Bible in 90 Days
23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
24 Have you not considered what these people are saying—that the Lord rejected the two families that he chose? They despise my people in this way, and they do not consider them a nation. 25 The Lord says: If I have not established my covenant with day and night, or the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 only then will I reject the offspring of Jacob and of my servant David, and only then will I fail to choose one of his sons to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So I will restore them from captivity, and I will have mercy on them.
A Message for Zedekiah
34 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, along with all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth, and all the peoples that were subject to him were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities.
2 The Lord, the God of Israel, says:
Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him this is what the Lord says. I certainly am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it. 3 You will not escape his grasp. You will surely be taken and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon eye-to-eye, and he will speak with you face-to-face. You will go to Babylon.
4 Even so, hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah.
The Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace. Just as people made a funeral fire in honor of your fathers who were kings before you, so they will make a fire for you. They will lament for you, saying, “Alas, master!” This is my word, declares the Lord.
6 Jeremiah the prophet said all these things to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah that still remained, namely, Lachish and Azekah (for these alone remained from all of Judah’s fortified cities).
8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem proclaiming freedom for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, male and female. No one was to keep a fellow Jew in slavery. 10 All the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would set their male and female slaves free, and that no one would keep them in slavery anymore. They obeyed the agreement and set them free. 11 But after this they changed their minds. They took back the slaves they had set free, and they made them serve as male and female slaves once again.
12 It was after this that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
13 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I made a covenant with your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery. I said that 14 every seven years you are to set free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you are to set him free.[a] But your fathers did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 Now, after you repented and did what is right in my sight, each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me in the house that bears my name, 16 but you have turned around and profaned my name. Each of you has taken back and enslaved his male and female slaves, whom you had set free to go where they wished. You forced them back into slavery, to serve as your male and female slaves.
17 Therefore this is what the Lord says. You have not listened to me by proclaiming freedom for your brothers and your neighbors. So I am proclaiming freedom to you, says the Lord. Freedom to fall by the sword, plague, and famine! I will make you a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I am going to make the men who walked between the covenant pieces,[b] but who did not keep the terms of the covenant that they had made in my presence, just like the calf they cut in two and then walk between its pieces. 19 The officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the government ministers,[c] the priests, and all the people of the land who walked between the parts of the calf, 20 I will hand over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives. Their corpses will be food for the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the land.
21 I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials to those who seek their lives and to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. Watch, I will give a command, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. I will make the cities of Judah desolate so that no one can live there.
The Example of the Rekabites
35 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 “Go to the house of the Rekabites, and bring them into one of the rooms in the House of the Lord, and give them wine to drink.”
3 So I took Ja’azaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, along with his brothers and all his sons—the whole house of the Rekabites— 4 and I brought them into the House of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials that was above the room of Ma’asaiah son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 I set bowls of wine and some cups before the men of the house of the Rekabites, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
6 But they said, “We do not drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab son of Rekab commanded us: ‘You are not to drink wine, neither you nor your descendants, not ever. 7 Also, you are not to build houses, sow seed, plant vineyards, or own any of these things. You must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time on the land where you live as nomads.’ 8 We have obeyed what Jonadab son of Rekab, our ancestor, commanded us. We have never drunk wine—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. 9 We have never built houses to live in. We have no vineyards, fields, or crops. 10 We have lived in tents, and we have obeyed everything that Jonadab our ancestor commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, we said, ‘Come on, we have to go to Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
13 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Go ask the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem: Will you learn a lesson and obey my words? declares the Lord. 14 Jonadab son of Rekab commanded his sons not to drink wine, and this command has been kept. To this day they drink no wine, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I keep speaking to you, again and again, and you have not obeyed me. 15 I have sent my servants the prophets to you again and again. They told you to turn from your evil ways, to reform your actions, and to stop following other gods in order to serve them. Then you would live on the land I have given to you and your fathers. But you have not paid attention or listened to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab son of Rekab have kept this command which their father gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.
