CHAPTER 1

1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, in the hand of Malachi, the prophet.

2 I loved you, saith the Lord, and ye said, In what thing lovedest thou us? Whether Esau was not the brother of Jacob, saith the Lord, and I loved Jacob,

3 but I hated Esau? And I have put Seir, the hills of him, into wilderness, and his heritage into dragons of desert.

4 That if Idumea saith, We be destroyed, but we shall turn again, and build those things that be destroyed; the Lord of hosts saith these things, These men shall build, and I shall destroy; and they shall be called the terms of wickedness, and a people to whom the Lord is wroth, till into without end.

5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord be magnified on the term of Israel.

6 The son honoureth the father, and the servant shall dread his lord; therefore if I am the father, where is mine honour? and if I am the lord, where is my dread? saith the Lord of hosts. A! ye priests, to you that despise my name; and ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

7 Ye offer on mine altar defouled, either unclean, bread, and ye say, Wherein have we defouled thee? In that thing that ye say, The board of the Lord is despised.

8 If ye offer a blind beast to be sacrificed, whether it is not evil? And if ye offer a crooked and sick beast, whether it is not evil? Offer thou it to thy duke, if it shall please him, either if he shall receive thy face, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 And now beseech ye the cheer of the Lord, that he have mercy on you; for of your hand this thing is done, if in any manner he receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts.

10 Who is in you that closeth doors, and burneth mine altar of his own will, either freely? Will or Delight is not to me in you, saith the Lord of hosts; and I shall not receive a gift of your hand.

11 For from the rising of the sun till to the going down, my name is great among heathen men; and in each place a clean offering is sacrificed, and offered to my name; for my name is great among heathen men, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 And ye have defouled it in that that ye say, The board of the Lord is defouled, and that that is put above is contemptible, or worthy for to be despised, with [the] fire that devoureth it.

13 And ye said, Lo! of travail; and ye have blown it away, saith the Lord of hosts. And ye brought in of ravens a crooked thing, and sick, and brought in a gift; whether I shall receive it of your hand? saith the Lord.

14 Cursed is the guileful, that hath in his flock a male beast, and he making a vow, offereth a feeble beast to the Lord; for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among folks.

CHAPTER 2

1 And now, A! ye priests, this commandment is to you.

2 If ye will hear, and if ye will not put on the heart, that ye give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I shall send neediness into you, and I shall curse your blessings; and I shall curse them, for ye have not put on the heart.

3 Lo! I shall cast forth to you the arm, and I shall scatter on your face the drit of your solemnities, and it shall take you with it.

4 And ye shall know, that I sent to you this commandment, that my covenant were with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave to him a dread, and he dreaded me, and he dreaded of the face of my name.

6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found in his lips; in peace and in equity he walked with me, and he turned away many men from wickedness.

7 For the lips of a priest keep knowing, and they shall again-seek the law of his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.

8 But ye went away from the way, and caused to stumble full many in the law; ye made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 For the which thing and I gave you worthy to be contemptible, either worthy to be despised, and bowed to all peoples, as ye kept not my ways, and took a face [of a person] in the law.

10 Whether not one father is of all you? whether not one God made of nought you? Why therefore each of you despiseth his brother, and defouleth the covenant of your fathers?

11 Judah trespassed, and abomination is done in Israel, and in Jerusalem; for Judah defouled the hallowing of the Lord, which he loved, and he had the daughter of an alien god.

12 The Lord destroy the man that shall do this thing, the master and disciple, from the tabernacle[s] of Jacob, and him that offereth a gift to the Lord of hosts.

13 And again ye did this thing; ye covered with tears the altar of the Lord, with weeping, and wailing; so that I behold no more to sacrifice, neither receive anything pleasant of your hand.

14 And ye said, For what cause? For the Lord witnessed betwixt thee and the wife of thy puberty, that is, time of marriage, whom thou despisedest, and this is thy fellow, and the wife of thy covenant of peace.

15 Whether one made not, and the residue of spirit is his? and what seeketh one, no but the seed of God? Therefore keep ye your spirit, and do not thou despise the wife of thy youth;

16 when thou hatest her, leave thou her, saith the Lord God of Israel. Forsooth wickedness shall cover the cloth of him, saith the Lord of hosts; keep ye your spirit, and do not ye despise.

17 Ye made the Lord for to travail in your words, and ye said, Wherein made we him for to travail? In that that ye say, Each that doeth evil, is good in the sight of the Lord, and such men please him; either certainly, Where is the God of doom?

CHAPTER 3

1 Lo! I shall send mine angel, and he shall make ready the way before my face; and anon the Lord, whom ye seek, shall come to his holy temple, and the angel of the testament, whom ye will or desire. Lo! he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts;

2 and who shall be able to think the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? For he shall be as fire welling together, and as the herb of fullers, either tuckers;

3 and he shall sit welling together and cleansing silver, and he shall purge the sons of Levi; and he shall purge them as gold and as silver, and they shall be offering to the Lord sacrifices in rightwiseness.

4 And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as the days of the world, and as old years.

5 And I shall come to you in doom, and I shall be a swift witness to mis-doers, either enchanters of devil’s craft, and to adulterers, and to forsworn men, and that falsely challenge the hire of an hired man, and widows, and fatherless children, and oppress a pilgrim, and dreaded not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

6 Forsooth I am the Lord, and I am not changed; and ye sons of Jacob be not wasted.

7 Forsooth from the days of your fathers ye went away from my lawful things, and kept not; turn ye again to me, and I shall again turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And ye said, In what thing shall we turn again?

8 If a man shall torment God, for ye tormented me. And ye said, In what thing tormented we thee? In tithes and in first fruits;

9 and ye be cursed in neediness, and all ye folk deceived me, and tormented.

10 Bring ye each tithe into my barn, that meat be in mine house, and prove ye me on this thing, saith the Lord, if I shall not open to you the gutters of heaven, and shall shed out to you blessing, till to abundance.

11 And I shall blame for you that that devoureth, and he shall not destroy the fruit of your land; neither barren vine shall be in the field, saith the Lord of hosts,

12 and all folks shall say you blessed; for ye shall be a desirable land, saith the Lord of hosts.

13 Your words waxed strong on me, saith the Lord; and ye said, What have we spoken against thee?

14 And ye said, He is vain, that serveth God; and what winning for we kept his behests, and for we went sorrowful before the Lord of hosts?

15 Therefore now we say proud men [be] blessed; for they be builded doing wickedness, and they tempted God, and be made safe.

16 Then men dreading God spake, each with his neighbour; and the Lord perceived, and heard, and a book of mind or remembrance is written before him, to them that dreaded God, and thought on his name.

17 And they shall be to me, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day in which I shall make, into a special treasure; and I shall spare them, as a man spareth his son serving to him.

18 And ye shall be turned again, and ye shall see, what is betwixt the just man and the unpious, betwixt the serving to the Lord, and not serving to him.

CHAPTER 4

1 For lo! a day shall come, burning as a chimney; and all proud men, and all that do unpiety shall be stubble; and the day coming shall enflame them, saith the Lord of hosts, which shall not leave to them root and burgeoning.

2 And to you dreading my name the sun of rightwiseness shall rise, and health in pens or wings of him; and ye shall go out, and shall leap, as a calf of the drove.

3 And ye shall tread the unpious men, when they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet, in the day in which I do, saith the Lord of hosts.

4 Bethink ye on the law of my servant Moses, which I commanded to him in Horeb, to all Israel commandments and dooms.

5 Lo! I shall send to you Elijah, the prophet, before that the great day and horrible of the Lord come.

6 And he shall turn again the heart of fathers to sons, and the heart of sons to the fathers of them, lest peradventure I come, and smite the earth with curse. Amen.

1ST MACCABEES

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1ST MACCABEES

CHAPTER 1

1 And it was done, after that Alexander of Philip, king of Macedonia, which reigned first in Greece, and went out of the land of Kittim, smote Darius, king of Persians and of Medes,

2 he ordained many battles, and got strengths of all; and he slew the kings of earth,

3 and passed forth till to the ends of earth, and took spoils of multitude of folks; and the earth was still in the sight of him.

4 And he gathered virtue, and host full strong [or full strong host], and the heart of him was enhanced and lifted up. And he got the countries of folks, and tyrants, either strong men; and they were made to him into tribute.

5 And after these things he fell into the bed, and knew that he should die.

6 And he called his noble children, that is, familiar fellows, that were nourished with him from their youth, and parted to them his kingdom, when he lived yet [or when yet he lived].

7 And Alexander reigned twelve years, and was dead.

8 And his children or servants wielded the realm, each in his place,

9 and all putted to them diadems after his death, and the sons of them after them, many years; and evils were multiplied in earth.

10 And there went out of them a root of sin, Antiochus the noble or Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus the king, that was at Rome in hostage, and reigned in the hundred and seven and thirtieth year of the realm of Greeks.

11 In those days wicked sons of Israel went out, and counselled many, and said, Go we, and ordain we [a] testament with heathen men, that be about us; for since we parted from them, many evils found us.

12 And the word was seen good before the eyes of them.

13 And some of the people sent, and went to the king; and he gave power to them for to do rightfulness of heathen men.

14 And they builded a school in Jerusalem, by [or after] laws of nations;

15 and made to them prepuces, and went away from the holy testament, and were joined to nations, and were sold for to do evil.

16 And the realm had prosperity in the sight of Antiochus, and he began to reign in the land of Egypt, that he should reign on two realms.

17 And he entered into Egypt with a grievous multitude, in chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, either knights, and [a] plenteous multitude of ships,

18 and he ordained battle against Ptolemy, king of Egypt, and Ptolemy dreaded of his face, and flew; and many were wounded, and fell down.

19 And he took the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and [he] took the preys of the land of Egypt.

20 And Antiochus returned, after that he smote Egypt, in the hundred and three and fortieth year, and went up to Israel. And he went up to Jerusalem with a grievous multitude,

21 and entered into the hallowing with pride; and he took the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof,

22 and the board of proposition, and vessels of flowing sacrifices, and cruets, and golden mortars, and veil, and crowns, and golden ornament that was in the face of the temple; and he brake all.

23 And he took silver and gold, and all desirable vessels, and he took the privy treasures, which he found;

24 and when he had taken up all things, he went into his land. And he made slaughter of men, and spake in great pride.

25 And great wailing was made in Israel, and in each place of them;

26 and princes sorrowed inwardly, and elder men, and maidens, and young men were made sick, and fairness of women was changed.

27 Each husband took wailing, and they that sat in [the] husband’s bed, mourned.

28 And the land was moved altogether on men dwelling therein, and all the house of Jacob was clothed with confusion.

29 And after two years of days, the king sent a prince of tributes into the cities of Judea, and he came to Jerusalem with great company.

30 And he spake to them peaceable words in guile, and they believed to him. And suddenly he fell in on the city, and smote it with a great wound, and lost much people of Israel.

31 And he took preys of the city, and burnt it with fire, and destroyed houses thereof, and walls thereof in compass.

32 And they led women captive, and children, and wielded beasts.

33 And they builded the city of David with [a] great wall and firm, and firm towers; and it was made to them into an high tower, either strength.

34 And they putted there a folk of sinners, wicked men, and they were strong in it;

35 and they putted arms, and meats, and gathered preys of Jerusalem; and putted up there, and were made into a great snare.

36 And this thing was made into espyings in evil, either treasons, to hallowing, and into an evil devil in Israel evermore.

37 And they shed out innocent blood, by compass of the hallowing, and defouled the hallowing.

38 And dwellers of Jerusalem fled for them, and it was made habitation of strangers, and it was made strange, either alien, to his seed, and [the] sons thereof forsook it.

39 The hallowing thereof was desolate as wilderness; feast days thereof were turned into mourning, sabbaths thereof into shame, honours thereof into nought.

40 By [or After] the glory thereof, the evil fame thereof was multiplied, and highness thereof was turned into mourning.

41 And king Antiochus wrote to all his realm, that all the people should be one.

42 And they forsook each man his law; and all folks consented by [or after] the word of king Antiochus,

43 and many of Israel consented to him, and sacrificed to idols, and defouled sabbath.

44 And king Antiochus sent books by the hands of messengers into Jerusalem, and into all cities of Judea, that they should pursue laws of folks of earth,

45 and should forbid burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and pleasings for to be done in the temple of God, and that they should forbid the sabbath for to be hallowed, and solemn days,

46 and holy things for to be defouled, and the holy people of Israel.

47 And he commanded altars for to be builded, and temples, and idols; and swine’s flesh for to be sacrificed, and unclean beasts;

48 and for to leave their sons uncircumcised, and the souls of them for to be defouled in all unclean-nesses and abominations,

49 so that they should forget the law, and should change all the justifyings of God.

50 And whoever did not by the word of king Antiochus, should die.

51 By all these words he wrote to all his realm, and above-set [or before-set] princes to the people, which should constrain these things for to be done. And they commanded to cities of Judea for to make sacrifice.

52 And many of the people were gathered to them, which forsook the law of the Lord, and did evils on earth.

53 And they drived [or drove] out the people of Israel from privy places, and in hid places of fugitives, either fleeing men.

54 In the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, that answereth to our November, in the hundred and five and fortieth year, king Antiochus builded [the] abominable idol of desolation, either discomfort, on the altar of God; and by all cities of Judea in compass they builded altars.

55 And before the gates of the houses and in streets, they burnt incenses, and sacrificed;

56 and burnt by fire the books of the law of God, and carved them.

57 And with whomever the books of [the] testament of the Lord were found, and whoever kept the law of the Lord, by [or after] the commandment of the king, they slew him.

58 In their virtue, either power, they did these things to the people of Israel, that was found in each month in the cities.

59 And in the five and twentieth day of the month, they sacrificed on the altar, that was against the altar of God.

60 And women, that circumcised their sons, were strangled, by commandment of king Antiochus;

61 and they hanged children by the necks, by all houses of them, and strangled them that circumcised them.

62 And many of the people of Israel determined, either fully deemed, with them, that they should not eat unclean things,

63 and choosed more for to die, than for to be defouled with unclean meats. And they would not break the holy law of God, and they were slain;

64 and full great wrath was made on the people.

CHAPTER 2

1 In those days Mattathias, the son of John, son of Simeon, and he was a priest of the sons of Joarib, rose from Jerusalem, and sat in the hill Modin. [In those days Mattathias rose, the son of John, son of Simeon, he a priest of the sons of Joarib, of Jerusalem, and sat in the hill Modin.]

2 And he had five sons; John, was named Gaddis;

3 and Simon, that was named Thassis;

4 and Judas, that was called Maccabeus;

5 and Eleazar, that was named Avaran; and Jonathan, that was named Apphus.

6 These saw the evils that were done in the people of Judea and Jerusalem.

7 And Mattathias said, Woe to me! whereto am I born, for to see the destroying [or constriction] of my people, and the defouling of the holy city, and for to sit there, when it is given into the hands of enemies? Holy things be made in the hand of strangers;

8 the temple thereof as a man unnoble;

9 vessels of glory thereof be led away captive. Eld men thereof be slain in streets [or Old men be slain in streets thereof], and young men thereof fell down by sword of enemies.

10 What folk inherited not the kingdom thereof, and wielded not preys thereof?

11 All adorning thereof is borne away; she that was free, is made the handmaiden.

12 And lo! our holy things, and our fairness, and our clarity, is desolate, and heathen men defouled it.

13 What therefore is it to us for to live?

14 And Mattathias and his sons rent their clothes, and covered them with hair-shirts, and wailed greatly.

15 And they that were sent of king Antiochus, came thither, for to constrain them that fled together into the city of Modin, for to offer and burn incenses, and for to depart from the law of God.

16 And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them; but Mattathias and his sons stood steadfastly.

17 And they answered, that were sent of Antiochus, and said to Mattathias, Thou art prince, and most clear, and great in this city, and adorned with sons and brethren.

18 Therefore go thou the former, and do the commandment of the king, as all folks have done, and men of Judea, and they that left in Jerusalem. And thou shalt be, and thy sons, among friends of the king, and made large in silver and gold, and many gifts.

19 And Mattathias answered, and said with great voice, Though all folks obey to king Antiochus, that they go away each man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments,

20 I, and my sons, and my brethren shall obey to the law of our fathers.

21 God be helpful to us; it is not profitable to us for to forsake the law, and rightfulnesses of God.

22 We shall not hear the words of king Antiochus, neither shall make sacrifice/s to idols, and break the commandments of our law, that we go by another way.

23 And as he ceased for to speak these words, some Jew went to, before the eyes of all men, for to sacrifice to idols on the altar, in the city of Modin, by commandment of the king.

24 And Mattathias saw, and sorrowed, and his reins trembled together, and his madness, that is, great wrath by fervent love, was kindled by [or after] doom of the law; and he leaped in, and slew him on the altar.

25 But and he slew in that time the man whom king Antiochus sent, which compelled for to offer, and he destroyed the altar.

26 And he loved fervently the law, as Phinehas did to Zimri, son of Salu.

27 And Mattathias cried with great voice in the city, and said, Each man that hath fervent love of the law, ordain a testament, that is, a covenant, and go he out after me.

28 And he flew, and his sons, into mountains, and left whatever things they had in the city.

29 Then many seeking doom and rightwiseness, went down into desert, that they should sit there,

30 they and the sons of them, and women of them, and beasts of them; for evils were hard on them.

31 And it was told to men of the king, and to the host, that were in Jerusalem, [in] the city of David, that some men went away, that destroyed the commandment of the king, into privy places in desert; and many had gone after them.

32 And anon they went to them, and ordained against them battle, in the day of sabbaths;

33 and said to them, Against-stand ye also now yet? go ye out, and do after the word of king Antiochus, and ye shall live.

34 And they said, We shall not go out, neither [we] shall do the word of the king, that we defoul the day of sabbaths.

35 And they stirred battle against them.

36 And they answered not to them, neither threw a stone to them, neither stopped privy places,

37 and said, Die we all in our simpleness, and heaven and earth shall be witnesses on us, that unjustly ye lose us.

38 And they gave to them battle in sabbaths, and they were dead, and [the] wives of them, and sons of them, and beasts of them, till to a thousand persons of men.

39 And Mattathias knew, and his friends; and they had mourning on them greatly.

40 And a man said to his neighbor, If we all shall do as our brethren did, and shall not fight against heathen men, for our lives, and our justifyings, the sooner they shall destroy us from the earth.

41 And they thought in that day, and said, Each man whoever cometh to us in battle, in the day of sabbaths, fight we against him, and die we not all, as our brethren be dead in privy places.

42 Then the synagogue of Jews, strong in mights of Israel, was gathered to them. Every willful man in the law,

43 and all that fled from evils, were added to them, and they were made to them to steadfastness.

44 And they gathered an host, and smited sinners in their wrath, and wicked men in their indignation; and the others fled to nations, for to escape.

45 And Mattathias environed, and his friends, and destroyed altars,

46 and circumcised children uncir-cumcised, how many ever they found in the coasts of Israel, in strength.

47 And they pursued the sons of pride, and the work had prosperity in their hands.

48 And they got the law from the hands of heathen men, and from the hands of kings, and gave not strength to the sinner.

49 And [the] days of Mattathias of dying nighed, and he said to his sons, Now pride is comforted, and chastising, and time of destruction, and the wrath of indignation.

50 Now therefore, sons, be ye pursuers, either lovers, of the law, and give ye your lives for the testament of fathers.

51 And bethink ye on the works of fathers, which they did in their generations, and ye shall receive great glory, and everlasting name.

52 Whether in temptation Abraham was not found true, either faithful, and it was areckoned to him to rightwiseness? [Whether Abraham in temptation was not found faithful, and it is areckoned to him to right-wiseness?]

53 Joseph, in time of his anguish, kept commandment, and was made lord of Egypt.

54 Phinehas, our father, in fervently loving the fervent love of God, took testament of everlasting priesthood.

55 Jesus, either Joshua, while he [ful] filled the word, was made duke in Israel.

56 Caleb, while he witnessed in the church, took heritage.

57 David, in his mercy, got the seat of kingdom, into worlds.

58 Elijah, while he fervently loved the fervent love of the law, was received into heaven.

59 Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, believed, and were delivered from the flame.

60 Daniel, in his simpleness, was delivered from the mouth of lions.

61 And thus bethink ye by generation and generation, for all that hope into him be not made unsteadfast.

62 And dread ye not of the words of a man a sinner, for the glory of him is turds and worms;

63 today he is enhanced, and tomorrow he shall not be found, for he is returned into his earth, and his thought shall perish.

64 Therefore, ye sons, be comforted, and do ye manly in the law; for when ye shall do those things that be bidden to you in the law of your Lord God [or the Lord your God], in it ye shall be glorious.

65 And lo! Simon, your brother; I know, that he is a man of counsel, hear ye him evermore, and he shall be father to you.

66 And Judas Maccabeus, strong in mights from his youth, be to you a prince in [or of] knighthood, and he shall do battle of the people.

67 And ye shall bring to you all doers of the law, and avenge ye the vengeance of your people.

68 Yield ye yielding to heathen men, and take ye attention to the behests of the law.

69 And he blessed them, and was put to his fathers.

70 And he was dead in the hundred and six and fortieth year, and was buried of his sons into [the] sepulchre of his fathers in Modin; and all Israel wailed him with great wailing.

CHAPTER 3

1 And Judas, that was called Maccabeus, the son of Mattathias, rose for him.

2 And all his brethren helped him, and all that joined them to his father, and they fought the battle of Israel with gladness.

3 And he alarged glory to his people, and clothed him with an habergeon as a giant, and girt him with his armours of battle in battles, and defended castles with his sword.

4 He was made like a lion in his works, and as a whelp of a lion roaring in his hunting.

5 And he pursued wicked men, and sought them; and he burnt them in flames, that disturbed or troubled his people.

6 And his enemies were put aback for dread of him, and all workers of wickedness were troubled altogether; and health was addressed in his hand.

7 And he wrathed many kings, and gladded Jacob, that is, the people of Israel, in his works, and into world his mind is in blessing.

8 And he went through the cities of Judea, and lost unpious men of them, and turned away wrath from Israel.

9 And he was named till to the utmost of earth, and he gathered men perishing.

10 And Apollonius gathered folks, and from Samaria much virtue, and great, for to fight against Israel.

11 And Judas knew, and went out against him, and smote, and slew him. And many wounded fell down, and the others fled;

12 and he took preys of them. And Judas took away the sword of Apollonius, and was fighting there-with in all days.

13 And Seron, prince of the host of Syria, heard, that Judas gathered a gathering, and the church of faithful men with him.

14 And he said, I shall make to me a name, and I shall be glorified in the realm, and I shall overcome Judas, and them that be with him, which despised the king’s word.

15 And he made ready him; and the castles or hosts of unpious men, strong helpers, went up with him, for to do vengeance on the sons of Israel.

16 And they nighed unto Bethhoron; and Judas went out against them, with few men.

17 Forsooth as they saw the host coming to them in meeting, they said to Judas, How may we few fight against so great multitude, so strong; and we be made weary by fasting this day?

18 And Judas said, It is light, either easy, that many be enclosed altogether in hands of few; and difference is not in sight of God of heaven, for to deliver in many either in few;

19 for not in multitude of host is the victory of battle, but of heaven is strength.

20 They come to us in rebel multitude, and pride, for to destroy us, and our wives, and our sons, and for to rob us.

21 Forsooth we shall fight for our lives, and our laws;

22 and the Lord himself shall all-break them before our face; forsooth dread ye not them.

23 Soothly as he ceased for to speak, he hurled into them suddenly; and Seron was all-broken, and his host, in the sight of him.

24 And he pursued him in the going down of Bethhoron, till into the field; and eight hundred men of them fell down, the others forsooth fled into the land of Philistines.

25 And the dread of Judas, and of his brethren, and the inward fearedness, fell on all heathen men in compass of them;

26 and the name of him came to the king, and all folks told of the battles of Judas.

27 Soothly as king Antiochus heard these words, he was wroth in soul; and he sent, and gathered the host of all his realm, full strong castles or hosts.

28 And he opened his treasury, and gave wages to his host, into a year, and commanded them, that they should be ready to all things.

29 And he saw, that money failed of his treasures, and tributes of the country were little, for dissention and vengeance that he did in the land, for to do away the lawful things that were of the first days.

30 And he dreaded, that he should not have as once and twice into costs and gifts, which he had given before with large hand; and he was rich [or abounded] over kings that were before him.

31 And he was astonied in soul greatly, and thought for to go into Persia, and for to take tributes of countries, and for to gather much silver.

32 And he left Lysias, a noble man of the king’s kin, on the king’s needs, from the flood Euphrates, till to the flood of Egypt;

33 and that he should nourish Antiochus, his son, till he came again.

34 And he betook to him the half of his host, and elephants, and commanded to him of all these things that he would, and of men inhabiting Judea and Jerusalem;

35 and that he should send to them a host, for to all-break, and to destroy utterly the virtue of Israel, and the remnants [or relics] of Jerusalem, and for to do away the mind of them from place;

36 and for to ordain dwellers sons aliens [or aliens’ sons dwellers] in all the coasts of them, and by lot for to part the land of them.

37 And the king took a part of the residue host, and went out of Antioch, city of his realm, in the hundred and seven and fortieth year; and passed over the flood Euphrates, and went through the higher countries.

38 And Lysias chose Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king’s friends.

39 And he sent with them forty thousand of men, and seven thousand of horsemen, either knights, that they should come into the land of Judea, and destroy it, by [or after] the word of the king.

40 And they went forth, for to go with all their power; and they came, and landed at Emmaus, in the field land.

41 And merchants of countries heard the name of them, and took silver and gold full much, and children, and came into castles, for to take the sons of Israel into servants; and the hosts of Syria, and the lands of aliens, were added to them.

42 And Judas saw, and his brethren, that evils were multiplied, and the host applied, or landed, at the coasts of them; and they knew the words of the king, which he commanded the people for to do, into perishing and ending.

43 And they said, each man to his neighbour, Raise we the casting down of our people, and fight we for our people, and our holy things.

44 And coming together of host was gathered, for to be ready into battle, and for to pray, and ask mercy, and merciful doings [or mercy doings].

45 And Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was as desert; there was not that entered and went out, of children thereof; and the holy things was defouled, and sons of aliens were in the high tower, there was the dwelling of heathen men; and the liking was done away from Jacob, and pipe and harp failed there.

46 And they were gathered, and came into Mizpeh against Jerusalem; for place of prayer was in Mizpeh, sooner [or before] then in Jerusalem.

47 And they fasted in that day, and clothed them with hair-shirts, and putted ashes in their heads, and rent their clothes.

48 And they spreaded abroad books of the law, of the which heathen men sought likeness of their simulacra;

49 and they brought ornaments of priests, and first fruits, and tithes; and they raised Nazirites, that had [ful] filled days.

50 And they cried with great voice to heaven, and said, What shall we do to these, and whither shall we lead them?

51 And thine holy things be trodden, and defouled, and thy priests be made into mourning, and into casting down, either despising.

52 And lo! nations came together against us, for to destroy us; thou knowest what things they think against us.

53 How shall we be able to with-stand before the face of them, no but thou, God, help us?

54 And they cried in trumps, with great voice.

55 And after these things Judas ordained dukes of the people, tribunes, that is, [one]leading a thousand, and centurions, leading an hundred, and pentacontrarks, leading fifty, and decurions, leading ten.

56 And he said to these that builded houses, and wedded wives, and planted vineyards, and to dreadful men, that they should turn again, each man into his house, by [or after] the law.

57 And they moved castles, either hosts of armed men, and they setted together at the south of Emmaus.

58 And Judas said, Be ye gird, and be ye mighty sons, and be ye ready in the morrowing, and that ye fight against these nations, that came together for to destroy us, and our holy things.

59 For better it is, that we die in battle, than for to see evils of our folk, and holy things.

60 Soothly as will shall be in heaven, so be it done.

CHAPTER 4

1 And Gorgias took five thousand of men, and a thousand chosen horse-men; and they moved tents by night,

2 for to apply to or pitch by the tents of Jews, and for to smite them suddenly; and sons that were of the high tower, were leaders of them.

3 And Judas heard, and he rose, and mighty men, for to smite the power of hosts of the king, that was in Emmaus;

4 for yet the host was scattered from tents.

5 And Gorgias came into the tents of Judas by night, and found no man; and they sought them in hills, for he said, These flee from us.

6 And when day was made, Judas appeared in the field with three thousands of men only, which had not coverings and swords.

7 And they saw the tents of heathen men strong, and men habergeoned, and the multitude of horsemen in compass of them, and these were taught to battle.

8 And Judas said to his men, that were with him, Dread ye not the multitude of them, and dread ye not inwardly the fierceness of them.

9 Bethink ye how our fathers were made safe in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with much host.

10 And now cry we to heaven, and the Lord shall have mercy on us, and shall be mindful of the testament of our fathers, and shall all-break this host before our face today.

11 And all folks shall know, that it is God, that shall again-buy, and deliver Israel.

12 And aliens raised their eyes, and saw them coming of the contrary part,

13 and went out of tents into battle. And they that were with Judas, sang in trumps.

14 And they went together, and heathen men were all-broken, and fled into the field;

15 forsooth the last fell down by sword. And they pursued them till to Gazara, and till into the fields of Idumea, and Azotus, and Jamnia; and there fell down of them till to three thousands of men.

16 And Judas turned again, and his host pursuing him.

17 And he said to the people, Covet ye not preys, for battle is against us,

18 and Gorgias and his host be in the hill nigh us; but stand ye now against our enemies, and overcome them, and after these things ye shall take preys securely [or ye securely shall take preys].

19 And yet while Judas spake these things, lo! some part appeared, beholding forth from the hill.

20 And Gorgias saw, that his helpers were altogether turned into flight, and tents were burnt; for smoke that was seen, declared that that was done.

21 And when they beheld these things, they dreaded greatly, beholding together both Judas and the host, ready to battle in the field, [or in the field, ready to battle].

22 And they fled all in the field of aliens,

23 and Judas turned again to preys of the tents; and they took much gold, and silver, and jacinth, and purple of the sea, and great riches.

24 And they converted, and sung an hymn, or praising, and blessed God into heaven; for he is good, for the mercy of him is into the world.

25 And great health was made in Israel in that day.

26 Forsooth whoever of aliens escaped, came, and told to Lysias all things that befell.

27 And when he heard these things, he was astonied in soul, and failed; for not what manner things he would, such befell in Israel, and what manner things the king commanded.

28 And in the year pursuing, Lysias gathered of chosen men sixty thousand, and of horsemen five thousand, for to overcome them.

29 And they came into Judea (or Idumea), and setted tents in Bethhoron (or Bethsura); and Judas ran to them with ten thousand of men.

30 And they saw [a] strong host, and he prayed, and said, Blessed art thou, Saviour of Israel, that hast all-broken the fierceness of the mighty Goliath in the hand of thy servant David, and betookest the castles [or tents], or hosts, of aliens into the hands of Jonathan, son of Saul, and of his squire.

31 Enclose thou altogether also this host in the hand of thy people Israel, and be they confounded in their host, and horsemen.

32 Give thou to them inward dread, and make the hardiness of their virtue to fail, and be they moved altogether in their breaking altogether.

33 Cast down them by the sword of men loving thee, and all that know thy name, altogether praise thee in hymns.

34 And they joined together battle, and five thousand of men fell down of the host of Lysias.

35 Lysias forsooth saw the flight of his men, and the hardiness of Jews; and that they were ready either for to live, either for to die strongly. And he went to Antioch, and chose knights, that they multiplied should come again into Judea.

36 Forsooth Judas said to his brethren, [or Judas said, and his brethren], Lo! our enemies be all-broken; go we up now, for to cleanse holy things, and make new.

37 And all the host was gathered, and they went up into the hill of Zion.

38 And they saw the hallowing deserted, either forsaken, and the altar unhallowed, or defouled by idolatry, and the gates burnt, and in the porches tender trees grown, as in wild wood, or mountains, and [the] little cells destroyed.

39 And they rent their clothes, and wailed with great wailing; and putted ashes on their heads,

40 and fell on the face of the earth, and cried in trumps of signs, and cried into heaven.

41 Then Judas ordained men, for to fight against them that were in the high tower, as long as they cleansed holy things.

42 And he chose priests without wem, having will in the law of God;

43 and they cleansed holy things, and took away stones of defouling into an unclean place.

44 And he thought on the altar of burnt sacrifices, that was unhallowed, what he should do thereof.

45 And a good counsel fell into him, for to destroy it, lest it were to them into shame, for heathen men defouled it.

46 And they destroyed it, and kept [or putted] stones in the hill of the house, in covenable place, till that a prophet came, and answered [or should answer] of them.

47 And they took whole stones, by [or after] the law, and builded a new altar, like that that was before.

48 And they builded holy things, and the things that were within the house withinforth; and they hallowed the house, and the porches.

49 And they made new holy vessels, and brought in a candlestick, and altar of incenses, and a board into the temple.

50 And [they] putted incense on the altar, and tended lanterns, that were on the candlestick, and gave light in the temple.

51 And they putted loaves on the board, and hanged veils, and ended all works that they made.

52 And before morrowtide they rose, in the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, this is the month Kislev, that is, November-December, of the hundred and eight and fortieth year.

