JEREMIAH CHAPTER 34 - 40

JEREMIAH 34

1 The word that came to Jeremiah
From YHWH when Nebuchadnezzar
King of Babylon with his dire
Army and all the kingdoms far
Of the earth under his domain,
And all the people, fought to gain
Jerusalem and all its towns,
Saying 2 “So says YHWH though with frowns
The Ælohim of Israel:
‘Go speak to Zedekiah king
Of Judah and tell him a thing,
“So says YHWH ‘See, I’ll give this town
Into the hand of the renown
King of Babylon, and he’ll burn
It with fire and he’ll burn it down.
3 “You’ll not escape out of his hand,
But surely taken by his band,
Your eyes shall look into the eyes
Of Babylon’s king, no disguise,
And he shall tell you face to face
That you’ll go to Babylon’s place.’”
4 “Yet listen to the word of YHWH,
O Zedekiah, king of Ju-
Dah; So says YHWH concerning you,
‘You shall not die by the sword’s view.
5 “But you will die in peace, and with
Obsequies of ancestors’ myth,
The former kings that went before
You, so shall they burn from the store
Incense for you, and will lament,
“Ah lord!” for I’ve declared the word,’
Says YHWH.” 6 Then Jeremiah stirred,
The prophet spoke all these words to
Zedekiah, the king in view
Of Judah in Jerusalem,
7 When the king of Babylon’s band
Would fight against Jerusalem,
And against all the cities’ stand
Of Judah that were left at hand,
Against Lachish and Azekah:
For these fortressed cities in paw
Stayed of the cities of Judah.

The history is known. The king looked in
The eye of Nebuchadnezzar for sin,
And was borne off to Babylon to live
Beneath the sun bereaved and to forgive.
Beloved all men look in the conquering eye,
Or else look on the conquered passing by,
And yet all are one and the same weak flesh.
I set before Your eye my faith afresh:
My creed is no more and no less than this.
You are one, and that oneness that I kiss
Implies the unity of every son
And daughter of creation when You’ve done.
Let no divisive creed enter my heart,
Nor in my industry nor in my art.

8 This is the message that then came
To Jeremiah from the claim
Of YHWH, and after the king made
A pact between Zedekiah
And all the folk from all Judah
That were there in Jerusalem,
To proclaim their freedom to them.
9 That every man should let his slave,
And every man release and wave
His maidservant of Hebrew cast,
To go free, so none should at last
Take service from them, not a Jew
Of his own brother in the crew.
10 And now when all the princes and
All the folk had entered the band
Of covenant, heard every one
Should free his manservant to run
And free his maidservant so none
Should take service then anymore,
They obeyed and released the score.
11 But afterward they reversed it
And made servants and handmaids fit
That had gone free come back to sit
In servitude, both slave and kit.”

One law for the free-born and Israelite
And one for the stranger sitting in fright
Beside the hearth may not at all seem right.
So if the people start to treat the brother
By the same law of slavery as another,
All men are treated equally and fair.
No doubt that’s what was in the heart and air,
Not greed but justice. Always find the good
In every motive as well as I could.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
And so each one goes according to plan
And when my benefit converges with
The justice that the strong permit their myth,
Then I can praise Your name and law and ban.

12 And so a message came from YHWH
To Jeremiah, and from YHWH,
Saying “So says YHWH Ælohim
Of Israel; I made a beam
With your ancestors in the day
That I brought them out of the way
Of Egypt’s land, out of the house
Of bondmen, saying to each spouse:
14 “’At the term of just seven years
Let go each man his brother peers
Who is a Hebrew, which has been
Sold to you, and when he’s served kin
For six years, you shall let him go
Free from you,’ but your fathers slow
Did not obey Me, closed their ears.
15 “And you had turned from doing right
Before My throne and in My sight,
Proclaiming liberty each man
To his neighbour, and made a stand
Before Me in the house that’s called
By My name and so is installed.
16 “And then you reversed the whole thing,
Polluting My name by the sting,
And made each man’s servant return,
And every handmaid in the stern,
Whom you had set at liberty,
You brought them into slavery,
To be your slaves and handmaids earn.”

Is it true, my Beloved, that You proclaim
A Jew can be a slave in act and name
For six years only and then must go free,
While slaves of any other company
Are slaves to slave their lives eternally?
The word pronounced on Canaan was a sword
To that man whose father was unadored.
The word pronounced by Moses was not fair,
Even it gave an exemption’s share
To maid and manservant. Beloved, beware.
Exemption is inequity for good
Or evil masque. You did then what You could.
It’s not my business, though, since I am not
Jewish, but only Celt and Indian got.

17 So says YHHW, “You’ve not obeyed Me,
In proclaiming the liberty,
Each one to his brother and free,
Each man to his neighbour to see,
I proclaim liberty for you,”
Says YHWH, “to the sword and plague’s cue,
And to the famine, and I’ll make
You be removed and so will take
You into all the kingdoms’ wake
Upon the earth, for your sins’ sake.
18 “I’ll give the men who have transgressed
My covenant and not addressed
The words of promise they had made
Before Me, when they had waylaid
The calf cut in two and passed through
The two parts of it as was due,
19 “The princes of Judah, the chiefs
Of Jerusalem, without feoffs
The eunuchs and the priests and all
The people of the land and stall,
Who passed between the parts of calf;
20 “I’ll give them into hand to laugh
Of their foes and the hand of those
Who seek their life, and their dead ruts
Shall be the food of fowl that struts
Down from the sky and to the beast
Of the earth on the field increased.
21 “And Zedekiah king of Judah
And his princes, both kind and ruder,
I’ll give into the hand of foes,
And also in the hand of those
Who seek their life, and in the hand
Of Babylon’s king’s army band.
22 “See, I shall command then,” says YHWH,
“And cause them to return into
This city; and fight against it,
And take it and burn it with lit
Fire, and I’ll make of Judah’s towns
A desolation on the downs.

