3:20. Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.
3:21. Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.
3:22. Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.
3:23. Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
3:24. Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.
3:25. Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
3:26. Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.
3:27. Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.
3:28. Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.
3:29. Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
3:30. Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
3:31. Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
3:32. Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
3:33. Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.
3:34. Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
3:35. Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,
3:36. Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.
3:37. Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?
3:38. Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?
3:39. Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?
3:40. Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.
3:41. Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
3:42. Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.
3:43. Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.
3:44. Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.
3:45. Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.
3:46. Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
3:47. Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.
3:48. Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
3:49. Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:
3:50. Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.
3:51. Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
3:52. Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.
3:53. Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.
3:54. Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.
3:55. Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
3:56. Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.
3:57. Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.
3:58. Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.
3:59. Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.
3:60. Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.
3:61. Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.
3:62. Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.
3:63. Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.
3:64. Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
3:65. Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.
3:66. Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.
Lamentations Chapter 4
4:1. Aleph. How is the gold become dim, the finest colour is changed, the stones of the sanctuary are scattered in the top of every street?
4:2. Beth. The noble sons of Sion, and they that were clothed with the best gold: how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, the work of the potter’s hands?
4:3. Ghimel. Even the sea monsters have drawn out the breast, they have given suck to their young: the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich in the desert.
4:4. Daleth. The tongue of the sucking child hath stuck to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them.
4:5. He. They that were fed delicately have died in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung.
4:6. Vau. And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is made greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and hands took nothing in her.
4:7. Zain. Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, purer than milk, more ruddy than the old ivory, fairer than the sapphire.
4:8. Heth. Their face is now made blacker than coals, and they are not known in the streets: their skin hath stuck to their bones, it is withered, and is become like wood.
4:9. Teth. It was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger: for these pined away being consumed for want of the fruits of the earth.
4:10. Jod. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
4:11. Caph. The Lord hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger: and he hath kindled a fire in Sion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
4:12. Lamed. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed, that the adversary and the enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.
4:13. Mem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
4:14. Nun. They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they were defiled with blood: and when they could not help walking in it, they held up their skirts.
4:15. Samech. Depart you that are defiled, they cried out to them: Depart, get ye hence, touch not: for they quarrelled, and being removed, they said among the Gentiles: He will no more dwell among them.
4:16. Phe. The face of the Lord hath divided them, he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, neither had they pity on the ancient.
4:17. Ain. While we were yet standing, our eyes failed, expecting help for us in vain, when we looked attentively towards a nation that was not able to save.
4:18. Sade. Our steps have slipped in the way of our streets, our end draweth near: our days are fulfilled, for our end is come.
4:19. Coph. Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air: they pursued us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
4:20. Res. The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins: to whom we said: Under thy shadow we shall live among the Gentiles.
Christ, etc. . .This, according to the letter, is spoken of their king, who is called the Christ, that is, the Anointed of the Lord. But it also relates, in the spiritual sense, to Christ our Lord, suffering for our sins.
4:21. Sin. Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Hus: to thee also shall the cup come, thou shalt be made drunk, and naked.
4:22. Thau. Thy iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Sion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he hath visited thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he hath discovered thy sins.
THE PRAYER OF JEREMIAS THE PROPHET
Lamentations Chapter 5
5:1. Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.
5:2. Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.
5:3. We are become orphans without a father: our mothers are as widows.
5:4. We have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood.
5:6. We were dragged by the necks, we were weary and no rest was given us.
5:6. We have given our hand to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, that we might be satisfied with bread.
5:7. Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.
5:8. Servants have ruled over us: there was none to redeem us out of their hand.
5:9. We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the desert.
5:10. Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.
5:11. They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.
5:12. The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancients.
5:13. They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.
5:14. The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.
5:15. The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.
5:16. The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned.
5:17. Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim.
5:18. For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.
5:19. But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.
5:20. Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?
5:21. Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning.
5:22. But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry with us.
THE PROPHECY OF BARUCH
BARUCH was a man of noble extraction, and learned in the law, secretary and disciple to the prophet JEREMIAS, and a sharer in his labours and persecutions: which is the reason why the ancient fathers have considered this book as a part of the prophecy of JEREMIAS, and have usually quoted it under his name.
Baruch Chapter 1
The Jews of Babylon send the book of Baruch with money to Jerusalem, requesting their brethren there to offer sacrifice, and to pray for the king and for them, acknowledging their manifold sins.
1:1. And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Sedei, the son Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.
1:2. In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time that the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.
1:3. And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Juda, and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book.
1:4. And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings, and in the hearing of the ancients, and in the hearing of the people, from the least even to the greatest of them that dwelt in Babylonia, by the river Sedi.
1:5. And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord.
1:6. And they made a collection of money according to every man’s power.
1:7. And they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the priest, the son of Helcias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people, that were found with him in Jerusalem:
1:8. At the time when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which had been taken away out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda the tenth day of the month Sivan, the silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda had made,
1:9. After that Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and all the powerful men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them bound to Babylon.