17 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Watch this. I am going to bring down on Judah and everyone who lives in Jerusalem every disaster I have pronounced against them. I have spoken to them, but they have not listened. I have called them, but they have not answered.
18 Jeremiah said to the house of the Rekabites, “The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this. Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his instructions and done everything he commanded you, 19 the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says that Jonadab will never fail to have a man to serve me.”
Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll
36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
2 Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, concerning Judah and all the other nations, from the day I began speaking to you in the days of Josiah until now. 3 Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning for them, each of them will turn from his evil ways. Then I will forgive their guilt and their sin.
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah. While Jeremiah dictated all the words that the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. 5 Then Jeremiah gave an order to Baruch, saying, “I am restricted from going into the House of the Lord, 6 so you will have to go. Read from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read it in the hearing of all the people of Judah who have come from their cities on a day of fasting. 7 Perhaps they will make a request to the Lord, and each of them will turn from his evil ways, for the Lord has planned great anger and wrath against this people.”
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. He read the words of the Lord from the scroll in the House of the Lord.
9 Later, in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, all the people of Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah proclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll in the House of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people. This was at the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan, the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the House of the Lord.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went into the secretary’s room in the king’s palace. All the officials happened to be sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to tell Baruch, “Bring the scroll you have read in the hearing of the people, and come here.”
So Baruch son of Neriah brought the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.
16 When they had heard everything, they turned to one another in fear. They said to Baruch, “We have to report all of these things to the king.” 17 They asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all of this? Did Jeremiah dictate this to you?”
18 Baruch answered, “He dictated[d] all of these things to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.”
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go and hide. Do not let anyone know where you are.”
20 They put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, and then they went to the king in the court. They repeated all of these words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. After he took it from the room of Elishama the secretary, Jehudi read it to the king in the hearing of all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house (it was the ninth month),[e] and there was a metal heating pan with a fire of burning coals in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king would cut it off with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire until the entire scroll was burned up in the fire. 24 Neither the king nor his attendants who heard all these words were afraid. They did not tear their clothing. 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahme’el the king’s son, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abde’el, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord hid them.
27 After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
28 Take another scroll, and write all the earlier words on it that were on the first scroll, the one that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.
29 Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, say: This is what the Lord says. You yourself have burned this scroll. You asked, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy the land and cut off both men and animals?” 30 That is why the Lord says this about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31 I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their guilt. I will bring on them and on everyone who lives in Jerusalem and the men of Judah every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they did not listen.
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to his scribe Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it all the same words that had been on the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
King Zedekiah’s Request to Jeremiah
37 King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made Zedekiah son of Josiah king in place of Jehoiachin[f] son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people of the land obeyed the word of the Lord that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with Zephaniah son of Ma’aseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah to request, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4 Jeremiah was still moving about freely among the people, for they had not yet put him into prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah.
7 The Lord, the God of Israel, says to tell this to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me. Be warned. Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will go back to Egypt, to their own land. 8 Then the Chaldeans will return and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
9 The Lord says: “Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely leave us.’ They will not. 10 For even if you would defeat the whole Chaldean army attacking you, and there were only wounded men left who were confined to their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
11 When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem to face Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of the property among the people there. 13 But as he arrived at the Benjamin Gate, the sentry who was in charge there, named Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet. He said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14 But Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.”
But Irijah did not listen to him. He seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Angry with Jeremiah, they beat him, and they imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they were using that house as a prison.
16 Jeremiah was kept in a vaulted cistern[g] for a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
Jeremiah answered, “There is. He said, ‘You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.’”
18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets now, who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 Now, my lord the king, please listen to me. Let my petition come before you: Please do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”
21 Then Zedekiah the king ordered that Jeremiah be placed in the courtyard of the guard. Every day they gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Jeremiah Is Imprisoned in a Cistern
38 Shephatiah son of Mattah, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal[h] son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had told the people when he said, 2 “This is what the Lord says. Whoever remains in this city will die by sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes over to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life, and he will live. 3 This is what the Lord says. This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death because he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city. He is demoralizing all the people by saying these things to them. This man is not seeking the welfare of the people. He wants to hurt them.”