It seems a bit vindictive to my mind
That You would make such a fuss when consigned
To broken promises. I seek and find
Much worse in broken promises around
Me where I live and breathe upon the ground.
The trail of broken treaties that is found
The basis of the US I am bound
Is far worse that the Jewish maid and boy
Returned to servanthood and the employ
Of their benign masters in greed and joy.
Remember, my Beloved, the trail of tears,
The child forced from the broken mother’s fears,
The march renewed, the crows that settled fast
To peck the eyes from her lying outcast.

JEREMIAH 35

1 The word which came to Jeremiah
From YHWH in the days of the dire
Jehoiakim son of Josiah
The king of Judah, saying crier:
2 “Go to the house of Rechabites,
And speak to them, and bring the wights
Into the house of YHWH, into
One of the chambers of the crew,
And give them wine to drink in view.”
3 Then I took Jaazaniah son
Of Jeremiah, and the son
Of Habaziniah, and his
Brothers and all his sons in biz,
And the whole house of Rechabites.
4 And I brought them into the lights
Of YHWH’s house, to the chambered cote
Of the sons of Hanan to dote,
The son of Igdaliah, great
Man that he was, which was in rate
By the chamber of the chiefs’ mate,
Above the chamber of Maaseiah,
The son of Shallum for whose hire
The door was kept from thief and fire.

The keeping of the threshold is a rate
Among the shamanistic of the state
Of Turkic peoples who still bow the pate
Before the entrance to what must elate.
I too have been invited for my share
Reciting of Al-Fatihah with care
And love amidst the meal of walnut and
The rice and broth brought out by grieving hand.
Departure from the hall and table set
Was my embarrassment not to forget,
Who stumbled on the high threshold as though
Ali had not been kept in mind and show.
Beloved, my Abdal heart is full to glow.
I stumble as I whirl from row to row.

5 I set before the sons of house
Of Rechabites canters to douse,
Full of wines and cups and I said
To them “Drink up, the wine is bled.”
6 But they said “We will drink no wine;
For Jonadab the son supine
Of Rechab our ancestor did
Command us saying and to bid:
’You shall drink no wine, not you or
Your sons now and for evermore.
7 ”Neither shall you build houses or
Sow seed or plant the vineyard’s store,
Nor have any such, all your days
You shall dwell in tents for your praise;
And so live long upon the land
In which you are strangers to stand.
8 “So we’ve obeyed Jonadab’s voice,
The son of Rechab who of choice
Is our ancestor in all he
Has charged us, to drink no wine’s fee
All our days, we, our wives, our sons,
Nor our daughters either, by tons.
9 “Nor to build houses where to live,
Neither have we vineyards to give,
Nor field nor seed: 10 “But we remain
In tents and so obey the fane,
And do according to all that
Jonadab our ancestor spat.
11 “But it happened when came the king
Nebuchadrezzar from the spring
Of Babylon, that we said ’Come,
Let’s get Jerusalem to hum
For fear of the Chaldeans’ sum,
And fear of Syrian army won:
So we live at Jerusalem.’”

My own great grandfather gave word to each
Of his own progeny with honeyed speech
That none should touch the wine or whiskey’s song
No matter what temptation came along.
I chose a wife from that tradition too,
And so the generations still ring true.
Though Your ten words contain no praise or rue
In that regard, Beloved, I don’t blame You.
And yet through stick and shin I still eschew
The lifted glass, the drunken path in view.
Though I live in the great northern morass,
And slip in summer on the frozen grass,
I still set off the humming of the glass,
The tinkle of the tripping and the gong.

12 Then came the word of YHWH unto
Jeremiah, saying as due,
13 “So says YHWH of hosts, Ælohim
Of Israel ‘Go tell the scheme
To Judah’s men and dwellers in
Jerusalem, “Will you not win
To take to heart My words in bin?”
Says YHWH. 14 “The words of Jonadab
The son of Rechab, that in blab
He commanded his sons not to
Drink wine, are performed by the crew
To this day they drink none, but still
Obey their ancestor’s last bill:
And yet I have spoken to you,
Rising early and speaking too,
But you did not obey My view.
15 “I’ve also sent you My servants
The prophets all rising to dance
Early and sending them to say
Return now each man from the way
Of wickedness, and what you do
Make right, and do not go in crew
After other gods to serve them,
And you shall dwell in the land’s hem
Which I have given you and to
Your ancestors; but you have not
Inclined your ear to hear My plot.
16 “Because the sons of Jonadab
The son of Rechab without flab
Have performed the commandment of
Their ancestor handed in love,
But this folk has not obeyed Me,’
17 “Therefore so says YHWH Ælohim
Of hosts, the Ælohim in fee
Of Israel ‘See, I will bring
Upon Judah and all the ring
Jerusalem inhabiting
All the evil that I’ve proclaimed
Against them; because I arraigned
Them, but they would not hear, and I
Have called them, they would not come nigh.’”
18 And Jeremiah told the clan
Of Rechabites and to a man,
“So says YHWH of hosts, Israel’s God,
‘Because you have obeyed the prod
Of Jonadab your father, and
Kept all his precepts out of hand
And done all in view of command,’
19 “Therefore so says YHWH of hosts still
The Ælohim of Israel’s hill
‘Jonadab son of Rechab will
Not lack a man to stand by Me
For ever and eternally.’”

