JEREMIAH CHAPTER 41 - 46

JEREMIAH 41

1 To wit, in the seventh month came
Ishmael Nethaniah’s son’s flame
The son of Elishama and
Of royal family and band
And of the royal officers,
To Gedaliah with ten fers,
To the son of Ahikam there
At Mizpeh, and they ate their share
Of bread in Mizpeh to be fair.

Now Ishmael had no time for fruit,
He gave up oil and wine to boot.
He wanted freedom for his bread,
And so he made a plot instead
Of serving foreign kings their taxes.
He made a store of spears and axes
And under pretence of good peace
He fooled the governor’s police
And at a banquet of friendship
He stabbed the poor man in the hip.
That comes of thinking just of bread
And leaving wine and oil unshed.
Ishmael of royal seed, pariah,
Thought that he was the Jews’ messiah.

2 Up Ishmael son of Nathaniah
Got and the ten men of pariah
With him and struck down Gedaliah
The son of Ahikam the son
Of Shaphan with the sword to run
Through him and kill him, whom the king
Of Babylon set governing.
3 And Ishmael also killed the Jews
All that were with him in their crews,
With Gedaliah at Mizpeh,
And the Chaldeans men of awe.
4 It happened on the second day
After he killed Gedaliah,
No one knew that he’d gone astray.
5 There came some from Shechem and from
Shiloh in Samaria’s hum,
Eighty men with beards shaven and
Their clothing torn, and cut in band,
With offerings and incense in hand,
To bring them to the house of YHWH.

I’d always thought it was a heathen try
That let the folk cut and bleed in the rye.
They did the thing when one came on the mount
Of Carmel with water barrels for fount.
But here the true and lovely cut themselves
As though they danced and prayed to satyr elves.
I’ll have to curb the tongues the criticise
Ashura’s slashing of foreheads and thighs,
The bleeding backs of those who weep aloud
For Husseyn and the martyrs in their crowd.
Beloved, I join the vast procession where
The lovely and unlovely come to share
In grief to beat their chests with pain laid bare,
And thirst beneath sun on Karbela’s care.

6 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah
Went out of Mizpeh as a crier
All along as he went and when
It happened that he met those men,
He told them, “Come to Gedaliah
The son of Ahikam and higher.”
7 And when they came into the town,
Ishmael Nethaniah’s renown
Son killed them, threw them in the pit,
He and the men with him as fit.
8 But ten men among them replied
To Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, abide,
For we have treasures of grain too,
And barley, oil and honey dew.”
So he refrained from killing them
Among their brothers’ stratagem.

Ten men were saved for bread and mercy.
Good at avoiding controversy,
They had no wine nor thought of God,
But they had honey, which was odd.
Instead of divine ecstasy,
Their sweet talk gave them amnesty.
Sweet talk has passed for good religion
More times than crow has passed for pigeon.
Beloved, I drink in You the sweet
That I a honey-bee find meet.
I sip Your wine of ecstasy
As I walk with You most humbly.
I give my life and acts and breath
And stand with ten, or go to death.

9 And the pit where Ishmael had thrown
All the carcases of the blown,
Whom he had killed for Gedaliah,
Was the one Asa the king made
For fear of Baasha on parade
The king of Israel, and so
Ishmael son of Nethaniah
Filled it with those killed on the go.
10 Then Ishmael carried off the rest
Of the folk in Mizpeh with zest
As captives, the king’s daughters too,
And all the people left in pew
Of Mizpeh, whom Nebuzaradan
The chief of the guard had once laid on
Gedaliah Ahikam’s son;
And Ishmael son of Nethaniah
Carried them captive on their bun,
And went to Ammonites’ pariah.

Ishmael takes refuge in Ammon awhile
From heathen hand and tongue to gain a mile.
Ishmael though murderer has earned a smile.
Let me take my ten captives in the way,
The ten words that You spoke in grand display,
And carry them to Ammon as in feast
To wait the coming of my faith increased.
Beloved, rejoice with me that I’m alive,
And not among the faithful in the hive
Who fell before the sword for being trim
With Nebuchadnezzar both strong and grim.
I whisk away the crumbs and lift the glass
Of tea and mint to see the nations pass
Before the refugees of gold and brass.

