Bible in 90 Days

²³ This word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: ²⁴ “Haven’t you noticed that these people are saying, ‘Adonai has rejected the two families he chose’? Hence they despise my people and no longer look at them as a nation. ²⁵ Here is what Adonai says: ‘If I have not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the laws for sky and earth, ²⁶ then I will also reject the descendants of Ya‘akov and of my servant David, not choosing from his descendants people to rule over the descendants of Avraham, Yis’chak and Ya‘akov. For I will cause their captives to come back, and I will show them compassion.’”

34 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai when N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel, his whole army, all his vassal kingdoms and all the peoples fought against Yerushalayim and all its cities: ² “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to go and speak to Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah. Tell him that Adonai says: ‘I am going to hand this city over to the king of Bavel, and he will burn it to the ground. ³ You will not escape but will surely be captured and handed over to him; your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Bavel, he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Bavel.’ ⁴ Nevertheless, Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, hear the word of Adonai. Adonai says this about you: ‘You will not be put to the sword ⁵ but will die peacefully; and just as they burned spices for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn spices for you and mourn you, “Oh! Master!” For I have spoken the word,’ says Adonai.” ⁶ Yirmeyahu the prophet said all these words to Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah in Yerushalayim ⁷ at the time when the king of Bavel’s army was fighting against Yerushalayim and against all the cities of Y’hudah that were left — that is, against Lakhish and ‘Azekah, since only these remained of the fortified cities of Y’hudah.

⁸ This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai after King Tzidkiyahu had made a covenant with all the people in Yerushalayim to emancipate them. ⁹ Everyone who had a male or female slave who was Hebrew was to let him go free; none was to keep as his slave a fellow Jew. ¹⁰ All the leaders and all the people listened who had entered into the covenant, wherein everyone was to free his male and female slaves and not keep them in bondage any longer. They listened, and they let them go. ¹¹ But afterwards, they changed their minds; they made the male and female slaves, whom they had freed, return; and they brought them back into subjection as slaves. ¹² Therefore this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: ¹³ “Here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘When I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they lived as slaves, I made this covenant with them: ¹⁴ “At the end of seven years every one of you is to set free his brother Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years. You are to let him go free from you.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or pay any attention. ¹⁵ Now you repented, you did what is right from my viewpoint when each of you proclaimed freedom to his fellow; and you made a covenant before me in the house bearing my name. ¹⁶ But then you changed your minds. You profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free to live as they wished, and brought them back into subjection as your slaves.’ ¹⁷ Therefore here is what Adonai says: ‘You did not heed me and proclaim freedom, each to his brother and each to his neighbor; so now I proclaim for you a freedom,’ says Adonai, ‘for sword, plague and famine. I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. ¹⁸ As for the men who violated my covenant by not living up to the conditions of the covenant which they made in my presence when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts — ¹⁹ the leaders of Y’hudah, the leaders of Yerushalayim, the officials, the cohanim and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; ²⁰ I will hand them over to their enemies, hand them over to those who seek their lives; and their corpses will become food for birds in the air and wild animals. ²¹ Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah and his officials I will hand over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives and to the army of the king of Bavel, which has withdrawn. ²² I will give the order,’ says Adonai, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will attack it, capture it and burn it to the ground; and I will make the cities of Y’hudah desolate and uninhabited.’”

35 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai during the time of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah: ² “Go to the Rekhavim, speak to them, bring them to one of the rooms in the house of Adonai, and give them some wine to drink.” ³ So I took Ya’azanyah the son of Yirmeyahu, the son of Havatzinyah, and his brothers, all his sons and all the Rekhavim, ⁴ and took them into the house of Adonai, to the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Yigdalyahu, a man of God. It was by the room of the officials, which was above the room of Ma‘aseiyah the son of Shalum, the gatekeeper. ⁵ There I set in front of the members of the clan of the Rekhavim pitchers full of wine and cups, and said to them, “Drink some wine.” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink any wine; because Yonadav the son of Rekhav, our ancestor, gave us this order: ‘You are not to drink wine, neither you nor your descendants, forever. ⁷ Also you are not to build houses, sow seed, or plant or own vineyards. Rather, you are always to live in tents; so that you may live a long time in the land, in which you are not citizens.’ ⁸ We have heeded the words of Yonadav the son of Rekhav, our ancestor, in all that he instructed us to do: not to drink wine as long as we live — we, our wives, our sons and our daughters; ⁹ not to build houses for ourselves to live in; and not to have vineyards, fields or seed. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents, and we have heeded Yonadav our ancestor and done everything he ordered us to do. ¹¹ But when N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel came up to attack the land, we said, ‘Come, let’s go up to Yerushalayim,’ because we were afraid of the army of the Kasdim and the army of Aram; hence we are living in Yerushalayim.”