Sometimes it seems I’m the only man left
Who does not taste the whiskey drawn in heft.
My own Egyptian friend was sure that most
Muslims converted to the Christian host,
In evidence he brought the tale in boast
That London’s full of such to raise a toast
And down the alcoholic swig to roast.
I smile to see criterion so bold
In proof of Christianity in hold:
Get drunk and taste the swine’s flesh so all see
That salvation has fallen in grace free.
Thank God I join with Rechabite band in
My liberty from such evils in bin,
To celebrate an ancient joy with din.

JEREMIAH 36

1 It came to pass in the fourth year
Of Jehoiakim son and spear
Of Josiah king of Judah,
That this word came into the craw
Of Jeremiah from YHWH saying
2 “Take you a roll of book displaying
And write in it all the words I
Have spoken to you against lie
Of Israel and Judah, and
Against all the nations that stand
From the day I spoke to you, from
The days of Josiah in sum
Even to this day, every hum.
3 “It may be that the house of Judah
Will hear all the evil and ruder
Which I propose to do to them;
And they may so turn back in hem
Each one from his bad stratagem;
Then I may forgive all their sin
And their iniquity in bin.”

I meet the scroll and book, Beloved, today
As Judah when Jehoiakim held sway
And sat upon King David’s throne in peace.
The retribution that false deeds must bring
In fruit of what was sown might well increase.
So Jeremiah read before the king.
What was the price of peace with You that year,
The fourth of King Jehoiakim for fear?
You only wanted them to turn away
From evil and confess the plot and stay
Obedient to Your will in time to come.
You did not ask a pledge or future sum.
As soon as man turns from the evil deed
You then forgive and that with right good speed.

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch
The son of Neriah, no kook,
And Baruch wrote from the dictation
Of Jeremiah all the ration
Of YHWH which He had spoken to
Him, on a roll of book in view.
5 And Jeremiah gave command
To Baruch, saying “I’m in band,
And cannot go into the house
Of YHWH, 6 “so you go like a mouse
And read the roll, which you now wrote
From my dictation, YHWH’s words smote
In the ears of the people in
YHWH’s house upon the day of din
And fasting, and also you’ll read
Them in the ears of all to heed
Of Judah that come out that day
From their cities to temple’s sway.
7 “It may be they will come to make
Their supplication for their sake
Before YHWH and will so repent
Each one from his wicked way bent,
For great is the wrath and the fury
That YHWH has pronounced in a hurry
Against these people to resent.”
8 And Baruch Neriah’s son did
Everything Jeremiah bid,
And what the prophet did command,
Reading the book on every hand
The message of YHWH in the place
Of YHWH’s house before every face.
9 It happened in the fifth year of
Jehoiakim the son to love
Of Josiah, king of Judah,
In the ninth month, they set in awe
A fast before YHWH for the folk
All living in Jerusalem,
And to all the people in yoke
Who came from the towns at a stroke
In Judah to Jerusalem.

Jehoiakim was not a righteous king,
But he knew forms and he would do the thing
Required by all tradition, so he called
The people to the fast and unappalled
By his hypocrisy proclaimed the day
The month of fasting started. Ninth month fast
Known from antiquity proved not astray
And this brave king was true ecclesiast.
Ninth month for fasting, so long known and kept
By those who sought You, my Beloved, and wept
To find the mornings empty, cool and clear,
Speak to me too beyond the silence here.
Stop tongue of word and bread and keep the eye
From dark and light while You are passing by.

10 Then Baruch read the book containing
The words of Jeremiah reigning
In YHWH’s house in the chamber of
Germariah who was son of
Shaphan the scribe, in higher court,
At entry of new gate’s resort
To YHWH’s house in the hearing of
All the people and for their sport.
11 Michaiah Gemariah’s son,
The son of Shaphan, heard well-spun
All the words of YHWH from the book,
12 Then he went down into the nook
Of the king, in the scribal room,
And see, all the princes in gloom
Sat there, Elishama the scribe,
Delaiah Shemaiah’s son’s tribe,
And Elnath son of Achbor,
And Gemariah Shaphan’s score,
And Zedekiah who was son
Of Hananiah, and a ton
Of princes, all of them when done.
13 And Michaiah told them about
All the messages he’d heard out
When Baruch read the book before
The hearing of the folk in store.
14 So all the princes sent Jehudi
The son of Nethaniah broody
The son of Shelemiah, who
Was the son of Cushi, into
Baruch, saying “Take in your hand
The roll that you’ve read contraband
In hearing of the folk, and come.
So Baruch and Neriah’s bum
Took the roll in his hand and came
Over to them to hear their claim.”
15 And they said to him, “Sit down now
And read it in our hearing too.
So Baruch read it anyhow.
16 It happened when they’d heard the view
Of all the words, they were afraid
Each one of them who sat and stayed,
And said to Baruch, “We must tell
The king of all these words in spell.”
17 And they asked Baruch saying “Say,
How did you write these words this way,
All these things from his mouth and sway?”
18 The Baruch answered them, “He spoke
All these things to me at a stroke,
And I wrote them down using ink
In this book for to swim or sink.”
19 Then the chiefs said to Baruch “Go
And hide, both you and Jeremiah,
So no one knows your place of hire.”

