my mother bare me be unblessed.

Cursed be he that brought good tidings unto my father, saying, Thou hast a young son, that he should make him merry.

Let that man be as the cities which the LORD hath turned back, and hath not repented him; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a howling at noon.

That thou hadst not killed me in my mother’s womb! That my mother had been my grave, and her womb had remained pregnant for ever!

Why have I come forth out of my mother’s womb, that I should see such sorrow and heartache, and spend my days in shame?
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 21
From the conquest of the city of Jerusalem and Zedekiah’s captivity.

This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Zedekiah the king sent unto him Pashur the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying: 2. Ask the LORD for us. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon contendeth against us, that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonders, that he may depart from us.

And Jeremiah said unto them, Thus saith Zedekiah:

Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons that are in your hands, that ye may fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans that besiege you without the wall, and will gather them together in the midst of the city.

And I will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and with great wrath, and with fury, and with unmercifulness.

And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both men and beasts, and they shall die by a great pestilence.

And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people that remain in this city from the pestilence, and from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword, and there shall be no mercy, neither grace, nor pity.

And say unto this people, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

Whosoever remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but whosoever shall go out unto the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and shall keep his life for a prey.

For I have set my face against this city for evil, and for no good, saith the LORD. It shall be delivered unto the king of Babylon, that he may burn it with fire.

And hear the word of the LORD, ye of the house of the king of Judah.

O house of David, thus saith the LORD, Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the wicked: lest my wrath go forth as a fire, and burn so that no man quench it, because of your wickedness.

Behold, saith the LORD, I say unto thee, that dwell in the bottomless pit, in the rock, and in the plain, saying, Who shall assail us, or come into our stronghold?

I will punish you, saith the LORD, according to the fruit of your doings: I will kindle a fire in their forest, and it shall devour all that is round about.
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 22
From the Regency. Punishment of three kings: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jechaniah.

Thus saith the LORD; Go down into the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word.

And say, Hear the word of the LORD, thou king of Judah, which sittest upon the throne of David, both thou, and thy servants, and thy people, which go in unto these gates.

Thus saith the LORD; Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the wicked; and afflict not the stranger, nor the fatherless, nor the widow; neither do violence to any man, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

And if ye do so, then shall enter in at the gates of this house kings that sit on David’s throne, both of them in chariots, and on horses, with their servants, and their people.

But if ye will not obey these things, I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall be destroyed.

For thus saith the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah, Gilead, thou art the head of Lebanon unto me: what matter, I will make thee a desolation, and the cities without inhabitant?

For I have appointed spoilers against thee, every man with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

Then shall many nations pass by before this city, and say one to another, Why hath the LORD
dealt so with this great city?

And they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and have worshipped other gods, and served them;

Weep not for the dead, neither grieve for them: but weep for him that goeth away: for he shall never come again to see his country.

For thus saith the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which is king instead of Josiah his father, which went out from this place; He shall not come again, 12. But shall die in the place whither he is carried captive, and shall see this land no more.

Woe unto him that buildeth his house with sins, and his chambers with iniquity, that maketh his neighbour to work for nought, and giveth him not his hire.

And he said, Well, I will build me a great house, and large palaces: and he made windows in them, and wainscotted them with cedar, and painted them red.

Thinkest thou that thou wilt be king, because thou art clothed with cedars? Did not thy father also eat and drink, and yet keep judgment and righteousness, and prosper?

He helped the poor and needy to judgment, and he was well. Is it not so, that this is my right knowledge? saith the LORD.

But thine eyes and thine heart are not so, but upon thy covetousness, upon shedding innocent blood, upon sacrilege, and upon oppression.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament him, Brother, sister. He shall not be accosted, O lord, O noble one!

He shall be buried like an ass, bruised and cast out at the gates of Jerusalem.

Yea, go up to Lebanon, and cry, and be heard in Bashan, and cry from Abarim: for all thy lovers are miserably slain.

I foretold thee, while it was yet well with thee; but thou saidst: I will not hearken. So hast thou done all thy days, that thou hast not hearkened unto my voice.

The wind feedeth all thy shepherds, and thy lovers go in captivity: thou shalt be mocked and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Thou that dwellest now in Lebanon, and nestestestest in cedars, how fair shalt thou see when sorrows and woes shall come unto thee, as one in childbearing!

As I live, saith the LORD, if Chaniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring upon my right hand, I would break thee off.

And deliver them into the hand of them that seek thy life, of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

And I will drive thee, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, which is not thy fatherland; and there thou shalt die.

And into the land, where they would gladly return with their hearts, they shall not return.

What a wretched, despised, rejected man is Chania, an unworthy vessel! Oh, how he is driven away with his seed, and cast into an unknown land!

O land, land, land; hear the word of the LORD!

Thus saith the LORD; Write unto this man for a corrupt man, a man that shall not prosper all his days. For he shall not prosper, that one of his seed shall sit upon the throne of David, and reign in Judah any more.
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 23
The evil shepherds and false prophets are described and punished. Christ, the good shepherd and great prophet, promised.

Woe unto you shepherds, that destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and cast them out, and have not visited them. Behold, I will punish you for your wickedness, saith the LORD.

And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fences, and they shall increase and be many.

And I will set shepherds over them, which shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor be visited, saith the LORD.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise up a righteous seed unto David; and he shall be a king that shall reign well, and do justice and righteousness in the earth.

In that day shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this shall be his name, that they shall call him: LORD, who is our righteousness.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said: As the LORD
liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, 8. But, As the LORD liveth, which brought up the seed of the house of Israel, and brought them out of the land of the north,