5 King Zedekiah answered, “Very well. He is in your hands. The king cannot do anything to stop you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They let Jeremiah down by ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7 Ebed Melek the Cushite,[i] an official in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed Melek left the palace and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, everything that these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he is likely to die because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king gave orders to Ebed Melek the Cushite: “Take thirty men from here under your command and lift Jeremiah the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed Melek took command of the men and entered a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothing from there, and he lowered them with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” After Jeremiah did that, 13 they lifted him up with the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern. After this Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah then sent for Jeremiah and brought him to the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. He said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah replied, “Won’t you put me to death if I tell you the truth? If I give you advice, you won’t listen to me.”
16 So King Zedekiah swore a secret oath to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death, and I will not hand you over to the men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: If you surrender to the Babylonian king’s officials, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned. You will live, and your family will live. 18 But if you will not surrender to the Babylonian king’s officials, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you will not escape from their hands.”
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may turn me over to them, and they will torture me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. It will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me. 22 All the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will certainly be brought out to the officials of the Babylonian king. Those women will say to you, ‘Those trusted friends of yours misled you and led you to defeat. Your feet have sunk down into the mud, and they all have deserted you.’ 23 They will bring all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape their grasp. You will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “If you do not let anyone know about this conversation, you will not die. 25 But if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, they will come and ask you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death—just tell us what the king said to you.’ 26 Tell them, ‘I was humbly begging the king not to return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
27 All the officials then came to Jeremiah. When they began to question him, he said everything just the way the king had commanded. Then they stopped questioning him, since no one had heard the conversation.
28 So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. He was still there when Jerusalem fell.
The Fall of Jerusalem
39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city wall. 3 All the officers of the king of Babylon entered and sat down in the middle gate: Nergal Sharezer the staff officer,[j] Nebo Sarsekim a chief officer,[k] Nergal Sharezer a high official,[l] and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled and left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls. Then they went toward the Arabah.
5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains by Jericho. After they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath and passed judgment on him. 6 The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in front of his eyes at Riblah, and he also killed the nobles of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles and sent him to Babylon. 8 The Chaldeans burned down the king’s palace and the houses of the people. They also broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[m] carried into exile the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted, as well as the rest of the people. 10 But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing, and he then gave them vineyards and fields.
Jeremiah Is Released
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, concerning Jeremiah. He said, 12 “Take him, look after him, and do him no harm. Do for him whatever he wants.”
13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the chief officer,[n] Nergal Sharezer a high official,[o] and all the other officials of the king of Babylon 14 sent for Jeremiah and had him taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him to his house. So he remained among his people.
15 While Jeremiah had still been imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord had come to him: 16 “Go and tell Ebed Melek the Cushite that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Watch, I am going to fulfill my words against this city for evil and not for good. They are going to be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall by the sword. You will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah Is Set Free
40 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him at Ramah. Jeremiah had been captured and bound in chains with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile in Babylon. 2 When the captain of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God pronounced this disaster on this place, 3 and the Lord has brought it about and has done what he said he would do. This took place because you people[p] sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. 4 But now, today, I am removing the chains from your wrists. If you wish, come with me to Babylon. I will take care of you. But if this does not seem good to you, then don’t come. The whole land is before you. If there is a place that seems good and right to you, go there.” 5 But before Jeremiah turned away, he added, “Or you can go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon has made him governor over the cities of Judah. You can live with him among the people. Go wherever it seems right for you to go.”
Then the commander of the guard gave him a gift and some food and released him. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who had been left behind in the land.