11 When Johanan Kareah’s son
And all the chiefs of the bands won
That were with him heard the bad news
Of what Ishmael the son in strews
Of Nethaniah did in crews,
12 Then they took all the men and went
To fight with Ishmael and the spent
Son of Nethaniah and found
Him by the great waters renowned
That are in Gibeon’s abound.
13 It happened when all the folk that
Were with Ishmael saw that out flat
Johanan son of Kareah
And all the chiefs of armies draw
With him then they were glad and sat.
14 So all the folk that Ishmael stole
Away captive from Mizpeh’s roll
Turned round and went back with Johanan
The son of Kareah for planning.
15 But Ishmael Methaniah’s son
Escaped from Johanan to run
With eight men to the Ammonites.
16 Then Johanan son of Kareah,
And all the chiefs of armies freer
That were with him and all the rest
Of the folk who returned at best
From Ishmael son of Methaniah
From Mizpeh, after he pariah
Had secretly killed Gedaliah
The son of Ahikam as well
As the soldiers and women’s spell
And children and eunuchs whom he
Had brought back from Gibeon’s fee.
17 And they left and stayed in a place
Of Chimham by Bethlehem’s trace,
Ready to flee to Egypt’s face,
18 Because of the Chaldeans’ race,
For they were afraid of them since
Ishmael Nethaniah’s born quince
Killed Gedaliah son of old
Ahikam, Babylon’s king told
To rule the land for hot or cold.

And yet what did poor Gedaliah do
But submit to Your will come into view?
He might have kept the lowly in their state,
And near to Jerusalem for their fate,
If Ishmael had not come to split his pate.
Beloved, the ones who claim with louder voice
To serve You with the arms of greater choice
Reward the world and week with violence
That dissipates what’s left of flour and pence.
It was so in that ancient day and now
It is the rule of life on hand and brow
That violence begets the which and how
Of grief and pain for everyone around,
The rich as well as poor upon the ground.

JEREMIAH 42

1 Then all the chiefs of armies and
Johanan Kareah’s son’s hand
And Jezaniah who was son
Of Hoshaiah, and all the run
Of folk from the least to the best,
Came near, 2 and said as though for test
To Jeremiah the prophet,
“Please let our supplication met
Be accepted before you and
Pray for us to YHWH Ælohim,
For all these people left that seem
So few left from so many scanned,
3 “That YHWH your Ælohim may show
Us the way by which we should go,
And what thing we should do below.”
4 Jeremiah the prophet said
To them, “I have heard you in dread,
See I will pray YHWH Ælohim
According to your words and dream,
And it shall happen what YHWH shows
In answer I’ll give blows by blows,
And keep back nothing from the rows.”
5 They said to Jeremiah “YHWH
Be true and faithful witness too
Between us, if we do not do
According to what then says YHWH
Your Ælohim to us in view.
6 “Be it good or not we’ll obey
The voice of YHWH our Ælohim,
To whom we send you now to pray,
That it may be well in our scheme,
When we obey the voice of YHWH
Our Ælohim in what we do.”

Give me, Beloved, that ancient faith that cried
To Jeremiah after all the tide
Of heathen interventions on their pride.
Let me, beloved, obey Your voice and true
And whether good or evil, let me do
According to the word spoke on the mount
And writ with divine hand to an account.
“Be it good or not we’ll obey” remains
The watchword of my heart instead of gains
While I tramp over cobblestones to find
The harbour and the lake with islands rined.
The shallow days rock me to slumber stilled,
But when I hear Your word, my heart is filled
With new life to regard what I have killed.

7 It happened after ten days that
The word of YHWH came down where sat
Jeremiah. 8 And so he called
Johanan Kareah’s son hauled,
And all the chiefs of armies that
Were with him and all the folk from
The least to the best, every bum.
9 He said to them, “So now says YHWH
The Ælohim of Israel’s crew,
To whom you sent me to present
Your supplication at His tent.
10 “’If you’ll stay quiet in this land,
Then I will build you by My hand
And not pull down, and I will plant
And not pluck up by covenant,
For I’ve turned back from evil scheme
That I have done to you in beam.
11 “Don’t fear the king of Babylon,
The one you’re scared of do not shun,’
Says YHWH, ‘for I’m with you to save,
Delivering from his power and grave.
12 “And I will show mercies to you,
So he will have mercy and do
Good to you and make you return
To your own land for what you earn.
13 “But if you say “We’ll not stay here,
Nor shall we obey giving ear
To the voice of YHWH Ælohim,
14 “Saying “No, but we’ll follow scheme
To go down into Egypt’s land,
Where we shall see no war at hand,
Nor hear the sound of trumpet call,
Nor be hungry for bread at all,
And so we’ll live there in our wall,”’”
15 And now therefore hear YHWH’s word, you
Remnant of Judah and its crew,
So says YHWH of hosts, Ælohim
Of Israel, “If you but dream
To set your faces to go to
Egypt and then go down there too,
16 “Then it shall be the sword you feared
Shall overtake you there arreared
In Egypt’s land, the famine you
Feared shall follow close after you
There in Egypt and you’ll die too.”