¹² Then the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: ¹³ “Adonai-Tzva’ot the God of Isra’el says to go to the men of Y’hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and say: ‘Won’t you ever learn to listen to my words?’ says Adonai. ¹⁴ ‘The words of Yonadav the son of Rekhav which he ordered his offspring, not to drink wine, are obeyed; so to this day they don’t drink any; because they heed their ancestor’s order. But I have spoken to you, spoken frequently, and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have also sent you all my servants the prophets, sent them frequently, with the message, “Every one of you should turn back now from his evil way, improve your actions and not follow other gods in order to serve them. Then you will live in the land I gave you and your ancestors. But you have not paid attention or listened to me. ¹⁶ Because the descendants of Yonadav the son of Rekhav have obeyed the order of their ancestor, which he ordered them; but this people has not listened to me; ¹⁷ therefore — ” here is what Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will inflict on Y’hudah and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim all the disaster I have decreed against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called out to them, but they have not answered.”’”

¹⁸ Then to the clan of the Rekhavim Yirmeyahu said, “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Because you have heeded the order of Yonadav your ancestor, observed all his commands and done what he ordered you to do; ¹⁹ therefore Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says this: “Yonadav the son of Rekhav will never lack a descendant to stand before me.”’”

36 In the fourth year of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, this word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: ² “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Isra’el, Y’hudah and all the other nations, from the day I started speaking to you, back in the time of Yoshiyahu, until today. ³ Perhaps the house of Y’hudah will listen to all the disaster I intend to bring on them, and turn back, each person from his evil way; then I will forgive their wickedness and sin.”

⁴ So Yirmeyahu summoned Barukh the son of Neriyah; and Barukh wrote down on a scroll, at Yirmeyahu’s dictation, all the words that Adonai had said to him. ⁵ Then Yirmeyahu gave this order to Barukh: “I am not allowed to enter the house of Adonai. ⁶ Therefore, you take the scroll which you wrote at my dictation, go into the house of Adonai on a fast-day, and read from it the words of Adonai in the hearing of the people; also read them to all Y’hudah as they exit their cities. ⁷ Perhaps they will turn to Adonai in prayer and will return, each one, from his evil way. For the anger and fury which Adonai has decreed against this people is great.”

⁸ Barukh the son of Neriyah obeyed everything Yirmeyahu the prophet ordered him to do, reading the words of Adonai from the scroll in Adonai’s house. ⁹ A fast was proclaimed in the ninth month of the fifth year of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, for all the people in Yerushalayim and all the people who came from the cities of Y’hudah to Yerushalayim. ¹⁰ It was then that Barukh read from the scroll the words of Yirmeyahu in the house of Adonai, in the chamber of G’maryahu the son of Shafan the secretary, in the upper courtyard, at the entry to the New Gate of Adonai’s house, for all the people to hear. ¹¹ When Mikhay’hu the son of G’maryahu, the son of Shafan, had heard from the scroll all the words of Adonai, ¹² he went down to the king’s palace, into the secretary’s room. All the officials were there — Elishama the secretary, D’layahu the son of Sh’ma‘yahu, Elnatan the son of ‘Akhbor, G’maryah the son of Shafan, Tzidkiyahu the son of Hananyahu and all the [other] officials. ¹³ Mikhay’hu told them all the words he had heard when Barukh read the scroll in the people’s hearing; ¹⁴ whereupon all the officials sent Y’hudi the son of N’tanyahu, the son of Shelemyahu, the son of Kushi, to Barukh to say, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Barukh the son of Neriyah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” Barukh read it to them. ¹⁶ After they had heard all the words, they turned in fear to each other and said to Barukh, “We will certainly tell the king about all these words.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Barukh, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?” ¹⁸ Barukh answered them, “He said all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll.” ¹⁹ At this, the officials said to Barukh, “Go and hide yourselves, you and Yirmeyahu; don’t let anyone know where you are.” ²⁰ After depositing the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went in to the courtyard and told everything to the king.