1:10. And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it holocausts, and frankincense, and make meat offerings, and offerings for sin at the altar of the Lord our God:
1:11. And pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
1:12. And that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our eyes, that we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and may serve them many days, and may find favour in their sight.
1:13. And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and his wrath is not turned away from us even to this day.
1:14. And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be read in the temple of the Lord, on feasts, and proper days.
1:15. And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice, but to us confusion of our face: as it is come to pass at this day to all Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
1:16. To our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers.
1:17. We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not believed him, nor put our trust in him:
1:18. And we were not obedient to him, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his commandments which he hath given us.
1:19. From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were disobedient to the Lord our God: and going astray we turned away from hearing his voice.
1:20. And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which the Lord foretold by Moses his servant: who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.
1:21. And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us:
1:22. And we have gone away every man after the inclinations of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
Baruch Chapter 2
A further confession of the sins of the people, and of the justice of God.
2:1. Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that he spoke to us, and to our judges that have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel and Juda:
2:2. That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as never happened under heaven, as they have come to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the law of Moses:
2:3. That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.
2:4. And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all the kings that are round about us, to be a reproach, and desolation among all the people, among whom the Lord hath scattered us.
2:5. And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because we have sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying his voice.
2:6. To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day.
2:7. For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils that are come upon us:
2:8. And we have not entreated the face of the Lord our God, that we might return every one of us from our most wicked ways.
2:9. And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is just in all his works which he hath commanded us:
2:10. And we have not hearkened to his voice to walk in the commandments of the Lord which he hath set before us.
2:11. And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with thy great power, and with a mighty arm, and hast made thee a name as at this day,
2:12. We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted unjustly, O Lord our God, against all thy justices.
2:13. Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a few among the nations where thou hast scattered us.
2:14. Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for thy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in the sight of them that have led us away:
2:15. That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, and that thy name is called upon Israel, and upon his posterity.
2:16. Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and incline thy ear, and hear us.
2:17. Open thy eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord:
Justice, etc. . .They that are in hell shall not give justice to God; that is, they shall not acknowledge and glorify his justice as penitent sinners do upon earth.
2:18. But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord.
2:19. For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour out our prayers, and beg mercy in thy sight, O Lord our God:
2:20. But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying:
2:21. Thus saith the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you shall remain in the land which I have given to your fathers.
2:22. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to depart out of the cities of Juda, and from without Jerusalem.
2:23. And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without any footstep of inhabitants.
2:24. And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: and thou hast made good thy words, which thou spokest by the hands of thy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers should be removed out of their place:
2:25. And behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and to the frost of the night: and they have died in grievous pains, by famine, and by the sword, and in banishment.
2:26. And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was called upon, as it is at this day, for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and the house of Juda.
2:27. And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine:
2:28. As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant Moses, in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel,
2:29. Saying: If you will not hear my voice, this great multitude shall be turned into a very small number among the nations, where I will scatter them:
2:30. For I know that the people will not hear me, for they are a people of a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their heart in the land of their captivity:
2:31. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and they shall understand: and ears, and they shall hear.
2:32. And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall be mindful of my name.
2:33. And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, that sinned against me.
2:34. And I will bring them back again into the land which I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be masters thereof: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished.
2:35. And I will make with them another covenant that shall be everlasting, to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people, the children of Israel, out of the land that I have given them.
Baruch Chapter 3
They pray for mercy, acknowledging that they are justly punished for forsaking true wisdom. A prophecy of Christ.
3:1. And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth to thee:
3:2. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.
3:3. For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?
3:4. O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.
3:5. Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:
3:6. For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:
3:7. Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.
3:8. And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.
3:9. Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.
3:10. How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies’ land?
3:11. Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.
3:12. Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom:
3:13. For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.
3:14. Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.
3:15. Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?
3:16. Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?
3:17. That take their diversion with the birds of the air.
3:18. That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting? who work in silver and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.
3:19. They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.
3:20. Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have not known,
3:21. Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received it, it is far from their face.
3:22. It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.
Theman. . .The capital city of Edom.
3:23. The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.
Agar. . .The mother of the Ismaelites.
3:24. O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!
3:25. It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.
3:26. There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.
3:27. The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.
3:28. And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.
3:29. Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
3:30. Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?
3:31. There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths:
3:32. But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and fourfooted beasts:
3:33. He that sendeth forth the light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.
3:34. And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:
3:35. They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with cheerfulness they have shined forth to him that made them.
3:36. This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
3:37. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
3:38. Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
Was seen upon earth, etc. . .viz., by the mystery of the incarnation, by means of which the son of God came visibly amongst us, and conversed with men. The prophets often speak of things to come as if they were past, to express the certainty of the event of the things foretold.
Baruch Chapter 4
The prophet exhorts to the keeping of the law of wisdom, and encourages the people to be patient, and to hope for their deliverance.