But such religion soon turns weak,
For all it is is wind and reek.
When in a tight place all they had
To bet was bread, and that was bad.
In bread they touched security
From vengeance in the poor Chaldee.
They knew no mercy, knew no grace,
And so they feared the strong king’s face.
The ones who only think of bread
In time of famine are not fed.
Beloved, let me find in Your store
Oil, wine and bread and nothing more.

The asked the prophet what to do.
He said “Sit tight, take off your shoe.”
Because they had no oil or wine,
But took bread only as life-line,
They fled to Egypt from the king
Instead of telling him the thing
That Ishmael did was not their fault.
He runs who fears a just assault,
And cannot quite believe when told
That mercy too is just as old.
The oil and wine they thought to save
For situations far less grave.
They trusted in You, God, the most
When danger was not on their coast.

17 So shall it be with all the men
That set their faces once again
To go to Egypt to live there;
They shall die by the sword made bare,
By famine and by pestilence;
And not of them shall stay in tents
Escaping from the evil I
Will bring on them if they but fly.
18 For so says YHWH of hosts, the God
Of Israel upon the sod,
“As My anger and fury are
Poured out upon the popular
Of Jerusalem, so shall My
Wrath be poured on you when you fly
To Egypt, and you’ll be a curse,
Astonishment and something worse
Than a reproach and you shall see
This place no more eternally.”
YWHW has said of you, you who’re left
Of Judah, “Do not go bereft
Into Egypt, but know for sure
That I’ve warned you today secure.
20 “For you showed yourselves in your souls
Perverse when you sent for My tolls
To YHWH you Ælohim to say
Pray from us to YHWH Ælohim,
And all YHWH Ælohim shall bray,
So proclaim to us all the scheme
And we will do it in a team.”
21 And I declare to you today,
And you have not come to obey
The voice of YHWH your Ælohim,
Nor anything He gives in scheme.
22 So now know for sure by the sword
By famine and by the plague gored
You’ll die in the place you’ve desired
To go and live there in house hired.

The principle is clear to see and needs
No evidence divine for which it pleads.
The way of safety in this world is just
To keep a low profile down in the dust.
The rich wish to get richer for the view
Of power and security in their pew,
But wealth just draws attention to the crew,
And with increase, security lies down
And opens up the doors to all the town.
Have nothing worth the stealing is the best
Way not to be beleaguered in the west,
And have no power at all, then none will fall
To ravaging an empty temple’s stall.
Beloved, my wealth is just a song and call.

JEREMIAH 43

1 It happened that when Jeremiah
Had finished speaking such pariah
To all the people at the word
Of YHWH their Ælohim who stirred
Him as YHWH their Ælohim to
Speak all these messages in view,
2 Azariah Hoshaiah’s son,
And Johanan Kareah’s son,
And all the proud men on their bun,
Spoke to Jeremiah to say
”Falsehood only’s your speech today,
YHWH our Ælohim did not send
You to say ‘Don’t go down and bend
In Egypt to live there and fend.’
3 “But Baruch Neriah’s son sets
You on against us for regrets,
To give us over in the power
Of the Chaldeans who are sour
To put us all to death and take
Us captives in Babylon’s wake.”
4 So Johanan Kareah’s son,
And all the chiefs of forces won,
And all the people did not stay
Obeying the voice of YHWH’s way,
To dwell in Judah’s land a prey.
5 But Johanan Kareah’s son,
And all the chiefs of forces won,
Took all the remnant of Judah
That had returned from nations’ claw
Where they’d been driven, to live in
The land of Judah without sin,
6 Men, women, children, and king’s daughters,
And every person that the plotters
Nebusaradan chief of guard
Had left with Gedaliah hard
The son of Ahikam the son
Of Shaphan, and Jeremiah
The prophet and Baruch in paw
Who was the son of Neriah.
7 So they came into Egypt’s land,
For they obeyed not YHWH’s command,
They came to Tahpanhes in band.