I’ve written down again the words in store
That Jeremiah quoted and much more,
And though I hide upon my own lakeshore
Far from the galloping of greedy core,
I need not fear as Baruch did of old,
Simply because there is not of the bold
Who reads or listens to my tirade now,
Either in print or on street corner’s vow.
When Edward Elwall lifted up his head
To cry aloud against trinities led
Into the Church of England and outspread,
They took him to the court for wine and bread.
Even in those days long since gone awry
He was acquitted, though a Turkish spy.

20 And they went to the king not slow
And into the court and to show
To roll in the room of the scribe
Elishama, and told the ribe
In hearing of the king below.
21 So the king sent Jehudi then
To fetch the roll out of the den
Of Elishama the scribe and
Jehudi too and read it in
The ears of the king, also in
The ears of all the princes which
Stood beside the king at a pitch.
22 Now the king sat in winter house
In the ninth month, and not to dowse
There was a fire on brazier there
Burning before him for warmth’s share.
23 It happened when Jehudi read
Three or four leaves, he cut the spread
With a penknife and threw it in
The fire on the hearth and in bin
Till all the roll had been burned up
In the fire that flamed in the cup.
24 And the king and all his servants
Who heard and these words’ song and dance
Were not afraid and did not tear
Their garments in repentance share.
25 Still Elnathan and Delaiah
And Gemariah held out paw
To the king pleading not to burn
The roll, but he’d not hear or learn.
26 The king commanded Jerahmeel
The son of Hammelech for weal,
And Seraiah Azriel’s son,
And Shelemiah Abdeel’s son,
To take Baruch the scribe and yet
Jeremiah the prophet set,
But YHWH had hidden them when met.

I wonder that in those days far away
The king would have a penknife on display.
I don’t suppose the thing was Swedish steel,
And yet I wonder what the king in heel
Would do with it, and if he knew to read,
And had his letters cosy in the reed.
The specialist in some reigns took the pen
While king and courtier hardly knew the fen.
I understand that many such stood tall
Before the Czar himself, not far from all.
If the king reads and writes, I lift my hat,
Even if he’s irreverent on the mat
Before the word prophetic where he sat.
I still think that this king is a cool cat.

27 Then YHWH’s word came to Jeremiah,
After the king had burned the prior
Roll and the words which Baruch wrote
Dictated by Jeremiah,
Saying 28 “Take yet another note
And write on it with pen like claw
All the former words in first draw,
Which Jehoiakim Judah’s king
Has burned after his knife-cut’s sting.
29 “And you’ll say to Jehoiakim
King of Judah, ‘So says YHWH grim:
“You have burned this roll, saying ‘Why
Have you written down such a cry,
Saying “The king of Babylon
Shall certainly come unwithdrawn
To destroy this land and shall take
From it both man and beast in stake?”’”
30 So says YHWH of Jehoiakim
King of Judah, “He’ll have none trim
To sit upon David’s throne; and
His dead body shall meet the sand
In the day of heat and the night
Of frost and not put out of sight.
31 “And I will punish him and his
Spawn and his servant for their biz,
And I will bring on them and on
Dwellers of Jerusalem’s spawn,
And on the men of Judah, all
The evil I have come to call
Against them but they’d not obey.”
32 Then Jeremiah took away
Another roll and gave it to
Baruch the scribe, Neriah’s true
Son, who wrote down by the dictation
Of Jeremiah all the ration
Of words of the book which before
Jehoiakim king at the door
Of Judah had burned in the fire:
As well as more messages dire.

I doubt that Jehoiakim really can
Wield pen on parchment like a ready man.
The prophet and priest Jeremiah takes
A scribe professional for his own stakes.
I can myself produce a ready hand
If not too beautiful in tone to stand,
Not copperplate like that my great granddad
Produced as county clerk, a job not bad.
But now my hand slips over keys instead
Before I leave my poetry for bed.
And with a stroke I quickly find me led
Into the realm of those who cannot write,
But only touch the wonders of their flight,
And still grip royal powers despite the fright.

JEREMIAH 37

1 King Zedekiah the son of
Josiah reigned in the stead of
Coniah Jehoiakim’s son,
Whom Nebuchadrezzar when done
The king of Babylon made king
In the land of Judah to sing.
2 But neither he nor his servants
Nor the people of the land dance
According to the word of YHWH
Spoken by Jeremiah due,
The prophet of Ælohim too.
3 And Zedekiah the king sent
Jehucal son of Shelemiah
And Zephaniah the son higher
Of Maaseiah the priest to say
To prophet Jeremiah’s sway:
”Pray now to YHWH our Ælohim
On our behalf for what things seem.”
4 Jeremiah came in and went
Out among the people forspent;
For they’d not put him in the fort.
5 Then Pharaoh’s army came in sport
Out of Egypt and when the men
Of the Chaldeans that again
Besieged Jerusalem hear that,
They left Jerusalem out flat.

Beloved, if You propose to make the men
Of Judah believe that Babylon’s ken
Is to be established for time and good,
And Egypt to be mocked and knocked on wood,
They You might have prevented the fell fate
Of the Chaldeans running from the mate
Of Egypt when he shows his army’s rate.
We can be thought to doubt Your prophet’s word
When reason, habit, and the plague deferred
Give Egypt every prospect to be heard.
Why knuckle under Babylon because
Some prophet sang a song about its claws,
When Egypt clearly has a chance to make
The Chaldeans flee once more in its wake?