53 And they offered sacrifice by [or after] the law, on the new altar of burnt sacrifices, which they made by [or after] time.

54 And by the day in which heathen men defouled it, in that it was made new, in songs, and harps, and citherns, that be instruments of music, either gitterns, and cymbals.

55 And all the people fell on their faces, and worshipped God, and blessed into heaven him that made prosperity to them.

56 And they made hallowing of the altar in eight days, and offered burnt sacrifices with gladness, and helpful things of praising.

57 And they adorned the face of the temple with golden crowns, and small shields; and hallowed gates, and little houses, either small cells, and putted to them gates.

58 And full great gladness was made in the people, and the shame of heathen men was turned away.

59 And Judas ordained, and his brethren, and all the church of Israel, that the day of hallowing of the altar be done in his times, from year into year, by eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Kislev, with gladness and joy.

60 And they builded in that time the hill of Zion, and by compass high walls, and firm towers, lest any time heathen men would come, and defoul it, as they did before.

61 And he set there an host [or a company], for to keep it; and he warded it, for to keep Bethsura, that the people should have strengthening [or warding] against the face of Idumea.

CHAPTER 5

1 And it was done, as heathen men heard in compass, that the altar was builded, and the saintuary as before, they were wroth greatly.

2 And they thought for to do away, either destroy, the kin of Jacob, that was among them; and they began for to slay of the people, and pursue.

3 And Judas overcame the sons of Esau in Idumea, and them that were in Acrabattene, for they sat about men of Israel; and he smote them with a great wound.

4 And he thought on the malice of the sons of Bean, that were into snare, and into offence to the people of Israel, and espied it, either set ambushments to it, in the ways.

5 And these were closed altogether from him in the towers; and he applied to or pitched by them, and cursed them, and burnt with fire the towers of them, with all men that were in them.

6 And he passed to the sons of Ammon, and found strong hand, and plenteous people, and Timothy, duke of them.

7 And he smote many battles with them, and they were broken in the sight of him; and he smote them.

8 And he took the city [of] Jazer, and [the] villages thereof; and he turned again into Judea.

9 And heathen men that were in Gilead, were gathered against Israelites, that were in the coasts of them, to do away them [or to do them away]; and they fled into the strengthening of Dathema.

10 And they sent letters to Judas, and his brethren, and said, Heathen men be gathered against us by compass, that they do away us [or do us away];

11 and they make ready for to come, and occupy the strengthening, into which we fled; and Timothy is duke of the host of them.

12 Now therefore come thou, and deliver us from their hands, for a multitude of us fell down;

13 and all our brethren that were in places of Tob, everywhere be slain; and they led away captive the wives of them, and children, and took spoils; and killed there almost a thousand men.

14 And yet epistles were read, and lo! other messengers came from Galilee, with coats rent, and told by these words,

15 and said, that men came together against them from Ptolemais, and Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee is [full]-filled with aliens, for to destroy us.

16 Soothly as Judas heard, and the people, these words, a great church came together, for to think what they should do to their brethren, that were in tribulation, and were overcome of them.

17 And Judas said to Simon, his brother, Choose to thee men, and go, and deliver thy brethren in Galilee; I forsooth and my brother Jonathan, shall go into Gilead.

18 And he left Joseph, son of Zechariah, and Azariah, dukes of the people, with the residue host in Judea to keeping;

19 and [he] commanded to them, and said, Be ye sovereigns to this people, and do not ye smite battle against heathen men, till we turn again.

20 And men were given to Simon three thousands, for to go into Galilee; to Judas soothly eight thousand, into Gilead.

21 And Simon went into Galilee, and joined many battles with heathen men. And heathen men were all-broken from his face,

22 and he pursued them till to the gate of Ptolemais. And there fell down of heathen men almost three thousand of men; and he took the spoils of them.

23 And he took them that were in Galilee, and in Arbatta, with wives, and children, and all things that were to them; and brought into Judea with great gladness.

24 And Judas Maccabeus, and Jonathan, and his brethren passed over Jordan, and went forth the way of three days into desert.

25 And Nabathites or Nabateans came against them, and received them peaceably, and told to them all things that befell to their brethren in Gilead;

26 and that many of them were taken [or caught] in Bozrah, and Bosor, and in Alema, and in Casphor, and Maked, and Carnaim; all these were strong cities and great.

27 But and in other cities of Gilead they be holden caught. And on the morrow they ordained for to move the host to those cities, and for to take, and do away them in one day.

28 And Judas turned, and his host, the way into desert of Bozrah sudden-ly; and [he] occupied the city, and slew each male by the sharpness of sword, and took all the spoils of them, and burnt it with fire.

29 And they rose thence in night, and went unto the strengthening.

30 And it was made in springing of day, when they raised their eyes, and lo! much people, of whom was no number, bearing ladders and engines, for to take the strengthening, and overcome them.

31 And Judas saw, that battle began, and cry of battle ascended into heaven, as [a] trump, and great cry of [a] city.

32 And he said to his host, Fight ye today for your brethren.

33 And he came, and three orders after them [or And he came in three orders after them], and they cried with trumps, and cried in prayer.

34 And [the] hosts of Timothy knew, that it was Maccabeus, and they fled from his face. And they have smitten them with great wound; and there fell down of them in that day almost eight thousand of men.

35 And Judas turned away into Mizpeh; and [he] overcame, and took it, and slew each male thereof, and took spoils of it, and burnt it with fire.

36 From thence he went, and took Casphor, and Maked, and Bosor, and other cities of Gilead.

37 Forsooth after these words, Timothy gathered another host, and putted tents against Raphon, over the stream.

38 And Judas sent for to behold the host, and they told again to him, and said, That all heathen men that be in our compass, full much host, came together to him.

39 And they hired Arabians into help to them, and they have set tents over the stream, and be ready for to come to thee into battle. And Judas went against them.

40 And Timothy said to the princes of his host, When Judas nigheth, and his host, to the stream of water, if he passeth former or first to us, we shall not be able to abide him, for he mighty shall be able to be against us.

41 Soothly if he dreadeth for to pass, and setteth tents beyond the flood, pass we over to them, and we shall be able to be against him.

42 Forsooth as Judas nighed to the stream of water, he ordained scribes, either writers, of the people, beside the stream, and commanded to them, and said, Leave ye none of men, but come all into battle.

43 And he the former passed over to them, and all the people after him. And all these heathen men were all-broken from the face of them, and they casted away their arms; and they fled to the temple, that was at Carnaim.

44 And Judas occupied that city, and burnt the temple with fire, and all that were in it; and Carnaim was oppressed, and might not abide [or sustain] against the face of Judas.

45 And Judas gathered all Israelites that were in Gilead, from the least to the most, and wives of them, and children, and a full great host, that they should come into the land of Judea.

46 And they came till to Ephron, and this great city, put in the entry, was full strong; and there was not for to bow away from it, in [the] right half or left, but the way was through the middle.

47 And they that were in the city closed in them [or closed them in], and stopped the gates with stones.

48 And Judas sent to them with peaceable words, and said, Pass we by your land, for to go into our land, and no man shall annoy you, only on feet we shall go. And they would not open to them.

49 And Judas commanded for to preach in tents, either host, that each man should apply, that is, assail the city, in what place he was.

50 And men of virtue applied or pitched themselves, and he fought against that city all day and all night, and the city was betaken in his hands.

51 And they slew each male by the sharpness of sword, and drew up by the roots it [or drew it up by the roots], and took the spoils thereof, and passed by all the city on the slain men.

52 And they passed over Jordan, in the great field against the face of Bethshan.

53 And Judas was gathering the last men, and admonished the people by all the way, till they came into the land of Judea.

54 And they went up into the hill of Zion with gladness and joy, and offered burnt sacrifices, that no man of them fell down, or was dead, till they turned again in peace.

55 And in the days in which Judas was, and Jonathan, in the land of Gilead, and Simon, his brother, in Galilee, against the face of Ptolemais,

56 Joseph, son of Zechariah, heard, and Azariah, prince of virtue, the things done well [or well done], and battles that were made.

57 And he said, Make we also a name to us, and go we for to fight against heathen men, that be in our compass.

58 And he commanded to these that were in his host, and they went forth to Jamnia.

59 And Gorgias went out of the city, and his men, against them, into fight.

60 And Joseph and Azariah were driven unto the ends of Judea; and there fell down in that day of the people of Israel, men to two thousands [or men two thousands].

61 And a great wound was made in the people; for they heard not Judas and his brethren, and guessed them to do strongly.

62 Forsooth they were not of the seed of those men, by which health was made in Israel.

63 And men of Judas were magnified greatly in the sight of all Israel, and of all heathen men, where the name of them was heard.

64 And they came together, crying to them prosperity, either praisings.

65 And Judas went out, and his brethren, and overcame the sons of Esau, in the land that is at the south; and he smote Hebron, and [the] villages thereof, and destroyed the wardings, or the walls, thereof, and burnt with fire [the] towers thereof in compass.

66 And he moved tents, for to go into the land of aliens; and went through Samaria.

67 In that day priests fell down in battle, while they would do strongly, while without counsel they went out into battle.

68 And Judas bowed away into Azotus, in the land of aliens, and destroyed altars of them, and burnt in fire the spoils of their gods, and took preys of cities; and turned again into the land of Judea.

CHAPTER 6

1 And king Antiochus walked through the high countries, and heard that a city, Elymais, was in Persia, the noblest and plenteous in silver and gold;

2 and a temple in it was full rich, and there were golden veils, and habergeons, and shields, which Alexander son of Philip, king of Macedonia, left, that reigned the first [or that reigned first] in Greece.

3 And he came, and sought for to take the city, and rob it; and he might not, for the word was known to them that were in the city.

4 And they rised up into battle, and he flew from thence, and went away with great heaviness, and turned again to Babylon.

5 And there came one, that told to him in Persia, that the hosts that were in the land of Judea were driven out,

6 and that Lysias went with strong virtue, either power, in the first, or best, men, and was driven out from the face of Jews, and they waxed strong in arms, and strengths, and many preys, which they took of tents, either hosts, that they slew;

7 and that they destroyed the abomination, which he builded on the altar that was in Jerusalem, and they encompassed with high walls the hallowing, as before, but and Bethsura, his city.

8 And it was done, as the king heard these words, he dreaded, and was moved greatly, and fell down into a bed, and fell into a great sickness for heaviness, for it was not done as he thought.

9 And he was there many days, for great heaviness was renewed in him, and he deemed himself for to die.

10 And he called all his friends, and said to them, Sleep passed away from mine eyes, and I failed in heart, and fell down for busyness [or fell down in heart for busyness];

11 and I said in mine heart, Into how great tribulation became I [or came I], and into what waves of heaviness in which I am now, that was merry, and beloved in my power?

12 Now forsooth I bethink on the evils that I did to Jerusalem, from whence and I took all golden spoils, and silvern, that were therein; and I sent without cause, that men dwelling in Judea to be done away.

13 Therefore I knew that these evils found me therefore, and lo! I perish by great heaviness in an alien land.

14 And he called Philip, one of his friends, and made him sovereign on all his realm;

15 and gave to him a diadem, and his stole, and ring, for to lead Antiochus, his son, and nourish him, and that he should reign.

16 And king Antiochus died there, in the hundred and nine and fortieth year.

17 And Lysias knew, that the king was dead, and [he] ordained Antiochus, the son of him, for to reign, whom he nourished or nursed when young; and [he] called his name Eupator.

18 And they that were in the high tower, enclosed altogether Israel in compass of holy things, and sought to them evils evermore, to strengthening of heathen men.

19 And Judas thought for to destroy them, and called together all the people, for to besiege them.

20 And they came together, and besieged them, in the hundred and fiftieth year; and they made arblasts or arrow-blasters, that is, an instrument for to cast shafts, and stones, and engines.

21 And some of them that were besieged, went out; and some unfaithful [or unpious] men of Israel joined themselves to them,

22 and went to the king, and said, How long doest thou not doom, and avengest not our brethren?

23 And we deemed for to serve thy father, and for to walk in his behests, and obey to his commandments.

24 And the sons of our people alienated them from us for this thing; and whichever were found of us, were slain, and our heritages were ravished away.

25 And not only to us they stretched out the hand, but and into all our coasts.

26 And lo! they applied today to or pitched at the high tower in Jerusalem, for to occupy it, and they strengthened a strengthening or strong-hold in Bethsura.

27 And if thou shalt not before come them more swiftly, they shall do greater things than these, and thou shalt not be able to wield them.

28 And the king was wroth, as he heard this thing, and called together all his friends, and princes of his host, and them that were over horsemen;

29 but also an hired host from other realms, and isles, and coasts came to him.

30 And the number of his host was an hundred thousand of footmen, and twenty thousand of horsemen, and two and thirty elephants taught to battle.

31 And they came by Idumea, and they applied to or pitched at Bethsura, and fought many days; and they made engines, and they went out, and burnt them in fire, and fought manly.

32 And Judas went from the high tower, and moved tents to Beth-zechariah, against tents of the king.

33 And the king rose before the light, and stirred the host into fierce-ness, against the way of Beth-zechariah; and the hosts made ready them altogether into battle [or the hosts made them altogether ready into battle], and sang in trumps.

34 And to elephants they showed blood of grapes, and morus, or mulberry trees, for to whet them into battle.

35 And they parted the beasts by legions; and to each elephant a thousand men stood nigh in habergeons chained, or mailed, together, and brazen helmets in their heads, and five hundred horsemen chosen [or five hundred chosen horsemen] were ordained to each beast.

36 These were there before the time, wherever the beast was; and whither ever it went, they went, and departed not therefrom.

37 But and firm towers of tree were on them, defending by all the beasts, and on them were engines, and on each by themselves men of virtue, or strong men, two and thirty, which fought from above, and within was the master of the beast.

38 And he ordained the residue multitude of horsemen on this half and that half, into two parts, for to move altogether the host with trumps, and for to constrain the men made thick in their legions [or to constrain the armed men in his legions].

39 And as the sun shined into the golden shields, and brazen, the hills shined again of them, and shined again, as lamps of fire.

40 And a part of the king’s host was parted by high hills, and others by low places; and they went warily, and ordinately.

41 And all men dwelling in the land were moved altogether of the voice of multitude of them, and in-going of company, and hurtling together of arms; for the host was full great and strong.

42 And Judas and his host nighed into battle; and there fell down of the king’s host six hundred men.

43 And Eleazar, the son of Avaran, saw one of the beasts habergeoned with habergeons of the king, and it was high standing over other beasts; and it was seen to him, that the king was on it.

44 And he gave himself for to deliver his people, for to get to him a name everlasting.

45 And he ran thereto hardily, into the middle of legion, and killed on the right half and on the left [or slaying on the right half and left]; and they fell down from him hither and thither.

46 And he went under the feet of the elephant, and under-putted himself thereto, and slew it; and it fell down into earth on him, and he was dead there.

47 And they saw the virtue or strength of the king, and the fierce-ness of his host, and turned away themselves from them.

48 Forsooth the tents or host of the king went up against them, into Jerusalem; and tents of the king applied to or pitched at Judea, and to the hill of Zion;

49 and he made peace with these that were in Bethsura. And they went out of the city, for foods were not to them enclosed altogether there, for the sabbaths of earth were.

50 And the king took Bethsura, and ordained there keeping, for to keep it.

51 And he turned the tents or host to the place of hallowing many days; and ordained there arblasts or arrow-blasters, and engines, and darts, or castings, of fire, and torments for to cast stones and darts, and scorpions for to shoot arrows, and slings.

52 Forsooth and they made engines against the engines of them, and [they] fought many days.

53 Forsooth meats were not in the city, for that it was the seventh year; and they that left of heathen men in Judea, had wasted the remnants [or the relics] of those things that were kept.

54 And few men left in holy things, for hunger had taken them; and they were scattered, each man into his place.

55 And Lysias heard, that Philip, whom king Antiochus ordained, when he lived yet [or when yet he lived], that he should nourish Antiochus, his son, that he should reign,

56 turned again from Persia and Media, and the host that went with him. And that he seeketh for to take the causes of the realm,

57  Lysias hasted for to go, and said to the king, and dukes of the host, We fail each day, and little meat is to us, and the place which we besiege, is strong, and it falleth to us for to ordain of the realm.

58 Therefore now give we right hands to these men, and make we peace with them, and with all the folk of them;

59 and ordain we to them, that they go in lawful things as before; for why for the lawful things of them which we despised, they be wroth, and have done all these things.

60 And the word pleased in the sight of the king, and of princes; and he sent to them for to make peace, and they received it.

61 And the king swore to them, and princes; and they went out of the strengthening.

62 And the king entered into the mount Zion, and he saw the strengthening of the place; and he brake full soon the oath that he swore, and commanded for to destroy the wall in compass.

63 And he departed away hastily, and turned again to Antioch, and found Philip reigning in the city; and he fought against him, and occupied the city by strength.

CHAPTER 7

1 In the hundred year and one and fifty, Demetrius, son of Seleucus, went out from the city of Rome, and went up with a few men into a city nigh the sea, and reigned there.

2 And it was done, as he entered into the house of the realm of his fathers, the host caught Antiochus, and Lysias, for to bring them to him.

3 And the thing was known to him, and he said, Do not ye show to me the faces of them.

4 And the host slew them. And Demetrius sat on the seat of his realm;

5 and wicked men and unfaithful of Israel came to him, and Alcimus, duke of them, that would be made priest;

6 and accused the people with the king, and said, Judas and his brethren lost thy friends, and diversely lost [or scattered] us from our land.

7 Now therefore send thou a man, to whom thou believest, that he go, and see all the destroying that he hath done to us, and to countries of the king; and he punish all friends of him, and helpers of them.

8 And the king chose of his friends Bacchides, that was lord over the great flood in the realm, and true to the king,

9 and [he] sent him, for to see the destroying that Judas did; and he ordained unfaithful [or unpious] Alcimus into priesthood, and bade him do vengeance on the sons of Israel.

10 And they rose, and came with great host into the land of Judea; and they sent messengers, and spake to Judas and his brethren, with peace-able words in guile.

11 And they gave not attention to their words; for they saw, that they came with great host.

12 And the congregation of scribes came together to Alcimus and Bacchides, for to ask those things that be just;

13 and the first, Hasideans, that were among the sons of Israel, and they asked of them peace.

14 For they said, A man, priest of the seed of Aaron, cometh, he shall not deceive us.

15 And he spake with them peace-able words, and swore to them, and said, We shall not bring into you evils, neither to your friends.

16 And they believed to him. And he caught of them sixty men, and slew them in one day, by [or after] the word that is written,

17 They shed out the fleshes of thy saints, and blood of them in compass of Jerusalem, and there was not that buried.

18 And dread and trembling fell into all the people, for they said, There is not truth and doom in them; for they have broken the statute, or ordinance, and the oath that they swore.

19 And Bacchides moved tents from Jerusalem, and applied into or pitched at Bethzaith; and sent, and caught many of them that fled from him; and he killed some of the people, and casted into a great pit.

20 And he betook the country to Alcimus, and left with him help, into helping of him. And Bacchides went to the king,

21 and Alcimus did enough, for the princehood of his priesthood.

22 And all came together to him, which disturbed or troubled their people, and wielded the land of Judea; and [they] did great vengeance in Israel.

23 And Judas saw all the evils, that Alcimus did, and they that were with him, to the sons of Israel, much more than heathen men.

24 And he went out into all the coasts of Judea in compass, and did vengeance on men forsakers, and they ceased for to go out further into the country.

25 Forsooth Alcimus saw, that Judas had victory, and they that were with him; and he knew that he may not abide them, and he went again to the king, and accused them in many sins.

26 And the king sent Nicanor, one of his nobler princes, that was haunting enmities against Israel, and commanded him for to destroy the people.

27 And Nicanor came into Jerusalem, with great host, and he sent to Judas and his brethren with guile, by peace-able words, saying,

28 Fight be not betwixt me and you; I shall come with few men, for to see your faces with peace.

29 And he came to Judas, and they greeted them together peaceably; and enemies were ready for to ravish Judas.

30 And the word was known to Judas, that with guile he came to him; and he was afeared of him, and he would no more see his face.

31 And Nicanor knew, that his counsel was known, and he went out against Judas into fight, beside Caphar-salama.

32 And there fell down of Nicanor’s host almost five thousand men, and they fled into the city of David.

33 And after these words Nicanor went up into the hill of Zion, and there went out of priests of the people, for to greet him in peace, and for to show to him burnt sacrifices, that were offered for the king.

34 And he scorned and despised them, and defouled, and spake proudly,

35 and swore with wrath, saying, If Judas shall not be taken, and his host, into mine hands, anon when I shall turn again in peace, I shall burn this house. And he went out with great wrath.

36 And priests entered, and stood before the face of the altar and temple, and weeping, they said,

37 Thou, Lord, hast chosen this house, for to call to help [or to in-call] thy name in it, that it should be an house of prayer and beseeching to thy people;

38 do thou vengeance in this man, and his host, and fall they by sword; have mind on their blasphemies, and give not to them that they abide.

39 And Nicanor went out from Jerusalem, and applied tents to or pitched at Bethhoron; and the host of Syria came to him.

40 And Judas applied in or pitched at Adasa, with three thousand men. And Judas prayed, and said,

41 Lord, an angel went out, and smote an hundred thousand fourscore and five thousands of them [or smote an hundred and fourscore and five thousands of them], that were sent from king Sennacherib, for they blasphemed thee;

42 so all-break this host in our sight today, and other men know, that he spake evil on thine holy things; and deem thou him by [or after] the malice of him.

43 And the hosts joined battle in the thirteenth day of the month Adar, that is, February-March; and the tents or host of Nicanor were all-broken, and he fell down first in battle.

44 Soothly as his host saw, that Nicanor fell down, they casted away their arms, and fled.

45 And they pursued them the way of one day, from Adasa till men come into Gazara; and they sung in trumps after them with signifyings.

46 And they went out of all [the] castles of Judea in compass, and winnowed them with horns, and again they were converted or turned back to them; and all falled [or fell] by sword, and there was left of them not one.

47 And they took the spoils of them [in] to prey; and they girded [or cutted] off the head of Nicanor, and his right hand which he stretched forth proudly, and they brought, and hanged against Jerusalem.

48 And the people was glad greatly, and they did that day in great gladness;

49 and ordained this day for to be done in all years, in the thirteenth day of the month Adar.

50 And the land of Judea was still a few days.

CHAPTER 8

1 And Judas heard the name or fame of Romans, that they be mighty in strengths, and accord to all things that be asked of them; and whoever went to them, they ordained with them friendships;

2 and that they be mighty in strengths. And they heard battles of them, and good virtues, that they did in Galatia, for they wielded them, and led them under tribute;

3 and how many things they did in the country of Spain, and that they brought into power metals of silver and gold that be there;

4 and they wielded each place with their counsel, and patience, or wisdom, places that were full far from them; and they all-brake kings that came on them from the utmost places of earth, and they smited them with great wound; forsooth others give to them tribute by all years.

5 And they all-brake in battle Philip, and Perseus, kings [or king] of Kittim, and others that bare arms against them, and wielded them.

6 And they wielded Antiochus, the great king of Asia, that gave battle to them, and had an hundred and twenty elephants, and multitude of horsemen, and chariots, and full great host all-broken of them;

7 and that they took him quick, and ordained to him, that he should give great tribute, and they that reigned after him; and that he should give pledges and ordinance,

8 in the country of India; and they putted out men of Media, and of Lydia, from the best countries of them, and they gave those countries taken of them to king Eumenes;

9 and that they that were with Greeks, would go, and take away them;

10 and the word was known to these Romans, and they sent to them one duke, and they fought against them; and many of them fell, and they led their wives captives, and sons, and robbed them; and wielded the land of them, and destroyed the walls of them, and brought them into servage, till into this day.

11 And they destroyed other realms and isles, that sometime against-stood them, and brought [them] into power.

12 Forsooth with their friends, and that had rest in them, they kept friendship, and they wielded realms that were next, and that were far; for whoever heard the name of them, dreaded them.

13 For they reigned, to whom they would be in help for to reign; forsooth which [or whom] they would, they disturbed from realm; and they were greatly enhanced.

14 In all these Romans, no man bare diadem, neither was clothed in purple, for to be magnified therein.

15 And [for] they made to them a court, and each day they counselled three hundred and twenty, doing counsel evermore of multitude, that they do what things be worthy.

16 And they betake to one man their mastery, either chief governance, by each year, for to be lord of all their land; and all obey to one, and envy is not, neither wrath among them.

17 And Judas chose Eupolemus, the son of John, son of Accos, and Jason, the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome, for to ordain with them friendship and fellowship;

18 and that they should take away from them the yoke of Greeks, for they saw that they oppressed the realm of Israel into servage.

19 And they went to Rome, a full great way, and they entered into the court, and said,

20 Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, and the people of Jews, sent us to you, for to ordain with you fellowship and peace, and for to write together us your fellows and friends.

21 And the word pleased in the sight of them.

22 And this is the again-writing, which they again-writed in brazen tables, and sent into Jerusalem, that it were there a memorial, either a thing of mind, of peace and fellowship.

23 Be it well to Romans, and to the folk of Jews, in the sea and land, without end; and sword and enemy be far from them.

24 That if battle befall to Romans before [or former], either to all fellows of them in all the lordship of them,

25 the folk of Jews shall bear help, as time asketh [or as time shall ask], with full heart;

26 and the Romans shall not give, neither privily minister to the Jews fighting [or nor they shall give, neither privily minister to the fighting], wheat, arms, money, ships, as it pleased to Romans; and they shall keep the commandments of them, and take nothing of them.

27 Forsooth in like manner, and if battle falleth before to the folk of Jews, Romans shall help of [good] heart, as time suffereth them [or as time shall suffer them];

28 and to Romans helping wheat shall not be given, neither arms, money, neither ships, as it pleased to Romans; and they shall keep the commandments of them without guile.

29 By [or After] these words the Romans ordained to the people of Jews,

30 That if after these words, these either they will put anything to, either do away, they shall do of their common assent; and whatever things they shall put to, either do away, they shall be steadfast.

31 But also of evils which king Demetrius hath done against them, we have written to him, and we said Why hast thou grieved thy yoke on our friends and fellows, the Jews?

32 Therefore if again they shall come to us against thee, we shall do doom to them, and shall fight with thee by land and sea.

CHAPTER 9

1 In the meantime, where Demetrius heard that Nicanor fell, and his host, in battle, he putted to again for to send Bacchides and Alcimus into Judea, and the right half of the battle array [or the right horn] with them.

2 And they went the way that leadeth into Gilgal, and they setted tents in Mesaloth, that is in Arbela; and they occupied it, and slew many persons of men.

3 In the first month of the hundred and two and fifty year, they applied the host to or pitched tents at Jerusalem.

4 And twenty thousand of men, and two thousand of horsemen, have risen, and went into Berea.

5 And Judas setted tents in Eleasa, and three thousand men chosen [or three thousand chosen men] with him.

6 And they saw the multitude of the host, that they be many, and they dreaded greatly; and many withdrew them from tents, and there left not of them no but eight hundred men.

7 And Judas saw that his host fled away, and battle constrained him, and he was broken altogether in heart, for he had not time to gather them, and he was discomforted [or dissolved].

8 And he said to these that were residue, Rise we, and go we to our adversaries, if we shall be able to fight against them.

9 And they turned away him [or turned them away], and said, We shall not be able to, but deliver we [now] our own lives, and turn again we to our brethren, and then we shall fight against them; forsooth we be few.

10 And Judas said, Far be it for to do this thing, that we flee from them; and if our time hath nighed, die we in virtue for our brethren, and give we not crime to our glory.

11 And the host of Bacchides moved from tents, and they stood against them. And horsemen were parted into two parts, and slingers and archers went before the host, and the first men of battle, all the mighty.

12 Forsooth Bacchides was in the right horn, or battle array. And the legion of two parts came nigh, and cried with trumps.

13 Forsooth and these that were on [or of] the part of Judas, cried also, and the earth was moved altogether of the voice of hosts, and battle was joined from the morrowtide till to eventide [or from morrow unto even].

14 And Judas saw, that the part of Bacchides’ host was firmer in the right half, and all steadfast in heart came together with him.

15 And the right part was all-broken of them; and he pursued them unto the hill of Azotus.

16 And they that were in the left horn, or battle array, saw, that the right horn, or battle array, was all-broken, and they pursued at the back after Judas, and them that were with him.

17 And the battle was made grievous, and there fell many wounded of these and of them.

18 And Judas fell, and the others fled.

19 And Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas, and buried him in the sepulchre of his fathers, in the city of Modin.

20 And all Israel bewept him with great wailing, and mourned many days, and said,

21 How fell the mighty, that made Israel safe.

22 And other words of battles of Judas, and of virtues that he did, and of his greatnesses, be not written; for those [or they] were full many.

23 And it was done, after the death of Judas, all wicked men in all the coasts of Israel rose out, and all that wrought wickedness came forth.

24 In those days full great hunger was made, and all the country of them betook themselves to Bacchides with them.

25 And Bacchides chose unpious men, and ordained them lords of the country.

26 And they asked out, and sought the friends of Judas, and brought them to Bacchides; and he avenged on [or into] them, and scorned.

27 And great tribulation was made in Israel, what manner was not from the day in which a prophet was not seen in Israel.

28 And all the friends of Judas were gathered, and said to Jonathan,

29 Since thy brother Judas is dead, there is no man like him, that shall go out against enemies, Bacchides and them that be enemies of our folk.

30 Therefore now we choose thee today for to be prince and duke to us for him, for to fight our battles.

31 And Jonathan received in that time the princehood, and rose in the place of Judas, his brother.

32 And Bacchides knew, and sought for to slay him.

33 And Jonathan knew, and Simon, his brother, and all that were with him, and [they] fled into desert of Tekoa, and sat together at the water of the lake Asphar.

34 And Bacchides knew, and in the day of sabbath he came, and all his host, over Jordan.

35 And Jonathan sent his brother John, leader [or duke] of that people, and prayed Nabathites or Nabateans, his friends, that he should betake to them his apparel, that was plenteous.

36 And sons of Jambri went out of Medaba, and caught John, and all things that he had, and went away, having those things [or having them].

37 After these words it was told again to Jonathan, and Simon, his brother, that the sons of Jambri make great weddings, and wed a wife of Nadabath, the daughter of one of the great princes of Canaan, with great pride and apparel.

38 And they bethought on the blood of John, their brother, and went up, and hid themselves under covering of the hill.

39 And they raised their eyes, and saw, and lo! noise, and great apparel; and a spouse, or husband, came forth, and his friends, and his brethren, against them, with tympans, and musics, and many arms.

40 And they rose to them from ambushments, and slew them, and many wounded fell down, and the residues fled into the hill, and they took all the spoils of them;

41 and weddings were converted into mourning, and voice of their musics into wailing.

42 And they avenged the vengeance of their brother’s blood, and [they] turned again to the brink of Jordan.

43 And Bacchides heard, and came in the day of sabbaths till to the utmost part of Jordan, in great strength.

44 And Jonathan said to his, Rise we, and fight against our enemies; for it is not today as yesterday, and the third day ago.

45 For lo! battle is even against; soothly the water of Jordan is on this half and on that half, and rivers, and marshes, and forests [or wild woods], and there is no place of turning away.

46 Now therefore cry ye into heaven, that ye be delivered from hand of your enemies.

47 And battle was joined. And Jonathan stretched out his hand, for to smite Bacchides, and he turned away from him behind.

48 And Jonathan skipped down [or leaped out], and they that were with him, into Jordan, and swam over Jordan to them.

49 And there fell of Bacchides part in that day a thousand men,

50 and they, that is, Bacchides and his men, turned again into Jerusalem; and builded strong cities in Judea, the strength that was in Jericho, and in Emmaus, and in Bethhoron, and Bethel, and Timnath-pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls, and gates, and locks.

51 And he setted keeping in them, that they should haunt enmities in Israel;

52 and he strengthened the city Bethsura, and Gazara, and the high tower, and putted in them helps, and apparel of meats.

53 And he took the sons of princes of the country in hostage, or pledges, and putted them in the high tower in Jerusalem, in keeping.

54 And in the hundred year and three and fifty [or fiftieth], in the second month, Alcimus commanded the walls of the holy inner house for to be destroyed, and the works of prophets for to be destroyed,

55 and he began for to destroy. In that time Alcimus was smitten, and the works of him were hindered. And his mouth was closed, and he was dissolved, either made feeble, by palsy, neither he might speak more a word, and command of his house.

56 And Alcimus was dead in that time, with great torment.

57 And Bacchides saw, that Alcimus was dead, and he turned again to the king, and the land was still two years.

58 And all wicked men thought, saying, Lo! Jonathan, and they that be with him, dwell in silence, and trust; now therefore bring we Bacchides, and he shall take them all in one night.

59 And they went forth, and gave counsel to him.

60 And he rose, for to come with much host. And he sent epistles privily to his fellows, that were in Judea, that they should catch Jonathan, and them that were with him; but they might not, for their counsel was known to them.

61 And Jonathan caught of men of the country, that were princes of knighthood, fifty men, and slew them.

62 And Jonathan and Simon went, and they that were with him, into Bethbasi, that is in desert, and builded again the destroyed things thereof, and made it strong.