Beloved, that’s just the reason why I do
Not belong to any established crew
Of religion upon the face of earth.
They took Your prophet Jeremiah worth
The sun and moon and forced him in a march
To Egypt to remain alive and parch.
I’d rather come out of Babylon’s share
As well as Egypt’s and remain to stare
Alone at my woods green with spring and fair
With blossoms of bird cherry than to go
Against Your commandments left out of tow.
If there is any church or mosque or creed
That accepts all ten of them in their need,
Then I will embrace it in all my greed.

8 Came word of YHWH to Jeremiah
In Tahpanhes, to say pariah,
9 “Take two big stones in hand and hide
Them in the brick kiln clay inside,
Which is at the gate of the house
Of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes chouse,
In view of Judah’s men to bide.
10 “Say to them, ‘So says YHWH of hosts,
The Ælohim of Israel’s boasts;
“See, I will send and take the king
Of Babylon Nebuchadrezzar,
My servant and will set and bring
His throne upon these stones in friezer
That I have hidden, and he’ll spread
His royal tent over their bed.
11 “And when he comes, he’ll strike the land
Of Egypt and at death’s command
Such will die, and captivity
Will take its prey’s activity,
And such ones fated for the sword
Will come by the sword to be gored.
12 “And I will kindle then a fire
In gods of Egypt’s houses dire,
And he shall burn them and then take
Away their captives in his wake
Arrayed in land of Egypt’s sake,
Just like a shepherd comes to don
His cloak and in success be drawn.
13 “He’ll break down standing pillars yet
Of the house of the sun to set,
That’s in the land of Egypt met,
And houses of Egyptian gods
He’ll burn with fire to ash and clods.”’”

The sun cult of the Bronze Age had its roots
In agriculture, say the men in boots.
With archaeology armed to the teeth
With arguments well-founded underneath,
The temple of the sun rises to find
The wheat and barley of the ones who dined.
It’s known by every river where the flood
Scares up the hope of harvest in the bud,
From Egypt to the rise in the east,
The sun-god reigns over both man and beast.
Beloved, I turn my back on every flower
Of idol and in generation’s hour
Seek You out, my Creator in Your power.
Let suns and harvests lie where they increased.

JEREMIAH 44

1 The word that came to Jeremiah
Concerning all the Jews to hire
In the land of Egypt, who dwell
At Migdol, Tahpanhes as well
As Noph, and Pathros’ land,
Saying 2 Says YHWH of hosts at hand,
The Ælohim of Israel: “You
Have seen all the evil I do
Upon Jerusalem and on
All the cities of Judah drawn;
And see today they lie desert,
And no one lives there all inert,
3 “Because of wickedness which they
Committed to provoke My way
To wrath, when they went down to pray
With incense to other gods’ sway
Whom they did not know, neither they,
You nor your ancestors for hurt.
4 “Still I sent you all My servants
The prophets, getting up to prance
Early and sending them to say
Don’t do this horrid thing, I pray.
5 “But they did not listen a bit,
Nor turn their ear from wicked fit,
To burn no incense on the sod
To every kind of other god.
6 “That’s why My fury and My wrath
Was pour out and upon their path,
And was lit up in Judah’s towns,
Streets of Jerusalem in frowns,
And they are waste and desolate
As at this day they lie in state.”

All people follow the most common way,
And hardly notice difference when they stray.
Just as the sweet Christian alive today
Does not consider when he comes to pray
That praying to a trinity is more
Like prayer to Baal and Ashtoreth in store
Than prayer to You, unique, alone and One
And Sovereign of the earth, the sea and sun.
You blame the folk for heathendom, but they
Are hardly away of the golden ray
The separates the gods of kingdom here
From You who made all things to love and fear.
The incense that was offered in Your name
Was tainted by the false concept to blame.

7 So says YHWH Ælohim of hosts,
The Ælohim of Israel’s boasts,
“Why do you do great evil here
Against your souls, to cut off near
You man and woman, child and dear,
Out of Judah so none remain?
8 “In that you provoke Me again
To wrath with the works of your hands,
Burning incense against commands
To other gods in Egypt’s lands,
Where you have gone to live and dwell,
So you cut yourselves off in spell,
So you might be a curse and mirth
Among the nations of the earth?
9 “Did you forget the evil sad
That your ancestors did and had,
The wickedness of Judah’s kings,
The evil of their wives in flings,
And your own wickedness to boot,
The wickedness of your wives’ suit,
Which they’ve committed in the land
Of Judah, and on every hand
Of the streets of Jerusalem?
10 “They have not humbled diadem
To this day, neither have they feared,
Nor walked in My law nor been steered
By My statues, that I have set
Before you and your fathers met.”