4:1. This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death.
4:2. Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its brightness, in the presence of the light thereof.
4:3. Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a strange nation.
4:4. We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are pleasing to God, are made known to us.
4:5. Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of Israel:
4:6. You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath, you are delivered to your adversaries.
4:7. For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God, offering sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
4:8. For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you have grieved Jerusalem that nursed you.
4:9. For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she said: Give ear, all you that dwell near Sion, for God hath brought upon me great mourning:
4:10. For I have seen the captivity of my people, of my sons, and my daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.
4:11. For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with weeping and mourning.
4:12. Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am forsaken of many for the sins of my children, because they departed from the law of God.
4:13. And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of God’s commandments, neither have they entered by the paths of his truth and justice.
4:14. Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.
4:15. For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked nation, and of a strange tongue:
4:16. Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children, and have carried away the beloved of the widow, and have left me all alone without children.
4:17. But as for me, what help can I give you?
4:18. But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will deliver you out of the hands of your enemies.
4:19. Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone.
4:20. I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High in my days.
4:21. Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the princes your enemies.
4:22. For my hope is in the Eternal that he will save you: and joy is come upon me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall come to you from our everlasting Saviour.
4:23. For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping: but the Lord will bring you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
4:24. For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity from God: so shall they also shortly see your salvation from God, which shall come upon you with great honour, and everlasting glory.
4:25. My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you: for thy enemy hath persecuted thee, but thou shalt quickly see his destruction: and thou shalt get up upon his neck.
4:26. My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away as a flock made a prey by the enemies.
4:27. Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you shall be remembered by him that hath led you away.
4:28. For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again you shall seek him ten times as much.
4:29. For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation.
4:30. Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that named thee.
4:31. The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that have rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.
4:32. The cities which thy children have served, shall be punished: and she that received thy sons.
She that received, etc. . .viz., Babylon.
4:33. For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.
4:34. And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off: and her gladness shall be turned to mourning.
4:35. For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to endure, and she shall be inhabited by devils for a great time.
4:36. Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God.
4:37. For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away scattered, they come gathered together from the east even to the west, at the word of the Holy One rejoicing for the honour of God.
Baruch Chapter 5
Jerusalem is invited to rejoice and behold the return of her children out of their captivity.
5:1. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and affliction: and put on the beauty, and honour of that everlasting glory which thou hast from God.
5:2. God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.
5:3. For God will shew his brightness in thee, to every one under heaven.
5:4. For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of justice, and honour of piety.
5:5. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about towards the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
5:6. For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the Lord will bring them to thee exalted with honour as children of the kingdom.
5:7. For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the everlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys to make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk diligently to the honour of God.
5:8. Moreover the woods, and every sweetsmelling tree have overshadowed Israel by the commandment of God.
5:9. For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of his majesty, with mercy, and justice, that cometh from him.
Baruch Chapter 6
The epistle of Jeremias to the captives, as a preservative against idolatry.
A copy of the epistle that Jeremias sent to them that were to be led away captives into Babylon, by the king of Babylon, to declare to them according to what was commanded him by God.
6:1. For the sins that you have committed before God, you shall be carried away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon.
6:2. And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there many years, and for a long time, even to seven generations: and after that I will bring you away from thence with peace.
Seven generations. . .That is, seventy years.
6:3. But now, you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and of stone, and of wood borne upon shoulders, causing fear to the Gentiles.
6:4. Beware therefore that you imitate not the doings of others, and be afraid, and the fear of them should seize upon you.
6:5. But when you see the multitude behind, and before, adoring them, say you in your hearts: Thou oughtest to be adored, O Lord.
6:6. For my angel is with you: And I myself will demand an account of your souls.
6:7. For their tongue that is polished by the craftsman, and themselves laid over with gold and silver, are false things, and they cannot speak.
6:8. And as if it were for a maiden that loveth to go gay: so do they take gold and make them up.
6:9. Their gods have golden crowns upon their heads: whereof the priests secretly convey away from them gold, and silver, and bestow it on themselves.
6:10. Yea and they give thereof to prostitutes, and they dress out harlots: and again when they receive it of the harlots, they adorn their gods.
6:11. And these gods cannot defend themselves from the rust, and the moth.
6:12. But when they have covered them with a purple garment, they wipe their face because of the dust of the house, which is very much among them.
6:13. This holdeth a sceptre as a man, as a judge of the country, but cannot put to death one that offendeth him.
6:14. And this hath in his hand a sword, or an axe, but cannot save himself from war, or from robbers, whereby be it known to you, that they are not gods.
6:15. Therefore fear them not. For as a vessel that a man uses when it is broken becometh useless, even so are their gods:
6:16. When they are placed in the house, their eyes are full of dust by the feet of them that go in.
6:17. And as the gates are made sure on every side upon one that hath offended the king, or like a dead man carried to the grave, so do the priests secure the doors with bars and locks, lest they be stripped by thieves.
