Jeremiah

1Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.

2I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman.

3The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.

4Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.

5Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.

6For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her.

7As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.

8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.

9Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer into the basket.

10To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it.

11Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.

12And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.

13For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.

14And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.

15They were confounded, because they committed abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.

16Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.

17And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.

18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.

19Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law.

20To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbor and kinsman shall perish.

22Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.

23They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion.

24We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor.

25Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.

26Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

27I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way.

28All of these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.

29The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.

30Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.

1thật là một thảm hoạ lớn lao.

2ngươi đã đến ngày tận số.

3mỗi người chăn dắt đoàn vật của mình.

4Tiếc thật : Ngày xế mất rồi, bóng chiều đã ngả !

5Đứng dậy ! Đêm về ta cũng tiến đánh, triệt hạ các lâu đài.

6Phải trừng phạt thành này, vì trong thành chỉ toàn áp bức.

7mở mắt ra là thấy thương tích, khổ đau.

8sẽ biến ngươi thành nơi hoang vắng, thành đất không người ở.

9mà soát kỹ các ngành nho !

10Này, họ coi lời ĐỨC CHÚA như một trò cười không hứng thú gì cả.

11đừng để ai thoát khỏi.

12vì Ta sẽ thẳng tay với cư dân xứ này – sấm ngôn của ĐỨC CHÚA !

13Ngôn sứ cũng như tư tế, tất cả là một lũ gian phi.

14trong khi chẳng có bình an chi cả.

15chúng sẽ té nhào, ĐỨC CHÚA phán như vậy.

16Thế nhưng chúng lại nói : “Chúng tôi chẳng thèm đi !”

17Nhưng chúng nói : “Chẳng chú ý đâu !”

18chuyện gì sẽ xảy ra cho chúng.

19và lề luật của Ta, chúng đã khinh dể.

20Lễ hy sinh của các ngươi không làm cho lòng Ta vui thoả.

21tất cả đều diệt vong.

22một dân lớn xuất hiện từ tận cùng trái đất.

23chúng sẵn sàng lâm trận tấn công ngươi, thiếu nữ Xi-on hỡi !

24khiến chúng tôi run khiếp như sản phụ lâm bồn.

25vì gươm đao thù địch gieo kinh hoàng tứ phía.

26vì kẻ tàn sát chúng ta sẽ thình lình ập xuống.

27để ngươi biết và kiểm tra tính hạnh chúng.

28trơ như sắt, như đồng, toàn một lũ phá hoại.

29Gỉ sét vẫn chẳng chịu bung ra.

30Vì quả thật, ĐỨC CHÚA đã phế thải họ.