Gedaliah Is Assassinated
7 All the army officers who were still in the field and all their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to be governor of the land, and that he had given him authority over the men, women, children, and over the poorest people of the land—those who were not carried away into exile in Babylon. 8 They and their men went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Ja’azaniah[q] the son of the Ma’acathite. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath in the presence of them and their men. He said, “Do not be afraid of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10 As for me, I will certainly stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, store up wine, summer fruit, and oil, put it into your jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”
11 When all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and that he had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them, 12 all those Jews returned from all the places they had been scattered. They returned to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. There they stored up a large amount of wine and summer fruit.
13 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were still in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “I urge you, let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know. Why should he assassinate you and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this! What you are saying about Ishmael is false.”
41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together there, 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with a sword, killing the man the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and also the Chaldean soldiers they found there.
4 The next day, the day after Gedaliah was assassinated, before anyone knew about it, 5 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men in all—with their beards shaved, their clothing torn, and their bodies gashed.[r] They came bringing grain offerings and incense to the House of the Lord. 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7 When they got to the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him began to kill them, throwing their bodies into a cistern. 8 But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have food hidden in the countryside: wheat, barley, oil, and honey!”
So he stopped and did not murder them along with the others. 9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of the murdered men was a large one,[s] which had been built by King Asa to defend against Ba’asha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the murdered men.
10 Then Ishmael made prisoners of all the people who were left in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters and the others who were left there in Mizpah—people whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had placed under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them as prisoners and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him heard about all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12 they took all of their men and went to attack Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him by the great pool at Gibeon. 13 When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him, they were glad. 14 All of the people whom Ishmael had taken prisoner turned back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went over to the Ammonites.
16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers with him took all the survivors from Mizpah, whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, the women, the children, and the court officials that Johanan had brought back from Gibeon. 17 They left there and stayed at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem. They were on the way to Egypt 18 because they were afraid of the Chaldeans, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray for Them
42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah. 2 They said to him, “Please hear our request and pray to the Lord your God for us, for this group of survivors. As you can see, only a few of us are left, though once there were many. 3 Pray that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go and what we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Certainly, I will pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you whatever the Lord answers. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do everything the Lord your God directs you to tell us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, of whom you are inquiring for us. May it go well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 Ten days later, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 He called Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, along with all of the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and he reported this to them:
The Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your request, says this: 10 If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieving over the disaster I brought upon you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will be merciful to you so that he will be merciful to you and will send you back to your own land.
13 But if you say, “We will not remain in this land,” and if you disobey the voice of the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, “No, we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, hear no battle signal from the ram’s horn, and experience no hunger for bread, and we will live there,” 15 then hear the word of the Lord, you survivors from Judah. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. If you are determined to go and live in Egypt, 16 then the sword you fear will overtake you in Egypt, the famine you dread will follow you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 This is what will happen to everyone who is determined to go into Egypt. All of them will die by the sword, famine, and plague. None of them will survive or escape from the disaster I am going to bring on them. 18 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. As my anger and my wrath have been poured out on those who live in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of horror and derision, an object of cursing and ridicule. You will never see this place again.
19 This is what the Lord says concerning you, you remaining survivors from Judah: Do not go to Egypt. You can be certain about this. I am warning you today 20 that you have put your own souls[t] in danger by sending me to the Lord your God and saying, “Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything the Lord our God says, and we will do it.” 21 I have told you this today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything he sent me to tell you. 22 Therefore, be certain about this. You will die by the sword, famine, and plague in the place where you want to go and live.
Jeremiah Is Taken to Egypt
43 When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God (everything the Lord had sent him to tell them), 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying. The Lord our God did not send you to tell us, ‘Do not go to Egypt to settle there.’ 3 Baruch son of Neriah has turned you against us, in order to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so that they may kill us or carry us away to Babylon as captives.”