²¹ The king sent Y’hudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Y’hudi read it to the king and all the officials standing near the king. ²² The king was sitting in his winter house; and since it was the ninth month, he had a fire burning in the stove in front of him. ²³ After Y’hudi had read three or four columns from the scroll, he would cut off that portion with a knife and throw it into the fire that was burning in the stove, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire in the stove. ²⁴ But even though they heard all these words, neither the king nor any of his servants grew afraid or tore their clothes. ²⁵ Elnatan, D’layahu and G’maryahu had begged the king not to burn the scroll; but he wouldn’t listen to them. ²⁶ Then the king ordered Yerachme’el the king’s son, S’rayahu the son of ‘Azri’el and Shelemyahu the son of ‘Avde’el to arrest Barukh the scribe and Yirmeyahu the prophet; but Adonai hid them.

²⁷ Then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu after the king had burned the scroll with the words Barukh had written at Yirmeyahu’s dictation: ²⁸ “Take another scroll, and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Y’hoyakim the king of Y’hudah burned up. ²⁹ And as far as Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah is concerned, you are to say that Adonai says, ‘You burned this scroll, asking, “Why did you write in it that the king of Bavel will certainly come and destroy this land and leave it without either humans or animals?” ³⁰ Therefore Adonai says this about Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah: “He will have no one to occupy David’s throne; and his dead body will be thrown out to lie in the heat by day and in the frost by night. ³¹ Moreover, I will punish him, his offspring and his officials for their wickedness; and I will bring on them, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and the people of Y’hudah all the disaster I have decreed against them, to which they have paid no attention.”’”

³² Then Yirmeyahu took another scroll and gave it to Barukh the scribe, the son of Neriyah. At Yirmeyahu’s dictation he wrote in it all the words of the scroll which Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah had burned up in the fire, and to those he added many similar words.

37 Tzidkiyahu the son of Yoshiyahu became king, succeeding Koniyahu the son of Y’hoyakim, whom N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel had made king over the land of Y’hudah. ² But neither he, his servants nor the people of the land paid attention to the words of Adonai, which he spoke through the prophet Yirmeyahu.

³ Tzidkiyahu the king sent Y’hukhal the son of Shelemyahu and Tz’fanyahu the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the cohen, to the prophet Yirmeyahu with the message, “Please pray to Adonai our God for us.” ⁴ At that time Yirmeyahu was mixing freely with the people, because they had not yet put him in prison. ⁵ At the same time Pharaoh’s army marched out of Egypt; and when the Kasdim besieging Yerushalayim heard about them, they lifted the siege from Yerushalayim.

⁶ Then this word of Adonai came to the prophet Yirmeyahu: ⁷ “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to me to consult me: ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to assist you; but they will return to Egypt, to their own country. ⁸ The Kasdim will return, attack this city, capture it and burn it to the ground.’ ⁹ Here is what Adonai says: ‘Don’t deceive yourselves by thinking that the Kasdim must withdraw from you, because they will not withdraw. ¹⁰ Even if you were to strike the entire army of the Kasdim fighting against you, to the degree that only their wounded were left, they would still rise up every man from his tent and burn this city to the ground.’”

¹¹ Then, at the time when the army of the Kasdim had lifted the siege of Yerushalayim out of fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Yirmeyahu left Yerushalayim to go to the territory of Binyamin to receive his share of an inheritance there. He was passing through the crowds ¹³ and had reached the gate leading toward Binyamin when a guard commander there named Yir’iyah the son of Shelemyah, the son of Hananyah, seized Yirmeyahu the prophet, shouting, “You’re deserting to the Kasdim!” ¹⁴ Yirmeyahu answered, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Kasdim”; but Yir’iyah wouldn’t listen to him. So he arrested Yirmeyahu and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ The officials, furious with Yirmeyahu, had him beaten and jailed in the house of Y’honatan the secretary, which had been made over into a prison. ¹⁶ The cistern had been made into a dungeon, and Yirmeyahu was put in one of its cells; there he remained for a long time.