Few are contrite for doing what all men
Around them do: in some years and some den
They bow in crowd to Father, Son and Ghost,
In others they bow merely to the boast
Of wealth, and on a cruise around the world
Many idols are set out and unfurled,
And all receive the homage of the crowd,
Set by public opinion and allowed.
You insist that the word upon the Mount,
The prohibition at the bitter fount,
That says that You alone by name of YHWH
May be worshipped by father, son and crew.
Insistence of that kind is quaint though true,
And never will convince the poor and proud.

11 So says YHWH of hosts, Ælohim
Of Israel, “See I shall deem
To set My face against you here
For evil and cut off the gear
Of all Judah cast out in beam.
12 “And I will take the remnant lost
Of Judah that set face in cost
To go into Egypt’s land where
They will sojourn and come to share
In the burning and so shall fall
In Egypt’s land, under the pall
Of the sword and by famine nigh,
Least to the greatest, they shall die,
By sword and famine and remain
An execration, curse and stain,
Astonishment, reproach and cry.
13 “For I will punish those who dwell
In Egypt’s land, as I cast spell
Upon Jerusalem and by
Sword, famine, and the plague to die.
14 “So none of Judah’s remnant which
Went down to Egypt’s land to pitch
Their tents shall escape or remain,
That they should return to the plain
Of Judah, as they do desire
To return to live there in quire:
For none shall return but the few
Who shall escape Egyptian pew.

Egypt is one thing, but it has its place.
Wherever a man is, he finds Your face
Before him in the flight or in the trace
Of searching for eternity and grace.
The ancient land of Egypt is still sweet,
Though as Your prophet promises in feat,
No power to reckon with along the way.
After Babylon others come in sway.
But Egypt still remains, the Nile and care
Of date palm and of green fields for their share.
Beloved, I’ve met more more than once to see
In Egypt in the desert and the lea
Of pyramid and promise of degree.
Meet me once more in Egypt if I’m there.

15 Then all the men who knew their wives
Had burned incense to other drives,
And all the women who stood near,
A great crowd, all the folk in gear
Who lived in Egypt’s land to stay
In Pathros answered him to say
To Jeremiah on that day:
16 “The message you have told to us
In the name of YHWH with a fuss,
We shall not hear, obey or muss.
17 “But we’ll do what we say ourselves,
Burn incense to sky-queen or elves,
And pour out drink offerings to her,
As we have done, we every fer,
And our ancestors and our kings,
And our princes in Judah’s wings,
And in streets of Jerusalem,
For then we had plenty in hem,
Both food and gear and we were well,
With no bad thing in Israel.
But since we left of burning that
Incense to the sky-queen in fat,
And pouring out drink offerings there,
We have lacked every thing to wear,
And been devoured by sword to share
In famine in store and on mat.”
19 The women also came to say
”And did we burn incense that day
To the sky-queen and pour the pay
Of drink offerings to her that way,
And make her cakes and then to pray,
And pour out drink offering to her
With out husbands’ consent concur?”

In Egypt when the coast was clear
And there was nothing more to fear,
When there was bread to eat in plenty
For one or ten or even twenty,
Material socialism seemed
Less beautiful than they had dreamed.
So wine and incense found a place
To make their houses no disgrace.
Religion came to life again
With wine of god to drink, but then
The oil of mercy disappeared.
They got the habit when they feared.
And so incense became their stay
Appeasing gods for when they pray.

The smell of fear was clothed in sweetness,
The queen of heaven in discreetness
Implored for help with cakes and wine
But without oil to make them shine.
And so their atheism sent
Them on a new religious bent
That sees salvation as the goal
Ignoring bridges of the soul
That seek out You with hungry zeal
To love You in both woe and weal,
Not asking any pay or prize
For making such a compromise.
Self-seeking faith makes for cold hearts
And pompous clergy of old farts.