4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers disobeyed the voice of the Lord, who was commanding them to remain in the land of Judah. 5 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers took away everyone who remained in Judah, everyone who had returned to live in the land of Judah from the nations where they had been driven: 6 the men, women, and children, the king’s daughters, and everyone else that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. 7 They entered the land of Egypt, disobeying the voice of the Lord, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
8 In Tahpanhes the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord said, 9 “Take some large stones in your hand while the men of Judah are watching, and bury them in the mudbrick pavement at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. 10 Tell them that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Be sure of this. I will send for my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I[u] will set his throne on these stones that I[v] have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those doomed to death, captivity to those doomed to captivity, and the sword to those doomed to the sword. 12 I[w] will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them—or carry them away to captivity. He will wrap Egypt around himself as a shepherd wraps a cloak around himself.[x] Then he will go away in peace. 13 He will smash the sacred obelisks in the temple of the sun[y] in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the Egyptian gods.”
The Lord’s Message to the Jews in Egypt
44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis,[z] and also in Upper Egypt:[aa]
2 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. You have seen the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. You see that today they are desolate and no one lives there 3 because they committed evil and provoked me to anger. They burned incense to serve other gods that neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew. 4 I kept sending my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.” 5 But they did not listen or pay attention. They did not turn away from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. 6 Therefore, my wrath and anger were poured out and ignited against the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they were laid waste and desolate, as they are this day.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Why are you doing such an evil thing to yourselves? You are cutting off from Judah man and woman, children and infants, leaving no one remaining. 8 Why are you provoking me to anger with the idols your hands have made? Why are you burning incense to other gods in Egypt where you have gone to live? You will cut yourselves off, making yourselves an object of cursing and ridicule among all the nations of the earth. 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the king of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day. They have not feared me or walked in my law or in my statutes that I set before you and your fathers.
11 Therefore the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly set my face against you to bring disaster, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will remove the survivors of Judah who are determined to go to Egypt and settle there, and they will be consumed. In the land of Egypt they will fall. They will be consumed by sword and famine. They will die, from the least to the greatest, by sword and famine. They will become an object of horror and derision, an object of cursing and ridicule. 13 I will punish those who go to live in the land of Egypt as I punished Jerusalem—with the sword, famine, and plague— 14 so that none of the survivors of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return in order to live there, because none of them will return, except a few refugees.
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing there—a large crowd—and all the people living in Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt[ab] answered Jeremiah: 16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, 17 but instead we will continue doing everything that we said we would do. We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out drink offerings to her, just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our officials used to do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food. We were prosperous, and we had no troubles. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and stopped pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing at all, and we have been consumed by sword and famine.”
19 Then the women said, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make the cakes in her image and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ approval?”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21 “Do you think the Lord did not remember the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your ancestors, your kings and officials, and the people of the land? Do you think this did not enter his mind? 22 When the Lord could no longer bear your evil acts and the disgusting things you did, your land became a desolate wasteland, a cursed land, with no one living there to this day. 23 It is because you have burned incense and sinned against the Lord, because you have not obeyed him or walked in his law, his statutes, and his decrees, that this disaster has come upon you now.”
24 Jeremiah then said to all the people, including the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt.”
25 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this. You and your wives have declared with your words and your actions that you will keep the vows you made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her. Do what you promised! By all means, fulfill your vows!
26 But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt. Listen! I swear by my great name, declares the Lord, that my name will no longer be spoken by anyone from Judah living anywhere in Egypt, nor will they swear, “As surely as the Lord God lives.” 27 Look at this! I am watching over them to bring disaster, not good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by sword and famine until they are all gone. 28 Those who escape the sword and return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah will be very few. Then all the remnant of Judah who entered Egypt to live there will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.
29 This will be a sign to you, declares the Lord. I will punish you in this place. Then you will know that my warnings to bring disaster upon you will stand. 30 This is what the Lord says. Watch me. I am handing Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who sought his life.
A Message for Baruch
45 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Baruch son of Neriah when he was writing down on a scroll the words that Jeremiah was dictating. This was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.
2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch.
3 You said, “Woe is me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with groaning and I have found no rest.”
4 This is what the Lord says. Tell him that I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the whole world. 5 So should you then be seeking great things for yourself? Stop seeking them. I will certainly bring disaster on every living thing, declares the Lord. But in every place you go, I will let you hang on to your life like a prize of war.