¹⁷ Then Tzidkiyahu the king sent and had him brought; and the king asked him secretly, in his palace, “Is there any word from Adonai?” “There is,” Yirmeyahu said. “You will be handed over to the king of Bavel.” ¹⁸ Yirmeyahu asked King Tzidkiyahu, “In what way have I sinned against you or against your officials or against this people, that has caused you to put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets now, the ones who prophesied to you that the king of Bavel wouldn’t attack you or this land? ²⁰ So now, please listen, my lord king! I beg you, approve my request — don’t make me return to the house of Y’honatan the secretary, or I will die there.” ²¹ At that, Tzidkiyahu the king gave the order, at which they committed Yirmeyahu to the guards’ quarters and gave him daily a loaf of bread from the Bakers’ Street, until all the bread in the city had been used up. Thus Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters.

38 But Sh’fatyah the son of Mattan, G’dalyahu the son of Pash’chur, Yukhal the son of Shelemyahu and Pash’chur the son of Malkiyah heard these words which Yirmeyahu had said to all the people, ² “Here is what Adonai says: whoever remains in this city will die by sword, famine and plague; but whoever leaves and surrenders to the Kasdim will stay alive; his own life will be his only ‘spoils of war,’ but he will stay alive. ³ Adonai says that this city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Bavel, and he will capture it.” ⁴ The leaders said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because by speaking such words to the soldiers left in this city and to all the people, he is demoralizing them. This man is seeking not to benefit this people, but to harm them.” ⁵ Tzidkiyahu the king said, “All right, he is in your hands; for the king can’t prevent you from doing as you please.”

⁶ Then they took Yirmeyahu and threw him into the cistern of Malkiyahu the king’s son, which was in the guards’ quarters; they let down Yirmeyahu into it with ropes. In the pit there was no water, but there was mud; and Yirmeyahu sank into the mud. ⁷ ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian, an officer in the king’s house, heard that they had put Yirmeyahu in the cistern. When the king was sitting at the gate leading toward Binyamin, ⁸ ‘Eved-Melekh left the palace and said to the king, ⁹ “My lord, king! What these men have done to Yirmeyahu the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into the cistern; and he is likely to die there where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more food in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king ordered ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and bring Yirmeyahu the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So ‘Eved-Melekh took the men with him and entered a storeroom under the treasury in the king’s palace, from which he took some old clothes and rags. These he let down with ropes to Yirmeyahu in the cistern. ¹² ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian then said to Yirmeyahu, “Use these old clothes and rags as padding between your armpits and the ropes.” After Yirmeyahu had done this, ¹³ they pulled Yirmeyahu up with the ropes and took him out of the cistern. Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters.

¹⁴ Tzidkiyahu summoned and had Yirmeyahu brought to him through the third entry in the house of Adonai. Then the king said to Yirmeyahu, “I want to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.” ¹⁵ Yirmeyahu said to Tzidkiyahu, “If I do say it to you, won’t you have me put to death? And if I give you counsel, you won’t listen to me.” ¹⁶ So Tzidkiyahu swore secretly to Yirmeyahu, “As Adonai lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death; nor will I hand you over to these men who want you put to death.”

¹⁷ Then Yirmeyahu said to Tzidkiyahu, “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘If you will go out and surrender to the king of Bavel’s officers, then you will stay alive — this city will not be burned down; and you and your family will live. ¹⁸ But if you will not go out to the king of Bavel’s officers, then this city will be handed over to the Kasdim; they will burn it to the ground; and you will not escape from them.’” ¹⁹ Tzidkiyahu the king said to Yirmeyahu, “I am afraid of the Judeans who deserted to the Kasdim. The Kasdim might hand me over to them, and they would mistreat me.” ²⁰ Yirmeyahu answered, “They won’t hand you over. I beg you, listen to the voice of Adonai concerning what I’m telling you about; then it will go well with you, and you will live. ²¹ But if you refuse to surrender, then this is the word Adonai has shown me: ²² all the women remaining in the king of Y’hudah’s palace will be brought out to the king of Bavel’s officers, and those women will taunt you:

²³ They will bring all your women and children out to the Kasdim, and you will not escape from them. Rather, you will be captured by the king of Bavel, and you will cause this city to be burned to the ground.”

²⁴ Tzidkiyahu said to Yirmeyahu, “Don’t tell anyone what you just said, or you will die. ²⁵ If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king; don’t hide it from us, or we will put you to death, and also what the king said to you,’ ²⁶ then tell them, ‘I presented my request to the king that he would not make me return to Y’honatan’s house, to die there.’” ²⁷ All the officials did come to Yirmeyahu and asked him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they stopped speaking with him, since the matter had not been reported.