63 And Bacchides knew, and gathered all his multitude, and announced to them that were of Judea.

64 And he came, and setted tents above Bethbasi, and fought against it many days, and made engines.

65 And Jonathan left Simon, his brother, in the city, and went out into the country, and came with number;

66 and smote Odomera, and his brethren, and sons of Phasiron, in the tabernacles of them,

67 and [he] began for to smite, and wax in virtues. Simon soothly, and they that were with him, went out of the city, and burnt engines.

68 And they fought against Bacchides, and he was all-broken of them; and they tormented him greatly, for his counsel and his assailing was void.

69 And he was wroth against wicked men, that gave counsel to him for to come into their country, and slew many of them; forsooth he thought with others for to go into his country.

70 And Jonathan knew, and sent legates to him, for to make peace with him, and to yield to him prisoners.

71 And willfully he took, and did by [or after] his words, and swore that he should not do to him any evil in all the days of his life.

72 And he yielded to him the captivity, that is, prisoners, which he took by prey before of the land of Judea. And he turned, and went into his land, and putted no more for to come into his coasts.

73 And sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan dwelled in Michmash, and there Jonathan began for to deem the people, and he destroyed the unfaithful [or unpious] men of Israel.

CHAPTER 10

1 And in the hundred and sixtieth year Alexander, the son of Antiochus, went up, that is named noble or Epiphanes, [or Alexander, son of Antiochus, that is named noble, went up], and occupied Ptolemais; and they received him, and he reigned there.

2 And king Demetrius heard, and gathered an host full copious, and went out against him into battle.

3 And Demetrius sent [an] epistle to Jonathan with peaceable words, for to magnify him.

4 For he said, Before take we for to make peace with him, before that he make with Alexander against us;

5 for he shall have mind of all evils, that we have done against him, and against his brothers, and against his folk.

6 And he gave to him [or he gave him] power to gather host, and for to make arms, and him for to be his fellow. And he commanded hostages, either pledges, that were in the high tower, for to be given to him.

7 And Jonathan came into Jerusalem, and read epistles, in hearing of all the people, and of them that were in the high tower.

8 And they dreaded with great dread, for they heard, that the king gave him power to gather an host.

9 And hostages were betaken to Jonathan, and he yielded them to their fathers and mothers.

10 And Jonathan dwelt in Jerusalem, and began for to build and renew the city.

11 And he said to men doing works, that they should make up the walls, and the hill of Zion in compass, with square stones to strengthening; and they did so.

12 And aliens fled, that were in the strengths, which Bacchides had builded;

13 and each man left his place, and went into his land.

14 Only in Bethsura dwelt some of them, that forsook the law and the behests of God; for why this was to them to refuge.

15 And Alexander the king heard promises, that Demetrius promised to Jonathan, and they told to him the battles and virtues which he did, and his brethren, and the travails which they travailed.

16 And he said, Whether we shall find any such man? And now make we him our friend and fellow.

17 And he wrote epistle, and sent, by [or after] these words, saying,

18 King Alexander to Jonathan, brother, health.

19 We have heard of thee, that thou art a mighty man in strengths, and art able that thou be our friend.

20 And now we ordain thee today highest priest of thy folk, and that thou be called friend of the king. And he sent to him purple, and a golden crown, that thou feel with us what things be ours, and keep friendships to us.

21 And Jonathan clothed him with an holy stole [or the holy stole], in the seventh month, in the hundred and sixtieth year, in the solemn day of Scenopegia. And he gathered an host, and made copious or plenteous arms.

22 And Demetrius heard these words, and was made full sorrowful, and said,

23 What have we done this thing, that Alexander before-occupied us, for to catch friendship of Jews, to his strengthening?

24 And I shall write to him praying words, and dignities, and gifts, that he be with me in help.

25 And he wrote to him by these words, King Demetrius to the folk of Jews, health.

26 For ye kept to us covenant, and dwelt in our friendship, and went not to our enemies, we heard, and joyed.

27 And now last ye yet for to keep to us faith; and we shall requite to you good things, for these things that ye did to us,

28 and we shall forgive to you many [givings of] rents, and we shall give gifts to you.

29 And now I absolve you, and all Jews, of tributes, and I forgive to you the prices of salt, and forgive crowns or crown taxes,

30 and the third part of seed; and I leave to you from this day and afterward, the half part of fruit of the trees, that is of my portion, that it be not taken of the land of Judea, and of three cities that be added thereto, of Samaria and Galilee, from this day and into all time.

31 And Jerusalem be holy, and free, with his coasts; and tithes and tributes be of it.

32 Also I forgive the power of the high tower, that is in Jerusalem; and I give it to the high [or highest] priest, that he ordain therein men, which-ever [or whomever] he shall choose, that shall keep it.

33 And each person of Jews, that is captive of the land of Judea, in all my realm, I deliver free willfully, or without money, that all be absolved of their tributes, yea, of their beasts.

34 And all solemn days, and sabbaths, and new moons, and all days ordained, and three days before the solemn day, and three days after the solemn day, all these be days of immunity, or franchise, and of remission, to all Jews that be in my realm.

35 And no man shall have power for to do anything, and move needs, or causes, against any of them in any cause.

36 And that there be written of Jews in the king’s host, to thirty thousands of men; and plenties shall be given to them, as it behooveth to all hosts of the king.

37 And of them shall be ordained, that be in the great strengths of the king; of them shall be ordained over needs of the realm, that be done of faith, and princes be of them; and walk they in their laws, as the king commanded in the land of Judea.

38 And three cities, that be added to Judea of the country of Samaria, be areckoned, or deemed, with Judea; that they be under one, and obey not to other power, no but to the highest priest;

39 Ptolemais, and the coasts thereof, which I have given a gift to holy men that be in Jerusalem, to needful costs of saints.

40 And I shall give in each year fifteen thousand of shekels of silver, of the king’s reasons, that pertain to me;

41 and all that is residue, which they that were over needs yielded not in former years, from this time they shall give into the works of the house.

42 And over this, five thousand shekels of silver, which they took of reason of holy things by each year; and these things shall pertain to priests, that use [or be set in] ministry.

43 And whoever shall flee to the temple that is in Jerusalem, and in all coasts thereof, and be guilty to the king, in any cause, be dismissed, or released; and have they free all things, that be to them in my realm.

44 And to build, or restore, works of holy things, costs, or expenses, shall be given of the king’s reason, or rent,

45 and for to build out the walls of Jerusalem; and for to make strong in compass, expenses shall be given of the king’s reason, or rent, for to make out walls in Judea.

46 As Jonathan and the people heard these words, they believed not to them, neither received them; for they had mind of the great malice that he had done in Israel, and had troubled them greatly.

47 And it pleased altogether to them in Alexander, for he was to them prince of words of peace, and to him they bare help in all days.

48 And king Alexander gathered a great host, and moved tents against Demetrius.

49 And the kings joined battle, and the host of Demetrius fled; and Alexander pursued him, and lay on them;

50 and the battle was full strong, till the sun went down, and Demetrius fell in that day.

51 And Alexander sent to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, legates by these words, and said,

52 For I came again into my realm, and sat in the seat of my fathers; and I have wielded princehood, and I have all-broken Demetrius, and have wielded our country;

53 and I have joined fight with him, and he and his hosts be all-fouled [or is broken altogether] of us, and we sat in the seat of his realm.

54 And now ordain we together friendship, and give thy daughter a wife to me, and I shall be thy daughter’s husband; and I shall give to thee gifts, and to her dignity.

55 And king Ptolemy answered, saying, Blessed be the day in which thou turnedest again to the land of thy fathers, and hast sat in the seat of the realm of them.

56 And now I shall do to thee which things thou hast written; but come thou against me to, or meet me at, Ptolemais, that we see us together, and I promise to thee, as thou saidest.

57 And Ptolemy went out of Egypt, he and Cleopatra, his daughter; and he came to Ptolemais, in the hundred and two and sixtieth year.

58 And Alexander, the king [or king Alexander], came to him; and he gave to him Cleopatra, his daughter, and made his weddings at Ptolemais, as kings in great glory.

59 And king Alexander wrote to Jonathan, that he should come against or meet him.

60 And he went with glory to Ptolemais, and met there the two kings, and gave to them much silver, and gold, and gifts; and found grace in the sight of them.

61 And men of Israel, full of venom, came together against him, wicked men, asking against him, and the king took no attention to them;

62 and commanded Jonathan for to be made naked of his clothes, and him for to be clothed in purple; and they did so.

63 And the king setted [or set] him for to sit with him, and said to his princes, Go ye out with him into the middle of the city, and preach ye, that no man ask against him of any need, or cause, neither any man be heavy to him of any reason.

64 And it was done, as they that asked, [or appealed him], saw his glory that was preached, and him covered with purple, all fled.

65 And the king magnified him, and wrote him among the first friends, and putted him duke, and partner, or fellow, of princehood.

66 And Jonathan turned again into Jerusalem, with peace and gladness.

67 In the hundred year and five and sixtieth, Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, came from Crete into the land of his fathers.

68 And king Alexander heard, and was made full sorrowful, and turned again to Antioch.

69 And Demetrius ordained Apollonius duke, that was sovereign of Coele-syria; and he gathered his great host, and came to Jamnia; and sent to Jonathan, the highest priest, and said,

70 Thou alone against-standest us; I am made into scorn and shame therefore, for thou hauntest power in hills against us.

71 Now therefore if thou trustest in thy virtues, come down to us into the field; and there assemble [or comparison] we together, for with me is virtue of battles.

72 Ask thou, and learn who I am, and others that be in help to me, and which say, that your foot may not stand against our face, for thy fathers were converted into flight twice into their land.

73 And now how shalt thou be able to sustain multitude of horsemen, and so great host in the field, where is no stone, nor rock, neither place of fleeing?

74 Soothly as Jonathan heard these words of Apollonius, he was moved in heart; and he chose ten thousand men, and went out from Jerusalem, and Simon, his brother, came to him into help.

75 And they pitched tents in Joppa, and it, that is, the people of Joppa, shutted out him [or shut him out] from the city, for Joppa was the keeping of Apollonius;

76 and he fought against it, that is, Jonathan fought against Joppa. And they were aghast, that were within the city, and opened to him; and Jonathan wielded Joppa.

77 And Apollonius heard, and moved three thousand of horsemen, and much host; and went to Azotus, as making way. And anon he went out into the field, for that he had [a] multitude of horsemen, and he trusted in them;

78 and Jonathan pursued him into Azotus, and they joined battle.

79 And Apollonius left in tents a thousand horsemen behind them privily.

80 And Jonathan knew that ambush-ments were behind him, and they environed his tents, and casted darts into the people, from the morrow till to eventide [or unto even].

81 Forsooth the people stood, as Jonathan commanded, and the horses of them travailed out.

82 And Simon led out his host, and joined against the legion; forsooth [the] horsemen were made weary, and were all-broken of him, and fled.

83 And they that were scattered in the field, fled into Azotus; and entered into the house of Dagon [or into Bethdagon], their idol, that there they should deliver themselves.

84 And Jonathan burnt Azotus, and cities that were in compass thereof, and took spoils of them; and he burnt in fire the temple of Dagon, and them that fled into it.

85 And there were that fell by sword with them that were burnt, almost eight thousand men.

86 And from thence Jonathan moved tents, and applied them to or pitched at Ascalon; and they went out of the city against him in great glory.

87 And Jonathan turned again to Jerusalem with his men, having many spoils.

88 And it was done, as king Alexander heard these words, he putted to yet for to glorify Jonathan.

89 And he sent to him a golden lace, either ouch, as custom is to be given to cousins of kings; and he gave to him Ekron, and all coasts thereof in possession.

CHAPTER 11

1 And the king of Egypt gathered an host, as gravel that is about the brink of the sea, and many ships; and sought for to wield the realm of Alexander in guile, and add it to his realm.

2 And he went out into Syria with peaceable words, and they opened to him cities, and came to him; for why king Alexander commanded for to go out against him, for he was father of the king’s wife.

3 Soothly when Ptolemy entered into a city, he putted keepings of knights in each city.

4 And as he nighed to Azotus, they showed to him the temple of Dagon burnt in fire, and Azotus, and other things thereof were destroyed, and bodies cast forth, and the burials of them that were slain in battle, which they made beside the way.

5 And they told to the king that Jonathan did these things, for to make envy to him; and the king was still.

6 And Jonathan came to the king with glory into Joppa, and they greeted them together; and they slept there.

7 And Jonathan went with the king till to the flood that is called Eleutherus, and turned again into Jerusalem.

8 Soothly king Ptolemy wielded the lordship of cities till to Seleucia, by the sea coast, and thought against Alexander evil counsels;

9 and sent legates to Demetrius, and said, Come thou, make we betwixt us covenant, and I shall give to thee my daughter, whom Alexander hath, and thou shalt reign in the realm of thy father.

10 For it rueth me, that I gave to him my daughter; for he sought for to slay me.

11 And he despised him therefore, for he coveted the realm of him.

12 And he took away his daughter, and gave her to Demetrius, and alienated him from Alexander; and his enmities were made known.

13 And Ptolemy entered into Antioch, and putted two diadems to his head, of Egypt and of Asia.

14 Forsooth Alexander, the king, was in Cilicia in those days, for they rebelled, that were in those places.

15 And Alexander heard, and came to him into battle; and Ptolemy, the king, brought forth the host, and came to him in strong hand, and drove him away.

16 And Alexander flew into Arabia, for to be defended there; soothly king Ptolemy was enhanced.

17 And Zabdiel of Arabia took away Alexander’s head, and sent to Ptolemy.

18 And king Ptolemy was dead in the third day; and they that were in strengths perished, of them that were within the castles.

19 And Demetrius reigned in the hundred year and seven and sixtieth.

20 In those days Jonathan gathered them that were in Judea, for to overcome the high tower, that is in Jerusalem; and they made against it many engines.

21 And some wicked men, that hated their folk, went to the king Demetrius [or to king Demetrius], and told to him, that Jonathan besieged the high tower.

22 And as he heard, he was wroth, and anon he came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan, that he should not besiege the high tower, but should come to him in haste, to speak together.

23 Soothly as Jonathan heard, he commanded for to besiege; and he chose of the elder men of Israel, and priests, and gave him to peril.

24 And he took gold, and silver, and clothes, and many other presents; and went to the king, to Ptolemais, and found grace in the sight of him.

25 And some wicked men of his folk asked against him;

26 and the king did to him, as they that were before him, did to him; and he enhanced him in sight of all his friends,

27 and ordained to him princehood of priesthood, and whatever other precious things he had before; and made him prince of his friends.

28 And Jonathan asked of the king, that he should make Judea free, and three princehoods of three places, and Samaria, and nigh coasts thereof; and he promised to him three hundred talents.

29 And the king consented, and wrote to Jonathan epistles of all these things, containing this manner.

30 King Demetrius to Jonathan, brother, health, and to the folk of Jews.

31 The ensample of [the] epistle, which we have written to Lasthenes, our father, of you, we sent to you, that ye should know.

32 King Demetrius to Lasthenes, father, health.

33 To the people of Jews, our friends, and keeping which things be just with us, we deemed for to do well, for [the] benignity of them that they have with us.

34 Therefore we ordained to them, all the coasts of Judea, and three cities of offerings [or three cities], Lydda, and Ramathem, and Apherema, that be added to Judea, and Samaria, and all the nigh coast of them, for to be sequestered, or parted, to all men doing sacrifice in Jerusalem, for these things that the king took before of them by all years, and for fruits of the earth, and of apples.

35 And of other things that pertained to us, of tithes, and tributes, from this time we forgive to them; and the plain places of salt-making, and the crowns or crown taxes that were borne to us, all things we grant to them;

36 and nothing of these shall be void, from this time and into all time.

37 Now therefore busy ye for to make ensample of these things, and be it given to Jonathan, and be put in the holy mount, and in the solemn [or the holy] place.

38 And king Demetrius saw, that the land was still in his sight, and that nothing against-stood him, and let go all his host, each man into his place, except the strange host, or the host of strangers or foreigners, that he drew from isles of heathen men; and all the hosts of his fathers were enemies to him.

39 Forsooth one Tryphon was of the parts of Alexander before, and he saw that all the host grutched against Demetrius; and he went to Imalcue the Arabian, that nourished Antiochus, the son of Alexander.

40 And he made great instance or insistence to him, that he should betake him to him, for to reign instead of his father; and [he] told out to him, how great things Demetrius had done, and the enmities of his hosts against him; and he dwelt there many days.

41 And Jonathan sent to king Demetrius, that he should cast out them [or should cast them out], that were in the high tower in Jerusalem, and which were in helps, or strengths, for they impugned Israel.

42 And Demetrius sent to Jonathan, and said, Not only this I shall do to thee, and thy folk, but I shall make thee noble by glory, and thy folk, when it shall be covenable.

43 Now therefore rightly thou shalt do, if thou shalt send men into help to me, for all mine host went away.

44 And Jonathan sent to him three thousand of strong men, to Antioch; and they came to the king, and the king delighted in the coming of them.

45 And there came together that were of the city sixscore thousand of men [or an hundred and twenty thousand of men], and would slay the king.

46 And the king fled into the hall. And they that were of the city occupied the ways of the city, and begun for to fight.

47 And the king called Jews into help, and all came together to him, and all were scattered by the city; and slew in that day an hundred thousand of men,

48 and [they] burnt the city, and took many spoils in that day, and delivered the king.

49 And they saw, that were of the city, that Jews had taken the city as they would; and they were made unsteadfast in their soul, and cried to the king with prayers, and said,

50 Give to us right hands, and cease the Jews for to fight against us and the city.

51 And they casted away their arms, and made peace. And Jews were glorified in the sight of the king, and in the sight of all men that were in his realm, and were named in the realm. And they went again into Jerusalem, having many spoils.

52 And king Demetrius sat in the seat of his realm, and the land was still in his sight.

53 And he lied all things, whatever he said, and alienated him from Jonathan, and yielded not to him by [or after] benefices, which he had given to him; and Demetrius travailed him greatly.

54 After these things Tryphon turned again, and Antiochus, a young child, with him; and reigned, and putted on him a diadem.

55 And all hosts were gathered to him, which king Demetrius scattered; and they fought against him, and he flew, and turned backs.

56 And Tryphon took beasts, that is, elephants of the host of Demetrius, and wielded Antioch.

57 And Antiochus the young wrote to Jonathan, and said, I ordain to thee priesthood, and I ordain thee on four cities, that thou be of the king’s friends.

58 And he sent to him golden vessels, into ministry, and gave to him power to drink in gold, and for to be in purple, and for to have a golden lace, either ouch.

59 And he ordained Simon, his brother, duke from the ends of Tyre, till to the ends of Egypt.

60 And Jonathan went out, and walked over the flood by the cities; and all the host of Syria was gathered to him into help. And he came to Ascalon, and they of the city came against him worshipfully.

61 And from thence he went to Gaza, and they that were at Gaza enclosed them altogether, and he besieged it. And he burnt what things were in compass of the city, and spoiled it by prey.

62 And men of Gaza prayed Jonathan, and he gave to them right hand, either peace. And he took the sons of them in pledges, either in hostage, and he sent them into Jerusalem, and walked through the country till to Damascus.

63 And Jonathan heard, that the princes of Demetrius trespassed in Kedesh, that is in Galilee, with much host, willing to remove him from need of the realm;

64 and he came against them. Forsooth he left Simon, his brother, within the province.

65 And Simon applied to or pitched at Bethsura, and fought against it many days, and enclosed altogether them [or enclosed them altogether].

66 And they asked of him for to take right hands, and he gave to them. And he casted out them [or casted them out] from thence, and took the city, and putted therein strength.

67 And Jonathan and his host applied to the water of Gennesaret, or pitched by the Sea of Galilee, and before the light they walked in the light [or the field] of Asor

68 And lo! the hosts of aliens came against them in the field, and setted to him espies, in the hills. Soothly he came against of the contrary part.

69 Soothly the espies or ambushments rose up of their places, and joined battle. And all that were of Jonathan’s part fled,

70 and no man of them was left, no but Mattathias, son of Absalom, and Judas, son of Chalphi, princes of knighthood and host.

71 And Jonathan rent his clothings, and putted earth in his head, and prayed.

72 And Jonathan turned again to them into battle, and altogether turned them into flight, and fought.

73 And they of his part that fled saw, and they turned again to him, and pursued with him till to Kedesh, to their tents, and fully [they] came till thither.

74 And there felled down in that day of aliens three thousand of them, and Jonathan turned again into Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 12

1 And Jonathan saw that the time helped him; and he chose men, and sent them to Rome, for to ordain and renew friendship with them.

2 And to Spartans, and to other places, he sent epistles by [or after] the same form.

3 And they went to Rome, and entered into the court, and said, Jonathan, highest priest, and the folk of Jews, sent us, for to renew friendship and fellowship, by [or after] the former.

4 And they gave to them epistles to them by places, that they should lead forth them [or they should lead them forth] into the land of Judea with peace.

5 And this is the ensample of epistles, which Jonathan wrote to Spartans.

6 Jonathan, highest priest, and the elder men of the folk, and priests, and other people of Jews, to Spartans, brethren, health.

7 Now before epistles were sent to Onias, highest priest, from Darius, that reigned with you; for ye be our brethren, as the rescript, [or writing], containeth, that is under-put.

8 And Onias received the man, that was sent, with honour, and took epistles, in which was signified of fellowship and friendship.

9 When we had no need of these, and had in comfort [or having in solace] holy books that be in our hands, we had rather for to send to you,

10 for to renew brotherhood and friendship, lest peradventure we be made aliens from you; for why many times passed, since ye sent to us.

11 We therefore in all time without ceasing, in solemn days, and others, in which it behooveth, be mindful of you in sacrifices that we offer, and in observances, as leaveful is, and beseemeth, for to have had mind of brethren.

12 Therefore we be glad of your glory.

13 Forsooth many tribulations and many battles environed us; and kings, that be in our compass, fought against us.

14 Therefore we would not be grievous to you, neither to other fellows, and our friends, in these battles.

15 For we had help of heaven, and be delivered, and our enemies be made low.

16 Therefore we have chosen Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, son of Jason, and sent to Romans, for to renew with them both friendship and former fellowship.

17 Therefore we commanded to them, that they come also to you, and greet you, and yield to you our epistles of renewing of our brotherhood.

18 And now ye shall do well, answering to us to [or of] these things.

19 And this is the rescript, or again-writing, of epistles, that Oniares or Areus, the king of Spartans, sent to Onias.

20 Oniares to Jonathan or Areus to Onias, great priest, health.

21 It is found in writing of Spartans, and of Jews, that they be brethren, and that they be of the kin of Abraham.

22 And now since we know these things, ye do well, writing to us of your peace.

23 But and we have again-written to you [or we again-write to you]. Our beasts and our possessions be yours, and yours ours. Therefore we commanded, for to tell these things to you.

24 And Jonathan heard, that the princes of Demetrius went out with much host, over that before, for to fight against him.

25 And he went out from Jerusalem, and ran against them in the country of Hamath; for he gave no space to them, for to enter into his country.

26 And he sent spies into the tents of them, and they turned again, and told, that they ordained for to come over thither in night.

27 And when the sun had gone down, Jonathan bade his men wake, and be ready in arms to battle all night. And he setted keepers by compass of tents;

28 and adversaries heard, that Jonathan was ready with his men in battle, and they dreaded, and inwardly were aghast in their hearts, and tended fires in their tents, as if they dwelled still in their tents, but they fled privily.

29 Forsooth Jonathan, and they that were with him, knew not till to the morrow; for they saw lights burning.

30 And Jonathan pursued them, and caught not them [or caught them not]; for they passed the flood Eleutherus.

31 And Jonathan turned to Arabians, that were called Zabadeans; and smote them, and took spoils of them;

32 and joined in gathering together his host, and came to Damascus, and walked by all that country.

33 Forsooth Simon went out, and came till to Ascalon, and to the next strengths; and he bowed down into Joppa, and occupied it.

34 For he heard, that they would give help to parties of Demetrius; and he putted there keepers, for to keep it.

35 And Jonathan turned again, and called together the elder men of the people, and thought with them for to build strengths in Judea,

36 and for to build walls in Jerusalem, and for to raise a great height, betwixt the middle of the high tower and the city, for to separate it from the city, that it were alone, and neither they buy, neither sell.

37 And they came together, for to build the city. And the wall fell down altogether, that was on the stream, from the rising of the sun; and he repaired it, that is called Chaphenatha.

38 And Simon builded Adida in Shephelah, and strengthened it, and putted on gates and locks.

39 And when Tryphon thought for to reign at Asia, and take a diadem, and stretch out hand into Antiochus king [or king Antiochus],

40 he dreaded, lest peradventure Jonathan should not suffer him, but fight against him; and he sought for to catch him, and slay. And he rose up, and went into Bethshan.

41 And Jonathan went out against him, with forty thousand of chosen men into battle, and came to Bethshan.

42 And Tryphon saw, that Jonathan came with much host, for to stretch out hands into him.

43 And he dreaded, and received him with honour, and commended him to all his friends; and gave to him gifts, and commanded to his hosts, for to obey to him as to himself.

44 And he said to Jonathan, Whereto hast thou travailed all the people, when battle is not to us?

45 And now send again them [or send them again] into their houses. But choose thou to thee a few men, that be with thee, and come thou with me to Ptolemais, and I shall give it to thee, and other strengths, and hosts, and all sovereigns of offices [or all provosts, or sovereigns, of need]; and I shall turn, and I shall go away. For why therefore I came.

46 And he believed to him, and did as he said, and left the host; and they went away into the land of Judea.

47 Forsooth he withheld with him three thousand of men, of which he sent again into Galilee two thousand; soothly a thousand came with him.

48 Forsooth as Jonathan entered into Ptolemais, men of Ptolemais shutted [or shut] the gates, and caught him; and slew by sword all that entered with him.

49 And Tryphon sent host, and horsemen into Galilee, and into the great field, for to lose all the fellows of Jonathan.

50 And when they knew that Jonathan was taken, and perished, and all that were with him, they admonished themselves, and went out ready into battle.

51 And they saw that pursued, that thing was to them for the life, and turned again.

52 Forsooth they came all with peace into the land of Judea. And they bewailed Jonathan greatly, and all that were with him, and Israel mourned with great mourning.

53 And all heathen men that were in the compass of them, sought for to all-break them; for they said, They have no prince and helper [or helping]; now therefore overcome we them, and take away from men the mind of them.

CHAPTER 13

1 And as Simon heard, that Tryphon gathered a great host, for to come into the land of Judea, and for to destroy it,

2 and saw that the people was in trembling and dread, he went up to Jerusalem, and gathered the people;

3 and admonished, and said, Ye know, how great things I, and my brethren, and the house of my father, have done, for laws, and for holy things, battles, and what manner anguishes we saw.

4 For love, [or grace, or cause], of these things all my brethren perished for Israel, and I alone am left.

5 And now befall it not to me, for to spare my life [or my soul], in all the time of tribulation; for I am no better than my brethren.

6 Therefore I shall avenge my folk, and holy things, and our children, and wives; for all heathen men be gathered, for to destroy us, because of enmity.

7 And the spirit of the people was kindled together, as it heard these words.

8 And they answered with great voice, saying, Thou art our duke instead of Judas, and Jonathan, thy brothers;

9 fight thou our battles, and all things whatever thou shalt say to us, we shall do.

10 And he gathered all men fighters, and hasted for to end all the walls of Jerusalem, and [he] strengthened it in compass.

11 And he sent Jonathan, the son of Absalom, and with him a new host, into Joppa. And when he had put [or cast] out these men that were in it, he dwelt there.

12 And Tryphon moved from Ptole-mais, with much host, for to come into the land of Judea, and Jonathan with him in keeping.

13 Forsooth Simon applied in or pitched at Adida, against the face of the field.

14 And as Tryphon knew, that Simon rose, in the stead [or instead] of his brother Jonathan, and that he was to joining battle with him, he sent to him legates, and said,

15 For silver, that thy brother Jonathan owed, in accounts of the king, we withheld him.

16 And now send thou an hundred talents of silver, and his two sons as pledges or hostages, that he not dismissed flee from us, and we shall again-send him.

17 And Simon knew, that with guile he spake with him. Nevertheless he commanded the silver for to be given, and children, lest he should take great enmity of the people of Israel,

18 saying, For he sent not to him silver and children, therefore he Jonathan perished.

19 And he sent the children, and an hundred talents. And he lied, and dismissed not Jonathan.

20 And after these things, Tryphon came within the country, for to destroy it. And they compassed by the way that leadeth to Adora; and Simon and his host walked into each place, whither ever they went.

21 Soothly they that were in the high tower, sent legates or messengers to Tryphon, for to hasten to come by desert, and send to them foods.

22 And Tryphon made ready all the multitude of horsemen, for to come in that night. Soothly there was full much snow, and he came not there, but instead went into Gilead.

23 And when he nighed to Bascama, he slew Jonathan, and his sons, there.

24 And Tryphon turned, and went into his land.

25 And Simon sent, and took the bones of Jonathan, his brother, and buried those [or him] in Modin, the city of his fathers.

26 And all Israel bewailed him with great wailing, and they bemourned him many days.

27 And Simon builded on the sepulchre of his father and his brethren an high building in the sight, with stones polished, or fair dighted, behind and before.

28 And he ordained seven small buildings, broad beneath and sharp above, one against one, to father, and mother, and four brethren.

29 And to these he putted about great pillars, and on the pillars armours, to everlasting mind; and beside armours ships engraved [or engraved ships], which should be seen of men sailing in the sea.

30 This is the sepulchre that Simon made in Modin, till into this day.

31 Forsooth when Tryphon made way with Antiochus, the young king, in guile he slew him,

32 and reigned in his stead; and [he] putted on him the diadem of Asia, and made great vengeance in the land.

33 And Simon builded strengths of Judea, and warded them with high towers, and great walls, and gates, and locks; and putted foods in strengthenings.

34 And Simon chose men, and sent to King Demetrius, that he should make remission to the country, for all [the] deeds of Tryphon were done by ravishing.

35 And king Demetrius answered to him to these words, and wrote such an epistle.

36 King Demetrius to Simon, highest priest, and friend of kings, and to the elder men, and folk of Jews, health.

37 We received the golden crown, and baheu, that is, an ornament of the neck, made with gold rings, which ye sent, and be ready for to make with you great peace, and for to write to provosts of the king, for to release to you what things we forgave;

38 for whatever things we ordain to you, be stable. The strengths that ye builded, be to you;

39 and we forgive ignorances and sins, till into this day, and the crown tax that ye owe; and if any other thing was tributary, either bound to tribute, in Jerusalem, now be it not tributary.

40 And if any of you be able for to be written together among our men, be they written together, and peace be betwixt us.

41 In the hundred year and seventieth, the yoke of heathen men was taken away from Israel.

42 And the people began to write in tables, and common [or open] doings, in the first year under Simon, highest priest, great duke, and prince of Jews.

43 In those days Simon applied to or pitched at Gazara, and environed it with tents, either men of arms, and made engines, and applied to or set them by the city, and smote one tower [or a tower], and took it.

44 And they that brake out, were within the engine in the city, and great stirring was made in the city.

45 And they went up, that were in the city, with their wives, and sons, on the walls, with their coats cut, and cried with great voice, asking of Simon that right hands be given to them,

46 and said, Yield thou not to us by [or after] our malices, but by [or after] thy mercies, and we shall serve to thee.

47 And Simon was bowed, either folded, and fought not against them; nevertheless he casted them out of the city, and cleansed fully the houses in which were simulacra, and then he entered into it with hymns, and blessed the Lord.

48 And when all uncleanness was cast out thereof, he setted therein men, that should do the law; and he strengthened it, and made an habitation to him.

49 Forsooth they that were in the high tower of Jerusalem, were forbidden for to go out and go in, into the country, and buy, and sell; and they hungered greatly, and many of them perished for hunger.

50 And they cried to Simon, for to take right hands, and he gave to them; and he casted out them from thence, and cleansed the high tower from defoulings.

51 And they entered into it in the three and twentieth day of the second month, in the hundred and one and seventy year, with praising, and branches of palms, and instruments of music, either gitterns, and cymbals, and harps, [or psalteries], and hymns, and songs, for the great enemy of Israel was all-broken.

52 And he ordained, that in all years these days should be done with gladness. And he strengthened the hill of the temple, that was beside the high tower, and dwelt there, he, and they that were with him.

53 And Simon saw John, his son, that he was a man of battle, and he putted him duke of all virtues, that is, warriors, or hosts, and he dwelt in Gazara.

CHAPTER 14

1 In the hundred and two and seventy [or seventieth] year, king Demetrius gathered his host, and went to Media, for to draw together helps to him, for to overcome Tryphon.

2 And as Arsaces, king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius entered into his nigh coasts, he sent one of his princes, for to take him quick, and that he should bring him to himself.

3 And he went, and smote the host of Demetrius, and took him, and led him to Arsaces, and he putted him into keeping.

4 And the land of Judea was still, either peaceable, in all the days of Simon, and he sought good things of his folk; and his power and his glory pleased them in all days.

5 And with all his glory he took Joppa into haven, and made entry into isles of the sea;

6 and alarged the coasts of his people, and wielded the country.