6:18. They light candles to them, and in great number, of which they cannot see one: but they are like beams in the house.
6:19. And they say that the creeping things which are of the earth, gnaw their hearts, while they eat them and their garments, and they feel it not.
6:20. Their faces are black with the smoke that is made in the house.
6:21. Owls, and swallows, and other birds fly upon their bodies, and upon their heads, and cats in like manner.
6:22. Whereby you may know that they are no gods. Therefore fear them not.
6:23. The gold also which they have, is for shew, but except a man wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for neither when they were molten, did they feel it.
6:24. Men buy them at a high price, whereas there is no breath in them.
6:25. And having not the use of feet they are carried upon shoulders, declaring to men how vile they are. Be they confounded also that worship them.
6:26. Therefore if they fall to the ground, they rise not up again of themselves, nor if a man set them upright, will they stand by themselves, but their gifts shall be set before them, as to the dead.
6:27. The things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell and abuse: in like manner also their wives take part of them, but give nothing of it either to the sick, or to the poor.
6:28. The childbearing and menstruous women touch their sacrifices: knowing, therefore, by these things that they are not gods, fear them not.
6:29. For how can they be called gods? because women set offerings before the gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood:
6:30. And priests sit in their temples, having their garments rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.
6:31. And they roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.
6:32. The priests take away their garments, and clothe their wives and their children.
6:33. And whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: neither can they set up a king, nor put him down:
6:34. In like manner they can neither give riches, nor requite evil. If a man make a vow to them, and perform it not: they cannot require it.
6:35. They cannot deliver a man from death, nor save the weak from the mighty.
6:36. They cannot restore the blind man to his sight: nor deliver a man from distress.
36:7. They shall not pity the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.
6:38. Their gods, of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of silver, are like the stones that are hewn out of the mountains: and they that worship them shall be confounded.
6:39. How then is it to be supposed, or to be said, that they are gods?
6:40. Even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them: who when they here of one dumb that cannot speak, they present him to Bel, entreating him, that he may speak.
6:41. As though they could be sensible that have no motion themselves: and they, when they shall perceive this, will leave them: for their gods themselves have no sense.
6:42. The women also, with cords about them, sit in the ways, burning olive-stones.
6:43. And when any one of them, drawn away by some passenger, lieth with him, she upbraideth her neighbor, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.
6:44. But all things that are done about them, are false: how is it then to be thought, or to be said, that they are gods?
6:45. And they are made by workmen, and by goldsmiths. They shall be nothing else but what the priests will have them to be.
6:46. For the artificers themselves that make them, are of no long continuance. Can those things then that are made by them, be gods?
6:47. But they have left false things and reproach to them that come after.
6:48. For when war cometh upon them , or evils: the priests consult with themselves, where they may hide themselves with them.
6:49. How then can they be thought to be gods, that can neither deliver themselves from war, nor save themselves from evils?
6:50. For seeing they are but of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false things, by all nations, and kings: and it shall be manifest that they are no gods, but the work of men’s hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
6:51. Whence, therefore, is it known that they are not gods, but the work of men’s hands, and no work of God is in them?
6:52. They cannot set up a king over the land, nor give rain to men.
6:53. They determine no causes, nor deliver countries from oppression: because they can do nothing, and are as daws between heaven and earth.
6:54. For when fire shall fall upon the house of these gods of wood, and of silver, and of gold, their priests indeed will flee away, and be saved: but they themselves shall be burnt in the midst like beams.
6:55. And they cannot withstand a king and war. How then can it be supposed, or admitted, that they are gods?
6:56. Neither are these gods of wood, and of stone, and laid over with gold, and with silver, able to deliver themselves from thieves or robbers: they that are stronger than them,
They that are stronger than them. . .That is, robbers and thieves are stronger than these idols, being things without life or motion.
6:57. Shall take from them the gold, and silver, and the raiment wherewith they are clothed, and shall go their way, neither shall they help themselves.
6:58. Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power: or else a profitable vessel in the house, with which the owner thereof will be well satisfied: or a door in the house, to keep things safe that are therein, than such false gods.
6:59. The sun, and the moon, and the stars being bright, and sent forth for profitable uses, are obedient.
6:60. In like manner the lightning, when it breaketh forth, is easy to be seen: and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.
6:61. And the clouds, when God commandeth them to go over the whole world, do that which is commanded them.
6:62. The fire also being sent from above to consume mountains, and woods, doth as it is commanded. But these neither in shew, nor in power, are alike to any one of them.
6:63. Wherefore it is neither to be thought, nor to be said, that they are gods: since they are neither able to judge causes, nor to do any good to men.
6:64. Knowing, therefore, that they are not gods, fear them not.
6:65. For neither can they curse kings, nor bless them.
6:66. Neither do they shew signs in the heaven to the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.
6:67. Beasts are better than they, which can fly under a covert, and help themselves.