6 Then came the word of YHWH unto
The prophet Jeremiah due
7 “So says YHWH Israel’s Ælohim,
‘So shall you say to Judah’s cream,
The king who sent you out to Me
To enquire of My show, “So now see,
Pharaoh’s army come out to help
Shall go back to Egypt with yelp.
8 “The Chaldeans shall come again
And fight against this town of men
And take it and burn to the ground
With fire and all in it that’s found.”’”
9 So says YHWH, “Don’t deceive yourselves,
Saying ‘The Chaldeans like elves
Will surely go away from us,’
For they’ll not leave without a fuss.
10 “Though you had struck down the whole band
Of the Chaldeans at your hand,
And there remained just wounded men
Among them, still they should again
Get up each one from his own tent
And burn this city to prevent.”

If You have in Your sovereignty appointed
The king of Babylon as Your anointed
Against Egyptian stare and empire’s star,
You give but little evidence and far.
One prophet speaks for and another comes
To speak against the Chaldeans and gums.
What is a king to do before the stroke
Of empires on both sides of iron yoke,
And prophets sending no consistent sound?
One has to choose between them on the ground.
A king can only do what looks the best,
And so far and for centuries the west
Has always in time come through and with zest.
I too do what I can with what is found.

11 It happened that when the army
Of the Chaldeans on their spree
Was scattered from Jerusalem
For fear of Pharaoh’s stratagem,
12 Then Jeremiah went out from
Jerusalem and then to come
To the land of Benjamin and
To separate himself from band
Of the folk. 13 He came to the gate
Of Benjamin, a captain late
Of the ward was there, and whose name
Was Irijah, the son of shame
Of Shelemiah, who was son
Of Hananiah without pun,
And he took Jeremiah prophet,
Saying “You are traitor to scoff at
To go to the Chaldeans’ run.”
14 And Jeremiah said “It’s false,
I do not dance Chaldeans’ waltz.”
But he would not listen to him,
So Irijah took him with vim,
And brought Jeremiah back to
The princes. 15 And the princes too
Were angry with Jeremiah,
And stuck him and put under paw
In prison in the house of one
Scribe whose name was then Jonathan.
For they had made that prison’s pew.
16 When Jeremiah came into
The dungeon and in the room’s stew,
And Jeremiah had been there
For many days in captive share,
17 Then Zedekiah the king sent
And took him out and so he went
Secretly to the king who asked
In his house saying where he basked
Is there a message come from YHWH?
And Jeremiah said “Here’s clue;
For so He says, you shall be taken
By the hand of the king forsaken
Of Babylon, I’m not mistaken.”
18 Moreover Jeremiah said
To king Zedekiah outspread,
”What have I done in your offence,
Or against your servants and tents
That you’ve kept me inside the fence?
19 “Where are now your prophets who said
The king of Babylon outspread
Shall not come against you nor in
This land at all to punish sin?
20 “Hear now, please, my lord king, and let
My petition to you be met,
Not to send me back to the place
Of Jonathan the scribe to trace,
Lest I die there before your face.”
21 So Zedekiah the king said
To put him in the courtyard spread
Of the prison and gave him bread
Each day from the bakers’ street fed.

Beloved, in Your word prophets are the ones
Who cantillate the Hebrew songs and runs,
And so I too am prophet of that sort,
Because I sing the Hebrew Psalms for sport.
I’m lucky that I’m not confined to be
In Jonathan’s rooms for the dungeonry,
But in the courtyard of the king I stand,
Upon the rocky shore and bosky land.
I come down from my garret day by day
To cantillate the ancient words in sway,
To join the magpies on the fence and pay
Respects to sorrel flowering end of May.
I even taste a bit of bread in tune
Within the sight of wood-duck and of loon.

JEREMIAH 38

1 Then Shephatiah, son of Mattan,
And Gedaliah son to fatten
Of Pashur and Jucal the son
Of Shelemiah on the run,
And Pashur the son of Machiah,
Heard the message that Jeremiah
Has spoken to the people, saying:
7 “So says YHWH, ‘The one who will stay in
This city shall die by the sword,
By famine and by plague abhorred;
But the one that goes out to meet
The Chaldeans shall live for treat;
For he shall have his life as prize
And live to earn his living’s guise.’
3 “So says YHWH, ‘This city indeed
Will be given into the greed
Of Babylon’s king’s army come
To take it into Christendom.’”
4 So the princes said to the king,
We beg you, hand this man from string,
For so he weakens all the hands
Of the soldiers in this town’s stands,
And the power of the people too,
By speaking such words in their view,
For this man does not foster good
To this folk, but their harm from hood.
5 Then Zedekiah the king said,
See, he is in your hand and led;
For the king is not one to do
Anything against folk and you.
6 So they took Jeremiah too,
And threw him in the pit and pew
Of Machiah son of the king,
That is in the court’s prison wing,
Let Jeremiah down with ropes.
And in the dungeon without hopes
There was no water, only mud,
So Jeremiah sunk in crud.

The fact is Jeremiah casts up spells
Against the people with the things he tells.
If magic does not wield a way of power,
Still such talk tends to weaken in an hour,
And there are always those whose fearful hearts
Will succumb to the wilderness of darts.
Magicians and all prophets to the last
Should be taken up by police and cast
Into the hopeful pit when mud is fast.
Beloved, I seek You at the royal door,
And find the officers and stately whore,
But nothing of Yourself I may adore.
Perhaps You’re taken in the king’s new net
And let down by new ropes. She what You get.