7 And he gathered much captivity, and was lord in Gazara, and Bethsura, and the high tower; and he did away uncleannesses of it, and there was not that against-stood him.

8 And each man tilled his own land in peace, and the land of Judea gave his fruits, and trees of [the] fields their fruit.

9 Elder men sat all in streets [or All elder men sat in streets], and treated of goods of the land; and young men clothed them in glory, and stoles of battle, that is armours, in the time of peace.

10 And to the cities he gave foods, and ordained those [or them], that those [or they] were vessels of strengthening, till that the name of his glory was named till to the last of earth.

11 He made peace on the land, and Israel was glad [or gladded] with great gladness;

12 and each man sat under his vine, and under his fig tree, neither there was that feared them.

13 The fighting man against them failed on earth; kings were all-broken in those days.

14 And he confirmed all meek men of his people, and he sought out the law, and did away all evil and wickedness;

15 and he glorified holy things, and multiplied vessels of holy things.

16 And it was heard at Rome, that Jonathan was dead, and till into Spartans, and they were full sorrowful.

17 Forsooth as they heard, that Simon, his brother, was made highest priest in his stead, and he wielded the country, and cities in it,

18 they wrote to him in brazen tables, for to renew friendship, and fellow-ship, that they made with Judas and Jonathan, his brethren;

19 and they were read in the sight of the church in Jerusalem.

20 And this is the ensample of epistles, that Spartans sent. The prince and the cities, that is, governors of the cities, of Spartans to Simon, great priest, and to the elder men, and priests, and to other people of Jews, brethren, health.

21 Legates that were sent to our people, told to us of your glory, and honour, and gladness, and we joyed in the entry of them.

22 And we have written what things were said of them in councils [or in council] of people, thus. Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, legates of Jews, came to us, and renewed with us the former friendship.

23 And it pleased to the people, for to receive the men gloriously, and to put ensample of their words in departed books of the people, that it be to mind to the people of Spartans; forsooth we have written ensample of these things to Simon, the great priest.

24 Forsooth after these things, Simon sent Numenius to Rome, having a great golden shield, in weight of a thousand bezants, for to ordain fellow-ship with them.

25 Soothly when the people of Rome heard these words, they said, What doing of thankings shall we yield to Simon, and his sons?

26 For he restored his brethren, and overcame the enemies of Israel from them. And they ordained to him [or them] liberty,

27 and wrote in brazen tables, and Jews putted in titles, in the mount of Zion. And this is ensample of writing. In the eighteenth day of the month Elul, that is, August, in the hundred and two and seventy [or seventieth] year, the third year under Simon, great priest,

28 in Saramel, in the great coming together of priests, of the people, and princes, and folk, and the elder men [or seniors] of the country, these things were made known;

29 for many times battles were done [or be made] in your country. Forsooth Simon, the son of Mattathias, of the sons of Jarib, and his brethren, gave themselves to peril, and against-stood adversaries of their folk, that their holy things and law should stand; and by great glory they glorified their folk.

30 And Jonathan gathered his folk, and was made to them a great priest, and is put to his people.

31 And the enemies of them would defoul holy things, and destroy the country of them, and stretch forth hands into holy things of them.

32 Then Simon against-stood, and fought for his people, and gave many riches [or much money], and armed men of virtue of his folk, and gave to them wages;

33 and strengthened the cities of Judea, and Bethsura, that was in the ends of Judea, where before were arms of enemies, and he putted there help, [or strength], men of Jews.

34 And he strengthened Joppa, that was at the sea, and Gazara, that was in the coasts of Azotus, in which enemies dwelt before; and he setted [or set] there Jews, and whatever things were able to amending of them, he putted [or put] in them.

35 And the people saw the doing of Simon, and glory that he thought for to do to his folk, and they made him their duke, and prince of priests, for that he had done all these things, and rightwiseness, and faith that he kept to his folk; and he sought out in all manner for to raise his people.

36 And in his days it had prosperity in his hands, that heathen men were taken away from the country of them, which were in the city of David in Jerusalem, in the high tower, from which they came out, and defouled all things that were in the compass of holy things, and gave great wound to chastity.

37 And he setted therein men Jews, to defending of the country, and city, and raised the walls in Jerusalem.

38 And king Demetrius ordained to him the highest priesthood;

39 by this he made him his friend, and glorified him in great glory.

40 For he heard, that Jews were called of Romans friends, and fellows, and brethren, and that they received [the] legates of Simon gloriously;

41 and that Jews, and priests of them, consented, him for to be their duke, and highest priest [into] without end, till there rise a faithful prophet;

42 and that he be duke on them, and care, or busyness, were to him for holy things; and that he should ordain governors [or provosts] on the works of them, and on the country, and on arms, and on strengths; and care be to him of holy things;

43 and that he be heard of men, and all writings in the country be written together under the name of him, and that he be covered with purple and gold;

44 and that it be not leaveful to any of the people, and to priests, for to make anything of these void, and against-say to these things that be said of him, either for to call together covent in the country without him; and for to be clothed in purple, and for to use a golden lace or ouch.

45 Soothly he that shall do without this, either shall make void any of these, shall be guilty.

46 And it pleased altogether to all the people, for to ordain Simon, and do by [or after] these words.

47 And Simon received, and it pleased him, that he should use [or was set in] high or highest priesthood, and be duke and prince of the folk of Jews, and priests, and be the sovereign of all men.

48 And they ordained for to put this writing in brazen tables, and put them in the wall about the compassing [or in the walking place] of holy things, in solemn place;

49 forsooth for to put ensample of these in the treasury, that Simon have and his sons.

CHAPTER 15

1 And king Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, sent epistles from isles of the sea to Simon, the priest, and prince of the folk of Jews, and to all the folk;

2 and those were containing this manner. King Antiochus to Simon, great priest, and to the folk of Jews, health.

3 For some men bearing pestilence wielded the realm of our fathers, forsooth I will challenge the realm, and restore it, as it was before; I made a chosen multitude of host, and I made ships of war.

4 Forsooth I will go forth by countries, that I do vengeance on them that destroyed our country, and that made many cities desolate in my realm.

5 Now therefore I ordain, either confirm, to thee all offerings, that kings before me forgave to thee, and what-ever other gifts they forgave to thee;

6 and I suffer thee for to make print, or smiting, of thine own money, in thy region, or country.

7 Soothly I suffer Jerusalem for to be holy and free, and all arms, that be made, and strengths, that thou hast made out, and that thou holdest, dwell to thee;

8 and all debt of the king, and those that be to coming of king’s things, from this time and into all-time [or from this into all-time] be forgiven to thee.

9 Soothly when we shall wield our realm, we shall glorify thee, and thy folk, and temple, with great glory, so that your glory be showed in all earth.

10 In the hundred year and four and seventieth year Antiochus went out into the land of his fathers, and all hosts came together to him, so that few were left with Tryphon.

11 And king Antiochus pursued him, and Tryphon came into Dora, and fled [or fleeing] by the sea coast;

12 for he knew, that evils were gathered on him, and the host forsook him.

13 And Antiochus applied on or pitched at Dora, with sixscore thousand [or with an hundred and twenty thousand] of fighting men, and eight thousand of horsemen;

14 and he compassed the city, and ships came from the sea; and they travailed the city by land and sea, and suffered no man for to enter, either go out.

15 Forsooth Numenius came, and they that were with him, from Rome, and had epistles written to kings and countries, in which these things were contained.

16 Lucius, consul, or chief governor, of Romans, to king Ptolemy, health.

17 Legates, either messengers, of Jews came to us, our friends, renewing the former friendship and fellowship, sent of Simon, prince of priests, and [of the] people of Jews.

18 Soothly they brought also a golden shield of a thousand bezants.

19 Therefore it pleased to us for to write to kings and countries, that they do not evils to them, neither impugn them, and their cities, and their countries, and that they bear not help to men fighting against them.

20 Forsooth it is seen to us, for to receive of them the shield.

21 Therefore if any men of pestilence shall flee from the country of them to you, betake ye them to Simon, prince of priests, that he do vengeance on them by [or after] his law.

22 These same things be written to king Demetrius, and Attalus, and Ariarathes, and Arsaces,

23 and into all countries, and Sampsames, and Spartans, and Delos, and Myndos, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Rhodes, and Aradus or Phaselis, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.

24 Forsooth they have written ensample of these to Simon, prince of priests, and to the people of Jews.

25 Forsooth Antiochus, the king, applied or pitched tents in Dora the second time, moving to it evermore hands, and making engines; and he enclosed altogether Tryphon, lest he went out.

26 And Simon sent to him two thousand of chosen men, into help, and silver, and gold, and plenteous vessels;

27 and he would not take those. But he brake all things that he covenanted with him before, and alienated himself from him.

28 And he sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, for to treat with him, and said, Ye hold Joppa, and Gazara, and the high tower that is in Jerusalem, cities of my realm;

29 ye have wasted the coasts of them, and have done great destroying [or vengeance] in the land, and without the coasts of Judea ye be lords [or ye lordship] by many places in my realm.

30 Now therefore give ye the cities, which ye occupied, and tributes of places, of which ye be lords [or which ye lordship], out of [the] ends of Judea.

31 Either else give ye for them five hundred talents of silver, and of destroying that ye have destroyed, and of tributes of cities, another five hundred talents; either else we shall come, and overcome you.

32 And Athenobius, friend of the king, came into Jerusalem, and saw the glory of Simon, and clearness, in gold, and silver, and plenteous apparel, and was astonied; and [he] told to him the words of the king.

33 And Simon answered, and said to him, Neither we took alien land, neither withheld other men’s things, but heritage of our fathers, that was wielded sometime unjustly of our enemies.

34 Soothly we have time, and challenge the heritage of our fathers.

35 For why of Joppa and Gazara that thou askest, they did great vengeance in our people, and [in our] country; of these we give an hundred talents. And Athenobius answered not a word.

36 Soothly he turned again with wrath to the king, and told again to him these words, and the glory of Simon, and all things that he saw. And the king was wroth with great wrath.

37 Forsooth Tryphon flew by ship into Orthosia.

38 And the king ordained Cendebeus, duke of the sea coast, and gave to him host of footmen and horsemen;

39 and commanded him for to move tents against the face of Judah; and commanded him for to build Kedron, and stop the gates of the city, and overcome the people; forsooth the king pursued Tryphon.

40 And Cendebeus came to Jamnia, and began for to stir the people to wrath, and for to defoul Judea, and make the people captive, and slay,

41 and build Kedron. And he setted there horsemen and host, that they should go out, and should walk the byways of Judea, as the king ordained to him.

CHAPTER 16

1 And John went up from Gazara, and told to Simon, his father, what things Cendebeus did in the people of them.

2 And Simon called his twain elder sons, Judah and John, and said to them, I, and my brethren, and the house of my father, have overcome the enemies of Israel, from youth till into this day; and it had prosperity in our hands, for to deliver Israel sometimes.

3 Forsooth now I have elded [or olded], but be ye in my stead, and of my brother, and go ye out, and fight for our folk; forsooth help of heaven be with you.

4 And he chose of the country twenty thousand of fighting men, and horsemen; and they went out to Cendebeus, and slept in Modin.

5 And they rose early, and went into the field, and lo! a copious host came into the meeting of them, of footmen and horsemen; and a running flood was betwixt the midst of them.

6 And he and his people moved the battle array [or the tents] against the face of them, and he saw the people trembling to pass over the stream of water, and he passed over the first; and men saw him, and passed over after him.

7 And he parted the people, and horsemen in the middle of footmen; forsooth the multitude of horsemen of adversaries was full plenteous.

8 And they cried on high with holy trumps; and Cendebeus was turned into flight, and his host, and many of them fell wounded; soothly the residues fled into [the] strength.

9 Then Judas, the brother of John, was wounded; forsooth John pursued them, till Cendebeus came to Kedron, which he builded.

10 And they fled till to towers, that were in the fields of Azotus, and he burnt them with fire; and there fell of them two thousand of men, and he turned again into Judea in peace.

11 And Ptolemy, the son of Abubus, was ordained duke in the field of Jericho, and [he] had much silver and gold;

12 for he wedded the daughter of the highest priest.

13 And the heart of him was raised, and he would wield the country; and he thought guile against Simon and his sons, for to do away them.

14 Forsooth Simon walked by cities that were in the country of Judea, and bare [the] busyness of them, and came down into Jericho, he, and Mattathias, his son, and Judas, in the hundred year and seven and seventieth, in the eleventh month; this is the month of Shebat, that is, January-February.

15 And Ptolemy the son of Abubus received them into a little strength, that is called Docus, with guile, which he builded; and made to them a great feast, and hid men there.

16 And when Simon was full of drink, and his sons, Ptolemy rose with his men, and took their arms, and entered into the feast, and slew him, and his two sons, and some children of him.

17 And he did a great deceit in Israel, and yielded evils for goods.

18 And Ptolemy wrote these things, and sent to the king, for to send to him an host into help, and he should betake to him the country and cities of them, and tributes.

19 And he sent others into Gazara, for to do away John; and to the tribunes he sent epistles, that they should come to him, and he should give to them silver, and gold, and gifts.

20 And he sent other men [or he sent others], for to occupy Jerusalem, and the mount of the temple.

21 And some man ran before, and told to John in Gazara, that his father perished, and his brethren, and that he, Ptolemy, sent that thou also be slain.

22 Forsooth as he heard, he wondered [or dreaded] greatly; and he caught the men that came to lose him, and he slew them; for he knew, that they sought for to lose him.

23 And other things of John’s words, and of his battles, and good virtues, in which he did strongly, and of building of walls, which he fully made, and of things done of him,

24 lo! these be written in the book of days of his priesthood, since he was made prince of priests after his father.

2ND MACCABEES

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2ND MACCABEES

CHAPTER 1

1 To brethren Jews, that be scattered through Egypt, brethren, that be in Jerusalem, Jews, and that be in the country of Judea, say health and good peace.

2 God do well to you, and have mind of his testament, that he spake to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that be of the number of his true servants;

3 and give he heart to you all, that ye worship him, and do the will of him with great heart and willful soul.

4 Open he your heart in his law, and in his behests, and make he peace;

5 hear he graciously your prayers, and be reconciled to you, neither forsake you in evil time.

6 And now we be here praying for you.

7 While Demetrius reigneth in the hundred year and sixty and ninth, we Jews have written to you in tribula-tion and fierceness, that came above to us in these years, and since Jason went out of the holy land and realm.

8 They burnt the gate, and shedded out innocent blood; and we prayed to the Lord, and we be graciously heard, and we have offered sacrifice, and clean flour, and have tended lanterns, and have put forth loaves.

9 And now make ye solemn the days of Scenopegia, either cleansing of the temple, of the month Kislev, that is, November.

10 In the hundred year and eight and eightieth, the people that is in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and the elder men [or the senate], and Judas, to Aristobulus, master of Ptolemy, king, that is of the kin of anointed priests, and to them that be in Egypt, Jews, health of soul, and health of body.

11 We delivered of God from great perils, do thankings to him hugely, as we that have fought against such a king.

12 For he made for to boil out of Persia them that fought against us and the holy city.

13 For why when the duke himself was in Persia, and with him a great host, he fell in the temple of Nanea, and deceived by the counsel of the priests of Nanea.

14 Forsooth Antiochus came to the place, as to dwelling with him, and his friends, and for to take many riches [or much monies] by name of dower.

15 And when priests of Nanea had put forth those [or had put them forth], and he with few entered within the compass of the temple, they closed the temple, when Antiochus had entered.

16 And when the privy entry of the temple was opened, they threw stones, and smited the duke, and them that were with him, and they parted limb-meal; and when the heads were girded off, they casted withoutforth.

17 By all things blessed be God, that betook unpious men.

18 Therefore we to making purifying, or cleansing, of the temple, in the five and twentieth day of the month Kislev, that is, November, led needful for to signify to you, that and ye do also the day of Scenopegia, and the day of fire, that was given, when Nehemiah offered sacrifices, after that the temple and the altar were builded.

19 For why when our fathers were led into Persia, priests that then were worshippers of God, hid privily fire taken of the altar, in a valley, where was a deep pit and dry; and therein they kept it, so that the place was unknown to all men.

20 Forsooth when many years had passed, and it pleased God that Nehemiah was sent from the king of Persia, he sent the sons’ sons of the priests that hidden, for to seek the fire; and as they told to us, they found not fire, but fat water.

21 And he commanded them for to draw, and bring to him. And Nehemiah, the priest, commanded the sacrifices, that were put on, for to be sprinkled with the water, those and the trees, and those things that were put above.

22 And as this was done, and the time came, in which the sun shone again, that before was in cloud, a great fire was kindled, so that all men wondered.

23 Forsooth all priests made prayer, while the sacrifice was ended; and Jonathan began, and others forsooth answered.

24 And the prayer of Nehemiah was having this manner. Lord God, Maker of nought of all things, dreadful and strong, just and merciful, which alone art good King,

25 alone giving, alone just, and almighty, and without beginning and end, which deliverest Israel from all evil, which madest fathers chosen [or chosen fathers], and hallowedest them;

26 take thou sacrifice for all thy people Israel, and keep thy part, and hallow.

27 Gather our dispersion, or scattering, deliver them that serve to heathen men, and behold thou despised men, and made abominable, that heathen men know, that thou art our God.

28 Torment thou men oppressing us, and doing despite in pride.

29 Ordain thy people in thine holy place, as Moses said.

30 Forsooth priests sung hymns, till the sacrifice was ended.

31 Forsooth when the sacrifice was ended, Nehemiah commanded the more stones for to be beshed of the residue water;

32 and as this thing was done, flame was kindled of them, but it was wasted of the light, that again-shined of the altar.

33 Forsooth after the thing was known, it was told to the king of Persia, that in the place in which the priests that were translated, had hid fire, water appeared, of which Nehemiah and they that were with him cleansed sacrifices.

34 Forsooth the king beholding and diligently examining the thing, made a temple to him, for to prove that thing that was done.

35 And when he had proved, he gave many goods to priests, and other gifts; and he took with his hand, and he gave to them.

36 Forsooth Nehemiah called this place Nephthar, that is interpreted, either expounded, cleansing; forsooth with many it is called Naphtha.

CHAPTER 2

1 Forsooth it is found in writings [or in describings] of Jeremy, the prophet, that he commanded them that passed over, for to take fire, as it is signified, and as he bade to men passing over, or captive.

2 And he gave to them the law, lest they forgot the behests of the Lord; and that they should not err in souls, [or understandings], seeing golden and silvern simulacra, and ornaments or adornments of them.

3 And he said other such things, and admonished, that they should not remove the law from their hearts.

4 Soothly it was in that writing, how the prophet bade, by God’s answer made to him, that the tabernacle and the ark follow with them, till he went out into the hill in which Moses ascended, and saw the heritage of God.

5 And Jeremy came, and found there a place of [a] den, and brought in thither the tabernacle, and the ark, and altar of incense, and stopped the door.

6 And some men came together that followed, for to mark the place to them, and [they] might not find.

7 Forsooth as Jeremy knew, he blamed them, and said, that the place shall be unknown, till God gather the congregation [together] of people, and be made helpful, or merciful.

8 And then the Lord shall show these things, and the majesty of the Lord shall appear; and a cloud shall be, as to Moses it was showed, and as when Solomon asked, that the place should be hallowed to the great God, this cloud showed;

9 and as having wisdom, he offered sacrifice of hallowing, and of perform-ing of the temple.

10 As and Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire came down from heaven, and wasted the burnt sacrifices; as and Solomon prayed, and fire came down from heaven, and wasted the burnt sacrifice[s].

11 And Moses said, For that it is not cleansed, that was for sin, and it was wasted.

12 Also and Solomon in eight days made solemn the hallowing.

13 Forsooth and these same things were put in descriptions, and expo-sitions of Nehemiah; and as he made a little bible, and gathered books of countries, and of prophets, and of David, and epistles of kings, and gifts.

14 Also soothly and Judas gathered all those things which he learned by battle, that befell to us, and they be with us.

15 Therefore if ye desire these, send ye which shall bear to you.

16 Therefore we doing purifying, have written to you; therefore ye shall do well, if ye shall do these days.

17 Forsooth it is God that delivered his people, and yielded his heritage to all, and realm, and priesthood, and hallowing,

18 as he promised in the law, we hope that soon he shall have mercy on us, and shall gather from under heaven into the holy place; for he delivered us from great perils, and purged the place.

19 Soothly of Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, and of purifying of the great temple, and of hallowing of the altar;

20 but and of the battles, that pertain to Antiochus the noble or Epiphanes, and his son Eupator;

21 and of lightnings that were made from heaven, to them that strongly did for Jews, so that, when they were few, they avenged all the country, and drove an heathen multitude,

22 and recovered the most famous temple in all the world; and delivered the city, that the laws that were done away were restored; for the Lord was made helpful to them, with all peace-ability.

23 And also we attempted or assayed for to abridge in one book, things comprehended of Jason of Cyrene in five books.

24 Forsooth we beheld or beholding the multitude and hardness of books, to men willing for to begin the tellings of stories, for multitude of things;

25 and soothly we had busyness [or we cared], that it were delectation, or liking, of soul to men willing for to read; forsooth to studious men, that they might lightlier betake to mind; forsooth that to all men reading profit be given.

26 And soothly we took to us-selves [or ourselves] that received this work, by cause of abridging, not easy travail, but soothly a work full of wakings and [of] sweat.

27 As these that make ready a feast, and seek for to please to the will of other men, for grace of many men, we suffer willfully travail;

28 forsooth we grant the truth of all authors, but we us-self [or we our-selves] study to shortness, by the form given.

29 Forsooth as it is to the chief carpenter [or the wright] of a new house, to be busy of all the building; to him soothly that busyeth for to paint, those things be to be sought out, that be covenable to adorning; so it is to be guessed also in us.

30 Forsooth for to gather under-standing, and ordain a word, and full busily for to inquire all parts of the story, each by themselves, accordeth to an author;

31 forsooth for to pursue shortness of saying, and for to eschew out pursuings of things, is to be granted to the abridger.

32 Therefore from henceforth we shall begin the telling; be it enough for to have said so much of prefaction, or before-speaking; for it is folly for to float out, either be long, before the story, but in that story for to be made short.

CHAPTER 3

1 Therefore when the holy city was inhabited in all peace, laws also yet were best kept, for the faithfulness of Onias, bishop, [or for ordinance and piety of Onias, priest], and for souls hating evil things,

2 it was made, that both they kings and princes led the place worthy highest honour, and lighted the temple with greatest gifts;

3 so that Seleucus, king of Asia, gave of his rents all expenses pertain-ing to the service of sacrifices.

4 Forsooth Simon, of the lineage of Benjamin, that was ordained sovereign [or provost] of the temple, when the prince of priests against-stood him, strove for to cast some wicked thing in the city.

5 But when he might not overcome Onias, he came to Apollonius, son of Tarsus, that in that time was duke of Coelesyria and Phoenicia;

6 and told to him, that the treasury in Jerusalem was full with riches [or with monies] unnumberable; and that common riches be great, which pertain not to the reason of sacrifices; forsooth that it was possible, that all things fall under power of the king.

7 And when Apollonius had told to the king of riches [or monies] that were borne in, he sent Heliodorus called, that was on his needs, with commandments for to bear out the foresaid money.

8 And anon Heliodorus took the way, soothly by form as if he were to passing by Coelesyria and Phoenicia cities, but in true thing to performing the king’s purpose.

9 But when he came to Jerusalem, and was received benignly of the highest priest in the city, he told of doom given of the riches [or of monies], and opened for cause of what thing he came; forsooth he asked, if verily these things were so.

10 Then the highest priest showed, that these things were kept to the lifelodes [or the livelodes] of widows, and of fatherless either motherless children;

11 that some soothly were of Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a man full noble in these things, that unpious Simon had told; forsooth that all the talents of silver were four hundred, and of gold two hundred;

12 for that it was impossible on all manner, that they be deceived, that betook their things to be kept to the place and temple, that by all the world was honoured for his worship-ping, and holiness.

13 And he said, for these things that he had in commandments of the king, That in all kind those should be borne to the king.

14 Forsooth in the day ordained Heliodorus entered, to ordain of these things; forsooth there was not a little trembling through all the city.

15 Forsooth priests casted themselves before the altar, with priests’ stoles, and called to help from heaven him that gave law of things put in keeping, that he should keep those things safe to them that had put those [or had put them] in keeping.

16 Now forsooth he that saw the cheer of the highest priest, was wounded in soul; for the face and colour was changed, and declared the inward sorrow of soul.

17 For some sorrowfulness was shed about to the man, and hideousness of body, by which the sorrow of heart was made known to men beholding.

18 Also other men gathered together flock-meal, and came out of houses, beseeching with open beseeching, for that that the place was to coming into despite.

19 And women were gird on the breast with hair-shirts, and flowed together by streets; but and virgins, that were closed altogether, ran to Onias; others forsooth to the walls, some soothly beheld by windows.

20 Forsooth all held forth hands into heaven, and besought;

21 for there was a wretched abiding of multitude mingled, and of the highest priest ordained in strife, or anguish.

22 And these soothly called Almighty God to help, that things taken in keeping should be kept in all holiness, to them that had put those [or had put them] in keeping.

23 Forsooth Heliodorus performed that thing, that he had deemed,

24 and he was present with his knights in the same place about the treasury. But the Spirit of Almighty God made great evidence of his showing, so that all that were hardy for to obey to him, fell down by virtue of God, and were converted into feebleness, [or unstrength], and inward dread.

25 For an horse appeared to them, and had a dreadful sitter, adorned with best coverings; and he with fierceness rushed the former feet or forefeet to Heliodorus; forsooth he that sat on him, seemed [or was seen] for to have golden armours.

26 Also two other young men appeared, fair in virtue, best in glory, and fair in clothing, that stood about him, and on each side scourged him without ceasing, and beat with many wounds.

27 Soothly forsooth Heliodorus fell down to the earth, and they ravished him shed about with much darkness, and casted out him [or casted him out], put in a pack saddle, either horse’s litter.

28 And he that entered with many runners and knights into the foresaid treasury, was borne, when no man helped him, for the open virtue of God was known;

29 and forsooth by God’s virtue he lay dumb, and deprived of all hope and health.

30 Forsooth these Jews blessed the Lord, for he magnified his place; and the temple, that a little before was full of dread and noise, is [full]-filled with joy and gladness, for the Lord Almighty appeared.

31 Then forsooth some of Heliodorus’ friends prayed anon Onias, for to call to help the Highest, and for to give life to him, that was set in the last spirit.

32 Soothly the highest priest beheld, lest peradventure the king would suppose any malice fully done of Jews about Heliodorus, and offered for health of the man a wholeful or an healthful sacrifice.

33 And when the highest priest prayed, the same younglings, clothed in the same clothes, stood nigh [to] Heliodorus, and said, Do thou thankings to Onias, the priest; for why for him the Lord hath given life to thee;

34 thou soothly, that art scourged of God, tell to all men the great doings and power of God. And when these things were said, they appeared not.

35 Heliodorus soothly, when a sacrifice was offered to God, and great avows were promised to him, that granted him for to live, and did thankings or thanks to Onias; and when his host was received, he went again to the king.

36 Soothly he witnessed to all men the works of great God, which he saw under his eyes.

37 Forsooth when the king asked Heliodorus, who was able to be sent yet once to Jerusalem, he said,

38 If thou hast any enemy, either traitor of thy realm, send thither, and thou shalt receive him beaten, if nevertheless he shall escape; for some virtue of God is verily in the place.

39 For why he that hath dwelling in heavens, is visitor and helper of that place; and he smiteth and loseth them, that come to mis-do.

40 Therefore of Heliodorus, and keeping of the treasury, thus the thing hath itself.

CHAPTER 4

1 Simon forsooth before-said, accuser of riches [or of monies], and of the country, spake evil of Onias, as if he had stirred Heliodorus to these things, and he had been stirrer of evils;

2 and he durst say the purveyor of the city, and defender of his folk, and lover of the law of God, traitor [or enemy] of the realm.

3 But when enmities came forth in so much, that also by some familiar, [or nigh], friends of Simon, man-slayings were done,

4 Onias beheld the peril of strife, and that Apollonius was mad, as duke of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, for to increase the malice of Simon.

5 And Onias gave himself to the king; not as accuser of citizens, but beholding with himself the common profit of all the multitude.

6 For he saw, that it was impossible that peace were given to things with-out the king’s purveyance, and that Simon might not cease of his folly.

7 But after the passing out of Seleucus’ life, when Antiochus, that was called noble or Epiphanes, had taken realm, Jason, the brother of Onias, coveted the highest or the high priesthood;

8  and Jason went to the king, and promised to him three hundred talents and sixty of silver, and of other rents fourscore talents;

9 over these things he promised also other talents an hundred and fifty, if it were granted to his power, for to ordain a school, and gathering of young men to him; and for to write them that were in Jerusalem Antioch-enes, or men of Antioch.

10 And when the king had granted this, and he wielded the princehood, anon he began to translate to heathen customs, men of his lineage.

11 And when these things were done away, which by cause of humanity, either courtesy, were ordained of kings to Jews by John, the father of Eupolemus, which was ordained in lawful message of friendship and fellowship with Romans, he destroyed rights, or laws, of citizens, and made shrewd ordinances;

12 for he was hardy for to ordain a school of heathenness under that high tower, and for to put all the best of fair young men in bordel houses.

13 Forsooth this was not beginning, but some increasing and profit of heathen and alien life, for the unleaveful and unheard great trespass of unpiousness, and not priest Jason;

14 so that priests not now were given about offices of the altar, but they despised the temple, and left sacrifices, and they hasted for to be made fellows of wrestling or rassling, and of unjust giving of him, that is, of his giving of worst teaching, and in occupations of a dish, either playing with a leaden discus.

15 And soothly they had honours of fathers at nought, and deemed Greek glories best.

16 For cause of which perilous contention had them, and they followed their ordinances; and by all things they coveted them for to be like them, which [or whom] they had enemies and destroyers.

17 Forsooth for to do unfaithfully [or unpiously] against God’s laws it befall-eth not without pain, but the time pursuing shall declare these things.

18 Soothly when justice, done once in five years, was made solemnly in Tyre, and the king was present,

19 Jason, full of great trespasses, sent from Jerusalem men sinners, bearing three hundred double drachmas of silver into sacrifice of Hercules; which these men that bare out asked, that those [or they] were not given in sacrifices, for it needed not, but that those shall be ordained into other expenses.

20 But soothly these were offered of him that sent into the sacrifice of Hercules; soothly for men present, those [or they] were given into making of great ships.

21 Forsooth Apollonius, son of Menestheus, was sent into Egypt for primates, or princes, of Ptolemy Philometor, the king; when Antiochus knew him made alien from needs of the realm, he counselled for [or to] his own profits, and went from thence, and came to Joppa, and from thence to Jerusalem.

22 And he was received of Jason and the city worshipfully, with lights of brands, and praisings, and went in, and from thence he turned the host into Phoenicia.

23 And after the time of three years, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of Simon above-said, bearing riches [or monies] to the king, and of necessary causes to bearing answers.

24 And he was commended to the king, and, when he had magnified the face of his power, he turned in to himself the highest priesthood, and setted above Jason [or above putting to Jason] three hundred talents of silver.

25 And by commandments taken of the king, he came, soothly having nothing worthy to priesthood; but he bare the soul of a cruel tyrant, and wrath of [a] wild beast.

26 And soothly that Jason, that took his own brother captive, was deceived, and was outlawed, and put out into the country of Ammonites.

27 But Menelaus forsooth wielded the princehood, but of riches promised to the king, he did nothing, when Sostratus, that was sovereign of the high tower, made exaction, or master-ful asking, [or that was provost of the high rock, made exaction, or unjust asking],

28 for why raising [or extraction] of tributes pertained to him; for which cause both were called to the king.

29 And Menelaus was removed from priesthood, and Lysimachus, his brother, was successor; soothly Sostratus was made sovereign of men of Cyprus.

30 And when these things were done, it befell Tarsus and Mallus for to move debate, for that they were given in gift to the concubine of Antiochus, the king.

31 Therefore the king hastily came, for to assuage them, and left one of his earls suffectus or suffect consuls, Andronicus, in dignity, or lieutenant.

32 Forsooth Menelaus deemed that he had taken covenable time, and stole some golden vessels of the temple, and gave to Andronicus, and he sold to Tyre others, and by nigh cities.

33 And when Onias had known this thing most certainly, he reproved him, and held himself in a secure place at Antiochia, beside Daphne.

34 Wherefore Menelaus went to Andronicus, and prayed that he would slay Onias. And when he came to Onias, and had given right hands with an oath, though he was suspect to him, he counselled him for to go forth of asylum, and anon he slew him, and dreaded not rightwiseness.

35 For which cause not only Jews, but and other nations, were wroth, and bare heavily of the unjust death of so great a man.

36 But Jews at Antioch, and Greeks, together complained of the unjust death of Onias, and went to the king, that turned again from places of Cilicia.

37 Therefore the king Antiochus was sorry in soul for Onias, and was bowed to mercy, and shedded tears, and bethought on the soberness and mildness of the dead man.

38 And his heart was kindled, and he commanded that Andronicus, unclothed of purple, be led about by all the city, and that in that place in which he had done unpiously against Onias, the cursed man be deprived of life; for the Lord gave to him even-worthy pain.