6:68. Therefore there is no manner of appearance that they are gods: so fear them not.
6:69. For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing, so are their gods of wood, and of silver, and laid over with gold.
6:70. They are no better than a white thorn in a garden, upon which every bird sitteth. In like manner also their gods of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, are like to a dead body cast forth in the dark.
6:71. By the purple also and the scarlet which are motheaten upon them, you shall know that they are not gods. And they themselves at last are consumed, and shall be a reproach in the country.
6:72. Better, therefore, is the just man that hath no idols: for he shall be far from reproach.
THE PROPHECY OF EZECHIEL
EZECHIEL, whose name signifies the STRENGTH OF GOD, was of the priestly race; and of the number of captives that were carried away to Babylon with king JOACHIN. He was contemporary with JEREMIAS, and prophesied to the same effect in Babylon, as JEREMIAS did in Jerusalem; and is said to have ended his days in like manner, by martyrdom.
Ezechiel Chapter 1
The time of Ezechiel’s prophecy: he sees a glorious vision.
1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was in the midst of the captives by the river Chobar, the heavens were opened, and I saw the visions of God.
The thirtieth year. . .Either of the age of Ezechiel; or, as others will have it, from the solemn covenant made in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias. 4 Kings 23.
1:2. On the fifth day of the month, the same was the fifth year of the captivity of king Joachin,
1:3. The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel the priest the son of Buzi in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chobar: and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.
1:4. And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber:
1:5. And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures: and this was their appearance: there was the likeness of a man in them.
Living creatures. . .Cherubims (as appears from Ecclesiasticus 49.10) represented to the prophet under these mysterious shapes, as supporting the throne of God, and as it were drawing his chariot. All this chapter appeared so obscure, and so full of mysteries to the ancient Hebrews, that, as we learn from St. Jerome, (Ep. ad Paulin.,) they suffered none to read it before they were thirty years old.
1:6. Every one had four faces, and every one four wings.
1:7. Their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like the appearance of glowing brass.
1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they had faces, and wings on the four sides,
1:9. And the wings of one were joined to the wings of another. They turned not when they went: but every one went straight forward.
1:10. And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all the four: and the face of an ox, on the left side of all the four: and the face of an eagle over all the four.
1:11. And their faces, and their wings were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined, and two covered their bodies:
1:12. And every one of them went straight forward: whither the impulse of the spirit was to go, thither they went: and they turned not when they went.
1:13. And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like that of burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps. This was the vision running to and fro in the midst of the living creatures, a bright fire, and lightning going forth from the fire.
1:14. And the living creatures ran and returned like flashes of lightning.
1:15. Now as I beheld the living creatures, there appeared upon the earth by the living creatures one wheel with four faces.
1:16. And the appearance of the wheels, and the work of them was like the appearance of the sea: and the four had all one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel.
1:17. When they went, they went by their four parts: and they turned not when they went.
When they went, they went by their four parts. . .That is, indifferently to any of their sides either forward or backward: to the right or to the left.
1:18. The wheels had also a size, and a height, and a dreadful appearance: and the whole body was full of eyes round about all the four.
1:19. And, when the living creatures went, the wheels also went together by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up with them.
1:20. Withersoever the spirit went, thither as the spirit went the wheels also were lifted up withal, and followed it: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
1:21. When those went these went, and when those stood these stood, and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together, and followed them: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
1:22. And over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of the firmament, the appearance of crystal terrible to behold, and stretched out over their heads above.
1:23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other, every one with two wings covered his body, and the other was covered in like manner.
1:24. And I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, as it were the voice of the most high God: when they walked, it was like the voice of a multitude, like the noise of an army, and when they stood, their wings were let down.
1:25. For when a voice came from above the firmament, that was over their heads, they stood, and let down their wings.
1:26. And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of the sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne, was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it.
1:27. And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber as the appearance of fire within it round about: from his loins and upward, and from his loins downward, I saw as it were the resemblance of fire shining round about.
1:28. As the appearance of the rainbow when it is in a cloud on a rainy day: this was the appearance of the brightness round about.
Ezechiel Chapter 2
The prophet receives his commission.
2:1. This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke, and he said to me: Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.
2:2. And the spirit entered into me after that he spoke to me, and he set me upon my feet: and I heard him speaking to me,
2:3. And saying: Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people, that hath revolted from me, they, and their fathers, have transgressed my covenant even unto this day.
2:4. And they to whom I send thee are children of a hard face, and of an obstinate heart: and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God:
2:5. If so be they at least will hear, and if so be they will forbear, for they are a provoking house: and they shall know that there hath been a prophet in the midst of them.
2:6. And thou, O son of man, fear not, neither be thou afraid of their words: for thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest with scorpions. Fear not their words, neither be thou dismayed at their looks: for they are a provoking house.
2:7. And thou shalt speak my words to them, if perhaps they will hear, and forbear: for they provoke me to anger.
