Beginning

42 Then all the army officers, and Yochanan Ben Kareach, and Yezanyah Ben Hoshayah, and kol HaAm from the katon even unto the gadol, came near,

² And said unto Yirmeyah HaNavi, Let, now, techinnatenu (our supplication) be accepted before thee, and pray on our behalf unto Hashem Eloheicha, even on behalf of all this she’erit (remnant); (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes canst see;)

³ That Hashem Eloheicha may show us the derech wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

⁴ Then Yirmeyah HaNavi said unto them, I have heard you; hineni, I will pray unto Hashem Eloheichem according to your devarim; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing Hashem shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵ Then they said to Yirmeyah, Hashem be an ed emes v’ne’eman (true and faithful witness) against us, if we do not act even according to all things for the which Hashem Eloheicha shall send thee to us.

⁶ Whether it be tov, or whether it be rah, we will obey the voice of Hashem Eloheinu, to Whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Hashem Eloheinu.

⁷ And it came to pass after aseret yamim (ten days), that the Devar Hashem came unto Yirmeyah.

⁸ Then he called Yochanan Ben Kareach, and all the army officers which were with him, and kol HaAm from the katon even to the gadol,

⁹ And said unto them, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, unto Whom ye sent me to present your techinnah before Him;

¹⁰ If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not uproot you; for I relent Me of the ra’ah that I have brought upon you.

¹¹ Be not afraid of Melech Bavel, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Hashem; for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his yad.

¹² And I will show rachamim unto you, that he will have compassion upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, disobeying the voice of Hashem Eloheichem,

¹⁴ Saying, No; but we will go into Eretz Mitzrayim, where we shall see no milchamah, nor hear the sound of the shofar, nor have hunger for lechem; and there will we dwell;

¹⁵ And now therefore hear the Devar Hashem, ye She’erit Yehudah (Remnant of Judah). Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: If ye wholly set your faces to go to Mitzrayim, and go to sojourn there,

¹⁶ Then it shall come to pass, that the cherev, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in Eretz Mitzrayim, and the ra’av (famine), whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Mitzrayim; and there ye shall die.

¹⁷ So shall it be with all the anashim that set their faces to go into Mitzrayim to sojourn there; they shall die by the cherev, by the ra’av (famine), and by the dever; and none of them shall remain or escape from the ra’ah (disaster) that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ For thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: As Mine anger and My wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so shall My wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Mitzrayim; and ye shall be an oath, and a horror, and a kelalah (curse), and a cherpah; and ye shall see this makom no more.

¹⁹ Hashem hath said concerning you, O ye she’erit Yehudah; Go ye not into Mitzrayim; know certainly that I have warned you, this day.

²⁰ For ye acted deceitfully, erring in your nafshot, when ye sent me unto Hashem Eloheichem, saying, Pray on our behalf unto Hashem Eloheinu; and according unto all that Hashem Eloheinu shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

²¹ And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Hashem Eloheichem, nor anything for the which He hath sent me unto you.

²² Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the cherev, by the ra’av (famine), and by the dever, in the makom where ye desire to go and to sojourn.

43 And it came to pass, that when Yirmeyah had made an end of speaking unto kol haAm all the divrei Hashem Eloheihem, for which Hashem Eloheihem had sent him to them, even all these words,

² Then spoke Azaryah ben Hoshayah, Yochanan ben Kareach, and all the anashim hazedim, saying unto Yirmeyah, Thou speakest sheker; Hashem Eloheinu hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Mitzrayim to sojourn there;

³ But Baruch ben Neriyah inciteth thee against us, for to deliver us into the yad haKasdim, that they might put us to death, and carry us away into the Golus of Babylon.

⁴ So Yochanan ben Kareach, and all the officers of the forces, and kol haAm, obeyed not the voice of Hashem, to dwell in Eretz Yehudah.

⁵ But Yochanan ben Kareach, and all the officers of the forces, took all the she’erit Yehudah, that were returned from kol haGoyim, where they had been driven there, to dwell in Eretz Yehudah;

⁶ Even men, and women, and children, and the banot hamelech,and every nefesh that Nevuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, had left with Gedalyah ben Achikam ben Shaphan, and Yirmeyah HaNavi, and Baruch ben Neriyah.