39 Forsooth when many sacrileges were done of Lysimachus, by counsel of Menelaus, in the temple, and the fame was published, [a] multitude was gathered against Lysimachus; for much gold was then borne out.

40 Forsooth when the companies rose, and souls were filled with wrath, Lysimachus began for to use almost three thousand armed wicked hands, by some tyrant leader, eld [or old] in age, and also in madness.

41 But as they understood the endeavouring of Lysimachus, others took stones, others strong staffs, some soothly casted ashes into Lysimachus.

42 And many soothly were wounded, some forsooth were cast down, all forsooth were altogether turned into flight; also they slew him sacrileger, either thief of holy things, beside the treasury.

43 Therefore of these things doom began for to be moved against Menelaus.

44 And when the king came to Tyre, three men were sent of the elder men, and brought the cause to him.

45 And when Menelaus was over-come, he promised for to give many riches [or many monies] to Ptolemy, for to counsel the king.

46 Therefore Ptolemy went to the king, set in some porch, as for cause of refreshing, either colding, [or cooling], and led away from sentence;

47 and assoiled or absolved from crimes Menelaus, guilty truly of all the malice. Forsooth he damned or condemned by death these wretches, which should be deemed innocents, yea, if they had led cause with Scythians.

48 Therefore soon they gave unjust pain to them, that pursued cause for the city, and [for the] people, and holy vessels.

49 Wherefore and men of Tyre were wroth, and were most liberal with the burying of them.

50 Forsooth for covetousness of them that were in power, Menelaus dwelt in power, waxing in malice, and to deceits of citizens.

CHAPTER 5

1 In the same time Antiochus made ready the second going into Egypt.

2 Forsooth it befell, that by each city of men of Jerusalem, were seen by forty days, horsemen running about by the air, having golden stoles, and shafts, as companies of knights armed;

3 and courses of horses wisely set by orders, and assailings, or fightings together, for to be made nigh, and movings of shields, and multitude of helmeted men, with unrestrained swords, and castings of darts, and shining of golden armours, and of all kind of habergeons.

4 Wherefore all men prayed, that the monsters, or wonders, tokens of things to coming, be converted [or be altogether turned] into good.

5 But when false tiding [or false rumour] went out, as if Antiochus had gone out of life, Jason suddenly assailed the city, with men taken not less than a thousand; and when citizens fled to the wall together, and at the last the city was taken, Menelaus fled into the high tower.

6 Forsooth Jason spared not in slay-ing his citizens, neither he thought prosperity against cousins; and he deemed it for to be most evil, that he should take victories of enemies, and not of citizens.

7 And soothly he wielded not princehood, but took confusion end of his deceits or his espies; and he flew again, and went into Ammonites.

8 And at the last into undoing of him, he was enclosed altogether of Aretas, tyrant of Arabians, and flew [or fleeing] from city into city, and was odious to all men, as apostate, or forsaker of laws, and abominable, as enemy of country and citizens, and was cast out into Egypt.

9 And he that had put out many of their country, perished in pilgrimage, and went to Lacedaemonians, as for cousinage to have there refuge.

10 And he that had casted away many unburied, is cast out both unwailed and unburied, and neither useth strange sepulchre, neither taketh part of fathers’ sepulchre.

11 And when these things were done so, the king supposed, that Jews should forsake fellowship; and for this he went out of Egypt with mad souls, and took the city soothly with arms.

12 Forsooth he commanded to the knights, for to slay, neither [to] spare to men running against, and to go up by houses, and strangle.

13 Therefore there were made slayings of young and elder, destroyings of women and children, and deaths of maidens and little children.

14 Forsooth in all three days, fourscore thousand were slain, forty thousand bound, forsooth not less sold;

15 but neither these things sufficed. Also he was hardy for to enter into the temple holier than all the land, by Menelaus leader, that was traitor of laws and country.

16 And he touched unworthily, and defouled, taking in cursed hands the holy vessels, that were put of other kings and cities, to adorning and glory of the place.

17 Antiochus was so alienated from mind, or understanding, and beheld not, that, for sins of men inhabiting, the Lord was wroth a little to the city; for which thing also despising befell about the place.

18 Else if it had not befallen them for to be wrapped in many sins, as Heliodorus, that was sent from king Seleucus for to rob the treasury, also this anon coming should be beaten, and forsooth put aback from hardiness.

19 But the Lord chose not the folk for the place, but place for the folk.

20 And therefore also that place was made partner of evils of the people; afterward forsooth it shall be made fellow also of goods, and it, that is forsaken in wrath of Almighty God, again in reconciling of the great Lord, shall be enhanced with great glory.

21 Therefore Antiochus, when he had taken away a thousand and eight hundred talents of the temple, swiftly turned again to Antiochia, and deemed him for pride to lead the land for to sail, the sea forsooth for to make journey, for pride of soul.

22 Forsooth he left also sovereigns, to torment the folk, in Jerusalem soothly Philip, of the kin of Phyrgians, crueler than himself in manners [or in manners crueler than himself], of whom he was ordained;

23 forsooth in Gerizim, Andronicus and Menelaus, which more grievously than others lay on, [or annoyed], citizens. And when he was set against Jews,

24 he sent an odious prince, Apollonius, with an host two and twenty thousands, and commanded to him [or commanding to him] for to slay all of perfect age, for to sell women and young children.

25 Which when he came to Jerusalem, feigned peace, and rested till the holy day of sabbath. And then while Jews held holiday, or the holy day, he commanded his men for to take arms,

26 and [he] strangled all that came forth together to the spectacle, or beholding; and he ran about the city with armed men, and slew a great multitude.

27 Forsooth Judas Maccabeus, that was the tenth, went into desert place, and there led life with men, among wild beasts in hills; and [they] dwelt eating meat of hay, lest they were partners of defouling.

CHAPTER 6

1 But not after much time, the king sent an eld [or old] man of Antiochia, which should constrain Jews, that they should translate [or transfer] them-selves from laws of fathers, and of God;

2 also he should defoul the temple in Jerusalem, and should call it of Jupiter Olympus, and in Gerizim, as they were, that inhabited the place, of Jupiter Hospitality.

3 Forsooth the falling in of evils was worst and grievous to all;

4 for why the temple was full of lechery and gluttony of heathen men, and of men doing lechery with whores, and women bare in them-selves to hallowed houses, at their own will, bearing within those things which it was not leaveful.

5 Also the altar was full of unleaveful things, which were forbidden by laws.

6 Soothly neither sabbaths were kept, neither solemn days of fathers were kept, neither simply, neither openly, [or plainly], any man acknowl-edged him a Jew.

7 Forsooth they were led with bitter need in the day of the king’s birth to sacrifices. And when holy things of Liber, that is Bacchus, either a false god, which the heathen men called god of wine, were made solemnly, [or were hallowed], they were crowned with ivy, and were constrained for to go about with Liber.

8 Soothly the doom went out into the next cities of heathen men, by Ptolemais procuring, that in like manner also they should do against Jews, that they should do sacrifice;

9 soothly that they should slay them, that would not pass to the ordinances of heathen men. Therefore it was to see wretchedness [or it was wretched-ness for to see these things].

10 For why two women were accused, that they had circumcised their children; and when they had led them about openly by the city, with [the] infants hanged at their breasts, they casted [them] down by the walls.

11 Forsooth other men went together to the next dens, and hallowed privily the day of sabbath, when they were showed to Philip, they were burnt in flames, for they dreaded for religion and observance, for to bear help to themselves with hand.

12 Therefore I beseech them, that shall read this book, that they dread not for adversities; but areckon they those things that befell to be not to perishing, but to [or for] amending of our kin.

13 For why for to not suffer by much time sinners for to do of sentence, [or doom], but anon for to give venge-ances, is the showing of great benefice.

14 For why, not as in other nations, the Lord abideth patiently, that when the day of doom shall come, he punish them in plenty of sins, so and in us he ordaineth,

15 that when our sins be turned about into end, so at the last he avenge on us.

16 For which thing soothly he never removeth his mercy from us; but he chastiseth his people, and forsaketh not in adversities.

17 But these things be said of us [or be said to you] in few words to the admonishing of men reading; now forsooth it is to come to the telling.

18 Therefore Eleazar, one of the former of the scribes, or men of law, and a man waxed in age, and fair in cheer, was compelled, yawning with open mouth, for to eat swine’s flesh.

19 And he embraced, or chose, more glorious death, than hateful life, and willfully went before to torment.

20 Forsooth he beheld how it behooved for to go, and suffered patiently, and ordained for to not do unleaveful things for the love of life.

21 Soothly these that stood nigh, were moved altogether by wicked mercy, for eld [or old] friendship of the man, and they took him privily, and prayed that fleshes should be brought, which it was leaveful to him for to eat, that he were feigned to have eaten, as the king commanded, of the flesh of sacrifice;

22 that by this deed he should be delivered from death; and for eld [or old] friendship of the man, they did this humanity, or courtesy, in him.

23 And he began for to think the worthy excellence of age, and of his eld age, and the free-born hoariness of nobility, and of best living from child[hood]; and by [or after] the ordinances of holy law, and made of God, he answered soon, saying, that he would be sent before into hell.

24 For he said, It is not worthy to our age for to feign, that many young men deem, that Eleazar of fourscore year and ten, hath passed to the life of aliens,

25 and that they be deceived by my feigning, and that for little time of corruptible life, and that by this I get spot and execration, or cursedness, to mine eld age.

26 For why though in present time I be delivered from torments of men, but neither quick, neither dead, I shall not escape the hand of [the] Almighty.

27 Wherefore in passing the life strongly, that is, in dying for the law of God, soothly I shall appear worthy of age;

28 forsooth I shall leave strong ensample to young men, if I use perfectly honest death with ready will, and strongly for the worthiest and holiest laws. When these things were said, anon he was drawn to torment.

29 Forsooth these that led him, and a little before were milder, were turned into wrath, for the words said of him, which they deemed brought forth by pride of heart.

30 But when he should be slain with wounds, he sorrowed inwardly, and said, Lord, that hast holy knowing, openly thou knowest, that when I might be delivered from death, I suffer hard sorrows of body; forsooth by soul willfully I suffer these things, for thy dread.

31 And soothly this man on [or in] this manner departed from life; not only leaving the mind of his death to young men, but and to all the folk, to ensample of virtue and strength.

CHAPTER 7

1 Forsooth it befell, that seven brethren taken together with the mother, were constrained of the king, for to taste against the law swine’s flesh; and were tormented with scourgings, and torment made of bull’s leather.

2 Forsooth one of them, that was the first, said thus, What seekest thou? and what wilt thou learn of us? we be ready for to die, more than to break the fathers’ laws of God.

3 Therefore the king was wroth, and commanded brazen pans [or pans of brass], and brass pots for to be made full hot.

4 And when those anon were made full hot [or tended], he commanded the tongue for to be cut off from him that spake first; and when the skin of the head was drawn away, he bade both the highest parts of his hands and of his feet for to be cut off, the while the other brethren of him and the mother of him beheld.

5 And when he was made then [or made now] unprofitable by all things, he commanded fire for to be brought to him, and yet all quick, breathing, or groaning, for to be burnt in the brazen pan; in which when he was long tormented, the others together with the mother, admonished them together for to die strongly, saying,

6 The Lord God shall behold truth, and shall give comfort, or give solace, in us, as Moses declared in before-witnessing of his song, And in his servants he shall give comfort.

7 Therefore when that first was dead in this manner, they led forth the next for to be scorned; and when the skin of his head was drawn off, with the hairs, they asked, if he would eat, before that he were punished in all the body, by all members by themselves.

8 And he answered by the [country] voice of fathers, and said, I shall not do it. For which thing, and this in pursuing place, received like torments of the first.

9 And when he was ordained in the last spirit, he said thus, Soothly thou most wicked, or cursed, losest us in this life, but the King of the world shall raise us that be dead for his laws, in again-rising of everlasting life.

10 After this the third was scorned; and when he was bidden, he proffered soon forth his tongue, and steadfastly held forth his hands,

11 and said with trust, Of heaven I wield these limbs, but for the laws of God now I despise these same; for I hope, that I shall receive those [or them] of him.

12 So that the king, and they that were with him, wondered on the wisdom of the young man, that he led the torments as nought.

13 And when this was thus dead, they travailed the fourth, and tormented him in like manner.

14 And when he was then at the death, he said thus, Well the rather it is need [or Rather it is], that men given to death of men, abide the hope of God, for they shall be raised-again again of him; forsooth again-rising to life shall not be to thee.

15 And when they had brought the fifth, they travailed him.

16 And he beheld into him, and said, Thou hast power among men, and though thou be corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt; but do not thou guess, that our kin is forsaken of God.

17 But abide thou patiently, and thou shalt see the great power of him, how he shall torment thee, and thy seed.

18 After [this] they brought also the sixth; and this began for to die, and said thus, [or this beginning for to die, saith thus], Do not thou err idly; for we suffer these things for ourselves, sinning against our God, and things worthy of wondering be made in us;

19 but deem thou not, that it shall be without pain to thee, that thou hast tempted for to fight against God.

20 Forsooth the marvellous mother of them/Forsooth the mother is wonderful above manner, and worthy the mind of good men, which beheld seven sons perishing under the time of one day, and suffered above manner with good will, for the hope that she had into God;

21 she admonished each of them by voice of fathers [or of country], and was strongly filled with wisdom, and setted man’s wit to woman’s thought, and said to them,

22 Sons, I know not how ye appeared in my womb; for neither I have given to you spirit, and soul, and life, and I myself joined not together the members of each;

23 but [or soothly] the Maker of nought of the world, that formed the nativity of man, and found beginning of all, shall yield again to you spirit, and life, with mercy, as now ye despise yourselves for the laws of him.

24 Forsooth Antiochus deemed him for to be despised, and also by despisable voice of a reprover [or also despised by voice of the reproving], and when yet the younger was alive, not only he admonished by words, but with an oath he affirmed to make him rich and blissful, or blessful, [or blessed], and to have him a friend, translated from laws of fathers, and to give to him needful things.

25 But when the young man was not bowed to these things, the king called the mother, and softly counselled her, that she should be made to the young man into health.

26 Forsooth when he admonished her by many words, she promised him for to counsel her son.

27 Therefore she bowed down to him, and scorned the cruel tyrant [or scorning the cruel tyrant], and said in country voice, Son, have mercy on me, that bare thee in womb nine months, and gave milk by three years, and nourished or nursed, and fully brought into this age.

28 I ask, child, that thou behold to heaven and earth, and all things that be in them, and understand, that God made them of nought, and the kind of men.

29 So it shall be done, that thou dread not this tormentor, but be thou made worthy to thy brethren, and receive death, that in that mercy doing I receive thee with thy brethren.

30 When she said yet these things [or When she yet said these things], the young man said, Whom abide ye? I obey not to the bidding of the king, but to commandment of the law, that was given to us by Moses.

31 Forsooth thou, that art made finder of all malice against Hebrews, shalt not escape the hand of God.

32 For we suffer these things for our sins;

33 and though our Lord be a little wroth to us, for blaming and chastising, but again he shall be reconciled to his servants.

34 Forsooth thou cursed, and most flagitious, or fullest of evil doings, and stirrings, of all men, do not thou vainly be enhanced, that art enflamed by vain hope against his servants;

35 for thou hast not escaped yet the doom of Almighty God, and beholding all things.

36 For my brethren suffered now a little sorrow, and be made under testament of everlasting life; thou soothly by doom of God shall pay just pains of pride.

37 Soothly I, as my brethren, betake my soul and body for the laws of fathers; and I call God to help [or in-calling God], that more ripely he be made helpful to our folk, and that thou acknowledge with torments and beatings, that he is God alone.

38 Forsooth the wrath of Almighty shall fail or shall have an end in me, and in my brethren, which is justly brought in on all our kin. [For in me and in my brethren, the wrath of Almighty God shall fail, which is justly brought in upon all our kin.]

39 Then the king was kindled with wrath, and was fierce against him more cruelly above all; and bare unworthily, either heavily, himself scorned.

40 Therefore this was also clean, and died, trusting by all things in the Lord.

41 Forsooth at the last also the mother was wasted, either died, after the sons.

42 Therefore of sacrifices, and over-great cruelties, is enough said.

CHAPTER 8

1 Forsooth Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with him, entered privily into castles; and called together cousins, and friends, and took them that dwelt in Judea [or in Jewry], or in keeping of the law of Jews, and led out men to six thousands.

2 And they called the Lord to help, for to behold on the people, that was defouled of all men; for to have mercy on the temple, that was defouled of unpious men;

3 and for to have mercy on destroying of the city, that was anon to be made plain altogether; and for to hear the voice of blood crying to him,

4 and for to have mind on the wickedest deaths of little children innocents, and of blasphemies given to his name; and for to have indignation on these things.

5 And Maccabeus, with the multitude gathered, was made unsufferable to heathen men; for the wrath of the Lord was converted into mercy.

6 And he above-came to castles and cities, unwarned, and burnt them; and occupied covenable places, and gave not few slayings of enemies.

7 Soothly in nights he was most borne to seek out runnings; and fame of his virtue was shed out, either showed, everywhere.

8 Forsooth Philip saw, that the man by little and little came to increase, and that full often things befell to him in prosperity; and he wrote to Ptolemy, duke of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, that he should bear help to the king’s needs.

9 And he swiftly sent Nicanor of Patroclus, of the former, or worthier, friends, and gave to him not less than twenty thousands of armed folks mingled together, for to do away all the kin of Jews; and joined to him Gorgias, a knightly man, and most expert in things of battle.

10 Forsooth Nicanor promised stead-fastly to the king, that he should fill the tribute that was to be given to Romans, two thousands of talents, of the captivity of Jews.

11 And anon he sent to cities of the sea coast, and called together to even-buying of prisoners, or of bondmen, of Jews; and promised, that he shall sell ninety bondmen for a talent [or one talent], not beholding to the vengeance that should pursue him of Almighty God.

12 Forsooth when Judas found, he showed to these Jews that were with him, the coming of Nicanor.

13 Of which [or whom] some inwardly dreaded, and believed not to the rightwiseness of God, and were turned into flight;

14 others soothly, if any left of them, came, and together besought the Lord, for to deliver them from wicked Nicanor, which had sold them before that he came nigh;

15 and though not for them, but for the testament that was to the fathers of them, and for the calling to help of his holy name and great on them.

16 Forsooth Maccabeus called together seven thousands that were with him, and prayed, that they should not be reconciled to enemies, neither should dread the multitude of enemies wickedly coming against them, but strongly should fight;

17 having before their eyes, the despite that was done in the holy place, unjustly of them, and also the wrong of the city, had in scorning; yet also the ordinances of eld [or old] men destroyed.

18 For why he said, They soothly trust in arms altogether and hardiness; forsooth we trust in the Lord Almighty, that may do away with one looking, both them that come against us, and all the world.

19 Forsooth he admonished them also of helps of God, that were done against fathers; and that under Sennacherib an hundred thousand fourscore thousand and five thousand [or an hundred fourscore and five thousand] perished;

20 and of the battle that was to them against Galatians, in Babylon; whether if it come to the thing, or truth, when all fellows Macedonians doubted, they six thousands alone slew an hundred thousand and twenty thousands [or an hundred and twenty thousands], for help given to them from heaven; and for these things they had full many benefices.

21 By these words they were made steadfast, and ready for to die for laws and country.

22 Therefore he ordained his brethren leaders to each order, Simon, and Joseph, and Jonathan, and made subject to each a thousand and five hundred.

23 Also to this thing, when the holy book was read to them of Ezra, and a token was given of God’s help, he was duke in the first battle array, and joined battle with Nicanor.

24 And for the Almighty was made helper to them, they slew over nine thousand of men; forsooth they constrained the more part of Nicanor’s host, made feeble by wounds, for to flee.

25 Forsooth when the riches [or the monies] of them, that came to the buying of them, were taken up, on each side they pursued them; but they turned again, closed altogether by an hour;

26 for why it was before sabbath, for which cause they lasted not pursuing.

27 Forsooth they gathered the arms/ the armours of them, and spoils, and did sabbath, and blessed the Lord, that delivered them in this day, dropping into them beginning of mercy.

28 Forsooth after the sabbath, they parted spoils to the feeble folks, and fatherless, and motherless, and widows; and they with theirs had the residues.

29 When these things were thus done, and commonly of all men beseeching was made, they asked the merciful Lord, for to be reconciled into the end to his servants.

30 And of these that were with Timothy and Bacchides, striving against themselves, they slew over twenty thousand, and they wielded his strengths; and they parted more preys, and made even portion to feeble folks, fatherless, and motherless, and widows, but and to elder men.

31 And when they had gathered the arms/the armours of them, diligently they putted together, or kept, all things in covenable places; forsooth they bare to Jerusalem the residue spoils.

32 And they slew Philarches, that was with Timothy, a man full of great trespasses, that had tormented Jews in many things.

33 And when feasts of [or for] victory were done in Jerusalem, they burnt them that had burnt holy gates, that is to say, Callisthenes, when he had flown into an house; for why worthy meed was yielded to them for their unpiousnesses.

34 Forsooth the wickedest Nicanor, that brought a thousand merchants to the selling [or to buying] of Jews,

35 was meeked, or made low, by help of the Lord, of them which he guessed none; and when he had put away the clothes of glory, he fled alone by privy places, and came to Antioch, and had highest infelicity, or wretchedness, of the death of his host.

36 And he that promised him to restore tribute to Romans, of the captivity of men of Jerusalem, preached now that Jews had one defender God, and for him, they were unable for to be wounded, for they pursued laws ordained of him.

CHAPTER 9

1 In the same time Antiochus turned again unhonestly or dishonoured from Persia.

2 For he had entered into that city, that is said Persepolis, that is, the chief city of Persia, and he attempted for to rob the temple, and oppress the city; but for the multitude ran together to arms, they were turned into flight; and so it befell, that Antiochus after flight vile-like [or lowly], turned again.

3 And when he came about Ecbatana, he knew what things were done against Nicanor and Timothy.

4 Forsooth he was enhanced in wrath, and deemed that he might turn into Jews the wrong of them, that had driven him. And therefore he bade the chariot to be led in haste, doing journey without ceasing; for why heavenly doom drove, or constrained, him, for that he spake so proudly, that he shall come to Jerusalem, and to make it a gathering of sepulchres of Jews.

5 But the Lord God of Israel, that beholdeth all things, smote him with a wound incurable and invisible; for as he ended this same word, an hard sorrow of entrails took him, and bitter torments of inward things.

6 And soothly justly enough, for he that had tormented the entrails of other men, with many and new torments,

7 though he in no manner ceased of his malice. Forsooth over this he was filled with pride, and breathed fire in soul against Jews, and commanding the need for to be hasted, it befell, that he going in fierceness fell down off the chariot, and that the members were travailed with the grievous hurtling altogether of body.

8 And he that seemed to himself for to command also to waves of the sea, and over man’s manner was filled with pride, and for to weigh in balance the heights of hills, was then made low [or meeked] to earth, and was borne in a bier, either horse-litter, and witnessed in himself the open virtue of God;

9 so that worms boiled out of the body of the unpious man, and the quick fleshes of him floated out in sorrows. Also with the savour of him, and stinking, his host was grieved;

10 and no man might bear him, for unsuffering of stink, that a little before deemed him for to touch the stars of heaven. [and he, that a little before deemed him to touch the stars of heaven, no man might bear him, for unsuffering of stink.]

11 Therefore hereby he was led down from grievous pride, and began for to come to knowing of himself, and was warned by God’s vengeance, for by all moments his sorrows took increases.

12 And when he might not then [or now] suffer his stink, thus he said, It is just for to be subject to God, and that a deadly man feel not even things to God.

13 Forsooth the cursed man prayed the Lord of these things, of whom he should not get mercy or should get no mercy.

14 And now he desireth to yield free the city, to which he came hasting, for to draw down it [or to lead it down] to earth, and for to make a sepulchre of things borne together.

15 And now he promiseth to make the Jews even to men of Athens, which Jews he said that he should not have worthy, yea, of sepulchre, but to betake to fowls and wild beasts, for to be drawn, and to destroy with little children; [And the Jews, whom he said himself to having neither soothly worthy of sepulchre, but to betaking to fowls and wild beasts, for to be drawn, and to destroying with little children, now he promiseth to making even to Athenians, or men of Athens;]

16 also to adorn with best gifts the holy temple, which he robbed before, and to multiply holy vessels, and to giving of his rents costs pertaining to sacrifices;

17 over these things and that he shall be made a Jew, and to walk by each place of the land, and to preach the power of God.

18 But, for sorrows ceased not, the just doom of God had above come on him, he despaired, and wrote to Jews, by manner of beseeching, an epistle, containing these things.

19 To the best citizens, Jews, most health, and welfare, and to be rich, or in prosperity, the king and prince Antiochus.

20 If ye fare well, and your sons, and all things be to you of sentence, that is, befall at your will, we do most thankings.

21 And I am ordained in sickness, and soothly I am mindful benignly of you, and I turned again from places of Persia, and am caught with grievous infirmity, and I led needful for to have care for common profit;

22 and I despair not of myself, but I have much hope to escape [the] sick-ness.

23 For I behold that also my father, in what times he led host in higher places, showed, who after him should receive princehood;

24 if that any contrary thing befell, or hard thing were told, these that were in countries, shall know to whom the sum, or charge, of [all] things was left, and should not be troubled.

25 To these things I beheld of next, that all the mighty men and neighbours espy times, and abide coming, and I have ordained my son Antiochus king, whom I, running again often into high realms, commended to many of you, and I wrote to him what things be subject.

26 Therefore I pray you, and ask, that ye be mindful of benefices openly and privily, and that each of you keep faith to me, and to my son.

27 For I trust, that he shall do mildly, and manly, or courteously, and pursue my purpose, and be common, or treatable, to you.

28 Therefore the man-queller and blasphemer was smitten worst, and as he had treated others, he died in pilgrimage in mountains, in wretched-ful death.

29 Forsooth Philip, his even-sucker, translated [or transferred], or bare over, the body; which dreaded the son of Antiochus, and went to Ptolemy Philometor, into Egypt.

CHAPTER 10

1 Forsooth Maccabeus, and they that were with him, for the Lord defended them, received soothly the temple, and city.

2 Forsooth he destroyed the altars, that aliens made by streets, and also [the] temples of washing.

3 And when the temple was purged, they made another altar, and of stones fired, or flints, by fire conceived, they offered sacrifices after two years, and putted incense, and lanterns, and loaves of proposition.

4 And when these things were done, they were cast down to earth, and prayed the Lord, that they should no more fall in[to] such evils; but though in anytime they had sinned, that they should be chastised of him more easily, and should not be betaken to barbarians, [or heathen], and blasphemous men.

5 Forsooth in what day the temple was defouled of aliens, it befell that in the same day cleansing was made, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that was Kislev.

6 And with gladness in eight days they did by manner of Tabernacles, bethinking that before a little of time they had done the solemn day of Tabernacles, in hills and in dens, by custom of beasts.

7 For which thing they bare before rods, and green branches, and palms, to him that gave prosperity for to cleanse his place.

8 And they deemed with common behest, and with doom, to all the folk of Jews, for to do these feast days in all years.

9 And the ending of life of Antiochus, that was called noble or Epiphanes, had it thus.

10 Now forsooth we shall tell of Eupator, son of unpious Antiochus, what things were done, and abridge, or shortly tell, the evils that were done in battles.

11 For when this Eupator had received the realm, he ordained on needs of the realm a man Lysias, prince of knighthood, of Phoenicia and Coelesyria.

12 For why Ptolemy, that was said Macron, ordained for to hold just things against Jews, and mostly for wickedness that was done against them, and peaceably for to do with them.

13 But for this thing he was accused of friends with Eupator, when he heard often, Thou traitor, for that he had forsaken Cyprus, betaken to him of Philometor, and had translated to Antiochus noble or Antiochus Epiph-anes, also he had gone away from him, with venom he ended the life.

14 Forsooth Gorgias, when he was duke of places, with comelings taken, overcame often Jews in battle.

15 Forsooth Jews that held covenable strengths, received men driven from Jerusalem, and assayed, either attempted, for to fight.

16 These forsooth that were with Maccabeus, prayed the Lord by prayers, that he should be helper to them, and they made assault into strengths of Idumeans.

17 And they were busy by much strength, and wielded places, and slew men running again, and strangled all together, not less than five and twenty thousands.

18 Forsooth when some fled together into two towers full strong, having all apparel to against-fight,

19 Maccabeus left Simon, and Joseph, and again Zacchaeus, and them that were with them, many enough, to the over-coming of them; and he was converted [or turned again] to those battles that constrained more.

20 Soothly these that were with Simon, were led by covetousness, and were counselled by money, of some that were in the towers; and when they had taken seventy thousand double drachmas, they let some [to] flee out.

21 Forsooth when that thing that was done, was told to Maccabeus, he gathered the princes of people, and he accused, that they had sold brethren for money, for they delivered [or dismissed] adversaries of them.

22 Therefore he slew these made traitors, and anon occupied the two towers.

23 Forsooth in doing all things wealsomely, either by prosperity, in arms, and hands, he slew in the two strengths more than twenty thousands.

24 And Timothy, that before was overcome of Jews, called [or gathered] together an host of strange multitude, and gathered the multitude of horse-men of Asia, and came with arms, as to take Judea.

25 Forsooth Maccabeus, and they that were with him, when he nighed, besought God, and besprinkled the heads with earth, and before-girded the loins with hair-shirts,

26 and kneeled down at the brink of the altar, that he should be helpful to them, forsooth that to enemies of them he were enemy [or that he were enemy to the enemies of them], and were adversary to adversaries, as the law saith.

27 And so after prayer, when they had taken arms, they went forth far from the city, and they were made next to enemies, and sat.

28 Forsooth in the first rising of the sun, both joined battle; these soothly had the Lord promiser of victory and prosperity; for they had [their own] hardiness the duke of battle.

29 But when great fight was, five fair man, that is, angels in the likeness of men, on horses with golden bridles, appeared to adversaries from heaven, and gave leading to Jews;

30 of which twain [or of whom two] had Maccabeus in the middle, and set about with their armours or arms, and kept him sound, either without harm. Forsooth they casted darts and lightnings against adversaries; of which thing and they were shamed [or confused] with blindness, and were [full]-filled with perturbation, and fell down.

31 Forsooth there were slain of footmen twenty thousand and five hundred, and horsemen six hundred.

32 Soothly Timothy fled into the stronghold [or a stronghold] of Gazara, of which stronghold Chaereas was sovereign.

33 Forsooth Maccabeus, and they that were with him, were glad, and besieged the stronghold by four days.

34 And they that were within, trusted in the secureness of the place, and cursed above manner, and casted, or proudly pronounced, cursed words, that is, blasphemy against God.

35 But when the fifth day shined, twenty young men of these that were with Maccabeus, were kindled in souls for blasphemy, and went manly to the wall, and they went with fierce will, and went up;

36 but and others also ascended [or going up], and assailed for to burn towers and gates, and altogether burn the cursers quick. Forsooth by continual two days they wasted the stronghold,

37 and slew Timothy, hiding himself, found in some place; and they slew his brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes.

38 When these things were done, they blessed the Lord in hymns and confessions, which did great things in Israel, and gave them victory.

CHAPTER 11

1 But a little time after, Lysias, the procurator of the king, and kinsman, and sovereign of offices [or provost of needs], bare grievously of these things that befell,

2 and gathered fourscore thousands, and all the multitude of horsemen, and came against Jews, and deemed himself to make the city taken a dwelling to heathen men,

3 forsooth to have the temple into winning of money, as other temples of heathen men, and priesthood set to sale by each year;

4 and bethought not on the power of God, but in mind, or understanding, he was made without bridle, and trusted in multitude of footmen, and in thousands of horsemen, and in fourscore elephants.

5 Soothly he went into Judea, and came nigh to Bethsura, that was in a strait place, from Jerusalem in space of five furlongs, and fought against that strength.

6 Soothly when Maccabeus, and they that were with him, knew that strengths were impugned, with weeping and tears they prayed the Lord, and all the company together, for to send a good angel to the health of Israel.

7 And Maccabeus himself took first arms, and admonished others to take together peril with him, and bear help to their brethren.

8 And when they went forth together with ready will from Jerusalem, an horseman, that is, an angel in the likeness of an horseman, or knight, appeared going before them in white clothes, in golden armours or arms, and flourishing a shaft.

9 Then all together blessed the merciful Lord, and waxed strong in souls; and were ready for to pierce not only men, but and most fierce beasts, and iron walls.

10 Therefore they went ready, having an helper of heaven, and the Lord having mercy on them.

11 Soothly by custom of lions, in fierceness they hurled into enemies, and casted down of them eleven thousands [or eleven thousand] of footmen, and a thousand and six hundred of horsemen. Soothly they turned all into flight;

12 forsooth many of them wounded, escaped naked, but and Lysias himself foully fleeing escaped.

13 And for he was not witless, he areckoned with himself the making less done against him, and understood that Hebrews be unovercome, and trust to help of Almighty God;

14 and he sent to them, and promised him to consent to all things that be just, and to compel the king for to be made friend.