The faith of oil asks not a crumb
Nor kingship in millennium.
It only asks that You be free
To breathe from now eternally.
It only asks that You be bread
By which the soul is daily fed.
It only asks for mercy that
Where You are that is where I’m at.
Two faiths abound here in this world:
The faith of bread alone impearled
And faith of bread and incense-wine.
These two are both quite infantine.
They lead us out of phantom fears
Into a land of shades and tears.

By bread alone or by salvation
Is selfish faith in any nation.
But oil can turn the soul above
To selfless faith in burning love.
The oil ignited in the heart
Burns in relentless counterpart,
And ceaselessly goes on to pray
Where incense stops and angels stay.
Give me, Beloved, the better part,
The oil and wine to joy my heart,
And bread that I may in my deeds
Fulfil the justice the world needs.
You give the bread of life and You
Give oil and wine in what is true.

20 Jeremiah told all the folk,
Both men and women, every bloke
That gave him that reply to stoke:
21 “The incense that you burned in towns
Of Judah, and the streets for frowns
In Jerusalem, you and your
Ancestors, your kings and the score
Of your princes, folk of the land,
Did not YHWH remember the band,
And did it not in His mind stand?
22 “So YHWH could no longer bear that,
Because your wickedness was fat,
And because of the horrors that
You have committed, that is why
Your land’s a desolation’s cry,
Astonishment, and curse and yet
Without inhabitant now met.
23 “Because you have burned incense and
Because you’ve sinned against command
Of YHWH and not obeyed the voice
Of YHWH, nor walked in His law’s choice,
Nor in His statutes nor in His
Testimonies, therefore this biz
Of evil comes on you like whiz.”
24 Moreover Jeremiah said
To all the people there outspread,
And all the women, ”Hear the word
Of YHWH, all Judah that’s been stirred
In the land of Egypt for curd.
25 “So says YHWH of hosts, Israel’s God,
Saying, ‘You and your wives in prod
Have spoken with your mouths and so
Fulfilled with your hands too the row,
Saying, “We’ll surely do the vows
That we have vowed, to burn and house
Incense to the sky-queen, and pour
Out drink offerings to her what’s more,”
You surely shall accomplish that,
And perform your own vows in fat.’
26 “So hear the word of YHWH now all
Judah that swell in Egypt’s thrall;
‘See, I have sword by My great name,’
Says YHWH, ‘that My name and My fame
Shall no more be named in the mouth
Of any man of Judah south
In all the land of Egypt to
Say As now lives the Lord God YHWH.’

Rabbinical tradition comes out flat
To say the name of YHWH by thin or fat
Shall not be spoken, nor by man or rat.
No doubt they read the prophecy of that.
Myself I do not speak the name of YHWH,
But only say the word for “He” in lieu,
Or rarely “Jah”. The prophet would be glad
Perhaps to hear obedience from a cad.
The prohibition came not out of spite
Or for the thought Your name’s a sacred rite,
But in the punishment that people burned
Incense to queen of heaven for what they earned.
I know no queen of heaven, the virgin queen
Known to me is a different one on scene.

27 “See, I shall watch over them all
For evil and not good in stall,
And all the men of Judah that
Are in the land of Egypt sat,
Shall be consumed by sword and by
The famine until ends their try.
28 “Yet a small number that escape
The sword shall come from Egypt’s cape
Into the land of Judah, and
All the remnant of Judah’s band
That have gone into Egypt’s land
To stay there, shall know whose words stand,
My words or their words in a scrape.
29 “And this shall be a sign to you,”
Says YHWH, “that I will punish you
In this place, so you may know that
My words shall surely stand up at
The evil of your habitat.”
30 So says YHWH, “See how I shall give
Pharaoh Hophra, king to live
In Egypt into the hand of
His enemies, and in the glove
Of those who seek his life, as I
Gave Zedekiah king come nigh
In Judah into the power of
Nebuchadrezzar the king of
Babylon, his enemy who
Came seeking to take his life too.”

You call the sign of history in its claim,
But by the time its history to blame
It is too late to change the chosen fane.
The politics are too entangled here
For me to know what You think’s in the clear.
Instead of Hophra, George, or Dick I take
You only for my king and for my cake.
Instead of Nebuchadnezzar the king
I choose You for both sovereign and darling.
Choose me, too, my Beloved, along the shore
Of Nile or in the Gulf of Persia’s gore,
And I shall then escape the prod and way
Of heathen head and heathen way to pray.
Beloved, look on my politics today.

