A   The wordes that the Lorde spake vnto the prophete Ieremy, concernynge Babilon, and the lande of þe; Chaldees: ^note Preache amonge the Gentyles, let your voyce he hearde, make a token, crye out, kepe no sil&ebar;ce, but saye: Babilon is wonne. ^noteBel is confounded, and Merodach is ouercome.

^noteYee, their goddes be brought to shame: and their ymages burst in peces. For out of the north &rhand; there doth come a people agaynst her: which make her l&abar;de so waste, that no body dwell therin, nether man nor beast: for they flye and departe from thence. ^noteIn those dayes and at that tyme, sayth þe; Lord: the chyldren of Israel shall come, they and the chyldren of Iuda, wepinge and making haste, and shall seke the Lorde their God. They shall aske the waye to Sion, thyther shall they turne their faces, sayinge: Come and we wyll cleaue to the Lorde, in a couenaunt that neuer shalbe broken.

My people hathe bene a loste ^note flocke, &rhand; my shepherdes haue disceaued th&ebar;, and haue made them go astraye vpon the hylles B    They haue gone frome the mountayne to the lytle hyll, and forgotten their folde. All they that came vpon them, haue deuoured them: and theyr enemyes sayde: We haue made no faute agaynst them: for they haue displeased the Lorde: yee, euen the Lorde, which is the bewtye of theyr ryghteousnesse ∧ that defended their fathers. Yet shall ye flie from Babilon, and departe out of the lande of the Chaldees, and &rhand; be ye as the rammes that goo before the flocke. ^noteFor loo, I wyll wake vp an hooste of people from the northren lande, and bringe them vpon Babylon: these shall laye sege to it, and wynne it. Theyr arowes shall not mysse, lyke as a connynge archer shuteth not wronge.

And the Chaldees shalbe spoyled, and all they that spoyle them, shalbe satisfied, sayth the Lorde, ^note although ye were so chearfull and gladd, to treade downe myne heritage, and fulfylled youre pleasures, as the calues in the grasse, and triumphed ouer them lyke the bulles, when ye had gotten the victory. Youre mothers shalbe sore confounded, and they that bare you, shall come to shame.

She shalbe the least sett by amonge the nacions, voyde, wasted and dryed vp. No man shalbe able to dwell there, for the feare of the Lorde, but she shalbe whole desolate. ^noteAll they that go by Babylon, shall stande styll, and be abashed, and shall wondre at all her plages.

Go forth in your araye against Babilon rounde about, all ye that can handle bowes: shute at her, spare no arowes: for she hathe synned agaynst the Lorde. Crye out: vpon her, vpon her, agaynst her rounde about: she

shall yelde her selfe, her foundati&obar;s shall fall and her walles shall come downe: for it shalbe the vengeaunce of the Lorde. ^noteYee, vengeaunce shalbe taken of her, and as she hath done, so deale ye with her. Rote out þe; sower from Babilon, and him that handleth the syckle in haruest. For feare of the swearde of the enemye, euery man shall gett him to hys awne people: and euery man shall flee to his awne lande. Israel is a scatred flocke, the lyons haue dispersed them. ^noteFyrst the king of the Assirians deuoured them, ^note last of all this Nabuchodonosor king of Babil&obar; hath brosed all their bones.

D   Therfore, thus saith the Lorde of hostes the God of Israel: Beholde, I will viset the kyng of Babylon and his kingdome as ^note I haue visited the kyng of the Assirians, and wyll brynge Israel agayne to his pleasaunt pasture, that he maye fede vpon Charmel and Basan, and be satisfyed vpon the mo&ubar;t of Ephraim and Galaad. ^noteIn those dayes and at the same tyme, sayth the Lord, &rhand; yf the offence of Israel be sought for, there shall none be founde. Yf men enquere for the synne of Iuda, there shalbe none: for I wyll be mercyfull vnto them, whom I suffre to remayne ouer.