²⁸ Yirmeyahu remained in the guards’ quarters until the day Yerushalayim was captured; he was there when Yerushalayim was captured.

39 In the ninth year of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, in the tenth month, N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel marched against Yerushalayim with his entire army and began to lay siege against it. ² On the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Tzidkiyahu, they broke through into the city. ³ All the officers of the king of Bavel entered and sat at the Middle Gate — Nergal-Sar’etzer, Samgar-N’vo, Sars’khim the Rav-Saris, Nergal-Sar’etzer the Rav-Mag and all the other officers of the king of Bavel. ⁴ When Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, leaving the city by night through the king’s garden, exiting from the gate between the two walls, and continuing out by the route through the ‘Aravah. ⁵ But the army of the Kasdim went in pursuit of them and overtook Tzidkiyahu on the plains near Yericho. Upon capturing him, they brought him up to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel at Rivlah, in the land of Hamat, where he passed judgment on him. ⁶ The king of Bavel slaughtered the sons of Tzidkiyahu before his eyes in Rivlah; the king of Bavel also slaughtered all the leading men of Y’hudah. ⁷ Then he put out Tzidkiyahu’s eyes and bound him in chains to be carried off to Bavel. ⁸ The Kasdim burned down the royal palace and the people’s houses, and they broke down the walls of Yerushalayim. ⁹ N’vuzar’adan commander of the guard then deported to Bavel the remaining population of the city, the deserters who had defected to him, and the rest of the people remaining. ¹⁰ But N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard left behind in the territory of Y’hudah some of the poor people, those who had nothing, and at the same time gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹ Concerning Yirmeyahu, N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel gave N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard this order: ¹² “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but treat him as he tells you.” ¹³ So N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard, N’vushazban the Rav-Saris, Nergal-Sar’etzer the Rav-Mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Bavel ¹⁴ sent to have Yirmeyahu taken out of the guards’ quarters; they committed him to the care of G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, to be brought home. There he lived among the people.

¹⁵ This word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu while he was imprisoned in the guards’ quarters: ¹⁶ “Go and tell ‘Eved-Melekh the Ethiopian that Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘“I am about to fulfill my words about this city for disaster, not for good; when the day arrives, they will come true before your eyes. ¹⁷ But at that time I will rescue you,” says Adonai, “and I will not hand you over to the men you fear. ¹⁸ Yes, I will keep you safe; you will not fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me,” says Adonai.’”

40 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai after N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard had let him leave Ramah, after having taken him, bound in chains, with all the captives from Yerushalayim and Y’hudah that had been carried off to Bavel. ² The commander of the guard took Yirmeyahu and said to him, “Adonai your God decreed this disaster for this place, ³ and Adonai has brought it about; he has done what he said he would do, because you people sinned against Adonai and did not listen to what he said; that is why this has come upon you. ⁴ Now, today, I am freeing you from the chains on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Bavel, come; and I will look after you well. But if it seems not good to you to come with me to Bavel, then don’t — the entire land is in front of you: wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.” ⁵ Before Yirmeyahu could answer, [N’vuzar’adan said,] “Go back then to G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, whom the king of Bavel has made governor over the cities of Y’hudah, and live with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right for you to go.” The commander of the guard gave him provisions and a gift, and dismissed him. ⁶ Yirmeyahu then went to G’dalyahu the son of Achikam in Mitzpah and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷ Now when all the field force commanders and their men heard that the king of Bavel had made G’dalyahu the son of Achikam governor in the land and had committed to his care men, women, children and some of the poorest people in the land of those who had not been carried captive to Bavel; ⁸ they approached G’dalyahu in Mitzpah — in particular, Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, Yochanan and Yonatan the sons of Kareach, S’rayah the son of Tanchumet, the sons of ‘Efai the N’tofati and Y’zanyahu the son of the Ma‘akhati, they and their men. ⁹ G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, swore to them and their men, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Kasdim. Live in the land, serve the king of Bavel; and things will go well with you. ¹⁰ As for me, I will live in Mitzpah and be responsible to the Kasdim who come to us. But you — harvest wine, summer fruits and olive oil; put them in your containers; and live in your cities that you have taken over.”

