In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment

43 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent to them, had (A)finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words— Azariah the (B)son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are (C)telling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’; but (D)Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon!” So (E)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, (F)did not obey the voice of the Lord to (G)stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the (H)entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered, in order to reside in the land of Judah— the men, the women, the [a]children, the (I)king’s daughters, and (J)every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [b]and grandson of Shaphan, together with (K)Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the Lord) and went in as far as (L)Tahpanhes.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in (M)Tahpanhes, saying, “Take some large stones in your [c]hands and hide them in the [d]mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s [e]palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of [f]some of the Jews; 10 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to send men and get (N)My servant (O)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his [g](P)canopy over them. 11 He will also come and (Q)strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and (R)those for the sword to the sword. 12 And [h]I shall set fire to the temples of the (S)gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will [i](T)wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd [j]wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. 13 He will also smash to pieces the [k]obelisks of [l]Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 43:6 Lit infants
  2. Jeremiah 43:6 Lit the son
  3. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit hand
  4. Jeremiah 43:9 Or clay floor
  5. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit house
  6. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit men
  7. Jeremiah 43:10 Or carpet
  8. Jeremiah 43:12 Some ancient versions He will set
  9. Jeremiah 43:12 Or delouse the land
  10. Jeremiah 43:12 Or delouses his garment
  11. Jeremiah 43:13 Or stone pillars
  12. Jeremiah 43:13 Heb Beth-shemesh; i.e., the house of the sun-god

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 When Jeremiah had finished giving this message from the Lord their God to all the people, Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other proud men said to Jeremiah, “You lie! The Lord our God hasn’t forbidden us to go to Egypt! Baruch son of Neriah has convinced you to say this, because he wants us to stay here and be killed by the Babylonians[a] or be carried off into exile.”

So Johanan and the other military leaders and all the people refused to obey the Lord’s command to stay in Judah. Johanan and the other leaders took with them all the people who had returned from the nearby countries to which they had fled. In the crowd were men, women, and children, the king’s daughters, and all those whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah. The prophet Jeremiah and Baruch were also included. The people refused to obey the voice of the Lord and went to Egypt, going as far as the city of Tahpanhes.

Then at Tahpanhes, the Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “While the people of Judah are watching, take some large rocks and bury them under the pavement stones at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace here in Tahpanhes. 10 Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar,[b] king of Babylon, here to Egypt. I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 And when he comes, he will destroy the land of Egypt. He will bring death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and war to those destined for war. 12 He will set fire to the temples of Egypt’s gods; he will burn the temples and carry the idols away as plunder. He will pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks fleas from his cloak. And he himself will leave unharmed. 13 He will break down the sacred pillars standing in the temple of the sun[c] in Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods.’”

Footnotes

  1. 43:3 Or Chaldeans.
  2. 43:10 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
  3. 43:13 Or in Heliopolis.