7 An Ethiopian servant of
The king, a eunuch without glove
In the king’s house, heard they had put
Jeremiah in dungeon’s foot,
While the king sat under the gate
Of Benjamin to shade his pate.
8 The servant of the king went out
Of the king’s house as with a shout
To the king and he said as stout,
9 ”My lord the king, these men have done
Evil in all that they have won
Against Jeremiah the prophet,
Whom they have thrown in pit to scoff at;
And he’s about to die for lack
Of food where he is on his back,
For there’s no more bread on the stack.
10 So the king gave an order to
The Ethiopian servant true,
Saying “Take thirty men with you,
And take up Jeremiah who
Is prophet still out of the pit,
Before he dies or has a fit.”
11 So the king’s servant too the men
With him and went into the den
Of the king under treasury,
And took from there old rags for free,
And let them down by ropes, you see,
Into the pit to Jeremiah.
12 The Ethiopian servant then
Said to Jeremiah in den,
”Put these old rags in your armpits
Under the cords to prevent splits.
And Jeremiah did so too.
13 So they pulled up by ropes and crew
Jeremiah, and took him out
Of the dungeon to stand up stout,
And Jeremiah then stayed in
The court of the prison to win.

It is no racist slur, perhaps, that one
Of African birth vying under sun
Alone thought of Your prophet where he sat
In mud within the pit without a mat.
And he alone thought to soften the cord
That might have cut the armpits once restored.
It is no racist slur, perhaps, to note
An Ethiopian came out and smote
The persecution of Your friend and that
Sweet singer of the prophecies out flat.
Beloved, let every royal lodge and court
Boast of at least one Ethiopic sport
To soften the blows of human report
And cushion Your judgement against the fat.

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent,
And took Jeremiah unbent,
The prophet to him to the third
Entry that is in the house heard
Of YHWH, and the king spoke aloud
To Jeremiah: “Without shroud
I’ll ask you, so answer uncowed.”
15 The Jeremiah spoke unto
Zedekiah, ”If I tell you,
Will you not surely kill me too?
And if I give you good advice,
Will you not listen in a trice?”
16 So Zedekiah the king swore
In secret on the royal floor
To Jeremiah, and he said
“As YHWH lives that made this soul led,
I will not put you to death nor
Will I give you into the store
Of the men who would kill you more.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to him,
“So says YHWH Ælohim not dim
Of armies, Israel’s Ælohim,
‘If you will certainly take scheme
To surrender to the king of
Babylon’s princes, then for shove
Your soul shall live, and this town not
Be burned with fire, and in your lot
You’ll live as well as your spawn’s plot.
18 “But if you don’t surrender now
To king of Babylon’s chief how,
Then this town will be given to
The power of the Chaldean crew,
And they shall burn it with fire too,
And you will not escape the brew.’”

The prophet is so sure of future hope
And the distress of Judah in its scope
That he does not back down, but gives the word
In secret as well as in writ that stirred
The heart of king and officer preferred.
The king believes prediction whets his tongue
And not the magic spells of weakened rung,
And so comes to assure himself of all
That You reveal upon the glittered ball.
Beloved, I too seek truth among the pales
Of those predictions of disaster’s wails,
And find them beached for flippers and their tails.
Spout once if by land, two if by the sea
I come to meet my last eternity.

19 And Zedekiah the king said
To Jeremiah, “I am led
By fear of the Jews that have fled
To the Chaldeans, lest they take
Me up as mockery at stake.”
20 And Jeremiah said, “Not they,
They will not turn you, but obey,
Please, the voice of YHWH that I say,
So it shall go well with you and
Your soul shall live and come to stand.
21 “But if your refuse to go out,
This is YHWH word come with a shout:
22 ‘See all the women that are left
In the king of Judah’s house cleft
Shall be brought out before the king
Of Babylon’s princes in ring
And those women shall say a thing:
“Your friends have set you and have yet
Prevailed against you with their set,
And your feet are stuck in the mud,
And they have turned back from the flood.”
23 “So they shall bring out all your wives
And your children into the hives
Of the Chaldeans, and you shall not
Escape out of their hand and plot,
But shall be taken by the hand
Of the king of Babylon grand,
And you shall cause this city here
To be burned up with fire and fear.’”

Kings are not free to do the thing they wish,
But must take to heart every kind of dish
That shows a face in court and in intrigue,
And know who is in power and in league.
So Zedekiah feared the ones who spoke
In favour of Egyptian sort of yoke,
And those who had turned coat and gone to make
Peace with the Chaldeans for city’s sake.
Beloved, kings fear all parties, and their heirs
In democratic forms for lack of stairs
Fear every lobby that wields but sixpence
To vote them out of office into tents.
Let me fear You alone, Beloved, to whom
I turn in flight from myself and Your doom.

24 Then Zedekiah spoke again
To Jeremiah from his den,
“Let no man know these words at all,
And you shall not die at the wall.
25 “But if the princes hear that I
Have talked with you and they come by
And say to you, ‘Now tell us what
You told the king and do not shut
It from us and we won’t kill you,
And also what the king said too,’
26 “Then you shall say to them, ‘I set
My petition to the king met
Not to put me back in the house
Of Jonathan to die like mouse.’”
27 Then all the princes came to ask
Jeremiah about the task,
And he told them according to
The words the king ordered him to.
So they left off speaking with him,
And did not know that it was grim.
28 So Jeremiah stayed to live
In prison court definitive
Until the day Jerusalem
Was taken by the stratagem,
And he was there when the town fell
To Babylon and to Babel.

When You, Beloved, come with the eastern kings
To find my shelter in the court that rings
With praise and the presumption that out flings
From sweet and Christian sacrificial wings,
Find me bereft and barren still, though tide
Of hope and harrowing is at my side.
The petty policies of market life
Go all about me head and hand for strife,
And yet I stand aloof by every hand,
Made no participant of any band.
Beloved, when You enter the golden gate
And all bow beneath Your foot in their fate,
Release me from the prison and the court,
Remember that I cried to You in sport.