15 Forsooth Maccabeus granted to the prayers of Lysias, and counselled to profit in all things; and whatever things Maccabeus wrote of Jews to Lysias [or wrote to Lysias of Jews], the king granted those things.

16 For why epistles were written to Jews from Lysias, containing this manner. Lysias to the people of Jews, health.

17 John and Absalom, that were sent from you, betook writs, and asked, that I should [ful] fill those things that were signified by them.

18 Therefore whatever things might be brought forth to the king, I expounded, and which the thing suffered, that is, was covenable and just, he granted.

19 Therefore if in needs ye [shall] keep faith, also from henceforth I shall enforce or endeavour, or attempt for to be cause of good things to you.

20 Of other things soothly I commanded by all words, both to these and to them that be sent of me, for to speak together with you.

21 Fare ye well. In the hundred year and eight and fortieth, in the four and twentieth day of the month Dioscorinthius, that is, in June.

22 Forsooth the epistle of the king contained these things. King Antiochus to Lysias, brother, health.

23 For our father is translated among gods, we will that they that be in our realm do without noise, and give diligence to their things;

24 we have heard that Jews assented not to the father, to be translated to the custom of Greeks, but will [for to] hold their ordinance, and that there-fore they ask of us, that their lawful things be granted to them.

25 Therefore we will that also this folk be quiet, and have ordained and deemed, that the temple be restored to them, that they should do by [or after] the custom of their greater men.

26 Therefore thou shalt do well, if thou shalt send to them, and shalt give right hand; that, when our will is known, they be in good comfort, and serve to their own profits.

27 Soothly to the Jews the king’s epistle was such. King Antiochus to the senate, or elder men, of Jews, and to other Jews, health.

28 If ye fare well, so it is as we will, but and we [our] selves fare well.

29 Menelaus came to us, and said, that ye will go down to yours, that be with us.

30 Therefore to these that go together, we give right hands of secureness till to the thirtieth day of the month Xanthicus, that is, April,

31 that Jews use their meats, and laws, as and before [or as before]; and no man of them in any manner suffer dis-ease of these things, that be done by ignorance.

32 Soothly we sent also Menelaus, that shall speak to you.

33 Fare ye well. In the hundred year and eight and fortieth, the fifteenth day of the month Xanthicus,

34 also Romans sent an epistle, having it thus. Quintus Memmius, and Titus Manlius, legates of Romans, to the people of Jews, health.

35 Of these things that Lysias, cousin of the king, hath granted to you, also we granted.

36 Forsooth of which things he deemed to be told again to the king, anon send ye some man; and speak ye among you diligentlier, that we deem as it accordeth unto you. For we go to Antioch,

37 and therefore haste ye for to again-write, that and we know of what will ye be.

38 Fare ye well. In the hundred year and four and fortieth, in the fifteenth day of the month Xanthicus,

CHAPTER 12

1 when these covenants were made, Lysias went to the king; forsooth Jews gave work to earth-tilling.

2 But these that dwelt, or were resident, Timothy, and Apollonius, the son of Gennaeus, but and Jerome, and Demophon proud, and Nicanor, prince of Cyprus, suffered not them for to do in silence and quiet, or rest.

3 Forsooth men of Joppa have done such a felony; they prayed Jews with which they dwelt, for to go up, with wives, and sons, into small boats, which they had made ready, as if none enmities lay privily among them.

4 Therefore by [or after] the common doom of the city, and for they accorded, and for cause of peace, had nothing suspect, when they came into the depth, they drenched or drowned two hundred, not less.

5 And as Judas knew this cruelty done against men of his folk, he commanded to men that were with him;

6 and he called to help [or in-called] the just doomsman God, and he came against the slayers of brethren, and by night he burnt the haven, he burnt the boats, forsooth he slew by sword them that fled from the fire.

7 And when he had done these things, he went away, as again to turning again, and utterly to destroying [or to destroy] all men of Joppa.

8 But when he knew, that also they that were at Jamnia would do in like manner to Jews dwelling with them,

9 also to [the] Jamnites he above came by night, and burnt the haven, with ships; so that the light appeared to Jerusalem from two hundred furlongs and forty.

10 When they had gone then from thence by nine furlongs [or When now they had gone thence by nine furlongs], and made journey to Timothy, men of Arabia, five thousand men, and horsemen five hundred, joined battle with him.

11 And when strong fight was made, and by help of God it befell easily, or by prosperity, the residue of men of Arabia, that were overcome, asked of Judas the right hands for to be given to them; promising themselves to give pastures, and to profiting in other things.

12 Forsooth Judas deemed verily them profitable in many things, and promised peace; and when they had taken right hands, they departed to their tabernacles.

13 Forsooth he assailed also some city made firm by bridges or buttresses, and about-set with walls, which was inhabited of companies of heathen men mingled, both men and women, to which the name was Caspin.

14 Forsooth these that were within, trusted in the stableness of walls, and in apparel of foods, and did slacklier, stirring Judas with curses, either swearings, and blaspheming, and speaking which things it is not leaveful.

15 Soothly Maccabeus called to help [or in-called] the great Prince of the world, which without wethers, that be engines like wethers, and without engines, in the times of Jesus, either Joshua, casted down Jericho; and hurled fiercely to the walls,

16 and took the city by will of the Lord, and did unnumberable slayings; so that the pool of standing water of two furlongs of breadth, seemed [or was seen] to flow with blood of slain men.

17 From thence they went seven hundred and fifty furlongs, and came into Charax, to the Jews that be called Toubiani.

18 And soothly they caught not Timothy in those places; and when no journey [or no need] was fully done, Timothy turned again, while most firm strength was left in a certain place.

19 Forsooth Dositheus and Sosipater, that were dukes with Maccabeus, slew ten thousand men left of Timothy in the strength.

20 And Maccabeus ordained about him six thousand, and ordained by cohorts, or companies of knights, and went forth against Timothy, having with him an hundred and twenty thousand of footmen, and of horsemen two thousand and five hundred.

21 Forsooth when the coming of Judas was known, Timothy before-sent women, and sons, and other apparel into a strength that is called Carnaim; for it was unable to be overcome, and hard in going-to, for straitnesses of places.

22 And when the first company of Judas appeared, dread was made [or in-smitten] to enemies by presence of God, that beholdeth all things; and they were turned into flight, one after another, so that they were cast down more of their own, and were feebled with strokes of their swords.

23 Judas soothly continued greatly, punishing unholy men, and [he] casted down of them thirty thousand of men.

24 Timothy soothly himself fell into the parts of Dositheus and Sosipater; and he asked by many prayers, that he were delivered quick; for he had fathers, and mothers, and brethren, of many of Jews, which it should befall for to be deceived by his death.

25 And when he had given faith, that he should restore them by covenant [or after thing ordained], they dismissed him unhurt, for health of brethren.

26 Forsooth Judas turned again from Carnaim, after that he had slain five and twenty thousands.

27 After the flight and death of these, he moved the host to Ephron, strong city, in which the multitude of diverse folks dwelt; and strong young men, standing together for walls, strongly fought against; forsooth in this were many engines, and apparels of darts.

28 But when they had called to help the Almighty, that by his power all-breaketh mights of enemies, they took the city, and casted down of them that were within five and twenty thousand.

29 From thence they went to the city of Scythes or Scythopolis, which was far from Jerusalem six hundred furlongs.

30 Forsooth for these Jews that were with Scythopolitans witnessed, that they were had of them benignly, yea, in times of adversity, and that they did mildly with them,

31 they did thankings to them; and also stirred from henceforth for to be benign against their kin, and came to Jerusalem, when the solemn day of weeks nighed.

32 And after Pentecost, they went against Gorgias, sovereign [or provost] of Idumea.

33 Soothly he went out with three thousand footmen, and four hundred horsemen;

34 and when they were assembled, it befell that a few of Jews felled down.

35 Forsooth Dositheus, an horsemen of Bacenor, a strong man, held Gorgias; and when he would take him quick, an horseman of Thracia fell on him, and cutted off his shoulder, and so Gorgias flew into Marisa.

36 And when they that were with Gorgias fought longer, and they were made weary, Judas inwardly called the Lord for to be made helper, and duke of battle;

37 and he began with country voice, and with hymns raised cry, and made the knights of Gorgias to flee.

38 Forsooth Judas with the host gathered, came into the city Adullam; and when the seventh day came above, they were cleansed by [or after] custom, and did sabbath in the same place.

39 And in the day pursuing, Judas came with his men, for to take away the bodies of men cast down, and for to put with fathers, and mothers, in sepulchres of fathers.

40 Forsooth they found under coats of slain men, of the gifts of idols that were at Jamnia, from which the law forbiddeth Jews; therefore it was made known to all men, that they fell down for this cause.

41 And therefore all blessed the just doom of the Lord, which made privy things known.

42 And so they converted to prayers, and prayed, that that trespass that was done, were betaken to forgetting. And soothly the strongest Judas admonished the people, for to keep them without sin, seeing under eyes, what things were done for sins of them that were cast down.

43 And when collection was made, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem, to be offered a sacrifice for sins of dead men, and bethought well and religiously of again-rising;

44 for if he hoped not, that they that fell should rise again, it was seen superfluous and vain for to pray for dead men;

45 and for he beheld, that they that took sleeping, or death, with piety, had best grace kept. Therefore holy and healthful thinking is, for to pray for dead men, that they be released of sins.

CHAPTER 13

1 In the hundred and nine and fortieth year Judas knew, that Antiochus Eupator came with multitude against Judea;

2 and with him came Lysias, procurator and sovereign of offices [or provost of needs], having with him an hundred and ten thousand of footmen, and of horsemen five thousand, and elephants two and twenty, chariots with scythes [or with sickles] three hundred.

3 Forsooth and Menelaus joined him to them, and with great deceit besought Antiochus, not for health of the country, but hoping that he should be ordained into princehood.

4 But the King of kings raised the wills of Antiochus against the sinner; and when Lysias showed that he was cause of all evils, he commanded, as custom is to them, him taken, for to be slain in the same place.

5 Soothly in the same place was a tower of fifty cubits, having on each side a gathering of ashes; this was beholding into a ditch.

6 From thence he commanded the sacrileger, or cursed man, for to be cast down into ashes, when all men putted forth him [or putting him forth] to the death.

7 And by such law it befell the breaker of law for to die, neither Menelaus for to be given to earth. And forsooth justly enough;

8 for why for he did many trespasses against the altar of God, whose fire and ashes was holy, he was condemned in the death of ashes.

9 But the king without bridle in mind, or understanding, came to show him worse to Jews, than his father.

10 And when these things were known, Judas commanded the people, that by night and day they should call to help the Lord; that as evermore, also now he should help them; which soothly dreaded for to be deprived of law, and country, and [of] holy temple;

11 and that he suffered not the people, that a while ago had a little quickened again, for to be subject again to blasphemous nations.

12 Therefore when all men did together that thing, and asked mercy of the Lord with weeping, in fasting/s by all three days, and kneeled [or cast down], Judas admonished them for to make them ready.

13 Forsooth he with elder men thought for to go out, before that the king moved host to Judea, and got the city, and to betake the end of the thing to the doom of the Lord.

14 Therefore he gave power of all things to God, Maker of nought of the world, and admonished his to fight strongly, and stand till to the death [or unto death], for laws, temple, city, country, and citizens; and he ordained the host about Modin.

15 And when a token was given to his of victory of God, he chose the strongest young men, and by night he assailed the king’s hall in tents, and he slew fourteen thousand men, and the most of elephants, with these that were put above.

16 And they filled the tents of enemies with highest dread and disturbing, and when these things were done easily, [or wealsomely], either in prosperity, they went away.

17 Forsooth this was done in the day lighting, for the protection of the Lord helped him.

18 But when the king had taken taste of hardiness of Jews by craft, he assayed [or attempted] hardinesses of places;

19 and moved the tents to Bethsura, that was a stronghold of Jews; but he was driven, hurtled, and diminished, or wasted.

20 Forsooth to these that were within, Judas sent needful things.

21 Forsooth Rhodocus, some man of the host of Jews, told out privates to enemies; which was sought, and taken, and imprisoned.

22 Again the king had word to them that were in Bethsura, and gave the right hand, and received, and went away. He joined battle with Judas, and Judas was overcome.

23 Forsooth as he knew that Philip had rebelled at Antioch, which was left on needs, he was astonied in mind, either understanding, and besought Jews, and was subject to them, and swore of all things, of which it was seen just; and he was reconciled, and offered sacrifice, and worshipped the temple, and putted gifts.

24 He embraced, or kissed, Maccabeus, and made him prince and duke from Ptolemais till to Gerrhenians or Gerar.

25 Soothly as he came to Ptolemais, men of Ptolemais bare grievously according of friendship, and had indignation, lest peradventure they would break peace.

26 Then Lysias went up into the doom place, and expounded reason, and ceased the people, and returned again to Antioch; and in this manner the king’s going out and turning again went forth.

CHAPTER 14

1 But after time of three years Judas knew, and they that were with him, that Demetrius son of Seleucus went up to covenable places, with strong multitude, and ships, by the haven of Tripoli,

2 and hath holden countries against Antiochus, and his duke Lysias.

3 Forsooth one Alcimus, that was highest priest, but willfully was defouled in times of mingling together, beheld that in no manner health was to him, neither access, or nighing, [or coming to], to the altar,

4 and he came to king Demetrius, in the hundred and fiftieth year, and offered to him a golden crown, and palm, over these things and offered vessels, that were seen to be of the temple; and soothly in that day he was still.

5 Forsooth he got a covenable time of his madness, and he was called of Demetrius to counsel, and was asked with what things and counsels Jews endeavoured, and he answered,

6 They that be said Hasideans of Jews, of which [or to whom] Judas Maccabeus is sovereign, nourish battles, and move dissensions, neither suffer the realm for to be quiet.

7 For why and I am defrauded of glory of father and mother, soothly I say, of highest priesthood, and I came hither,

8 first, soothly keeping faith to the king’s profits, the second time, soothly counselling also to citizens, for why by shrewdness of them, all our kin is travailed greatly.

9 But I pray, thou king, when all these things be known, behold to the country, and kin, by [or after] thy manliness, or courtesy, showed to all men.

10 For why as long as Judas liveth, it is impossible that peace be to needs.

11 Forsooth when such things were said of him, and other friends, having them enmity, enflamed Demetrius against Judas.

12 Which anon sent Nicanor, sove-reign of elephants, a duke into Judea,

13 with commandments given for to take that Judas quick, for to scatter soothly them that were with him, and for to ordain Alcimus highest priest of the most temple.

14 Then heathen men, that fled Judas from Judea, flock-meal joined them to Nicanor, and guessed the wretchednesses and deaths of Jews prosperities of their things.

15 Therefore when coming of Nicanor was heard, and coming together of nations, Jews besprinkled with earth prayed him, that ordained his people into without end for to keep, and which covereth, or defendeth, his part with open signs.

16 Forsooth for the duke commanded, anon they moved from thence, and came together to the castle Dessau.

17 Simon forsooth, brother of Judas, joined battle with Nicanor, but he was all-broken with sudden coming of adversaries.

18 Nevertheless Nicanor heard the virtue of Judas’ fellows, and greatness of hardiness, which they had for strives of the country, and dreaded for to make doom by blood.

19 Wherefore he before-sent Posidon-ius, and Theodotus, and Mattathias, for to give right hands, and take.

20 And when long counsel was done of these things, and the duke himself had told to the multitude, one sentence was of all, for to grant to friendships.

21 Therefore they ordained a day, in which they should do privily betwixt themselves; and stools, or small seats, were brought forth, and set to each.

22 Forsooth Judas commanded armed men for to be in covenable places, lest peradventure anything of evil should rise suddenly of enemies; and they made a covenable speech together.

23 Forsooth Nicanor dwelt in Jerusalem, and nothing did evil; and he let go flocks of companies, that were gathered.

24 Forsooth he had Judas evermore dearworthy of heart, and was bowed to the man;

25 and prayed him for to wed a wife, and [to] engender sons; and he made weddings, did quietly, and they lived commonly, or communally, or together.

26 Alcimus forsooth saw the charity of them together, and accordings, and came to Demetrius, and said, that Nicanor assenteth to alien, either other men’s, things, and hath ordained Judas, traitor of the realm, successor to him.

27 Therefore the king was made sharp, and stirred to wrath with such worst accusings, and wrote to Nicanor, and said, that soothly he bare grievously of according of friendship, and nevertheless commanded for to send Maccabeus bound to Antioch.

28 And when these things were known, Nicanor was astonied, and grievously bare, if he made void those things that were accorded [or that accorded], and he was nothing hurt, or harmed, of the man;

29 but for he might not against-stand the king, he kept covenability, in which he should perform the commandment.

30 And Maccabeus saw, that Nicanor did with him most sternly, and gave fiercelier customable coming together, and he understood that this sternness [or fierceness] was not of good, and with a few of his gathered, he hid him from Nicanor.

31 And as he knew this thing, that he was strongly before-come, or espied, of the man, he came to the most and holiest temple, and he commanded to the priests offering customable sacrifices, that the man be betaken to him.

32 And when they said with oath, that they knew not, where he was that was sought,

33 he stretched forth the hand to the temple, and swore, If ye shall not betake to me Judas bound, I shall draw down this temple of God into plainness, and dig out the altar, and I shall hallow this temple to Liber, or Bacchus, that is, god of wine, the father.

34 And when he had said these things, he went away. Forsooth the priests held forth hands into heaven, and called him to help that ever is for-fighter of the folk of them, and said these things,

35 Thou, Lord of all creatures [or Thou, Lord of university, or of all creatures], that of nothing hast need, wouldest that the temple of thine habitation be made in us.

36 And now, thou Lord, holy of all holy, keep without end this house undefouled, that a little ago was cleansed.

37 Forsooth Razis, one of the elder men of Jerusalem, was accused to Nicanor; and Razis was a man, lover of the city, and well-hearing or well-praising, that for affection, or love, was called father of Jews.

38 This man many times held purpose of continence in Judea [or in Jewry], and was appeased for to betake body and soul for perseverance, or lasting.

39 Forsooth Nicanor would show the hatred, that he had against Jews, and sent five hundred knights, for to take him.

40 For he guessed, if he had deceived him, that he should bring in most death to Jews.

41 Forsooth when companies coveted for to fall into his house, and for to break the gate, and for to move to fire, when now he was taken, that is, was nigh the taking, he assailed him-self with sword;

42 choosing to die nobly, rather than to be made subject to sinners, and against his birth for to be led with unworthy wrongs.

43 But when by hasting he had given wound with uncertain stroke, and companies betwixt doors burst in, he ran again hardily to the wall, and casted down himself manly into the companies.

44 And when they gave swiftly place to his fall, he came by the middle of the knoll,

45 and yet while he breathed, he was kindled in heart, and rose. And when his blood with great flowing flowed down, and with most grievous wounds he was wounded, by running he passed the company; and stood on an high stone,

46 and now was made without blood, and embraced his entrails with both hands, and casted forth on the companies, and called to help [or in-calling] the lordshipper of life and spirit, that he should yield again these things to him; and thus he was dead from life.

CHAPTER 15

1 Forsooth as Nicanor found that Judas was in the place of Samaria, he thought for to join battle in the day of sabbath with all fierceness.

2 Forsooth when Jews, that pursued him by need, said, Do thou not so fiercely and heathenly, but give thou honour to the day of hallowing, and worship thou him, that beholdeth all things.

3 And he unblessed, asked, If there is a Mighty in heaven, that commanded the day of sabbaths for to be done?

4 And when they answered, There is a quick Lord [or There is one Lord], and he is mighty in heaven, that commanded the seventh day for to be done.

5 And he said, And I am mighty on earth, which command arms for to be taken, and needs of the king for to be fulfilled. Nevertheless he got not, for to perform counsel.

6 And soothly Nicanor was enhanced with sovereign or masterful pride, and thought for to ordain a common victory of Judas.

7 Forsooth Maccabeus trusted ever-more with all hope, that help should come to him of the Lord,

8 and he admonished his, that they should not inwardly dread at the coming to of nations, but should have in mind the helps done to them of heaven, and now should hope that the victory should come to them of the Almighty.

9 And he spake to them of the law, and prophets, and admonished of battles which they did before, and ordained, [or confirmed], them readier.

10 And so when the souls of them were raised, he showed altogether the falseness of heathen men, and breaking of oaths.

11 Forsooth he armed each of them, not by strengthening of shield and shaft, but with best words and admonishings, and expounded a sweven worthy of believe, by which he gladded all.

12 Soothly the vision was such. Judas saw Onias, that was highest priest, a good man and benign, shamefast in sight, and mild in manners, and fair in speech, and which was exercised in virtues from a child, holding forth the hands for to pray for all the people of Jews.

13 After this thing, that also another man appeared, wonderful in age and glory, and in having of great fairness about him.

14 Forsooth he saw Onias answering for to have said, This is the lover of brethren, and of the people of Israel; this is he, that much prayeth for the people, and [for] all the holy city, Jeremy, the prophet of God.

15 Forsooth he saw that Jeremy hath stretched forth the right hand, and hath given a golden sword to Judas, and said,

16 Take thou the holy sword, a gift of God, in which thou shalt cast down the adversaries of my people Israel.

17 Therefore they were admonished with full great words of Judas, of which fierceness might be enhanced, and souls of young men be comforted, and they ordained for to fight, and torment altogether strongly, that virtue should deem of needs, or causes, for that the holy city, and temple were in peril.

18 For why [or Soothly] for wives, and sons, and also for brethren, and cousins, was less busyness, but the most and first dread was [for] holiness of the temple.

19 But not least busyness had them that were in the city, for these that should assail, or fight, together.

20 And when now all men hoped doom to be, and enemies come [or came], and the host was ordained, beasts and horsemen put together in covenable places,

21 Maccabeus beheld the coming of multitude, and diverse apparel of arms, and fierceness of beasts, and he stretched out the hands to heaven, and called to help the Lord doing great wonders, which not by [or after] power of arms, but as it pleaseth to him, giveth victory to worthy men.

22 Forsooth he said, calling to help in this manner, Thou Lord, that sentest thine angel under Hezekiah, king of Judea, and hast slain of the tents, either hosts, of Sennacherib, an hundred thousand fourscore and five thousand [or an hundred fourscore and five thousand];

23 and now, lordshipper of heavens, send thou thy good angel before us, in dread and trembling of greatness of thine arm,

24 that they dread, that come with blasphemy against thine holy people. And soothly thus he perfectly prayed.

25 Forsooth Nicanor, and they that were with him, moved to with trumps and songs.

26 Judas forsooth, and they that were with him, called God to help by prayers [of acknowledging], and went together.

27 Soothly they fighting with hands, but praying God in hearts, casted down five and thirty thousand, not less, and delighted greatly by presence of God.

28 And when they had ceased, and with joy turned again, they knew that Nicanor had fallen, with his armours.

29 Therefore when cry was made, and perturbation was stirred, by country voice they blessed the Lord Almighty.

30 Forsooth Judas, that by all things in body and soul was ready for to die for citizens, bade [or commanded], that the head of Nicanor, and hand with the shoulder girded off, should be brought forth to Jerusalem.

31 Whither when he fully came, when men of his lineage were called together, and priests to the altar, he called also them that were in the high tower.

32 And when the head of Nicanor was showed, and the cursed hand, which he holding forth against the holy house of Almighty God greatly gloried,

33 also he commanded the tongue of unpious Nicanor cut off, for to be given to birds gobbet-meal; forsooth he commanded the hand of the mad man for to be hanged up against the temple.

34 Therefore all blessed the Lord of heaven, and said, Blessed be the Lord, that kept his place undefouled.

35 Forsooth he hanged up Nicanor’s head in the highest tower, that it were evident, or known, and open sign of the help of God.

36 Therefore all men, by common counsel, deemed in no manner for to pass this day without solemnity, but for to have solemnity [or worshipping] in the thirteenth day of the month Adar, that is said, by voice of Syria, the first day of Mordecai.

37 Therefore when these things were done against Nicanor, and of those times when the city was wielded of Hebrews, also I in these things shall make an end of words.

38 And soothly if well, and as it accordeth to the story, this thing and I will; if else less worthily, it is to forgive [or to be granted] to me.

39 Soothly as for to drink evermore wine, either evermore water, it is contrary, but for to use changeable, either now one, now another, is delightable; so to men reading, if the word be evermore sought to each part, it shall not be covenable, or pleasing; therefore here it shall be ended.

Here endeth the second book of Maccabees, which is end of the Old Testament, [or Here endeth the story of Maccabees, the which is the last book of the Old Testament]; see now the New Testament.

1ST CORINTHIANS

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1ST CORINTHIANS

CHAPTER 1

1 Paul, called apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Sosthenes, brother,

2 to the church of God that is at Corinth, to them that be hallowed in Christ Jesus, and called saints, with all that inwardly call [or in-call] the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in each place of them and of ours,

3 grace to you and peace of God, our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I do thankings to my God ever-more for you, in the grace of God that is given to you in Christ Jesus.

5 For in all things ye be made rich in him, in each word, and in each knowing, [or science],

6 as the witnessing of Christ is confirmed in you;

7 so that nothing fail to you in any grace, that abide the showing [or the revelation] of our Lord Jesus Christ;

8 which also shall confirm you into the end without crime, [or great sin], in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 A true God [or Forsooth God is true], by whom ye be called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 But, brethren, I beseech you, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all say the same thing, and that dissensions, [or schisms, or divisions, or discords], be not among you; but be ye perfect in the same wit, and in the same knowing.

11 For, my brethren, it is told to me of them that be at Chloe’s, that strives be among you.

12 And I say that, that each of you saith, For I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, [that is, Peter], but I am of Christ.

13 Whether Christ is parted? whether Paul was crucified for you, either ye be baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I do thankings to my God, that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

15 lest any man say, that ye be baptized in my name.

16 And I baptized also the house of Stephanas, but I know not, that I baptized any other.

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel [or to evangelize]; not in wisdom of word, that the cross of Christ be not voided away.

18 For the word of the cross is folly to them that perish; but to them that be made safe, that is to say, to us, it is the virtue of God.

19 For it is written, I shall destroy the wisdom of wise men, and I shall reprove the prudence of prudent men.

20 Where is the wise man? where is the wise lawyer? [or where is the writer, or the man of law?] where is the purchaser of this world? Whether God hath not made the wisdom of this world fond? [or foolish?]

21 For the world, in wisdom of God, knew not God by wisdom, [or For why for in the wisdom of God, the world knew not God by wisdom], it pleased to God, by [the] folly of preaching, to make them safe that believed.

22 For Jews seek signs, and Greeks seek wisdom;

23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews cause of stumbling, and to heathen men folly;

24 but to those Jews and Greeks that be called, we preach Christ the virtue of God, and the wisdom of God.

25 For that that is folly thing of God, is wiser than men; and that that is the feeble, [or frail], thing of God, is stronger than men.

26 But, brethren, see ye your calling; for not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

27 But God chose those things that be fond [or foolish] of the world, to confound wise men; and God chose the feeble, [or frail], things of the world, to confound the strong things;

28 and God chose the unnoble things and despisable things of the world, and those things that be not, to destroy those things that be;

29 that each man have not glory in his sight.

30 But of him ye be in Christ Jesus, which is made of God to us wisdom, and rightwiseness, and holiness, and again-buying;

31 that, as it is written, He that glorieth, have glory in the Lord.

CHAPTER 2

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not in the highness of word, either of wisdom, telling, [or showing], to you the witnessing of Christ.

2 For I deemed not me to know anything among you, but Christ Jesus, and him crucified.

3 And I in sickness, and dread, and in much trembling, was among you [or was with you];

4 and my word and my preaching was not in subtly stirring [or persuad-able] words of man’s wisdom, but in showing of Spirit and of virtue;

5 that your faith be not in the wisdom of men, but in the virtue of God.

6 For we speak wisdom among perfect men, but not wisdom of this world, neither of princes of this world, that be destroyed;

7 but we speak the wisdom of God in mystery, which wisdom is hid; which wisdom God before-ordained before worlds into our glory,

8 which none of the princes of this world knew; for if they had known, they should never have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written, That eye saw not, nor ear heard, neither it ascended into the heart of man, what things God arrayed [or made ready before] to them that love him;

10 but God showed to us by his Spirit. For why the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

11 And who of men knoweth, what things be of man, but the spirit of man that is in him? So what things be of God, no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God.

12 And we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we know what things be given to us of God.

13 Which things we speak also, not in wise [or in taught] words of man’s wisdom, but in the doctrine of the Spirit, and make a likeness [or a comparison] of spiritual things to ghostly men.

14 For a beastly man perceiveth not those things that be of the Spirit of God; for it is folly to him, and he may not understand, for it is examined, [or assayed], ghostly.

15 But a spiritual man deemeth all things, and he is deemed of no man.

16 As it is written, And who knew the wit of the Lord, or who taught him? And we have the wit of Christ.

CHAPTER 3

1 And I, brethren, might not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshly men; as to little children in Christ,

2 I gave to you milk to drink, not meat; for ye might not yet under-stand, neither ye may now,

3 for yet ye be fleshly. For while envy and strife is among you, whether ye be not fleshly, and ye go after man?

4 For when some saith, I am of Paul, and another, But I am of Apollos, whether ye be not [fleshly] men?

5 What therefore is Apollos, and what Paul? They be ministers of him, to whom ye have believed; and to each man as God hath given.

6 I planted, Apollos moisted, but God gave increasing.

7 Therefore neither he that planteth is anything, neither he that moisteth, but God that giveth increasing.

8 And he that planteth, and he that moisteth, be one; and each shall take his own meed, after his travail.

9 For we be the helpers of God; ye be the earth-tilling of God, ye be the building of God.

10 After the grace of God that is given to me, as a wise master carpenter I setted the foundament; and another buildeth above. But each man see, how he buildeth above [or how and what things he buildeth upon].

11 For no man may set another foundament, except [or besides] that that is set, which is Christ Jesus.

12 For if any man buildeth over [or upon] this foundament, gold, silver, precious stones, sticks, hay, or stubble,

13 every man’s work shall be open; for the day of the Lord shall declare, for it shall be showed in fire; the fire shall prove the work of each man, what manner work it is.

14 If the work of any man dwell still, which he builded above [or upon], he shall receive meed.

15 If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer harm, either impairing; but he shall be safe, so nevertheless as by fire.

16 Know ye not, that ye be the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 And if any [man] defouleth the temple of God, God shall lose him; for the temple of God is holy, which ye be.

18 No man deceive himself. If any man among you is seen to be wise in this world, be he made a fool, that he be wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God; for it is written, I shall catch wise men in their fell wisdom, [or subtle guile];

20 and again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of wise men, for those be vain.

21 Therefore no man have glory in men. For all things be yours,

22 either Paul, either Apollos, either Cephas, either the world, either life, either death, either things present, either things to coming [or to come]; for all things be yours,

23 and ye be of Christ, and Christ is of God.

CHAPTER 4

1 So a man guess, [or deem], us as ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the mysteries of God.

2 Now it is sought here among the dispensers, that a man be found true.

3 And to me it is for the least thing, that I be deemed of you, or of man’s day, [that is, here in this life]; but neither I deem myself.

4 For I am nothing over-trusting, [or guilty], to myself, but not in this thing I am justified; for he that deemeth me, is the Lord.

5 Therefore do not ye deem before the time, till that the Lord come, which shall lighten the hid things of darknesses, and shall show the counsels of hearts; and then praising shall be to each man of God.

6 And, brethren, I have transfigured these things into me and into Apollos, for you; that in us ye learn, lest over that it is written [or over that that is written], one against another be blown with pride for another [man].

7 Who deemeth thee? And what hast thou, that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, what gloriest thou, as thou haddest not received?

8 Now ye be [full]-filled, now ye be made rich; ye reign without us; and I would that ye reign, that also we reign with you.

9 And I guess, that God showed us the last apostles, as those that be sent to the death; for we be made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.

10 We fools for Christ, but ye prudent in Christ; we sick, but ye strong; ye noble, but we unnoble.

11 Till into this hour we hunger, and thirst, and be naked, and be smitten with buffets, and we be unstable, [moving from place to place],

12 and we travail working with our hands; we be cursed, and we bless; we suffer persecution, and we abide long;

13 we be blasphemed, and we beseech; as cleansings of this world we be made the out-casting of all things till yet.

14 I write not these things, that I confound you, but I warn you as my most dearworthy sons.

15 For why if ye have ten thousand of undermasters in Christ, but not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have engendered you by the gospel.

16 Therefore, brethren, I pray you, be ye followers of me, as I of Christ.

17 Therefore I sent to you Timothy, which is my most dearworthy son, and faithful in the Lord, which shall teach you my ways, that be in Christ Jesus; as I teach everywhere in each church.

18 As though I should not come to you, so some be blown with pride;

19 but I shall come to you soon, if God will; and I shall know not the word of them that be blown with pride, but the virtue.

20 For the realm of God is not in word, but in virtue.

21 What will ye? Shall I come to you in a rod, or in charity, and in a spirit of mildness?

CHAPTER 5

1 Yet all manner of fornication is heard among you, and such fornication, which is not among heathen men, so that some man have the wife of his father.

2 And ye be swollen [or blown] with pride, and not more had wailing, that he that did this work, be taken away from the middle of you.

