O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, {thou} that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under {her} wings, and ye would not!

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

{As} they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where {is} the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk {therein}.

The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and {my} fatlings {are} killed, and all things {are} ready: come unto the marriage.

And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt {him}. {none...: Heb. together they exalted not}

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

How excellent {is} thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. {excellent: Heb. precious}

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. {forbear...: Heb. protract over them} {in thy...: Heb. in the hand of thy prophets}

Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending {them}, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and {from} your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth {shall be thy} shield and buckler.

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, {and} Israel had walked in my ways!

For these {things} I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. {relieve: Heb. bring back}

And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

I {am} the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I {am} the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way {that} thou shouldest go.

But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: {by: Heb. by the hand of} {betimes: that is, continually and carefully}

Wherefore, when I came, {was there} no man? when I called, {was there} none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because {there is} no water, and dieth for thirst.

[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.] Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until {these} calamities be overpast. {Altaschith: or, Destroy not} {Michtam: or, A golden Psalm}

But when the king heard {thereof}, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. {common...: Heb. sons of the people}

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. {in him...: Heb. in his Makers}

O that they were wise, {that} they understood this, {that} they would consider their latter end!

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. {answereth to: or, is in the same rank with}

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon {God}, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

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,

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

And their dead bodies {shall lie} in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first {month}. {the former rain moderately: or, a teacher of righteousness} {moderately: Heb. according to righteousness}

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, {thou} that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under {her} wings, and ye would not!

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

[To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.] God {is} our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. {for: or, of}

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. {a refuge: Heb. an high place}

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way {that was} not good, after their own thoughts;

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. {rejected: or, frustrated} {against...: or, within themselves}

How excellent {is} thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. {excellent: Heb. precious}

I {am} black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

The eternal God {is thy} refuge, and underneath {are} the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy {them}.

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, {and} the troop of robbers spoileth without. {wickedness: Heb. evils} {spoileth: Heb. strippeth}

But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great {is} your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. {answereth to: or, is in the same rank with}

Ye shall seek me, and shall not find {me}: and where I am, {thither} ye cannot come.

For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. {customs: or, rites}

I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending {them}, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.] Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until {these} calamities be overpast. {Altaschith: or, Destroy not} {Michtam: or, A golden Psalm}

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing {that which was} evil in the sight of the LORD. {from...: Heb. from mouth to mouth}

Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls {thereof}, and joined the foundations. {set up: or, finished} {joined: Chaldee, sewed together}

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:

But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel {are} impudent and hardhearted. {impudent...: Heb. stiff of forehead, and hard of heart}

Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they {be} a rebellious house. {stuff: or, instruments}

That they have committed adultery, and blood {is} in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through {the fire}, to devour {them}.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

{As} they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Therefore it is come to pass, {that} as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and {my} fatlings {are} killed, and all things {are} ready: come unto the marriage.

And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent {him} away empty.

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Or let him take hold of my strength, {that} he may make peace with me; {and} he shall make peace with me.

But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.