JEREMIAH 39

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah,
The king of Judah, tenth month nigher,
Came Nebuchadrezzar the king
Of Babylon and all his sting
Of army to Jerusalem,
And they laid siege against its hem.
2 Zedekiah’s eleventh year,
In the fourth month, and so to steer
On the ninth of the month, the town
Was broken up, its walls thrown down.
3 And all the princes of the king
Of Babylon came in a ring
And sat in the middle gate, all:
Nergalsharezer by the wall,
Samgarnebo, Sarsechim too,
Rabsaris, as well in his pew
Nergalsharezer and Rabmag,
With all the residue rag-tag
Of princes of Babylon’s king.
4 It happened when Zedekiah
The king of Judah came and saw
And all the men of war, they fled
And left the city by night led
By way of the king’s garden, by
The gate between the two walls nigh,
And he went out the valley road.
5 But Chaldeans in army strode
After him and overtook him,
Zedekiah near to the brim
Of Jericho, and when they had
Taken him, they brought him up sad
To Nebuchadnezzar the king
Of Babylon to Riblah’s wing
In the land of Hamath, where he
Gave judgement upon his degree.

The irony is that when Jeremiah
Fled from Jerusalem the captain crier
Caught him before he entered Jericho.
The same thing happened in the royal show
To Zedekiah when he sneaked at night.
Jeremiah travelled there in plain sight.
Beloved, I have been caught by evil crew,
By hand of the police, by legal brew,
Though innocent and more so than Your man
This Jeremiah with politics’ scan.
I too have been caught in strength of daylight.
Send all who laid a hand on me for spite
As refugees at midnight but to find
The catcher catching them before, behind.

6 Then the king of Babylon killed
The sons of Zedekiah filled
In Riblah there before his eyes,
Babylon’s king without disguise
Also killed all his noble guys.
7 And then he put out the king’s eyes,
That’s Zedekiah’s, and put him
In chains to take him captive grim
To Babylon. 8 House of the king,
And house of the folk in their sting
The Chaldeans burned down with fire,
Broke Jerusalem’s walls in ire.
9 Then Nebuzaradan the chief
Of the guard carried off in grief
To Babylon the people left
In the city, and those as deft
Who had joined him, along with those
Of the folk remaining in rows.
10 But of the poor who had no wealth,
Those Nebuzaradan for health
Chief of the guard, left in the land
Of Judah and he gave in hand
To them vineyards and fields to stand
On the same day of the disband.

The thing You told to Jeremiah came
To pass in the very way of Your claim.
Your error was in not giving enough
Evidence You were speaking in the tough.
You sit ensconced in sovereign majesty
And look out over kingdoms and the sea
And do not realize how misty things can be.
The dangers lurking in intrigue and dark,
The hidden mugger slinking in the park,
Are things unknown to You, at least in fear.
You know, but we wait for things to appear.
So Your prophet turned out right in the end.
But choices were made before turn of bend,
Before the clarity of clang and gear.

11 And Nebuchadrezzar the king
Of Babylon gave charge to sing
Of Jeremiah, by the hand
Of Nebuzaradan to stand
As chief of the guard in command:
12 Take him and keep him under eye
Not to do harm to him for why,
But deal with him just as he hopes.
13 Nebuzaradan in his scopes
As chief of the guard sent the men
Nebushasban, Rabsaris then,
And Nergalsharezer as well
As Rabmag and the chiefs to tell
Of all the king of Babylon.
14 They sent and took Jeremiah
Out of the prison court withdrawn
And put him in the hand and paw
Of Gedaliah who was son
Of Ahikam, and Shaphan’s son,
That he should take him home; so he
Lived there with his own family.

The fact that Nebuchadnezzar gave weight
Of hope and health in Jeremiah’s fate
Is just more evidence the captain’s right
Who caught him and arrested him in flight.
Collaboration with invaders must
Precede the raising of a man from dust,
And so the happy end and happy thrust,
When others lost their eyes as well as trust,
Makes one think Jeremiah had a will
Political and traitorous to fill.
Beloved, You might have left Your man to be
Free of the royal deed and royal fee.
Then others might believe innocency.

15 Now YHWH’s word came to Jeremiah,
While he was shut up in the mire
Of the prison court and He said:
16 “Go tell the king’s servant who is
An Ethiopian and whiz,
Saying ‘So says YHWH of hosts, who
Is Israel’s Ælohim in view,
“See, I will bring My words upon
This town for evil and not dawn
Of good; and they shall come to pass
In that day before you, alas.
17 “And I will save you in that day,”
Says YHWH, “and you shall go your way,
And not be given in the fray
Into the power of men for prey.
18 “For I will certainly save you,
And you’ll not fall by the sword’s cue,
But your life shall be your own prize,
Since you have trusted Me,” says YHWH.’”

The sweetness and the empathy once shown
By Ethiopian behind the throne
To Jeremiah in the prison pit
You will reward with Your salvation fit.
I too have met once or twice in my life
An Ethiopian and without strife
Found sweetness and an empathy to share
Beyond the run of gill, beyond the fair.
Beloved, the Ethiopian cannot
Change skin, nor leopard yet a single spot,
For which I’m glad. It would be truly sad
If Ethiopian too became bad.
You give to every nation for its own
Gifts evident and others to be shown.