3 And I absent in body, but present in spirit, now have deemed, as present, him that hath thus wrought,

4 when ye be gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and my spirit, with the virtue of the Lord Jesus,

5 to betake such a man to Satan, into the perishing of flesh, that the spirit be safe in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not, that a little sourdough impaireth [or corrupteth] all the gobbet?

7 Cleanse ye out the old sourdough, that ye be new sprinkling together, as ye be therf, [or without souring]. For Christ offered is our pask.

8 Therefore eat we, not in old sourdough, neither in sourdough of malice and waywardness, but in therf things of clearness, and of truth.

9 I wrote to you in an epistle, that ye be not meddled, [or mingled, or commune not], with lechers,

10 not with lechers of this world, nor with covetous men, nor raveners, nor with men serving to maumets [or to idols], else ye should have gone out of this world.

11 But now I have written to you, that ye be not meddled, [or mingled, or commune not with such]. If he that is named a brother among you, and is a lecher, or covetous, or serving to idols, or a curser, or full of drunkenness, or a ravener, to take no meat with such.

12 For what is it to me to deem of them that be withoutforth? Whether ye deem not of things [or of them] that be withinforth?

13 For God shall deem them that be withoutforth. Do ye away evil from yourselves.

CHAPTER 6

1 Dare any of you that hath a cause against another, be deemed at wicked men, and not at holy men [or saints]?

2 Whether ye know not, that saints shall deem this world? And if the world shall be deemed by you, be ye unworthy to deem the least things?

3 Know ye not, that we shall deem angels? how much more worldly things?

4 Therefore if ye have worldly dooms, ordain ye those contemptible men, [or of little reputation], that be in the church, to deem.

5 I say to make you ashamed [or I say to your shame]. So there is not any wise man, that may deem betwixt a brother and his brother;

6 but brother with brother striveth in doom, and that among unfaithful men.

7 And now trespass is always among you, for ye have dooms among you. Why rather take ye not wrong? why rather suffer ye not deceit [or fraud]?

8 But also ye do wrong, and do fraud [or and defraud], and that to brethren.

9 Whether ye know not, that wicked men shall not wield the kingdom of God? Do not ye err; neither lechers, neither men that serve maumets [or idols], neither adulterers, neither lechers against kind, neither they that do lechery with men,

10 neither thieves, neither avaricious [or covetous] men, neither men full of drunkenness, neither cursers, neither raveners, shall wield the kingdom of God.

11 And ye were sometime these things; but ye be washed, but ye be hallowed, but ye be justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

12 All things be leaveful to me, but not all things be speedful. All things be leaveful to me, but I shall not be brought down under any man’s power.

13 Meat to the womb, and the womb to meats; and God shall destroy both this and that. And the body not to fornication, but to the Lord, and the Lord to the body.

14 For God raised the Lord, and shall raise us by his virtue.

15 Know ye not, that your bodies be members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and shall I make them the members of a whore? God forbid.

16 Whether ye know not, that he that cleaveth to a whore, is made one body? For he saith, There shall be twain in one flesh.

17 And he that cleaveth to the Lord, is one Spirit.

18 Flee ye fornication; all sin what-ever sin a man doeth, is without the body; but he that doeth fornication, sinneth against his body.

19 Whether ye know not, that your members be the temple of the Holy Ghost, that is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye be not your own?

20 For ye be bought with great price. Glorify ye, and bear ye God in your body.

CHAPTER 7

1 But of those things that ye have written to me, it is good to a man to touch not a woman.

2 But for fornication each man have his own wife, and each woman have her own husband.

3 The husband yield debt to the wife, and also the wife to the husband.

4 The woman hath not power of her body, but the husband; and the husband hath not power of his body, but the woman [or the wife].

5 Do not ye defraud each to other, but peradventure of consent for a time, that ye give attention to prayer; and again turn again to the same thing, lest Satan tempt you for your uncontinence.

6 But I say this thing as giving leave [or by indulgence], not by command-ment.

7 For I will, that all men be as myself. But each man hath his proper gift of God; one thus, and another thus.

8 But I say to them, that be not wedded, and to widows, it is good to them, if they dwell so as I.

9 And if they contain not them-selves, [or be not chaste], be they wedded; for it is better to be wedded, than to be burnt.

10 But to them that be joined in matrimony, I command, not I, but the Lord, that the wife depart not from the husband;

11 and that if she departeth, that she dwell unwedded, or be reconciled to her husband; and the husband forsake not the wife.

12 But to others I say, not the Lord. If any brother hath an unfaithful, [or heathen], wife, and she consenteth to dwell with him, leave he her not.

13 And if any woman hath an unfaithful husband, and this consenteth to dwell with her, leave she not the husband.

14 For the unfaithful husband is hallowed by the faithful woman, and the unfaithful woman is hallowed by the faithful husband. Else your children were unclean, but now they be holy.

15 That if the unfaithful departeth, depart he. For why the brother or sister is not subject to servage in such; for God hath called us in peace.

16 And whereof knowest thou, woman, if thou shalt make the man safe; or whereof knowest thou, man, if thou shalt make the woman safe?

17 But as the Lord hath parted to each, and as God hath called each man, so go he, as I teach in all churches.

18 A man circumcised is called, bring he not to prepuce. A man is called in prepuce, be he not circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nought, and prepuce is nought, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

20 Each man in what calling he is called, in that dwell he.

21 Thou [a] servant art called, be it no charge to thee; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

22 He that is a servant, and is called in the Lord, is a free man of the Lord. Also he that is a free man, and is called, is the servant of Christ.

23 With price ye be bought; do not ye be made servants of men.

24 Therefore each man in what thing he is called a brother, dwell he in this with God.

25 But of virgins I have no command-ment of God; but I give counsel, as he that hath gotten mercy of the Lord, that I be true.

26 Therefore I guess, that this thing is good for the present need; for it is good to [or for] a man to be so.

27 Thou art bound to a wife, do not thou seek unbinding; thou art unbound from a wife, do not thou seek a wife.

28 But if thou hast taken a wife, thou hast not sinned; and if a maiden is wedded, she sinned not; nevertheless such shall have tribulation of flesh. But I spare you.

29 Therefore, brethren, I say this thing, The time is short. Another is this, that they that have wives, be as though they had none;

30 and they that weep, as they wept not; and they that joy, as they joyed not; and they that buy, as they had not;

31 and they that use this world, as they that use [it] not. For why the figure, [or fairness], of this world passeth.

32 But I will, that ye be without busyness, for he that is without wife, is busy what things be of the Lord, how he shall please God.

33 But he that is with a wife, is busy what things be of the world, how he shall please the wife [or his wife], and he is parted.

34 And a woman unwedded and [a] maiden thinketh what things be of the Lord, that she be holy in body and spirit. But she that is wedded, thinketh what things be of the world, how she shall please the husband [or her husband].

35 And I say these things to your profit, not that I cast to you a snare, but to that that is seemly, and that giveth easiness [or facility], without hindering to make prayers, [or to beseech], to the Lord.

36 And if any man guesseth himself to be seen foul on his virgin, that she is full waxen [or is well old], and so it behooveth to be done, do she that that she will [or what he will]; she sinneth not, if she be wedded, [+or s/he sinneth not, if s/he be wedded].

37 For he that ordained stably, [or steadfastly], in his heart, not having need, but having power of his will, and hath deemed in his heart this thing, to keep his virgin [or his virginity], doeth well.

38 Therefore he that joineth his virgin in matrimony, doeth well; and he that joineth not, doeth better.

39 The woman is bound to the law, as long time as her husband liveth; and if her husband is dead, she is delivered from the law of the husband, be she wedded to whom she will, only in the Lord.

40 But she shall be more blessed, if she dwelleth thus, after my counsel; and I ween, that I have the Spirit of God.

CHAPTER 8

1 But of these things that be sacrificed to idols, we know, for all we have knowing. But knowing [or science], bloweth [with pride], charity edifieth.

2 But if any man guesseth, [or deem], that he knoweth anything, he hath not yet known how it behooveth him to know.

3 And if any man loveth God, this is known of him.

4 But of meats that be offered to idols, we know, that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.

5 For though there be some that be said gods, either in heaven, either in earth, as there be many gods, and many lords;

6 nevertheless to us is one God, the Father, of whom be all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom be all things, and we by him.

7 But not in all men is knowing. For some men with conscience of idol, that is, they guess that the idol is some divine thing, till now eat as thing offered to idols; and their conscience is defouled, for it is sick.

8 Meat commendeth us not to God; for neither we shall fail, if we eat not, neither if we eat, we shall have plenty [or we shall abound].

9 But see ye, lest peradventure this your leave [or license] be made hurting to sick men, [or frail].

10 For if any man shall see him, that hath knowing, eating in a place where idols be worshipped, whether his conscience, since it is sick, shall not be edified to eat things offered to idols?

11 And the sick, [or unsteadfast], brother, for whom Christ died, shall perish in thy knowing.

12 For thus ye sinning against brethren, and smiting their sick conscience, sin against Christ.

13 Wherefore if meat causeth my brother to stumble, I shall never eat flesh, lest I cause my brother to stumble.

CHAPTER 9

1 Whether I am not free? Am I not apostle? Whether I saw not Jesus Christ, our Lord? Whether ye be not my work in the Lord?

2 And though to others I am not apostle, but nevertheless to you I am; for ye be the little sign of mine apostlehood in the Lord.

3 My defence to them that ask me, that is [or is this].

4 Whether we have not power to eat and drink?

5 Whether we have not power to lead about a woman, a sister, as also other apostles, and brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

6 Or I alone and Barnabas have not power to work these things?

7 Who travaileth any time with his own [soldier’s] wages? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of his fruit? Who keepeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8 Whether after man I say these things? whether also the law saith not these things?

9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not bind [up] the mouth of the ox that thresheth. Whether of oxen is charge to God?

10 Whether for us he saith these things? For why those be written for us; for he that eareth, oweth to ear in hope, and he that thresheth, in hope to take fruits.

11 If we sow spiritual things to you, is it great, if we reap your fleshly things?

12 If others be partners of your power, why not rather we? But we use not this power, but we suffer all things, that we give no hindering to the evangel of Christ.

13 Know ye not, that they that work in the temple, eat those things that be of the temple, and they that serve to the altar, be partners of the altar?

14 So the Lord ordained to them that tell the gospel, to live of the gospel.

15 But I used none of these things; and I wrote not these things, that they be done so in me; for it is good rather for me to die, than that any man avoid my glory.

16 For if I preach the gospel, glory is not to me, for need-like I must do it; for woe to me, if I preach not the gospel.

17 But if I do this thing willfully [or willingly], I have meed; but if against my will, dispensing [or dispensation] is betaken to me.

18 What then is my meed? That I preaching the gospel, put the gospel without others’ cost, [or expense, either taking of sustenance therefore], that I use [or mis-use] not my power in the gospel.

19 For why when I was free of all men, I made me servant of all men, to win the more men [or that I should win more men].

20 And to Jews I am made as a Jew, to win the Jews; to them that be under the law, as I were under the law, when I was not under the law, to win them that were under the law;

21 to them that were without law, as I were without law, when I was not without [the] law of God, but I was in the law of Christ, to win them that were without [the] law.

22 I am made sick to sick men, to win sick men; to all men I am made all things, to make all men safe.

23 But I do all things for the gospel, that I be made partner of it.

24 Know ye not, that they that run in a furlong, all run, but one taketh the prize? So run ye, that ye catch.

25 Each man that striveth in fight, abstaineth him from all things; and they, that they take a corruptible crown, but we an uncorrupt.

26 Therefore I run so, not as to an uncertain thing; thus I fight, not as beating the air;

27 but I chastise my body, and bring it into servage [or servitude]; lest peradventure when I preach to others, I myself be made reprovable.

CHAPTER 10

1 Brethren, I will not, that ye unknow, that all our fathers were under [a] cloud, and all passed the sea;

2 and all were baptized in Moses, in the cloud and in the sea;

3 and all ate the same spiritual meat,

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; and they drank of the spiritual stone following them; and the stone was Christ.

5 But not in full many of them it was well pleasant to God; for why they were cast down in [the] desert.

6 But these things were done in figure of us, that we be not coveters of evil things, as they coveted.

7 Neither be ye made idolaters, as some of them; as it is written, The people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.

8 Neither do we fornication, as some of them did fornication, and three and twenty thousand were dead in one day.

9 Neither tempt we Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished of serpents.

10 Neither grutch ye, as some of them grutched, and they perished of a destroyer [or of the waster].

11 And all these things fell to them in figure; but they be written to our amending [or correction], into whom the ends of the worlds be come [or the ends of the world have come].

12 Therefore he that guesseth him, that he standeth, see he, that he fall not.

13 Temptation take not you, but man’s temptation; for God is true, which shall not suffer you to be tempted above that that ye may; but he shall make with temptation also purveyance, that ye may suffer [or sustain].

14 Wherefore, ye most dearworthy to me, flee ye from the worshipping of maumets [or idols].

15 As to prudent men I speak, deem ye yourselves [or ye yourselves deem] that thing that I say.

16 Whether the cup of blessing which we bless, is not the communing of Christ’s blood? and whether the bread which we break, is not the part-taking of the body of the Lord?

17 For we many be one bread and one body, all we that take part of one bread and of one cup.

18 See ye Israel after the flesh, whether they that eat sacrifices, be not partners of the altar?

19 What therefore say I, that a thing that is offered to idols is anything, or that the idol is anything?

20 But those things that heathen men offer, they offer to devils, and not to God. But I will not, that ye be made fellows of fiends;

21 for ye may not drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of fiends; ye may not be partners of the board of the Lord, and of the board of fiends.

22 Whether we have envy to the Lord? whether we be stronger than he?

23 All things be leaveful to me, but not all things be speedful. All things be leaveful to me, but not all things edify.

24 No man seek that thing that is his own, but that thing that is of another.

25 All thing that is sold in the butchery, eat ye, asking nothing for conscience.

26 The earth and the plenty of it, is the Lord’s.

27 If any of heathen [or of unfaithful] men call you to supper, and ye will go, all thing that is set to you, eat ye, asking nothing for conscience.

28 But if any man saith, This thing is offered to idols, do not ye eat, for him that showed [this thing], and for conscience;

29 and I say not, thy conscience, but of another [man’s]. But whereto is my freedom [or my liberty] deemed of another man’s conscience?

30 Therefore if I take part with grace, what am I blasphemed, for that that I do thankings [or graces]?

31 Therefore whether ye eat, or drink, or do any other thing, do ye all things to the glory of God.

32 Be ye without offence to Jews, and to heathen men, and to the church of God;

33 as I by all things please to all men, not seeking that that [or what] is profitable to me, but that that is profitable to many men, that they be made safe.

CHAPTER 11

1 Be ye my followers, as I am of Christ.

2 And, brethren, I praise you, that by all things ye be mindful of me; and as I betook to you my commandments, ye hold [or ye keep].

3 But I will that ye know, that Christ is [the] head of each man; but the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

4 Each man praying, or prophesying, when his head is covered, defouleth his head.

5 But each woman praying, or prophesying, when her head is not covered, defouleth her head; for it is one, as if she were polled, [or were made bald, or clipped].

6 And if a woman be not covered [or veiled], be she polled; and if it is foul thing to a woman to be polled, or to be made bald, cover she her head.

7 But a man shall not cover his head, for he is the image and glory of God; but a woman is the glory of man.

8 For a man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man.

9 And the man is not made for the woman, but the woman for the man.

10 Therefore the woman shall have a covering on her head, also for angels.

11 Nevertheless neither the man is without the woman, neither the woman is without [the] man, in the Lord.

12 For why as the woman is of the man, so the man is by the woman; but all things be of God.

13 Deem ye yourselves; beseemeth [or becometh] it a woman not covered on the head to pray to God?

14 Neither the kind itself teacheth us [that], for if a man nourish long hair, it is shame to him;

15 but if a woman nourish long hair, it is glory to her, for hairs be given to her for covering.

16 But if any man is seen to be full of strife, we have none such custom, neither the church of God.

17 But this thing I command, not praising, that ye come together not into the better, but into the worse.

18 First for when ye come together into the church, I hear that dissensions, either partings, be, and in part I believe.

19 For it behooveth heresies to be, that they that be approved, be openly known in you.

20 Therefore when ye come together into one, now it is not to eat the Lord’s supper;

21 for why each man before taketh his supper to eat, and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 Whether ye have not houses to eat and drink, or ye despise the church of God, and confound, [or shame], them that have none? [or that have not?] What shall I say to you? I praise you, but herein [or in this thing] I praise you not.

23 For I have taken of the Lord that thing, which I have betaken to you. For the Lord Jesus, in what night he was betrayed, took bread,

24 and did thankings [or graces], and brake, and said, Take ye, and eat ye; this is my body, which shall be betrayed for you; do ye this thing into my mind.

25 Also [he took] the cup, after that he had supped, and said, This cup is the new testament in my blood; do ye this thing, as oft as ye shall drink [it], into my mind.

26 For as oft as ye shall eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye shall tell [or show] the death of the Lord, till that he come [or till he come].

27 Therefore whoever eateth the bread, or drinketh the cup of the Lord unworthily, he shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.

28 But prove a man himself, and so eat he of that bread, and drink he of the cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh doom, [or damnation], to him[self], not wisely deeming the body of the Lord.

30 Therefore among you many be sick and feeble [or unstrong], and many sleep, [or die].

31 And if we deemed wisely us-selves, we should not be deemed;

32 but while we be deemed of the Lord, we be chastised, that we be not condemned with this world.

33 Therefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, abide ye together.

34 If any man hungereth, eat he at home, that ye come not together into doom. And I shall dispose other things, when I come.

CHAPTER 12

1 But of spiritual things, brethren, I will not that ye unknow.

2 For ye know, that when ye were heathen men, how ye were led going to dumb maumets [or dumb simulacra].

3 Therefore I make known to you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God, saith departing from Jesus; and no man may say the Lord Jesus [is], but in the Holy Ghost.

4 And diverse graces there be, but it is all one Spirit;

5 and diverse services there be, but it is all one Lord;

6 and diverse workings there be, but it is all one God, that worketh all things in all things.

7 And to each man the showing of Spirit is given to profit.

8 And the word of wisdom is given to one by Spirit; to another the word of knowing, by the same Spirit;

9 faith to another, in the same Spirit; to another, grace of healings [or of healths], in one Spirit;

10 to another, the working of virtues; to another, prophecy; to another, very knowing [or discretion] of spirits; to another, kinds of languages [or tongues]; to another, expounding [or interpreting] of words.

11 And one and the same Spirit worketh all these things, parting to each by themselves as he will.

12 For as there is one body, and hath many members, and all the members of the body when those [or they] be many, be one body, so also Christ.

13 For in one Spirit all we be baptized into one body, either Jews, either heathen, either servants, either free; and all we be filled with drink [or have drunk] in one Spirit.

14 For the body is not one member, but many.

15 If the foot shall say, For I am not the hand, I am not of the body; not therefore it is not of the body.

16 And if the ear saith, For I am not the eye, I am not of the body; not therefore it is not of the body.

17 If all the body is the eye, where is [the] hearing? and if all the body is hearing, where is [the] smelling?

18 But now God hath set [or put] members, and each of them in the body, as he would.

19 And if all were one member, where were the body?

20 But now there be many members, but one body.

21 And the eye may not say to the hand, I have no need to thy works; or again the head to the feet, Ye be not necessary to me.

22 But much more those that be seen to be the lower members of the body, [or the more sick], be more needful;

23 and those that we guess to be the unworthier [or the unnobler] members of the body, to them we give more honour; and those members that be unhonest, have more honesty.

24 For our honest members have need of none; but God tempered the body, giving more worship to it, to whom it failed,

25 that debate be not in the body, but that the members be busy into the same thing each for other [or for each other].

26 And if one member suffereth any-thing, all members suffer therewith; either if one member joyeth [or glorieth], all members joy together.

27 And ye be the body of Christ, and members of member.

28 But God set some men in the church, first apostles, the second time prophets [or the second prophets], the third teachers, afterward virtues, afterward graces of healings, helpings, governings, kinds of languages, interpretations of words.

29 Whether all [be] apostles? whether all [be] prophets? whether all teachers? whether all virtues?

30 whether all have grace of healings? whether all speak with languages? whether all expound [or interpret]?

31 But pursue ye the better ghostly gifts. And yet I show to you a more excellent, [or worthy], way.

CHAPTER 13

1 If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and I have not charity, I am made as brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling.

2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowing, [or science], and if I have all faith, so that I move hills from their place, [or from one place to another], and I have not charity, I am nought.

3 And if I part all my goods into the meats of poor men, and if I betake my body, so that I burn, and if I have not charity, it profiteth to me nothing.

4 Charity is patient, it is benign; charity envieth not, it doeth not wickedly, it is not blown [with pride],

5 it is not covetous, [or ambitious, or covetous of worships], it seeketh not those things that be his own [or her own], it is not stirred to wrath, it thinketh not evil,

6 it joyeth not on [or in] wicked-ness, but it joyeth together to [or with] truth;

7 it suffereth all things, it believeth all things, it hopeth all things, it sustaineth all things.

8 Charity falleth never down, whether prophecies shall be voided, either languages shall cease, either science shall be destroyed.

9 For a part we know, and a part we prophesy;

10 but when that shall come that is perfect, that thing that is of part shall be voided.

11 When I was a little child, I spake as a little child, I understood as a little child, I thought as a little child; but when I was made a man, I avoided/I voided those things that were of a little child.

12 And we see now by a mirror in darkness, but then face to face; now I know of part, but then I shall know, as I am known.

13 And now dwell faith, hope, charity, these three; but the most of these is charity.

CHAPTER 14

1 Pursue ye charity, love ye spiritual things, but more that ye prophesy.

2 And he that speaketh in tongue, speaketh not to men, but to God; for no man heareth. But the Spirit speaketh mysteries.

3 For he that prophesieth, speaketh to men to edification, and admonishing, and comforting.

4 He that speaketh in tongue, that is, in strange language, edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth, edifieth the church of God.

5 And I will, that all ye speak in tongues, but more that ye prophesy. For he that prophesieth, is more than he that speaketh in languages, [or in tongues]; but peradventure he expound, [or interpret, or declare], that the church take edification.

6 But now, brethren, if I come to you, and speak in tongues, what shall I [or it] profit to you, but if I speak to you either in revelation, either in science, either in prophecy, either in teaching?

7 For those things that be without soul, [or life], and giveth voices, either pipe, either harp, but those [or they] give distinction of soundings, how shall it be known that that is sung, either that that is trumped [or is harped].

8 For if a trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall make himself ready to battle?

9 So but ye give an open word by tongue, how shall that that is said be known? For ye shall be speaking in vain [or in the air].

10 There be many kinds of languages [or tongues] in this world, and nothing is without voice.

11 But if I know not the virtue of a voice, I shall be to him, to whom I shall speak, a barbaric; and he that speaketh to me, shall be a barbaric.

12 So ye, for ye be lovers of spirits, [that is, of ghostly gifts], seek ye that ye be plenteous to edification of the church.

13 And therefore he that speaketh in language [or in tongue], pray, that he expound [or interpret].

14 For if I pray in tongue, my spirit prayeth; mine understanding, [or my mind, or reasoning], is without fruit.

15 What then? I shall pray in spirit, I shall pray in mind; I shall say psalm in spirit, I shall say psalm also in mind.

16 For if thou blessest in spirit, who filleth the place of an idiot, [or unlearned man], how shall he say Amen on thy blessing, for he knoweth not, what thou sayest?

17 For thou doest well thankings [or graces], but another man is not edified.

18 I thank my God, for I speak in the language [or the tongue] of all you;

19 but in the church I will speak five words in my wit, that also I teach other men, than ten thousand words in tongue [not understood].

20 Brethren, do not ye be made children in wits, but in malice be ye children; but in wits be ye perfect.

21 For in the law it is written, That in other tongues and other lips I shall speak to this people, and neither so they shall hear me, saith the Lord.

22 Therefore languages be into token, not to faithful men, but to men out of the faith; but prophecies be not to men out of the faith, but to faithful men.

23 Therefore if all the church come together into one, and all men speak in tongues, if idiots, either men out of the faith, enter, whether they shall not say, What, be ye mad?

24 But if all men prophesy, if any unfaithful man or idiot enter, he is convicted of all, he is wisely deemed of all.

25 For the hid things of his heart be known, and so he shall fall down on the face, and shall worship God, and show verily that God is in you.

26 What then, brethren? When ye come together, each of you hath a psalm, he hath teaching, he hath apocalypse, [or revelation], he hath tongue, he hath expounding [or interpreting]; all things be they done to edification.

27 Whether a man speaketh in tongue, [be this done] by two men, either three at the most, and by parts, that one interpret.

28 But if there be not an interpreter, be he still [or speak he not] in the church, and speak he to himself and to God.

29 Prophets twain or three say, and others wisely deem.

30 But if anything be showed to a sitter [or one sitting], the former be still.

31 For ye may all prophesy, each by himself, that all men learn, and all admonish.

32 And the spirits of prophets be subject to prophets;

33 for why God is not of dissension, but of peace; as I teach in all churches of holy men.

34 Women in churches be still; for it is not suffered to them to speak, but to be subject, as the law saith.

35 But if they will anything learn, ask they their husbands at home; for it is foul thing to a woman to speak in the church.

36 Whether the word of God came forth of you, or to you alone it came?

37 If any man is seen to be a prophet, or spiritual, know he those things that I write to you, for those [or they] be the commandments of the Lord.

38 And if any man unknoweth, he shall be unknowing.

39 Therefore, brethren, love ye to prophesy, and do not ye forbid to speak in tongues.

40 But be all things done honestly, and by due order in you.

CHAPTER 15

1 Soothly, brethren, I make the gospel known to you, which I have preached to you, which also ye have taken, in which ye stand,

2 by which also ye shall be saved; by which reason I have preached to you, if ye hold, if ye have not believed idly.

3 For I betook to you at the beginning [or in the first] that thing which also I have received; that Christ was dead for our sins, by the scriptures;

4 and that he was buried, and that he rose again in the third day, after [the] scriptures;

5 and that he was seen to Cephas, and after these things to eleven;

6 afterward he was seen to more than five hundred brethren together, of which many live yet, but some be dead;

7 afterward he was seen to James, and afterward to all the apostles.

8 And last of all he was seen also to me, as to a dead-born child.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not worthy to be called apostle, for I pursued the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am that thing that I am; and his grace was not void in me. For I travailed more plenteously than all they; but not I, but the grace of God with me.

11 But whether I, or they, so we have preached, and so ye have believed.

12 And if Christ is preached, that he rose again from death, how say some men among you, that the again-rising of dead men is not?

13 And if the again-rising of dead men is not, neither Christ rose again from death.

14 And if Christ rose not, our preaching is vain, our faith is vain.

15 And we be found false witnesses of God, for we have said witnessing against God, that he raised Christ, whom he raised not, if dead men rise not again.

16 For why if dead men rise not again, neither Christ rose again;

17 and if Christ rose not again, our faith is vain; and yet ye be in your sins.

18 And then they that have died [or slept] in Christ, have perished.

19 If in this life only we be hoping in Christ, we be more wretches than all men.

20 But now Christ hath risen [or rose] again from death, the first fruit of dead men;

21 for death was by a man, and by a man is again-rising from death.

22 And as in Adam all men die, so in Christ all men shall be quickened.

23 But each man in his order; the first fruit [or first fruits], Christ, afterward they that be of Christ, that believed in the coming of Christ;

24 afterward an end, when he shall betake the kingdom to God and to the Father, when he shall void all princehood, and power, and virtue.

25 But it behooveth him to reign, till he put all his enemies under his feet.

26 And at the last, death the enemy shall be destroyed;

27 for he hath made subject all things under his feet. And when he saith, all things be subject to him, without doubt except him that subjected all things to him.

28 And when all things be subjected to him, then the Son himself shall be subject to him, that made all things subject to him, that God be all things in all things.

29 Else what shall they do, that be baptized for dead men, if in no wise dead men rise again? whereto be they baptized for them?

30 And whereto be we in peril every hour?

31 Each day I die for your glory, brethren, which glory I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

32 If after man I have fought to beasts, [or against beasts], at Ephesus, what profiteth it to me, if dead men rise not again? Eat we, and drink we, for we shall die tomorrow [or tomorrow forsooth we shall die].

33 Do not ye be deceived; for evil speeches, [or false doctrine], destroy good conduct [or corrupt good virtues].

34 Awake ye, just men, and do not ye do sin [or do not ye sin]; for some men have ignorance of God, but to reverence, that is, to your shame, I speak to you.

35 But some man saith, How shall dead men rise again, or in what manner body shall they come?

36  [O!] Unwise man, that thing that thou sowest, is not quickened, but it die first;

37 and that thing that thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that is to come, but a naked corn, as of wheat, or of some other seeds;

38 and God giveth to it a body, as he will, and to each of seeds a proper body.

39 Not each flesh is the same flesh, but one is of men, another is of beasts, another is of birds, another is of fishes.

40 And there be heavenly bodies, and there be earthly bodies; but one glory is of heavenly bodies, and another is of earthly [bodies].

41 Another clearness is of the sun, another clearness is of the moon, and another clearness is of the stars; and a star diverseth from a star in clearness.

42 And so the again-rising of dead men. It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in uncorruption;

43 it is sown in unnobleness, it shall rise in glory; it is sown in infirmity, it shall rise in virtue;

44 it is sown a beastly body, it shall rise a spiritual body. If there is a beastly body, there is also a spiritual body;

45 as it is written, The first man Adam was made into a soul living, the last Adam into a spirit quickening.

46 But the first is not that [body] that is spiritual, but that that is beast-like, afterward that that is spiritual.

47 The first man of earth is earthly; the second man of heaven is heavenly.

48 Such as the earthly man is, such be the earthly men; and such as the heavenly man is, such be also the heavenly men.

49 Therefore as we have borne the image of the earthly man, bear we also the image of the heavenly man.

50 Brethren, I say this thing, that flesh and blood may not wield the king-dom of God, neither corruption shall wield uncorruption [or incorruption].

51 Lo! I say to you private [or a mystery] of holy things. And all we shall rise again, but not all we shall be changed to the state of glory;

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trump; for the trump shall sound, and dead men shall rise again, without corruption, and we shall be changed.

53 For it behooveth this corruptible thing to clothe uncorruption [or incorruption], and this deadly thing to put away [or to clothe] undeadliness.

54 But when this deadly thing shall clothe undeadliness, then shall the word be done [or fulfilled], that is written, Death is sopped up in victory.

55 Death, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy prick?

56 But the prick of death is sin; and the virtue of sin is the law.

57 But do we thankings to God, that gave to us victory by our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dearworthy brethren, be ye steadfast, and unmoveable, being plenteous in work of the Lord, evermore witting that your travail is not idle in the Lord.

CHAPTER 16

1 But of the gatherings [or the collects]of money that be made into saints, as I have ordained in the churches of Galatia, so also do ye

2 one day of the week. Each of you keep, [or lay up], at himself, keeping that that pleaseth to him, that when I come, the gatherings be not made.

3 And when I shall be present, which men ye approve, I shall send them by epistles to bear your grace into Jerusalem.

4 That if it be worthy that also I go, they shall go with me.

5 But I shall come to you, when I shall pass by Macedonia; for why I shall pass by Macedonia.

6 But peradventure I shall dwell at you, or also dwell the winter, that ye lead me whither ever I shall go.

7 And I will not now see you in my passing, for I hope to dwell with you a while, if the Lord shall suffer.

8 But I shall dwell at Ephesus, unto Whitsuntide.

9 For a great door and an open [or evident] is opened to me, and many adversaries.

10 And if Timothy come, see ye that he be without dread with you, for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I.

11 Therefore no man despise him; but lead him forth in peace, that he come to me; for I abide him with brethren.

12 But, brethren, I make known to you of Apollos, that I prayed him much, that he should come to you, with brethren. But it was not his will to come now; but he shall come, when he shall have leisure [or it shall be able to him].

13 Walk ye, and stand ye in the faith; do ye manly, and be ye comforted in the Lord,

14 and be all your things done in charity.

15 And, brethren, I beseech you, ye know the house of Stephanas, and of Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for they be the first fruits of Achaia, and into ministry of saints they have ordained themselves;

16 that also ye be subjects to such, and to each working together and travailing.

17 For I have joy in the presence of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus; for they [full]-filled that thing that failed to you;

18 for they have refreshed both my spirit and yours. Therefore know ye them, that be such manner men.

19 All the churches of Asia greet you well. Aquila and Priscilla, with their home-church, greet you much in the Lord, at the which also I am harboured.

20 All brethren greet you well. Greet ye well together in holy kiss.

21 My greeting by Paul’s hand.

22 If any man loveth not our Lord Jesus Christ, be he cursed, Maranatha, that is, in the coming of the Lord, or in the day of doom.

23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

24 My charity be with you all in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

GALATIANS

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2

3

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5

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GALATIANS

CHAPTER 1

1 Paul the apostle, not of men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, that raised him from death,

2 and all the brethren that be with me, to the churches of Galatia,

3 grace to you and peace of God the Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

4 that gave himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present wicked world, by the will of God and our Father,

5 to whom is honour and glory into worlds of worlds. Amen.