2:8. But thou, O son of man, hear all that I say to thee: and do not thou provoke me, as that house provoketh me: open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee.
2:9. And I looked, and behold, a hand was sent to me, wherein was a book rolled up: and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without: and there were written in it lamentations, and canticles, and woe.
Ezechiel Chapter 3
The prophet eats the book, and receives further instructions: the office of a watchman.
3:1. And he said to me: Son of man, eat all that thou shalt find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.
Eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel. . .By this eating of the book was signified the diligent attention and affection with which we are to receive, and embrace the word of God; and to let it, as it were, sink into our interior by devout meditation.
3:2. And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that book:
3:3. And he said to me: Son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give thee, and I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
3:4. And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.
3:5. For thou art not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:
3:6. Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.
3:7. But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.
3:8. Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces: and thy forehead harder than their foreheads.
3:9. I have made thy face like an adamant and like flint: fear them not, neither be thou dismayed at their presence: for they are a provoking house.
3:10. And he said to me: Son of man, receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears, all the words that I speak to thee:
3:11. And go get thee in to them of the captivity, to the children of thy people, and thou shalt speak to them, and shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: If so be they will hear, and will forbear.
3:12. And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.
3:13. The noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion.
3:14. The spirit also lifted me, and took me up: and I went away in bitterness in the indignation of my spirit: for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.
3:15. And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.
The heap of new corn. . .It was the name of a place: in Hebrew, tel abib.
3:16. And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3:17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
3:18. If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
3:19. But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
3:20. Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.
3:21. But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.
3:22. And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to thee.
3:23. And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.
3:24. And the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in; and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house.
3:25. And thou, O son of man, behold they shall put bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them: and thou shalt not go forth from the midst of them.
3:26. And I will make thy tongue stick fast to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man that reproveth: because they are a provoking house.
3:27. But when I shall speak to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: He that heareth, let him hear: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a provoking house.
Ezechiel Chapter 4
A prophetic description of the siege of Jerusalem, and the famine that shall reign there.
4:1. And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.
4:2. And lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast up a mount, and set a camp against it, and place battering rams round about it.
4:3. And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face resolutely against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: it is a sign to the house of Israel.
4:4. And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity.
4:5. And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days three hundred and ninety days: and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
4:6. And when thou hast accomplished this, thou shalt sleep again upon thy right side, and thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of the house of Juda forty days: a day for a year, yea, a day for a year I have appointed to thee.
4:7. And thou shalt turn thy face to the siege of Jerusalem and thy arm shall be stretched out: and thou shalt prophesy against it.
4:8. Behold I have encompassed thee with bands: and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
4:9. And take to thee wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
4:10. And thy meat that thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day: from time to time thou shalt eat it.
4:11. And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it,
Hin. . .That is, a measure of liquids containing about ten pints.
4:12. And thou shalt eat it as barley bread baked under the ashes: and thou shalt cover it, in their sight, with the dung that cometh out of a man.
4:13. And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel eat their bread all filthy among the nations whither I will cast them out.
4:14. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, behold my soul hath not been defiled, and from my infancy even till now, I have not eaten any thing that died of itself, or was torn by beasts, and no unclean flesh hath entered into my mouth.
4:15. And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.
4:16. And he said to me: Son of man: Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.
4:17. So that when bread and water fail, every man may fall against his brother, and they may pine away in their iniquities.
Ezechiel Chapter 5
The judgments of God upon the Jews are foreshewn under the type of the prophet’s hair.
5:1. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife that shaveth the hair: and cause it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard: and take thee a balance to weigh in, and divide the hair.
5:2. A third part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, according to the fulfilling of the days of the siege: and thou shalt take a third part, and cut it in pieces with the knife all round about: and the other third part thou shalt scatter in the wind, and I will draw out the sword after them.
5:3. And thou shalt take thereof a small number: and shalt bind them in the skirt of thy cloak.
5:4. And thou shalt take of them again, and shalt cast them in the midst of the fire, and shalt burn them with fire: and out of it shall come forth a fire into all the house of Israel.
5:5. Thus saith the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her.
5:6. And she hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles; and my commandments, more than the countries that are round about her: for they have cast off my judgments, and have not walked in my commandments.
5:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have surpassed the Gentiles that are round about you, and have not walked in my commandments, and have not kept my judgments, and have not done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you:
5:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I myself will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the Gentiles.
5:9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done: and the like to which I will do no more, because of all thy abominations.
5:10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers: and I will execute judgments in thee, and I will scatter thy whole remnant into every wind.
5:11. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God: Because thou hast violated my sanctuary with all thy offences, and with all thy abominations: I will also break thee in pieces, and my eye shall not spare, and I will not have any pity.
5:12. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee: and a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee: and a third part of thee will I scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
5:13. And I will accomplish my fury, and will cause my indignation to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I shall have accomplished my indignation in them.