A Prophecy About Egypt
46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:
2 Concerning Egypt:
Concerning the strong army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 Arrange your shields, both large and small,
and march out for battle!
4 Harness the horses!
Mount up, you horsemen!
Take up your stations with your helmets on.
Polish your spears.
Put on your armor!
5 But what do I see?
They are terrified.
They are turning back.
Their warriors are beaten.
They are fleeing without looking back.
There is terror on every side! declares the Lord.
6 There is no chance for the swift to flee.
There is no escape for the strong.
In the north, near the River Euphrates,
they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers with surging waters?
8 It is Egypt that rises like the Nile,
like rivers with surging waters.
Egypt said, “I will rise.
I will cover the earth.
I will destroy cities
and those who live in them.”
9 Horses, charge!
Charioteers, drive like madmen!
Forward, you warriors,
you men of Cush and Put who carry the shield,
you men of Lud who grasp and bend the bow![ac]
10 That day is the day of the Lord, the God of Armies.
It is a day of vengeance,
when he will take vengeance on his foes.
11 Go up to Gilead and get balm,
virgin daughter of Egypt!
You have tried many medicines with no results.
There is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and your cry fills the earth.
Warrior stumbles against warrior,
and the two of them fall together.
Nebuchadnezzar Will Attack Egypt
13 This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt.
14 Declare this in Egypt. Proclaim it in Migdol.
Proclaim it in Memphis[ad] and Tahpanhes.
Say, “Take your positions and get ready.
The sword is going to devour those around you.”
15 Why are your mighty ones laid low?[ae]
They cannot stand, for the Lord has pushed them down.
16 He made many stumble.
They fall against each other.
They say, “Get up! Let’s go back to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the sword of our oppressor.”
17 There they will cry out,
“Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise.
He has missed his opportunity.”
18 As surely as I live, declares the King,
whose name is the Lord of Armies,
someone is coming who is like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea.[af]
19 Get your bags ready to go into exile,
you daughter who dwells in Egypt,
for Memphis will become a desolation
and lie in ruins without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a lovely heifer,
but a horsefly has come against her out of the north.
21 The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves.
They will turn and flee together.
They will not stand,
for the day of disaster has come upon them,
the time for their punishment.
22 Egypt will hiss like a snake,
because the enemy will advance as an army.
It will come against her with axes,
like men who cut down trees.
23 They will cut down her forest, declares the Lord,
though it is impenetrable,
even though they are more numerous than locusts,
even though they are too many to count.
24 The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame,
handed over to the people from the north.
25 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Watch, I will punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, with Egypt, her gods, and her kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers.
But afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in former days, declares the Lord.
27 But do not be afraid, my servant Jacob.
Do not be terrified, Israel,
because I will save you from a faraway place,
and I will rescue your descendants from the land where
they are captives.
Jacob will return.
He will enjoy quiet and be at ease,
and no one will make him afraid.
28 Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, declares the Lord,
for I am with you.
I will completely destroy all the nations
among which I have scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you with justice,
and I will not regard you as entirely innocent.
A Prophecy Against Philistia
47 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.
2 This is what the Lord says.
See, waters rise up out of the north,
and they will become an overflowing stream.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the cities and those who live there.
The people will cry out,
and everyone who lives in the land will wail
3 at the sound of the stamping hoofs of his steeds,
at the rumbling of his chariots,
at the roar of his wheels.
Fathers will not turn back for their sons,
because their hands will hang limp,
4 on account of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who survives.
For the Lord will destroy the Philistines,
the surviving remnant from the shores of Caphtor.[ag]
5 Baldness is coming to Gaza.
Ashkelon will be destroyed.
You survivors left on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
6 O sword of the Lord!
How long until you rest?
Return to your scabbard.
Rest and be still.
7 How can you rest since the Lord has commanded this?
Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea,
he has assigned the sword.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.