Mercy on Ephraim

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord:

Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor^(A)

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(B)after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

¹³ And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one ^(A)is no more.”

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(A)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(B)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

¹⁹ So ^(A)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(B)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).