Go downe, O thou auenger, into the enemyes lande, and viset them that dwell therin: downe with th&ebar;, and smyte them vp&obar; the backes, sayth the Lorde: do according to all that I haue comma&ubar;ded the. There is gone aboute the lande a crye of a slaughter and great murther, namely on this maner. How happeneth it, that the hammer of the whole worlde is thus broken and brosed in sonder? Howe chaunceth it, that Babilon is become a wildernesse amonge the Heythen on thys maner? I my selfe haue layed wayte for the, and thou art tak&ebar; vnawares: art thou trapped and snared: for why? thou hast prouoked the Lorde vnto anger. The Lorde hath opened his house of ordinaunce, ∧ brought forth the weapens of hys wrath. For the thynge that is done in the lande of the Chaldees, it is the Lorde of hostes worcke.

E   Come agaynste her, for this is her ende: breake vp her chestes: threshe her as ye thresh corne: destroye her, that nothing shalbe left. Slaye all their myghtye souldyers, and put them to death. Woo be vnto them, for the daye and tyme of their visitatyon is at hande. Me thynke I heare allready a crye, of them that be fled and escaped out of the l&abar;de of Babilon, which shewe in Sion the vengeaunce of the Lorde our God, the vengeaunce of his temple: yee, a voyce of them, that crye agaynste Babylon. Call vp all the archers agaynst Babilon, pitche your tentes rounde about her, that none escape. ^noteRec&obar;pence her, as she hath deserued: and accordynge as she hath done, so deale with her agayne, for she hath ^note set vp her selfe agaynst the Lorde, agaynst the holye one of Israel. Therfore shall her yonge men fall downe in the stretes, and all her men of warre shalbe roted out in that daye, sayth the Lorde. Beholde, I speake vnto the, O thou proude, sayth the Lorde God of hostes: for thy daye shall come, euen the tyme of thy visitation. And the proude shall stomble and fall and no man shall helpe him vp. I wyll burne vp his cityes with fyer, and it shall consume all that is rounde about him.

F   Thus sayth the Lorde of hoostes: The children of Israel and Iuda suffer violence together. All they that haue them in captiuitie, kept them fast, and wyl not let th&ebar; go, but their auenger and redemer is mightye, whose name is the Lorde of hoostes: he shall mainteyne their cause, he shall make the l&abar;de shake, and iudge them that dwell therin, one with another. The swearde shall come vp&obar; the Chaldees, sayth the Lorde, vpon them that dwell in Babilon, vpon their princes, and vpon their wyse men. The swearde vp&obar; their sothsayers, as for those, they shall become fooles. The swearde vpon their worthies, so that they shall stande in feare. The swearde vpon their horsmen and charettes, and vpon all the comon people that dwell vnder them: so that they shall all become lyke women. The swearde vpon their treasure, so that it shalbe stoll&ebar; awaye. A drougth vpon their waters, so that they shalbe dried vp. For the lande worshippeth ymages, and delyteth in straunge wondrefull thinges. Therfore shall wylde beastes, lamia ∧ catte of mountaynes, and estryches dwell therin, for there shall neuer man dwell there, nether shall eny man haue his habitation there for euermore. Like as God destroyed ^note Sodom and Gomorre, with the cityes that laye ther aboute, sayth the Lorde. So shall no man dwell there also, nether shall eny man haue there his habitatyon. ^noteBeholde, there shall come a people from the north with a greate bonde of men, and many kynges shall stande vp from the endes of the earthe. They beare bowes and bucklers, cruell are they and vnmercyfull.

G   Their voyce roareth like the raging see, they ryde vpon horsses, and come weapened to fyght agaynst the, O Babylon. Assoone as the king of Babilon heareth tell of them, his handes shall waxe feable. Sorowe and heuynes shall come vpon him, as a woman trauelynge with chylde. Beholde, ^note lyke as the lyon c&obar;meth vp from the pleasaunt medowes of Iordane vnto the grene pastures of Ethan, so wyll I dryue them forth, and make them runne agaynst her. But whom shall I chose out: ∧ ordeyne to soch a thynge?

For who is lyke me, or who will stryue &wt; me? or what shepherd maye stande agaynst me? ^note Therfore, heare the co&ubar;cell that þe; Lord hath geuen vpon Babilon, and the deuyce þt; he hath tak&ebar; vpon the land of the Chaldees: The least among the people shall teare them in peces, and loke what pleasa&ubar;t thing they haue: they shall laye it waste. The noyse at the wynnynge of Babylon shall moue the earth, and the crye shalbe heard amonge the Gentiles.

Previous section

Next section