⁷ So they came into Eretz Mitzrayim; for they obeyed not the voice of Hashem; thus came they even as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then came the Devar Hashem unto Yirmeyah in Tahpanhes, saying,

⁹ Take avanim gedolim in thine yad, and bury them in the clay in the brick pavement, which is at the entrance of the bais Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the anshei Yehudah;

¹⁰ And say unto them, Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: Hineni, I will send and take Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel, avdi (my servant), and will set his throne upon these avanim that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

¹¹ And when he cometh, he shall smite Eretz Mitzrayim, and deliver such as are for mot to mot; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the cherev to the cherev.

¹² And I will kindle an eish in the batim (houses) of the g-ds of Mitzrayim; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive; and he shall wrap himself with Eretz Mitzrayim, as a ro’eh putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from there in shalom.

¹³ He shall demolish also the matzevot Bais Shemesh, that is in Eretz Mitzrayim; and the batim (houses) of the g-ds of the Egyptians shall he burn with eish.

44 The davar that came to Yirmeyah concerning all the Yehudim which dwell in Eretz Mitzrayim, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Patros, saying,

² Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel; Ye have seen all the ra’ah that I have brought upon Yerushalayim, and upon all the towns of Yehudah; and, behold, this day they are a ruin, and no one dwelleth therein,

³ Because of their ra’ah (evil) which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn ketoret, and to serve elohim acherim, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor avoteichem.

⁴ Howbeit I sent unto you all My avadim the Nevi’im, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this to’evah (abominable thing) that I hate.

⁵ But they paid heed not, nor inclined their ozen to turn from their ra’ah (wickedness), to burn no ketoret unto elohim acherim.

⁶ Wherefore My wrath and Mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the towns of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim; and they are become a desolate ruin, as at this day.

⁷ Therefore now thus saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: Why commit ye this ra’ah gedolah against your nefashot, to cut off from you ish and isha, olel (child) and yonek (infant), out of Yehudah, to leave you no she’erit (remnant);

⁸ In that ye provoke Me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning ketoret unto elohim acherim in Eretz Mitzrayim, where ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a kelalah (curse) and a cherpah (reproach) among kol HaGoyim of ha’aretz?

⁹ Have ye forgotten the ra’ot (wickednesses) of avoteichem, and the ra’ot of the melachim of Yehudah, and the ra’ot of their nashim, and your own ra’ot, and the ra’ot of your nashim, which they have committed in Eretz Yehudah, and in the streets of Yerushalayim?

¹⁰ They are not contrite even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in My torah, nor in My chukkot, that I set before you and before avoteichem.

¹¹ Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: Hineni, I will set My face against you for ra’ah, and to cut off kol Yehudah.

¹² And I will take the she’erit (remnant) of Yehudah, that have set their faces to go into Eretz Mitzrayim to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in Eretz Mitzrayim; they shall even be consumed by the cherev and by the ra’av (famine); they shall die, from the katon even unto the gadol, by the cherev and by the ra’av; and they shall be an object of cursing, and a horror, and a kelalah, and a cherpah.

¹³ For I will punish them that dwell in Eretz Mitzrayim, just as I have punished Yerushalayim, by the cherev, by the ra’av, and by the dever;

¹⁴ So that none of the she’erit (remnant) of Yehudah, which are gone into Eretz Mitzrayim to sojourn there, shall escape or survive, that they should return into Eretz Yehudah, to the which they lift up [in desire] their nefesh to return to dwell there; for none shall return but such as shall escape.

¹⁵ Then all the anashim which knew that their nashim had burned ketoret unto elohim acherim, and all the nashim that stood by, a kahal gadol (great multitude), even kol HaAm that dwelt in Eretz Mitzrayim, in Patros, answered Yirmeyah, saying,

¹⁶ As for the davar that thou hast spoken unto us b’Shem Hashem, we will not pay heed unto thee.