JEREMIAH 45

1 The word that Jeremiah who
Was the prophet uttered unto
Baruch the son of Neriah,
When he had written words of awe
In a book at dictation of
Jeremiah, in fourth year of
Jehoiakim who was son of
Josiah king of Judah, saying:
2 “So says YHWH, Israel’s God waylaying
To you, ‘O Baruch, you did say
3 “Woe is me now, for YHWH adds grief
To sorrow, I find no relief
In sighing and I find no rest.
4 “You shall say to him, ‘YHWH says so:
“See what I’ve built I’ll not be slow
To break down, and what I have planted
I will pull up, this whole land granted.
5 “Do you seek great things for yourself?
Do not seek them, for on the shelf
I will bring evil on all flesh,’
Says YHWH, ‘but your life I’ll give fresh
To you in safety everywhere
You go in everything you dare.”’”

Beloved, I’d rather hear the word
That You give life to every soul that’s stirred,
And not just to myself, if I had name
Of Baruch to raise in higher acclaim.
Baruch is like to be the president
Of USA though man of camel tent.
Baruch was greater in the elders’ eyes
Than even Jeremiah to despise.
They said Your words, Beloved, that prophet spoke
Were once dictated by Baruch in stroke.
Behind the scenes, back of the prophecy
There are men of both high and low degree
Who hold the cords and let the puppets free.
Who knows what’s hidden in the divine cloak?

JEREMIAH 46

1 The message of YHWH which came to
Jeremiah the prophet’s view
Against the Gentiles: 2 Against first
Egypt, against the army cursed
Of Pharaoh Necho, the king
Of Egypt, which was by the spring
Of the River Euphrates in
Carchemish, which before the din
Nebuchadrezzar the king of
Babylon attacked in the shove
Of the fourth year Jehoiakim
The son of Josiah the trim
King of Judah reigned in bin.

All this support for Babylon You make
Through Your prophet who sets his life at stake
Repeating Your words to those who would take
A scientific view statistically
That Egypt is the best bet of the free,
Reminds me that You told another prophet
That Babylon was fallen down to scoff at.
You said to come out of Babylon then,
So these Jews You stand up now to condemn
Were not idolatrous as such but only
Ahead of their times in their views untonely.
Am I then to submit to Babylon
On basis of Jeremiah’s word gone?
Beloved I wait for You in morning drawn.

3 “Order the buckler and the shield,
And draw near to the battlefield.
4 “Harness the horses, and get up,
You horsemen and stand like a tup
With helmets on; polish the spears,
Put mail coats on like brigadiers.
5 “Why is it I’ve seen them dismayed
And turned away back as waylaid?
And their strong soldiers beaten down,
And fled away before the frown,
For fear was round about,” says YHWH.
6 “Don’t let the swift ones flee the strew,
Nor the strong soldiers escape too,
They’ll stumble and fall to the right
Side of the Euphrates in sight.
7 “Who’s this that comes up like a flood,
Waters moved on the rivers’ mud?
8 “Egypt rises like floods indeed,
Its waters moved like rivers’ reed;
And he says ‘I’ll go up and will
Cover the earth, and so I will
Destroy the city with its folk.’
9 “Come up, you horses, rage in spoke,
You chariots, and let the great
Men come out, Ethiopian rate
And Libyans that handle the shield,
And Lydians upon the field
To bend the bow and arrow wield.
10 “This day’s of the Lord YHWH of hosts,
A day of vengeance and of boasts,
That He may take vengeance on His
Foes; and the sword consume with whiz,
And it shall be filled and made drunk
With their blood, for the Lord YHWH’s sunk
A sacrifice on the right side,
By the River Euphrates wide.
11 “Go up to Gilead and take
Balm, O virgin, daughter in wake
Of Egypt; in vain you shall use
Many medicines that you choose,
But not be cured of illness’ stake.”

The date is set in the fourth year of king
Jehoiakim, and yet some Muslims sing
That sacrifice beside the river there
Was prophecy of Hussein and his share
Of martyrs that filled Karbela with care.
If Christians can find Jesus everywhere
He is not named in Scriptures that were famed
Long before he was brought forth and acclaimed,
Then any may construe this text to mean
That after Pharaoh Necho and the scene
With Nebuchadnezzar, the land would see
The coming of Hussein and his men free
To die of thirst and arrows on the sand
Beside the Euphrates to save the land.

