The Babylonian Exile

And she seeth, that stayed--perished hath her hope, And she taketh one of her whelps, A young lion she hath made it.

And it goeth up and down in the midst of lions, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath devoured.

And it knoweth his forsaken habitations, And their cities it hath laid waste, And desolate is the land and its fulness, Because of the voice of his roaring.

And set against it do nations Round about from the provinces. And they spread out for it their net, In their pit it hath been caught.

And they put it in prison--in chains, And they bring it unto the king of Babylon, They bring it in unto bulwarks, So that its voice is not heard any more On mountains of Israel.

Thy mother is as a vine in thy blood by waters planted, Fruitful and full of boughs it hath been, Because of many waters.

And it hath strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And high is its stature above thick branches, And it appeareth in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.

And now--it is planted in a wilderness, In a land dry and thirsty.

And go forth doth fire from a rod of its boughs, Its fruit it hath devoured, And it hath no rod of strength--a sceptre to rule, Lamentation it is --and it is for a lamentation!'

And it cometh to pass, in the seventh year, in the fifth month , in the tenth of the month, come in have certain of the elders of Israel to seek Jehovah, and they sit before me;

and there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

`Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To seek Me are ye coming in? I live--I am not sought by you--an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

Dost thou judge them? Dost thou judge, son of man? The abominations of their fathers cause them to know,

and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of My fixing on Israel, I lift up My hand, To the seed of the house of Jacob, And am known to them in the land of Egypt, And I lift up My hand to them, Saying, I am Jehovah your God.

In that day I did lift up My hand to them, To bring them forth from the land of Egypt, Unto a land that I spied out for them, Flowing with milk and honey, A beauty it is to all the lands,

And I say unto them, Let each cast away the detestable things of his eyes, And with the idols of Egypt be not defiled, I am Jehovah your God.

And--they rebel against Me, And have not been willing to hearken to Me, Each, the detestable things of their eyes, They have not cast away, And the idols of Egypt have not forsaken, And I say--to pour out My fury on them, To complete Mine anger against them, In the midst of the land of Egypt.

And I do it for My name's sake, Not to pollute it before the eyes of the nations, In whose midst they are , Before whose eyes I became known to them, To bring them out from the land of Egypt.

And I bring them out of the land of Egypt, And I bring them in unto the wilderness,

And I give to them My statutes, And my judgments I caused them to know, Which the man who doth--liveth by them.

And also My sabbaths I have given to them, To be for a sign between Me and them, To know that I am Jehovah their sanctifier.

And--rebel against me do the house of Israel in the wilderness, In My statutes they have not walked, And My judgments they have despised, Which the man who doth--liveth by them. And My sabbaths they have greatly polluted, And I say to pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

And I do it for My name's sake, Not to pollute it before the eyes of the nations, Before whose eyes I brought them forth.

And also, I, I have lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, Not to bring them in to the land that I had given, Flowing with milk and honey, A beauty it is to all the lands,