5:14. And I will make thee desolate, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of every one that passeth by.
5:15. And thou shalt be a reproach, and a scoff, an example, and an astonishment amongst the nations that are round about thee, when I shall have executed judgments in thee in anger, and in indignation, and in wrathful rebukes.
5:16. I the Lord have spoken it: When I shall send upon them the grievous arrows of famine, which shall bring death, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will gather together famine against you: and I will break among you the staff of bread.
5:17. And I will send in upon you famine, and evil beasts unto utter destruction: and pestilence, and blood shall pass through thee, and I will bring in the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.
Ezechiel Chapter 6
The punishment of Israel for their idolatry: a remnant shall be saved.
6:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6:2. Son of man set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.
6:3. And say: Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the rocks, and the valleys: Behold, I will bring upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places.
6:4. And I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken in pieces: and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
6:5. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before your idols: and I will scatter your bones round about your altars,
6:6. In all your dwelling places. The cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be thrown down, and destroyed, and your altars shall be abolished, and shall be broken in pieces: and your idols shall be no more, and your temples shall be destroyed, and your works shall be defaced.
6:7. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
6:8. And I will leave in you some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when I shall have scattered you through the countries.
6:9. And they that are saved of you shall remember me amongst the nations, to which they are carried captives: because I have broken their heart that was faithless, and revolted from me: and their eyes that went a fornicating after their idols: and they shall be displeased with themselves because of the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
6:10. And they shall know that I the Lord have not spoken in vain that I would do this evil to them.
6:11. Thus saith the Lord God: Strike with thy hand and stamp with thy foot, and say: Alas, for all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
6:12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence: and he that is near, shall fall by the sword: and he that remaineth, and is besieged, shall die by the famine: and I will accomplish my indignation upon them.
6:13. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be amongst your idols, round about your altars, in every high hill, and on all the tops of mountains, and under every woody tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they burnt sweet smelling frankincense to all their idols.
6:14. And I will stretch forth my hand upon them: and I will make the land desolate, and abandoned from the desert of Deblatha in all their dwelling places: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezechiel Chapter 7
The final desolation of Israel: from which few shall escape.
7:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
7:2. And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is come, the end is come upon the four quarters of the land.
7:3. Now is an end come upon thee, and I will send my wrath upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways: and I will set all thy abominations against thee.
7:4. And my eye shall not spare thee, and I will shew thee no pity: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
7:5. Thus saith the Lord God: One affliction, behold an affliction is come.
7:6. An end is come, the end is come, it hath awaked against thee: behold it is come.
7:7. Destruction is come upon thee that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of slaughter is near, and not of the joy of mountains.
7:8. Now very shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will accomplish my anger in thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes.
7:9. And my eye shall not spare, neither will I shew mercy: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord that strike.
7:10. Behold the day, behold it is come: destruction is gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
7:11. Iniquity is risen up into a rod of impiety: nothing of them shall remain, nor of their people, nor of the noise of them: and there shall be no rest among them.
7:12. The time is come, the day is at hand: let not the buyer rejoice: nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the people thereof.
7:13. For the seller shall not return to that which he hath sold, although their life be yet among the living. For the vision which regardeth all the multitude thereof, shall not go back: neither shall man be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.
7:14. Blow the trumpet, let all be made ready, yet there is none to go to the battle: for my wrath shall be upon all the people thereof.
7:15. The sword without: and the pestilence, and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword: and they that are in the city, shall be devoured by the pestilence, and the famine.
7:16. And such of them as shall flee shall escape: and they shall be in the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them trembling, every one for his iniquity.
7:17. All hands shall be made feeble, and all knees shall run with water.
7:18. And they shall gird themselves with haircloth, and fear shall cover them and shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all their heads.
7:19. Their silver shall be cast forth, and their gold shall become a dunghill. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their soul, and their bellies shall not be filled: because it hath been the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
7:20. And they have turned the ornament of their jewels into pride, and have made of it the images of their abominations, and idols: therefore I have made it an uncleanness to them.
7:21. And I will give it into the hands of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall defile it.
7:22. And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall violate my secret place: and robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
Secret place, etc. . .Viz., the inward sanctuary, the holy of holies.
7:23. Make a shutting up: for the land is full of the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity.
Make a shutting up. . .In Hebrew, a chain, viz., for imprisonment and captivity.
7:24. And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: and I will make the pride of the mighty to cease, and they shall possess their sanctuary.
7:25. When distress cometh upon them, they will seek for peace and there shall be none.
7:26. Trouble shall come upon trouble, and rumour upon rumour, and they shall seek a vision of the prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
7:27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with sorrow, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled. I will do to them according to their way, and will judge them according to their judgments: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezechiel Chapter 8
The prophet sees in a vision the abominations committed in Jerusalem; which determine the Lord to spare them no longer.
8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
8:2. And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.
