If you remain, then return to Gedali′ah the son of Ahi′kam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go.

Gedali′ah the son of Ahi′kam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chalde′ans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand for you before the Chalde′ans who will come to us; but as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war, or hear the sound of the trumpet, or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them,

I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence,

so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there; for they shall not return, except some fugitives.”

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’

“Thus says the Lord: Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and shall become an overflowing torrent; they shall overflow the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. Men shall cry out, and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him.

As when Sodom and Gomor′rah and their neighbor cities were overthrown, says the Lord, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her.

Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor! says the Lord. For Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon has made a plan against you, and formed a purpose against you.

“Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, that dwells securely, says the Lord, that has no gates or bars, that dwells alone.

Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste; no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her.”

“For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.

“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her; she shall be peopled no more for ever, nor inhabited for all generations.

As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor′rah and their neighbor cities, says the Lord, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

O you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the thread of your life is cut.

The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting, they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed, they have become women; her dwellings are on fire, her bars are broken.

Her cities have become a horror, a land of drought and a desert, a land in which no one dwells, and through which no son of man passes.

and say, ‘O Lord, thou hast said concerning this place that thou wilt cut it off, so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate for ever.’