¹¹ Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in Mo’av, in Edom, among the people of ‘Amon, and in all the other countries heard that the king of Bavel had left a remnant in Y’hudah and had appointed G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, to govern them; ¹² then all the Judeans returned from all the places where they had been driven and came to the land of Y’hudah, to G’dalyahu in Mitzpah, and harvested wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the field force commanders came to G’dalyahu in Mitzpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you aware that Ba‘alis the king of the people of ‘Amon has sent Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu to take your life?” But G’dalyahu the son of Achikam did not believe them. ¹⁵ Then Yochanan the son of Kareach spoke privately with G’dalyahu in Mitzpah: “Please, let me go, and I will kill Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu; no one will know. Why let him assassinate you? Moreover, if he does, all the Judeans gathered around you will scatter; and the remnant of Y’hudah will perish.” ¹⁶ But G’dalyahu the son of Achikam said to Yochanan the son of Kareach, “Don’t do it. What you are saying about Yishma‘el is not true.”

41 In the seventh month Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, the son of Elishama, of royal blood and one of the chief officials of the king, came with ten men to G’dalyahu in Mitzpah. While eating a meal together there in Mitzpah, ² Yishma‘el and the ten men with him rose and attacked G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, struck him with their swords, and assassinated the man whom the king of Bavel had appointed governor of the land. ³ Yishma‘el also murdered all the Judeans who were with G’dalyahu at Mitzpah, as well as the Kasdim soldiers they found there.

⁴ The next day, before his assassination of G’dalyahu had become known, ⁵ eighty men from Sh’khem, Shiloh and Shomron came with beards shaved off, clothes torn and gashes on their bodies; they had grain offerings and frankincense with them to present in the house of Adonai. ⁶ Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu went out from Mitzpah to meet them, weeping all along the way; on meeting them, he said to them, “Come to G’dalyahu the son of Achikam.” ⁷ But once they were inside the city, Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. ⁸ However, ten of them said to Yishma‘el, “Don’t kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, olive oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he relented, and did not kill them along with their comrades. ⁹ The cistern in which Yishma‘el threw the corpses of the men he had murdered with G’dalyahu was the one Asa the king had made in fear of Ba‘asha king of Isra’el; it was this cistern that Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu filled with the slaughtered men. ¹⁰ Then Yishma‘el carried off captive the rest of the people in Mitzpah — the king’s daughters and all the people left in Mitzpah, whom N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard had committed to the care of G’dalyahu the son of Achikam. Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu carried them off captive and left to cross over to the people of ‘Amon.

¹¹ When Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him heard of all the crimes committed by Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, ¹² they took all the men and went to attack Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu. They found him by the big pool in Giv‘on. ¹³ When all Yishma‘el’s captives saw Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him, they were overjoyed. ¹⁴ So all the people Yishma‘el had carried off captive from Mitzpah turned and joined Yochanan the son of Kareach. ¹⁵ But Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu escaped from Yochanan with eight men and went on to the people of ‘Amon. ¹⁶ Yochanan the son of Kareach and the military commanders with him then took all the rest of the people he had freed from Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, those Yishma‘el had taken from Mitzpah after assassinating G’dalyahu the son of Achikam — the heroes, the soldiers, the women, the children and the officers he had brought back from Giv‘on — ¹⁷ and they left there to stay at Kimham’s Lodge, near Beit-Lechem, intending to go on to Egypt ¹⁸ and thus escape the Kasdim. They were afraid of them, because Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu had murdered G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, whom the king of Bavel had appointed governor of the land.

42 Then all the military commanders, Yochanan the son of Kareach, Y’zanyah the son of Hosha‘yah and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached ² and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, “I beg you, approve our request: pray for us to Adonai your God for all of this remnant. For, while once we were numerous, only a few of us are left, as you can see. ³ Pray that Adonai your God will tell us what direction to take and what to do.”

⁴ Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them: “I hear you. All right, I will pray to Adonai your God, as you have asked. And whatever Adonai answers you, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.” ⁵ They said to Yirmeyahu, “May Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do any part of what Adonai your God gives you to tell us. ⁶ Whether it be good or bad, we will listen to what Adonai our God says. We are dispatching you to him so that things will go well with us, as we heed what Adonai our God says.”