12 The nations have heard of your shame,
And your cry has filled the land’s fame,
For mighty soldiers stumble there
Against the mighty in their share
They both have fallen at the claim.
13 Word that YHWH spoke to Jeremiah
The prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar
The King of Babylon, such geezer,
Should come attack Egypt’s pariah.
14 Declare in Egypt, publish loud
In Migdol, and publish in Noph
And in Tahpanhes to the crowd,
Say then, “Stand fast, prepare to scoff;”
For the sword shall devour around
About you where you stand your ground.
15 Why are your stalwarts swept away?
They did not stand, because the sway
Of YHWH did drive them all a prey.
16 He made many to fall and yea,
One fell upon the other’s way;
And they said “Get up, and let us
Go again to our populace,
And to land of nativity,
From the oppressing sword on spree.
17 They did cry there, “Pharaoh the king
Of Egypt is a noise to sing;
He’s passed appointed time to bring.”

The fateful day that Pharaoh and his band
Was sunk in the Red Sea and stuck in sand
Serves as a warning and a prophecy
Of what’s to come for their iniquity
In later times, when Israel falls beneath
The hand of Babylon and takes a wreath.
Beloved, make the rod of Moses to start
Upon the winds to bring me to my part,
And may initiation in Your word
Continue to the end to find heart stirred.
The days of nations turn and turn again,
As though in whirling dance upon the fen,
And so prepare the prophecy of each
Soul that repents the falsehoods that they preach.

18 “As I live,” says the King whose name
Is YHWH of hosts, “Surely the claim
Of Tabor is among the hills,
As Carmel by the sea that fills,
So shall He come as the time spills.
19 “O daughter dwelling in Egypt,
Furnish yourself to go equipped
Into captivity; for Noph
Shall be a waste and place to scoff,
Without a soul to live in crypt.
20 “Egypt is like a fine young cow,
Destruction comes there anyhow,
It comes from the northland and shipped.
21 “Also her workers like fat beef
Are turned back fled into their grief,
They did not stand, because the day
Of their calamity in sway
Came on them, there fated relay.
22 “Its voice like a serpent goes on,
Like an army marching at dawn,
With axes they’ve come in to her,
As lumbermen against the fir.
23 “They’ll cut down her forest,” says YHWH,
“Though it cannot be searched in view,
Because they’re more in number than
Grasshoppers swarming beyond scan.
24 “Egypt’s daughter shall be confounded,
She’ll be delivered and impounded
Into the power of northern folk.”

The northland is the way of warrior kings,
At first Assyrian with horrid wings,
And then the great of Babylon with its stings,
And finally the Persians’ wanderings.
The stage is set for Alexander’s foe,
And for the Romans with the blazing cross
To laminate the raging way they go.
I too look from the north, the Vikings’ horde
Pour out upon the people of the Lord.
I see the waves recede and come again,
And like the bowing grass above the glen
Wage on in every place of hope and cord.
Beloved, where else should Egypt look
But to the north in such a southern nook?

25 YHWH of hosts Ælohim in stroke
Of Israel, says “See now, I
Will punish the crowd of No by,
And Pharaoh and Egypt too
With their gods and their kings in view;
Even Pharaoh and all of those
Who trusted in him as they chose.
26 “And I’ll deliver them into
The power of slaying man and foe,
Into hand of Nebuchadrezzar,
King of Babylon and the pleaser
Of his servants, and after that
It shall be once more habitat
As in the days of old,” says YHWH.
27 “But do not be afraid then, you
My servant Jacob, nor dismayed,
O Israel; for see, I’ve made
Your salvation come from afar,
And your spawn from the land and star
Of their captivity, and so
Jacob shall return on the go
And be at rest and at his ease,
And none shall make him fear or freeze.
28 “Fear not, O Jacob, My servant”
Says YHWH, “for I am here to pant
For you, for I’ll make a full end
Of all the nations where I’d send
You, but not a full end of you,
But correct you in measure true,
Not left without punishment due.”

Let’s imagine this new scenario:
All nations on the earth are doomed to go,
And in the end there will only be left
Jacob and his sons after the bereft.
I might become resigned to such a brief
Despite anthropological belief,
If there were certainty that every brother
Of Israel would forget to kill each other.
A radical plan like that ought to give
Results with which society can live.
More of the same old violence is not
Sufficient to carry out such a plot.
Maybe that’s why the world goes on in blame
With every kind of nation, none the same.

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.

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