6 I wonder, that so soon ye be thus moved from him that called you into the grace of Christ, into another evangel [or another gospel];

7 which is not another, but that there be some that trouble you, and will mis-turn the evangel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel of heaven, preached to you, besides that that we have preached to you, be he accursed.

9 As I have said before, and now again I say, if any man preach to you besides that that ye have received, be he accursed [or cursed be he].

10 For now whether counsel I men, or God? or whether I seek to please men? If I pleased yet men, I were not Christ’s servant.

11 For, brethren, I make known to you the evangel [or the gospel], that was preached of me, for it is not by man;

12 nor I took it of man, nor learned, but by [the] revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For ye have heard my conver-sation sometime in the Jewry, that I pursued surpassingly, [or over-manner, or over-measure], the church of God, and fought against it.

14 And I profited in the Jewry above many of mine even-elders in my kindred, and was more abundantly a follower [or a lover] of my fathers’ traditions.

15 But when it pleased him, that parted me from my mother’s womb, and called by his grace,

16 to show his Son in me, that I should preach him among the heathen, anon I drew me not to flesh and blood;

17 nor I came to Jerusalem to the apostles, that were before me, but I went into Arabia, and again I turned again into Damascus.

18 And since three years after I came to Jerusalem [or Afterward after three years I came to Jerusalem], to see Peter, and I dwelled with him fifteen days;

19 but I saw none other of the apostles, but James, our Lord’s brother.

20 And these things which I write to you, lo! before God I lie not.

21 Afterward I came into the coasts of Syria and Cilicia.

22 But I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, that were in Christ;

23 and they had only an hearing, that he that pursued us sometime, preacheth now the faith, against which he fought sometime;

24 and in me they glorified God.

CHAPTER 2

1 And since fourteen years after [or Afterward after fourteen years], again I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took with me Titus.

2 I went up by revelation, and spake with them the evangel [or the gospel], which I preach among the heathen; and by themselves to these that seemed to be somewhat, lest I run [or lest peradventure I should run], or had run in vain.

3 And neither Titus, that had been with me, while he was heathen, was compelled to be circumcised;

4 but for false brethren that were brought in, which had [privily] entered to espy our freedom [or our liberty], which we have in Jesus Christ, to bring [or to drive] us into servage.

5 But we gave no place to subjection, that the truth of the gospel should dwell with you.

6 But of these that seemed to be somewhat; which they were some-time, it pertaineth not to me, for God taketh not the person of man; for they that seemed to be somewhat, gave me nothing.

7 But on the contrary, when they had seen, that the evangel of prepuce was given to me [or that the gospel of heathen men is betaken to me], as the evangel of circumcision was given to Peter;

8 for he that wrought to Peter in apostlehood of circumcision, wrought also to me among the heathen;

9 and when they had known the grace of God, that was given to me, James, and Peter [or Cephas], and John, which were seen to be the pillars, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and to Barnabas, that we [preach] among the heathen, and they into the circumcision;

10 only that we had mind of, [or that we should be mindful of], poor men, the which thing I was full busy to do.

11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I against-stood him in the face, for he was worthy to be reproved.

12 For before that there came some men from James [or before that some came from James], he ate with heathen men; but when they were come, he withdrew, and departed him, dreading them that were of circumcision.

13 And the other Jews assented [or consented] to his feigning, so that Barnabas was drawn of them into that feigning.

14 But when I saw, that they walked not rightly to the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter [or to Cephas] before all men, If thou, that art a Jew, livest heathen-like, and not Jew-like, how constrainest thou heathen men to become Jews?

15 We Jews of kind, and not sinful men of the heathen,

16 know that a man is not justified of the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; and we believe in Jesus Christ, that we be justified of [or by] the faith of Christ, and not of the works of the law. Wherefore of the works of the law each flesh shall not be justified.

17 And if we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves be found sinful men [or to be sinners], whether Christ be minister of sin? God forbid.

18 And if I build again things that I have destroyed, I make myself a trespasser.

19 For by the law I am dead to the law, [For by the law I am dead to the law, that I live to God;]

20 and I am fixed to the cross, that I live to God with Christ. And now live not I, but Christ liveth in me. But that I live now in flesh, I live in the faith of God’s Son, that loved me, and gave himself for me. [with Christ I am fixed to the cross. Forsooth I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me. Forsooth that I live now in flesh, I live in the faith of God’s son, the which loved me, and betook himself for me.]

21 I cast not away the grace of God; for if rightwiseness be through [or is by] law, then Christ died without cause.

CHAPTER 3

1 O! unwitting Galatians, before whose eyes Jesus Christ is exiled, [or O! ye witless men of Galatia, before whose eyes Jesus Christ is damned or condemned], and is crucified in you, who hath deceived you, that ye obey not to truth?

2 This only I desire to learn of you, whether ye have received the Spirit of the works of the law, or of hearing of belief?

3 So ye be fools, that when ye have begun in Spirit, [now] ye be ended in flesh.

4 So great things [or So many things] ye have suffered without cause, if it be without cause.

5 He that giveth to you [the] Spirit, and worketh virtues in you, whether of [the] works of the law, or of hearing of belief? [or of faith?]

6 As it is written, Abraham believed to God, and it was reckoned to him to rightwiseness.

7 And therefore know ye, that these that be of belief [or they that be of faith], be the sons of Abraham.

8 And the scripture seeing afar, that God justifieth the heathen of belief, [or Forsooth the scripture purveying, for God justifieth of faith heathen men], told before to Abraham, That in thee all the heathen [or all folks] shall be blessed.

9 And therefore these that be of belief, [or they that be of faith], shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.

10 For all that be of the works of the law, be under curse; for it is written, Each man is cursed, that abideth not [or that dwelleth not] in all things that be written in the book of the law, to do those things.

11 And that no man is justified in the law before God, it is open, for a rightful man liveth of belief. [Forsooth for no man is justified in the law with God, it is known, for a rightful man liveth by faith.]

12 But the law is not of belief, but he that doeth those things of the law, shall live in them.

13 But Christ again-bought us [or delivered us] from the curse of the law, and was made accursed for us; for it is written, Each man is cursed that hangeth in the tree;

14 that among the heathen the blessing of Abraham were made in Jesus Christ, that we receive the promise of Spirit through belief. [that the blessing of Abraham in heathen men should be made in Christ Jesus, that we take the promise of Spirit by faith.]

15 Brethren, I say after man, no man despiseth the testament of a man that is confirmed, or ordaineth above [other thing].

16 The promises were said to Abraham and to his seed; he saith not, In [the] seeds, as in many, but as in one, And to thy seed, that is, Christ.

17 But I say, this testament is confirmed of God; the law that was made after four hundred and thirty years, maketh not the testament vain to void away the promise [or maketh not void for to do away the promise].

18 For if [the] heritage were of the law, it were not now of promise. But God granted [or gave] to Abraham through promise.

19 What then the law? that is, Whereto is the law profitable? [or What therefore profiteth the law?] It was set for trespassing, till the seed came, to whom he had made the promise. Which law was ordained by angels, in the hand of a mediator.

20 But a mediator is not of one. But God is one.

21  Is then the law against the promises of God? God forbid. For if the law were given, that might quicken, verily were rightfulness of law, [or verily rightwiseness were of law].

22 But the scripture hath concluded all things under sin, that the promise of the faith of Jesus Christ were given to them that believe.

23 And before that belief came, they were kept under the law, enclosed into that belief that was to be showed. [Forsooth before that the faith came, we were kept under the law, shut together into that faith that was to be showed.]

24 And so the law was our under-master in Christ, that we be justified of belief [or of faith].

25 But after that belief came, we be not now under the undermaster. [But after that the faith came, now we be not under the little master.]

26 For all ye be the children of God through the belief of Jesus Christ. [For all ye be the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.]

27 For all ye that be baptized, be clothed with Christ.

28 There is no Jew, nor Greek, no bondman, nor free man, no male, nor female; for all ye be one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be one in Jesus Christ, then ye be the seed of Abraham, and heirs by promise.

CHAPTER 4

1 But I say, as long time as the heir is a little child, he diverseth nothing from a servant, when he is lord of all things [or lord of all];

2 but he is under keepers and tutors, into the time determined of the father.

3 So we, when we were little children, we served under the elements of the world.

4 But after that the fulfilling of time came, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 that he should again-buy them that were under the law, that we should receive the adoption of sons.

6 And for ye be God’s sons, God sent his Spirit into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. [Forsooth for ye be the sons of God, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, that is, father.]

7 And so there is not now a servant, but a son; and if he is a son, he is an heir by God.

8 But then ye unknowing God, served to them that in kind were not gods.

9 But now when ye have known God, and be known of God, how be ye turned again to the feeble [or the sick] and needy elements, to the which ye will again serve?

10 Ye take keep to days, [or Ye keep, or wait on, days], and months, and times, and years.

11 But I dread you, lest without cause, I have travailed among you, [or lest peradventure I have travailed in you without cause].

12 Be ye as I, for I am as ye. Brethren, I beseech you, ye have hurt me nothing [or ye have nothing hurt me].

13 But ye know, that by infirmity of flesh I have preached [or I have evangelized] to you now before;

14 and ye despised not, neither forsook your temptation in my flesh, but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

15 Where then is your blessing? [or Where is therefore your blessedness, that ye had before time?] For I bear you witness, that if it might have been done, ye would have put out your eyes, and have given them to me.

16 Am I then made an enemy to you, saying to you the sooth?

17 They love not you well [or They love you not well], but they will exclude you, that ye pursue them.

18 But pursue ye the good evermore in good, and not only when I am present with you.

19 My small children, which I bear again, till that Christ be formed in you, [My little sons, whom I child, or I bring forth by travail, again, till Christ be formed in you,]

20 and I would now be at you, and change my voice, for I am confounded among you.

21 Say to me, ye that will be under the law, have ye not read the law?

22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one of a servant [or a handmaiden], and one of a free woman [or a wife].

23 But he that was of the servant [or the handmaiden] was born after the flesh; but he that was of the free woman [or the wife] by a promise.

24 The which things be said by another understanding [or allegory]. For these be two testaments; one in the hill of Sinai [or mount Sinai], engendering into servage, which is Agar.

25 For Sinai is an hill that is in Arabia, which hill is joined to it that is now Jerusalem, and serveth with her children.

26 But that Jerusalem that is above, is free, which is our mother.

27 For it is written, Be glad, thou barren, that bearest not; break out and cry, [thou] that bringest forth no children; for many sons be of her that is left of her husband, more than of her that hath an husband.

28 For, brethren, we be [the] sons of promise after Isaac;

29 but now as this that was born after the flesh pursued him that was after the Spirit, so now.

30 But what saith the scripture? Cast out the servant [or the handmaiden] and her son, for the son of the servant shall not be heir with the son of the free wife.

31 And so, brethren, we be not sons of the servant [or of the handmaiden], but of the free wife, by which freedom [or liberty] Christ hath made us free.

CHAPTER 5

1 Stand ye therefore, and do not ye again be held in the yoke of servage.

2 Lo! I, Paul, say to you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall nothing profit to you.

3 And I witness again to each man that circumciseth himself, that he is a debtor of all the law to be done.

4 And ye be voided away from Christ, and ye that be justified in the law, ye have fallen away from grace.

5 For we through the Spirit of belief abide the hope of rightwiseness. [For we by Spirit of faith abide the hope of rightwiseness.]

6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision is anything worth, neither prepuce, but the belief that worketh by charity [or but faith that worketh by charity].

7 Ye ran well; who hindered you that ye obeyed not to the truth?

8 Consent ye to no man; for this counsel is not of him that hath called you.

9 A little sourdough impaireth [or maketh sour] all the gobbet.

10 I trust on you in our Lord, that ye should understand none other thing. And who that disturbeth or dis-troubleth you, shall bear doom, whoever he be.

11 And, brethren, if I preach yet circumcision, what suffer I yet persecution? then the stumbling of the cross is avoided/is voided.

12 I would that they were cut away, that disturb you. [I would that they that distrouble you, be also cut off.]

13 For, brethren, ye be called into freedom [or into liberty]; only give ye not freedom [or liberty] into occasion of flesh, but by charity of [the] Spirit serve ye together.

14 For every law [or all the law] is fulfilled in one word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

15 And if ye bite, and eat each other, see ye, lest ye be wasted each from other.

16 And I say to you in Christ, walk ye in Spirit, and ye shall not perform the desires of the flesh.

17 For the flesh coveteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these be adversaries together, that ye do not all things that ye will.

18 That if ye be led by [the] Spirit, ye be not under the law.

19 And the works of the flesh be open, which be fornication, unclean-ness, unchastity, lechery,

20 service of false gods [or serving of idols], witchcrafts, enmities, strivings [or strives], indignations, wraths, chidings, dissensions, sects [or heresies],

21 envies, manslayings, drunkennesses, unmeasurable eatings [or gluttonies], and things like to these, which I say to you before, as I have told to you before, for they that do such things, shall not have the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, long abiding, benignity, [or good will], goodness, mildness, faith,

23 temperance, continence, chastity; against such things is no law.

24 And they that be of Christ, have crucified their flesh with vices and covetings [or concupiscences].

25 If we live by Spirit, walk we by Spirit;

26 be we not made covetous of vain glory, stirring each other to wrath, or having envy each to other.

CHAPTER 6

1 Brethren, if a man be occupied in any guilt [or overcome in any trespass], ye that be spiritual, inform ye [or teach] such one in spirit of softness, [or meekness], beholding thyself, lest that thou be tempted, [falling in the same wise].

2 Each bear other’s charges, and so ye shall fulfill the law of Christ.

3 For who that troweth [or guesseth] that he be aught, when he is nought, he beguileth himself.

4 But each man prove his own work, and so he shall have glory [only] in himself, and not in another.

5 For each man shall bear his own charge.

6 He that is taught in word, commune he with him that teacheth him, in all goods [or in all good things].

7 Do not ye err, God is not scorned; for those things that a man soweth, those things he shall reap.

8 For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh he shall reap corruption; but he that soweth in the Spirit, of the Spirit he shall reap everlasting life.

9 And doing good fail we not; for in his time we shall reap, not failing.

10 Therefore while we have time, work we good to all men; but most to them that be home-like [or that be the household meine] of the faith.

11 See ye, what manner letters I have written to you with mine own hand.

12 For whoever will please in the flesh, these constrain you to be circumcised, only that they suffer not the persecution of Christ’s cross.

13 For neither they that be circumcised keep the law; but they will, that they have glory in your flesh.

14 But far be it from me to have glory, [no] but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

15 For in Jesus Christ neither circum-cision is anything worth, nor prepuce, but a new creature.

16 And whoever [shall] pursue this rule, peace on them, and mercy, and on Israel of God.

17 And hereafter [or From hence-forth], no man be heavy to me; for I bear in my body the tokens, [or the wounds], of our Lord Jesus Christ.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

COLOSSIANS

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COLOSSIANS

CHAPTER 1

1 Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, brother,

2 to them that be at Colosse, holy and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus, grace and peace to you of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We do thankings to God, and to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, evermore praying for you,

4 hearing your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love that ye have to all holy men,

5 for the hope that is kept to you in heavens. Which ye heard in the word of truth of the gospel,

6 that came to you, as also it is in all the world, and maketh fruit, and waxeth, as [it is] in you, from that day in which ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

7 As ye learned of Epaphras, our fellow [or our even-servant], most dearworthy, which is a true minister of Jesus Christ for you;

8 which also showed to us your loving in Spirit.

9 And therefore we from the day in which we heard, cease not to pray for you, and to ask, that ye be filled with the knowing of his will in all wisdom and ghostly understanding;

10 that ye walk worthily to God pleasing by all things, and make fruit in all good work, and wax in the science of God,

11 and be comforted in all virtue, by the might of his clearness, in all patience and long abiding with joy,

12 that ye do thankings to God and to the Father [or doing thankings to God the Father], which made you worthy into the part of heritage of holy men in light.

13 Which delivered us from the power of darknesses, and translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of his loving,

14 in whom we have again-buying, and remission of sins.

15 Which is the image of God invisible, the first begotten of each creature.

16 For in him all things be made, in heavens and in earth, visible and invisible, either thrones, either dominations, either princehoods, either powers, all things be made of nought by him, and in him,

17 and he is before all, and all things be in him.

18 And he is head of the body of the church; which is the beginning, [or the first of all], and the first begotten of dead men, that he hold the first dignity [or primacy], in all things.

19 For in him it pleased all plenty to inhabit,

20 and by him all things to be reconciled into him, and made peace by the blood of his cross, those things that be in earths, either that be in heavens.

21 And when ye were sometime aliened [or made strangers], and enemies by wit, in evil works, now he hath reconciled you

22 in the body of his flesh by death, to have you holy, and unwemmed, and without reproof before him.

23 If nevertheless ye dwell in the faith, founded, and stable, and unmoveable from the hope of the gospel that ye have heard, which is preached in all creature that is under heaven. Of which I, Paul, am made a minister,

24 and now I have joy in passion for you, and I [ful] fill those things that fail of the passions of Christ in my flesh, for his body, that is the church.

25 Of which I Paul am made minister [or a servant] by the dispensation of God, that is given to me in you, that I [ful] fill the word of God,

26 the private [or the mystery] that was hid from worlds and generations. But now it is showed to his saints,

27 to whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this sacrament in heathen men, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 Whom we show, reproving each man, and teaching each man in all wisdom, that we offer each man perfect in Christ Jesus.

29 In which thing also I travail, in striving by the working of him, that he worketh in me in virtue.

CHAPTER 2

1 But I will that ye know, what busyness I have for you, and for them that be at Laodicea, and whichever saw not my face in flesh,

2 that their hearts be comforted, and they be taught in charity, into all the riches of the plenty of under-standing, into the knowing of [the] mystery of God, the Father of Jesus Christ,

3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and of science, [or of cunning], be hid.

4 For this thing I say, that no man deceive you in height of words.

5 For though I be absent in body, by spirit I am with you, joying and seeing your order and the firmness of your belief that is in Christ.

6 Therefore as ye have taken Jesus Christ our Lord, walk ye in him,

7 and be ye rooted and builded above in him, and confirmed in the belief, as ye have learned, abounding in him in doing of thankings.

8 See ye that no man deceive you by philosophy and vain fallacy, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth body-like all the fullness of the Godhead.

10 And ye be [ful] filled in him, that is head of all principat and power.

11 In whom also ye be circumcised in circumcision not made with hand, in despoiling [or in nakedness] of the body of flesh, but in circumcision of Christ;

12 and ye be buried together with him in baptism, in whom also ye have risen again by faith of the working of God, that raised him from death.

13 And when ye were dead in your guilts, and in the prepuce of your flesh, he quickened together you with him; forgiving to you all guilts [or all trespasses],

14 doing away that writing of decree that was against us, that was contrary to us; and he took away that from the middle, pitching it on the cross;

15 and he spoiled principats and powers, and led out trustily, openly overcoming them in himself.

16 Therefore no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in part of feast day, or of new moon, or of sabbaths,

17 which be shadow of things to coming [or to come]; for the body is of Christ.

18 No man deceive you, willing to teach in meekness, and [the] religion of angels, those things which he hath not seen, walking vainly, swollen [or in-blown] with wit of his flesh,

19 and not holding the head, of which all the body, by bands and joinings together under-ministered and made, waxeth into [the] increasing of God.

20 For if ye be dead with Christ from the elements of the world, what yet as men living to the world deem ye?

21 That ye touch not, neither taste, neither treat with hands those things,

22 which all be into death by that use, after the commandments and teachings of men;

23 which have a reason of wisdom in vain religion [or in superstition] and meekness, and not to spare the body, not in any honour to the fulfilling of the flesh.

CHAPTER 3

1 Therefore if ye have risen together with Christ, seek ye those things that be above, where Christ is sitting on the right half of God.

2 Savour [or Understand] ye those things that be above, not those that be on the earth.

3 For ye be dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4 For when Christ shall appear, your life, then also ye shall appear with him in glory.

5 Therefore slay ye your members, which be on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, lechery, evil covetousness, and avarice, which is service of maumets [or simulacra];

6 for which things the wrath of God came on the sons of unbelief;

7 in which also ye walked sometime, when ye lived in them.

8 But now put ye away all things, wrath, indignation, malice, blasphemy and foul words of your mouth.

9 Do not ye lie, [or gab], together; despoil ye you from the old man with his deeds,

10 and clothe ye the new man, that is made new again into the knowing of God, after the image of him that made him;

11 where is not male and female, heathen man and Jew, circumcision and prepuce, barbarous and Scythian, bondman and free, but all things and in all things Christ.

12 Therefore ye, as the chosen of God, holy and loved, clothe [ye] you with the entrails of mercy, benignity, and meekness, temperance, patience;

13 and support ye each other, [or bearing up together], and forgive to yourselves, if any man against any hath a quarrel; as the Lord [Christ] forgave to you, so also ye.

14 And upon all these things have ye charity, that is the bond of perfectness [or of perfection].

15 And the peace of Christ enjoy in your hearts, in which ye be called in one body, and be ye kind.

16 The word of Christ dwell in you plenteously, in all wisdom; and teach and admonish yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, in grace singing in your hearts to the Lord.

17 All thing, whatever thing ye do, in word or in deed, all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, doing thankings to God and to the Father by him [or doing thankings to God the Father by him].

18 Women, be ye subject to your husbands, as it behooveth in the Lord.

19 Men, love ye your wives, and do not ye be bitter to them.

20 Sons, obey ye to your father and mother by [or in] all things; for this is well pleasing in the Lord.

21 Fathers, do not ye provoke your sons to indignation, that they be not made feeble-hearted.

22 Servants, obey ye by all things to fleshly lords, not serving at the eye, as pleasing to men, but in simpleness of heart, dreading the Lord [God].

23 Whatever ye do, work ye of will as to the Lord and not to men;

24 witting that of the Lord ye shall take yielding of heritage. Serve ye to the Lord Christ.

25 For he that doeth injury [or wrong] shall receive that that he did evil; and acception [or taking] of persons is not with God.

CHAPTER 4

1 Lords, give ye to servants that that is just and even, witting that also ye have a Lord in heaven.

2 Be ye busy in prayer, and wake in it, in doing of thankings;

3 and pray each for other, and for us, that God open to us the door of word, to speak the mystery of Christ; for which also I am bound,

4 that I show it, so as it behooveth me to speak.

5 Walk ye in wisdom to them that be withoutforth, again-buying time.

6 Your word be savoured with salt evermore in grace; that ye know, how it behooveth you to answer to each man.

7 Tychicus, most dear brother, and faithful minister, and my fellow [or my even-servant] in the Lord, shall make all things known to you, that be about me.

8 Whom I sent to you to this same thing, that he know what things be about you, and comfort your hearts,

9 with Onesimus, most dear and faithful brother, which is of you; which shall make all things that be done here, known to you.

10 Aristarchus, prisoner with me [or mine even-captive], greeteth you well, and Marcus, the cousin of Barnabas, of whom ye have taken commandments; if he come to you, receive ye him;

11 and Jesus, that is said Justus; which be of circumcision; they alone be mine helpers in the kingdom of God, that were to me in solace.

12 Epaphras, that is of you, the servant of Jesus Christ, greeteth you well; ever busy for you in prayers, that ye stand perfect and full in all the will of God.

13 And I bear witnessing to him, that he hath much travail for you, and for them that be at Laodicea, and that be at Hierapolis.

14 Luke, the leech most dear, and Demas, greet you well.

15 Greet ye well the brethren that be at Laodicea, and the woman Nympha, and the church that is in her house.

16 And when this epistle is read among you, do ye, that it be read in the church of Laodiceans; and read ye that epistle that is of Laodiceans.

17 And say ye to Archippus, See the ministry, that thou hast taken in the Lord, that thou [ful] fill it.

18 My salutation, by the hand of Paul. Be ye mindful of my bonds. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

2ND TIMOTHY

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2ND TIMOTHY

CHAPTER 1

1 Paul, [the] apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, by the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 to Timothy, his most dearworthy son, grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

3 I do thankings to my God, to whom I serve from my progenitors [or my ancestors], in clean conscience, that without ceasing I have mind of thee in my prayers, night and day,

4 desiring to see thee; having mind of thy tears, [or mindful of thy tears], that I be [ful] filled with joy.

5 And I bethink of that faith, that is in thee not feigned, which also dwelled first in thine aunt Lois, and in thy mother Eunice. And I am certain, that also in thee.

6 For which cause I admonish thee, that thou raise again the grace of God, that is in thee by the setting on [or the on-putting] of mine hands.

7 For why God gave not to us the spirit of dread, but of virtue, and of love, and of soberness.

8 Therefore do not thou shame the witnessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, neither me, his prisoner; but travail thou together in the gospel by the virtue of God;

9 that delivered us, and called with his holy calling, not after our works, but by his purpose and grace, that is given [to us] in Christ Jesus before worldly times;

10 but now it is open by the lightening of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which destroyed death, and lightened life and uncorruption by the gospel.

11 In which I am set a preacher and apostle, and master of heathen men.

12 For which cause also I suffer these things; but I am not confound-ed. For I know to whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is mighty to keep that is taken to my keeping, into that day.

13 Have thou the form of whole-some words, which thou heardest of me in faith and love in Christ Jesus.

14 Keep thou the good [deposit, or thing], taken to thy keeping by the Holy Ghost, that dwelleth in us.

15 Thou knowest this, that all that be in Asia be turned away from me, of which is Phygellus and Hermogenes.

16 The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for oft he refreshed me, and shamed not my chain.

17 But when he came to Rome, he sought me busily, and found [me].

18 The Lord give to him to find mercy of God in that day. And how great things he ministered to me at Ephesus, thou knowest better.

CHAPTER 2

1 Therefore thou, my son, be comforted in grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 And what things thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, betake thou these to faithful men, which shall be able also to teach other men.

3 Travail thou as a good knight of Christ Jesus.

4 No man holding knighthood to God, [en] wrappeth himself with worldly needs, that he please to him, to whom he hath proved himself.

5 For he that fighteth in a battle, shall not be crowned, but he fight lawfully.

6 It behooveth an earth-tiller to receive first of the fruits.

7 Understand thou what things I say. For the Lord shall give to thee understanding in all things.

8 Be thou mindful that the Lord Jesus Christ of the seed of David hath risen again from death, after my gospel,

9 in which I travail unto bonds, as working evil, but the word of God is not bound.

10 Therefore I suffer [or I sustain] all things for the chosen, that also they get the health that is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory.

11 A true word [is this that I say], that if we be dead together [to the world], also we shall live together [in bliss];

12 if we suffer [or if we sustain], we shall reign together [with Christ]; if we deny [him], he shall deny us;

13 if we believe not, he dwelleth faithful, he may not deny himself.

14 Teach thou these things, witness-ing before God. Do not thou strive in words; for to nothing it is profitable, but to the subverting of men that hear.

15 Busily keep [or Take care] to give thyself a proved, praiseable workman to God, without shame, rightly treating the word of truth.

16 But eschew thou [or shun thou] unholy and vain speeches, for why those profit much to unfaithfulness,

17 and the word of them creepeth as a canker. Of whom Philetus is, and Hymenaeus,

18 which felled down from the truth, saying that the rising-again is now done, and they subverted [or turned upside-down] the faith of some men.

19 But the firm foundament of God standeth, having this mark, The Lord knoweth which be his, and, Each man that nameth the name of the Lord, departeth from wickedness.

20 But in a great house be not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of tree, and of earth; and so some be into honour, and some into despite.

21 Therefore, if any man cleanseth himself from these, he shall be a vessel hallowed into honour, and profitable to the Lord, ready to all good work.

22 And flee thou [the] desires of youth, but follow thou rightwiseness, faith, charity, peace, with them that inwardly call [or that in-call] the Lord of a clean heart.

23 And eschew thou [or shun] foolish questions, and without knowing, [or discipline], witting that those engender chidings.

24 But it behooveth the servant of the Lord to chide not; but to be mild to all men, able to teach, patient,

25 with temperance reproving them that against-stand the truth, that some-time God give to them repenting [or penance], that they know the truth,

26 and that they rise again from the snares of the devil, of whom they be held prisoners at his will.

CHAPTER 3

1 But know thou this thing, that in the last days perilous times shall nigh,

2 and men shall be loving them-selves, covetous, high of bearing, proud, blasphemers, not obedient to father and mother, unkind, cursed,

3 without affection, [or good will], without peace, false blamers [or false challengers], uncontinent, [or unchaste], unmild, without benignity,

4 traitors, over-thwart [or froward], swollen [or blown]with proud thoughts, blind, lovers of lusts more than of God,

5 having the likeness of piety, but denying the virtue of it. And eschew thou these men.

6 Of these they be that pierce houses, and lead women captives [or and lead little women captive], charged with sins, which be led with diverse desires,

7 evermore learning, and never perfectly coming to the science, [or to the knowing], of truth.

8 And as Jannes and Jambres against-stood Moses, so these against-stand the truth, men corrupt in understanding [or in soul], reproved about the faith.

9 But further they shall not profit, for the unwisdom of them shall be known to all men, as theirs was.

10 But thou hast gotten my teaching [or my doctrine], ordinance, purposing [or purpose], faith, long abiding, love, patience,

11 persecutions, passions, which were made to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what manner persecutions I suffered, and the Lord hath delivered me of all.

12 And all men that will live faithfully [or piously] in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.

13 But evil men and deceivers shall increase into worse, erring [them-selves], and sending [others] into error.

14 But dwell thou in these things that thou hast learned, and that be betaken to thee, witting of whom thou hast learned;

15 for thou hast known holy letters from thy youth, which may learn thee [or may inform thee] to health, by faith that is in Christ Jesus.

16 For all scripture inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to chastise, [for] to learn in rightwiseness,

17 that the man of God be perfect, learned to all good work[s].

CHAPTER 4

1 I witness before God and Christ Jesus, that shall deem the quick and the dead, by the coming of him, and he kingdom of him,

2 preach the word, be thou busy covenably without rest, reprove thou, beseech thou, blame thou in all patience and doctrine.

3 For time shall be, when men shall not suffer [or not sustain] whole-some teaching, but at their desires they shall gather together to themselves masters itching [or pleasing] to the ears.

4 And truly they shall turn away the hearing from truth, but to fables they shall turn.

5 But wake thou, in all things travail thou, do [thou] the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy service, [or office], be thou sober.

6 For I am sacrificed now, and the time of my departing is nigh.

7 I have striven a good strife, I have ended the course, I have kept the faith.

8 In the tother time a crown of rightwiseness is kept to me, which the Lord, a just doomsman, shall yield to me in that day; and not only to me, but also to these that love his coming.

9 Hie thou to come to me soon.

10 For Demas, loving this world, hath forsaken me, and went to Thessalonica, Crescens into Galatia, Titus into Dalmatia;

11 Luke alone is with me. Take thou Mark, and bring with thee; for he is profitable to me into service.

12 Forsooth I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

13 The cloth which I left at Troas at Carpas, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but most the parchments.

14 Alexander, the treasurer, showed to me much evil; the Lord shall yield to him after his works.

15 Whom also thou eschew; for he against-stood full greatly our words.

16 In my first defence no man helped me, but all forsook me; be it not areckoned to them.

17 But the Lord helped me [or the Lord stood nigh to me], and comforted me, that the preaching be [full]-filled by me, and that all folks hear, that I am delivered from the mouth of the lion.

18 And the Lord delivered me from all evil work, and shall make me safe into his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory into worlds of worlds. Amen.

19 Greet well Prisca, and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus.

20 Erastus left [or dwelt] at Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick at Miletum.

21 Hie thou to come before winter. Eubulus, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all brethren, greet thee well.

22 Our Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. The grace of God be with you. Amen.

3RD JOHN

3RD JOHN

CHAPTER 1

1 The elder man to Gaius, most dear brother, whom I love in truth.

2 Most dear brother, of all things I make prayer, that thou enter, and fare wealfully, as thy soul doeth wealfully.

3 I joyed greatly, for brethren came, and bare witnessing to thy truth, as thou walkest in truth.

4 I have not more grace of these things, than that I hear that my sons walk in truth.

5 Most dear brother, thou doest faithfully, whatever thou workest in brethren, and that into pilgrims,

6 which yielded witnessing to thy charity, in the sight of the church; which thou leadest forth, and doest well-worthily to God.

7 For they went forth for his name, and took nothing of heathen men.

8 Therefore we owe to receive such, that we be even-workers of truth.

9 I had written peradventure to the church, but this Diotrephes, that loveth to bear primacy, [or chief places], in them, receiveth not us.

10 For this thing, if I shall come, I shall admonish his works, which he doeth, chiding [or chattering] against us with evil words. And as if these things suffice not to him, neither he receiveth brethren, and forbiddeth them that receive, and putteth out of the church.

11 Most dear brother, do not thou pursue evil thing, but that that is good thing. He that doeth well, is of God; he that doeth evil, seeth not God.

12 Witnessing is yielded to Deme-trius of all men, and of truth itself; but also we bear witnessing, and thou knowest, that our witnessing is true.

13 I had many things to write to thee, but I would not write to thee by ink and pen.

14 For I hope soon to see thee, and we shall speak mouth to mouth. Peace be to thee. Friends greet thee well. Greet thou well friends by name. Amen.