⁷ Ten days later the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu. ⁸ So he called Yochanan the son of Kareach, all the military commanders with him and all the people, from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “You sent me to present your request to Adonai the God of Isra’el. This is what he says: ¹⁰ ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up, not pull you down; I will plant you and not uproot you; for I am relenting from the calamity I inflicted on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Bavel — of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Adonai, ‘for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. ¹² I will take pity on you, so that he will take pity on you and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³ “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ thereby not heeding what Adonai your God is saying, ¹⁴ and instead say, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt; because there we will not see war or hear the shofar sounding its alarm or be short of food; so we’ll stay there’; ¹⁵ then hear what Adonai says, remnant of Y’hudah — this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and stay there, ¹⁶ the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, of which you are afraid, will pursue you relentlessly there in Egypt; and there you will die. ¹⁷ This is how it will be for all the people determined to go to Egypt and stay there — they will die by sword, famine and plague; none of them will remain or escape the disaster that I will bring upon them.’ ¹⁸ For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so likewise my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt; so that you will become an object of condemnation, astonishment, cursing and reproach; and you will see this place no more.’

¹⁹ “Adonai has spoken concerning you, remnant of Y’hudah! Don’t go to Egypt! You know for a fact that I have given you fair warning today. ²⁰ For you have been behaving deceitfully, against your own interests. You sent me to Adonai your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Adonai our God; tell us everything Adonai our God says, and we will do it.’ ²¹ Today I have told it to you, but you haven’t heeded any part of what Adonai your God gave me to tell you. ²² Therefore, know for a fact that you will die by sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go and live.”

43 When Yirmeyahu had finished telling all the people everything Adonai their God had said, which Adonai their God had sent him to tell them, the entire speech cited above, ² then ‘Azaryah the son of Hosha‘yah, Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the men with him had the effrontery to say to Yirmeyahu, “You are lying! Adonai our God did not send you to say, ‘Don’t go to Egypt and live there’! ³ Rather, Barukh the son of Neriyah is inciting you against us, so that we can be handed over to the Kasdim to be put to death or carried off as captives to Bavel.”

⁴ So Yochanan the son of Kareach, all the military commanders and all the people did not heed what Adonai said, to live in the land of Y’hudah. ⁵ Instead, Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders took all the remnant of Y’hudah who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven to live in the land of Y’hudah — ⁶ the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, everyone N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard had committed to G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, and Yirmeyahu the prophet and Barukh the son of Neriyah — ⁷ and went to the land of Egypt; for they did not heed what Adonai had said; and they arrived in Tachpanches.

⁸ Then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu in Tachpanches: ⁹ “With the men of Y’hudah watching, take some big stones, and set them with mortar in the pavement at the entry to Pharaoh’s palace in Tachpanches. ¹⁰ Tell them: ‘This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will summon N’vukhadretzar the king of Bavel, my servant, take him and set his throne on these stones I laid here; he will come and spread his royal canopy over them. ¹¹ He will come and attack the land of Egypt.

¹² I will light a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn [those gods] or take them captive. He will fold up the land of Egypt like a shepherd folding up his cloak, and leave there victorious. ¹³ He will also break the standing-stones of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt and burn to the ground the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”

44 This word came to Yirmeyahu concerning all the people from Y’hudah living in the land of Egypt — in Migdol, Tachpanches, Nof and the land of Patros: ² “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘You have seen all the disaster I inflicted on Yerushalayim and all the cities of Y’hudah; there they are today, ruined, with no one living in them. ³ It came about because of the wicked things they did to make me angry — sacrificing to and serving other gods, whom they did not know, neither they, nor you nor your ancestors. ⁴ I had sent you all my servants the prophets, sent them frequently, with the message, “Don’t do this horrible thing which I hate!” ⁵ But they neither listened nor obeyed, so as to turn from their wickedness and stop offering to other gods. ⁶ Hence my fury and anger were poured out and ignited in the cities of Y’hudah and the streets of Yerushalayim; so that they became waste and desolate, as they are today.’

⁷ “Therefore now, Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says this: ‘Why are you committing this great sin against yourselves? The result can only be to cut you off from Y’hudah — men, women, children and babies — so that none of you remain. ⁸ For you continue provoking me with the products of your own hands, offering to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live as aliens. It will lead only to your destruction and becoming an object of curses and reproaches among all the nations of the earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the wicked deeds of your ancestors, the wicked deeds of the kings of Y’hudah, the wicked deeds of their wives, your own wicked deeds, and the wicked deeds of your wives, which they committed in the land of Y’hudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim? ¹⁰ To this day they remain unhumbled; they have not been afraid, and they have not lived according to my Torah or my regulations that I presented to you and your ancestors.’

