الإصحَاحُ
الثَّانِي

Chapter 2

 

2:1
Therefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against us, and
against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our
princes, and against the men of Israel and Juda, 2 To bring upon us great
plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pass in
Jerusalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Moses; 3
That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own
daughter. 4 Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the
kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all
the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.

 

5
Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against the
Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto his voice.

 

6
To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers
open shame, as appeareth this day. 7 For all these plagues are come upon us,
which the Lord hath pronounced against us 8 Yet have we not prayed before the
Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart. 9
Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon
us: for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us. 10
Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the
Lord, that he hath set before us.

 

11
And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of
Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and
with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day: 12 O
Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously
in all thine ordinances.

 

13
Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where
thou hast scattered us.

 

14
Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for thine own sake,
and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away: 15 That all the
earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity
is called by thy name.

 

16
O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow down thine ear, O
Lord, to hear us.

 

17
Open thine eyes, and behold; for the dead that are in the graves, whose souls
are taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither praise nor
righteousness: 18 But the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and
feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and
righteousness, O Lord.

 

19
Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God,
for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. 20 For thou hast sent
out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the
prophets, saying,

 

21
Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon: so
shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers. 22 But if ye will
not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will cause
to cease out of the cites of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of
mirth, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride: and the whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants. 24 But we would not
hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made
good the words that thou spakest by thy servants the prophets, namely, that the
bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their
place.

 

25
And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the frost of the
night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence.
26 And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is to
be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of
Juda.

 

27
O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy goodness, and according
to all that great mercy of thine, 28 As thou spakest by thy servant Moses in
the day when thou didst command him to write the law before the children of
Israel, saying,

 

29
If ye will not hear my voice, surely this very great multitude shall be turned
into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them.

 

30
For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but
in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves. 31 And shall
know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to
hear: 32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon
my name, 33 And return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for
they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord.

 

34
And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto
their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I
will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. 35 And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people:
and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given
them.