JEREMIAH 40

1 The message that came from YHWH to
Jeremiah after that crew
Of Nebuzaradan the chief
Of the guard had for his relief
Let him go from Ramah when he
Had taken him in chains’ degree
Among all those carried away
Captive from Jerusalem’s sway
And Judah, those who went at drawn
Captive in chains to Babylon.
2 And the captain of the guard took
Jeremiah and said to look,
”YHWH your Ælohim has declared
Evil upon this place He shared.
3 “Now YHWH’s brought and done what He said,
Because you sinned against YHWH’s spread,
And have not obeyed His voice, so
This thing has come on you to show.
4 “And now, see, I release you now
From the chains on your hand and brow.
And if you want to come with me
To Babylon, then come freely,
And I will look after you well;
But if you don’t want a place to dwell
With my in Babylon, then stay;
See all the land is in your way,
Wherever it seems best to you,
Go there and there live in your pew.
5 Before he went back then he said
”Go back also and so be led
To Gedaliah who is son
Of Ahikam who’s Shaphan’s son,
The one the king of Babylon
Has made the governor to sit
Over the towns of Judah fit,
And stay with him among the folk;
Or go wherever you invoke.”
So the chief of the guard gave him
Victuals and a reward and trim
Let him go where he would with vim.
6 Then Jeremiah went back to
Gedaliah Ahikam’s crew
In Mizpeh; and lived with him there
Among the folk left in land’s share.

The pagan captains turned the prophet in
To the hand of the governor to win,
Who gave the man both food and place to live,
And a reward for what he had to give.
I guess that shows it’s possible to keep
The pure word and divine among the sheep
With pastors who take gain for what they do.
I should have thought corruption’s then in view.
Beloved, I’ve fed a sheep or two in time,
I’ve also slaughtered sheep if that’s a crime,
Like many pastors do. Give me reward,
The golden coin of sunrise and restored
The brazen, flaming bills of sun that sets,
And I will have the gains of hedging bets.

7 When all the army chiefs in field,
They and their men heard of the yield,
How Babylon’s king had set up
Gedaliah Ahikam’s tup
As governor in the land, and
Committed to him men to stand
And women and children and poor
Of the land, of those not bourn sure
As captive into Babylon;
8 They came to Gedaliah drawn
To Mizpeh, that is Ishmael
The son of Nethaniah’s spell,
And Johanan and Jonathan
The sons of Kareah as can,
And Jezaniah the son of
A Maachathite, men at the shove.
9 Gedaliah Ahikam’s son
The son of Shaphan swore when don
To them and to their men to say
”Don’t be afraid to serve in sway
The Chaldeans; stay in the land,
And serve Babylon’s king and stand,
And it shall be well with your hand.
10 As for me, I will live indeed
At Mizpeh and serve as by need
The Chaldeans who came to us.
But you gather grape juice and muss
And summer fruit and oil and put
Them in your store vessels by foot
And live in your towns with your seed.”

The king of Babylon came by
And no one even asked him why
He wanted slaves and wives and rings
As well as gold and all such things.
He took the rich away to be
Adornments on his Christmas tree.
The prophets warned them for their sinnings
That they stood well to lose their winnings.
Beloved, You warn the people and
The world astride the great bandstand.
But still the empty value placed
On power and metal goes untraced.
The wine and fruit and oil retire
Before the silver-stringèd lyre.

The poor oppressed were left behind
To live wherever they could find
In empty cities’ palaces,
To drink from crystal chalices
The king of Babylon left there
Because he thought they’d break somewhere
Before he got to Babylon
With donkeys for to pack them on.
And so these poor had oil and wine
For the first time perhaps to dine.
They had the love of mercy since
Their suffering with the former prince.
Beloved, You never did forsake
The poor left in the battle’s wake.

But they ate fruit instead of bread
To show that when all’s done and said,
They were not free, but served the king
And for protection had to sing.
If oil is as dear Micah said
To love mercy, and if the bread
Is doing justly, while the wine
Is walking humbly with You, fine,
Then I shall give up eating fruit,
If that is keeping the king’s suit.
Give me the bread of justice for
My apple and my peach’s store.
And I, Beloved, shall dine with You
In woollen gown and without shoe.

11 Likewise when all the Jews who stayed
In Moab, Ammonites waylaid,
And in Edom, and all the lands
Heard that Babylon’s king in hands
Had left a remnant in Judah,
And set over them hand and claw
Gedaliah Ahikam’s son,
The son of Shaphan said and done,
12 Then all the Jews came back from there,
From the places of refuge bare,
And came to Judah’s land to share,
To Gedaliah in Mizpeh,
And gathered wine and at a draw
Much summer fruit to keep in lair.
13 Moreover Johanan the son
Of Kareah, and the chiefs won
Of the bands that were in the fields,
Came to Gedaliah with shields
In Mizpeh, 14 and they said to him,
”Do you know that Baalis for vim
The king of the Ammonites sent
Ishmael Nethaniah’s son spent
To kill you? But Gedaliah
The son of Ahikam for straw
Did not believe admonishment.
15 Johanan Kareah’s son spoke
To Gedaliah at a stroke
In Mizpeh secretly and said
”Let me go, please, and I’ll be led
To kill Ishmael who is the son
Of Nethaniah, and no one
Shall know; why should he kill you so
All the Jews gathered here in show
To you should be scattered again
And what remains of Judah’s men?
16 Gedaliah Ahikam’s son
Said to Johanan who was son
Of Kareah, “Don’t do this thing,
You speak falsely of Ishmael’s sling.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html