43 And it came to pass that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

² then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, “Thou speakest falsely. The Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, ‘Go not into Egypt to sojourn there.’

³ But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death and carry us away captives into Babylon.”

⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people obeyed not the voice of the Lord to dwell in the land of Judah.

⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all nations whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah—

⁶ even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

⁷ So they came into the land of Egypt, for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

⁹ “Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

¹⁰ and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

¹¹ And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.

¹² And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captives; and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.

¹³ He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh [the House of the Sun] that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.’”

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

² “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,

³ because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.

⁴ Nevertheless, I sent unto you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, ‘Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.’

⁵ But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

⁶ Therefore My fury and Mine anger was poured forth and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.

⁷ “Therefore, now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why commit ye this great evil against your souls to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah to leave you none to remain,

⁸ in that ye provoke Me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt whither ye have gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

⁹ Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰ They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in My law, nor in My statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

¹¹ “Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

¹² And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an execration and an astonishment, and a curse and a reproach.

¹³ For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,

¹⁴ so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶ “As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.

¹⁷ But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of bread, and were well and saw no evil.

¹⁸ But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings unto her, we have been wanting in all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”

¹⁹ “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her without our men?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said unto all the people — to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,

²¹ “The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into His mind?

²² So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which ye have committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, and an astonishment and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

²³ Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in His law nor in His statutes nor in His testimonies, therefore this evil has happened unto you, as at this day.”

²⁴ Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

²⁵ Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her.’ Ye will surely accomplish your vows and surely perform your vows!

²⁶ Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ saith the Lord, ‘that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The Lord God liveth.”

²⁷ Behold, I will watch over them for evil and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.

²⁸ Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there shall know whose words shall stand, Mine, or theirs.

²⁹ And this shall be a sign unto you,’ saith the Lord, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that My words shall surely stand against you for evil.’

³⁰ Thus saith the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of them that seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’”

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book out of the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

² “Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch:

³ Thou didst say, ‘Woe is me now! For the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.’

⁴ Thus shalt thou say unto him, ‘The Lord saith thus: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.

⁵ And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not; for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord, but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.’”

5 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;

² who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are outside of the Way, since he himself is also encompassed by infirmity.

³ And by reason hereof, he ought, both for the people and also for himself, to make offering for sins.

⁴ And no man taketh this honor unto himself, except he that is called by God, as was Aaron.

⁵ So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him, “Thou art My Son; today have I begotten Thee.”

⁶ And He saith also in another place, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ Christ, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared,

⁸ though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.

⁹ And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey Him,

¹⁰ being called by God as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek,

¹¹ of whom we have many things to say, which are hard to utter seeing ye are dull of hearing.

¹² For at the time when ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to those who are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.