8:3. And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.
8:4. And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.
8:5. And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north, and I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.
8:6. And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.
8:7. And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.
8:8. And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
8:9. And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.
8:10. And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abominations, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about.
8:11. And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.
8:12. And he said to me: Surely thou seest, O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
8:13. And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.
8:14. And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.
Adonis. . .The favourite of Venus, slain by a wild boar, as feigned by the heathen poets, and which being here represented by an idol, is lamented by the female worshippers of that goddess. In the Hebrew, the name is Tammuz.
8:15. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
8:16. And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, in their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.
8:17. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.
8:18. Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.
Ezechiel Chapter 9
All are ordered to be destroyed that are not marked in their foreheads. God will not be entreated for them.
9:1. And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city are at hand, and every one hath a destroying weapon in his hand.
9:2. And behold six men came from the way of the upper gate, which looketh to the north: and each one had his weapon of destruction in his hand: and there was one man in the midst of them clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn at his reins: and they went in, and stood by the brazen altar.
9:3. And the glory of the Lord of Israel went up from the cherub, upon which he was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man that was clothed with linen, and had a writer’s inkhorn at his loins.
9:4. And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem: and mark Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof.
Mark Thau. . .Thau, or Tau, is the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and signifies a sign, or a mark; which is the reason why some translators render this place set a mark, or mark a mark without specifying what this mark was. But St. Jerome, and other interpreters, conclude it was the form of the letter Thau, which in the ancient Hebrew character, was the form of a cross.
9:5. And to the others he said in my hearing: Go ye after him through the city, and strike: let not your eyes spare, nor be ye moved with pity.
9:6. Utterly destroy old and young, maidens, children and women: but upon whomsoever you shall see Thau, kill him not, and begin ye at my sanctuary. So they began at the ancient men who were before the house.
9:7. And he said to them: Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew them that were in the city.
9:8. And the slaughter being ended I was left; and I fell upon my face, and crying, I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, wilt thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, by pouring out thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9:9. And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Juda, is exceeding great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perverseness: for they have said: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.
9:10. Therefore neither shall my eye spare, nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head.
9:11. And behold the man that was clothed with linen, that had the inkhorn at his back, returned the word, saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me.
Ezechiel Chapter 10
Fire is taken from the midst of the wheels under the cherubims, and scattered over the city. A description of the cherubims.
10:1. And I saw and behold in the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubims, there appeared over them as it were the sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
10:2. And he spoke to the man, that was clothed with linen, and said: Go in between the wheels that are under the cherubims and fill thy hand with the coals of fire that are between the cherubims, and pour them out upon the city. And he went in, in my sight:
10:3. And the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.
10:4. And the glory of the Lord was lifted up from above the cherub to the threshold of the house: and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
10:5. And the sound of the wings of the cherubims was heard even to the outward court as the voice of God Almighty speaking.
10:6. And when he had commanded the man that was clothed with linen, saying: Take fire from the midst of the wheels that are between the cherubims: he went in and stood beside the wheel.
10:7. And one cherub stretched out his arm from the midst of the cherubims to the fire that was between the cherubims: and he took, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it and went forth.
10:8. And there appeared in the cherubims the likeness of a man’s hand under their wings.
10:9. And I saw, and behold there were four wheels by the cherubims: one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was to the sight like the chrysolite stone:
10:10. And as to their appearance, all four were alike: as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel.
10:11. And when they went, they went by four ways: and they turned not when they went: but to the place whither they first turned, the rest also followed, and did not turn back.
By four ways. . .That is, by any of the four ways, forward, backward, to the right or to the left.
10:12. And their whole body, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles were full of eyes, round about the four wheels.
10:13. And these wheels he called voluble, in my hearing.
Voluble. . .That is, rolling wheels, galgal.
10:14. And every one had four faces: one face was the face of a cherub, and the second face, the face of a man: and in the third was the face of a lion: and in the fourth the face of an eagle.
10:15. And the cherubims were lifted up: this is the living creature that I had seen by the river Chobar.
10:16. And when the cherubims went, the wheels also went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings, to mount up from the earth, the wheels stayed not behind, but were by them.
10:17. When they stood, these stood: and when they were lifted up, these were lifted up: for the spirit of life was in them.
10:18. And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the temple: and stood over the cherubims.
10:19. And the cherubims lifting up their wings, were raised from the earth before me: and as they went out, the wheels also followed: and it stood in the entry of the east gate of the house of the Lord: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
10:20. This is the living creature, which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar: and I understood that they were cherubims.
10:21. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings: and the likeness of a man’s hand was under their wings.
10:22. And as to the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces which I had seen by the river Chobar, and their looks, and the impulse of every one to go straight forward.
Ezechiel Chapter 11
A prophecy against the presumptuous assurance of the great ones. A remnant shall be saved, and receive a new spirit, and a new heart.
11:1. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the