¹⁷ But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn ketoret unto the Malkat HaShomayim (the Queen of Heaven), and to pour out nesakhim (drink offerings) unto her, as we have done, we, and Avoteinu, our Melachim, and our Sarim, in the towns of Yehudah, and in the streets of Yerushalayim; for then we had plenty of lechem, and were tovim (well off), and saw no ra’ah.

¹⁸ But since we left off burning ketoret to the Malkat HaShomayim, and to pour out nesakhim unto her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the cherev and by the ra’av.

¹⁹ And when we burned ketoret to the Malkat HaShomayim, and poured out nesakhim unto her, did we make for her in her image cakes, and pour out nesakhim unto her, without our anashim?

²⁰ Then Yirmeyah said unto kol HaAm, to the gevarim, and to the nashim, and to kol HaAm which had given him that answer, saying,

²¹ The ketoret that ye burned in the towns of Yehudah, and in the streets of Yerushalayim, ye, and avoteichem, your melachim, and your sarim, and the am ha’aretz, did not Hashem remember them, and came it not into His mind?

²² So that Hashem could no longer bear, because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of the to’evot (abominations) which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and a ruin, and a kelalah, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

²³ Because ye have burned ketoret, and because ye have sinned against Hashem, and have not obeyed the voice of Hashem, nor walked in His torah, nor in His chukkot, nor in His edot; therefore this ra’ah has happened unto you, as at this day.

²⁴ Moreover Yirmeyah said unto kol HaAm, and to all the nashim, Hear the Devar Hashem, all Yehudah that are in the Eretz Mitzrayim,

²⁵ Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel, saying: Ye and your nashim have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your yad, saying, We will surely perform nedareinu (our vows) that we have vowed, to burn ketoret to the Malkat HaShomayim, and to pour out nesakhim unto her; ye will surely accomplish your nedarim (vows), and surely perform your nedarim.

²⁶ Therefore hear ye the Devar Hashem, all Yehudah that dwell in Eretz Mitzrayim: Hineni, I have sworn biShmi HaGadol (by My great Name), saith Hashem, that Shmi shall no more be named in the mouth of any Ish Yehudah in all Eretz Mitzrayim, saying, Adonoi Hashem liveth.

²⁷ Hineni, I will watch over them for ra’ah, and not for tovah; and Kol Ish Yehudah that are in Eretz Mitzrayim shall be consumed by the cherev and by ra’av, until there be an end of them.

²⁸ Yet a small number that escape the cherev shall return out of Eretz Mitzrayim into Eretz Yehudah, and all the she’erit (remnant) Yehudah, that are gone into Eretz Mitzrayim to sojourn there, shall know whose davar shall stand, Mine, or theirs.

²⁹ And this shall be the ot (sign) unto you, saith Hashem, that I will punish you in this makom, that ye may know that My Davar shall surely stand against you for ra’ah:

³⁰ Thus saith Hashem; Hineni, I will give Pharaoh Chophra Melech Mitzrayim into the yad of his oyevim, and into the yad of them that seek his nefesh; just as I gave Tzidkiyah Melech Yehudah into the yad of Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel, his oyev, and that sought his nefesh (life).

45 The Davar that Yirmeyah HaNavi spoke unto Baruch ben Neriyah, when he had written these words in a sefer at the mouth of Yirmeyah, in the fourth year of Y’hoyakim ben Yoshiyah Melech Yehudah, saying,

² Thus saith Hashem, Elohei Yisroel, unto thee, O Baruch:

³ Thou didst say, Oy to me now! For Hashem hath added sorrow to my machovim (sorrows); I am worn out in my groaning, and I find no menuchah.

⁴ Thus shalt thou say unto him, Hashem saith thus: Hinei, that which I have built will I tear down, and that which I have planted I will uproot, even this kol haAretz.

⁵ And seekest thou gedolot (great things) for thyself? Seek them not; for, hineni, I will bring ra’ah upon kol basar, saith Hashem; but thy nefesh will I give unto thee for plunder in kol mekomot (all places) whither thou goest.