¹¹ “Therefore here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I will decree disaster for you and destroy all of Y’hudah. ¹² I will take the remnant of Y’hudah, who determined to go to Egypt and live there as aliens, and they will all perish — in the land of Egypt they will fall and perish by sword and famine. They will die, from the least to the greatest, by sword and famine; and they will become an object of condemnation, astonishment, cursing and reproach. ¹³ Yes, I will punish those living in the land of Egypt, as I punished Yerushalayim, by sword, famine and plague; ¹⁴ so that none of the remnant of Y’hudah who went into the land of Egypt to live as aliens will escape or remain, to be able to return to the land of Y’hudah. They long to return and live there, but none will return except a few refugees.’”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were offering incense to other gods, along with all the women standing by, a huge crowd, all the people living in Patros in the land of Egypt, answered Yirmeyahu: ¹⁶ “As for the word you have just spoken to us in the name of Adonai, we will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Instead, we will certainly continue to fulfill every word our mouths have spoken: we will offer incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our ancestors, our kings and our leaders, in the cities of Y’hudah and the streets of Yerushalayim. For then we had plenty of food; everything was fine, we didn’t experience anything unpleasant. ¹⁸ But since we stopped offering to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been destroyed by sword and famine.” ¹⁹ [Then the wives added,] “Are we the ones who offer incense to the queen of heaven? Do we pour out drink offerings to her? And did we make cakes marked with her image for her and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ consent?”

²⁰ Then Yirmeyahu said to all the people — to the men, the women, and all the people who had answered him back: ²¹ “The incense you offered in the cities of Y’hudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim — you, your ancestors, your kings, your leaders and the people of the land — Adonai kept remembering and taking note of this [insult], ²² until Adonai could no longer bear it, so evil and so detestable were your deeds. This is why your land has become a wasteland, an object for astonishment and cursing, uninhabited, as it is today. ²³ It is because you offered incense, sinned against Adonai, didn’t listen to what Adonai said, and didn’t live by his Torah, regulations and instructions that this disaster has befallen you, as it is today.”

²⁴ In addition, Yirmeyahu said to all the people, but especially the women: “Hear the word of Adonai, all Y’hudah who are in the land of Egypt; ²⁵ this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘You and your wives stated your intentions with your mouths and performed them with your hands — you said, “We will certainly fulfill our vows that we made to offer incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.”’ Without doubt, you will indeed fulfill every point of your vows. ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of Adonai, all Y’hudah living in the land of Egypt: ‘I swear by my own great name,’ says Adonai, ‘that no man of Y’hudah will speak my name again in the land of Egypt, swearing, “As Adonai, God, lives.” ²⁷ I am watching over them for harm, not for good. All the men of Y’hudah in the land of Egypt will be destroyed by sword and famine, until none of them is left. ²⁸ Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Y’hudah few in number; and all the remnant of Y’hudah who went into the land of Egypt to live will know whose word will stand — mine or theirs! ²⁹ Moreover, here is a sign for you,’ says Adonai, ‘that I will punish you in this place, so that you can know that my threats of disaster against you will come true.’ ³⁰ Adonai says, ‘I will hand over Pharaoh Hofra king of Egypt to his enemies, to those seeking his life — just as I handed Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah over to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel, his enemy, who sought his life.’”

45 Here is what Yirmeyahu said to Barukh the son of Neriyah when he wrote these words in a book at Yirmeyahu’s dictation, in the fourth year of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah: ² “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says concerning you, Barukh. You said,

⁴ “Tell him that Adonai says:

⁵ Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t! For I am bringing disaster on everything living,’ says Adonai. ‘But wherever you go, you will escape with your life.’”

46 This is the word of Adonai that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the nations. ² Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh N’kho, king of Egypt, stationed by the Euphrates River in Kark’mish, which N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel attacked in the fourth year of Y’hoyakim son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah:

¹³ This word Adonai spoke to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning how N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel would come and attack the land of Egypt:

²⁵ Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will punish Amon from No, Pharaoh, and Egypt with her gods and kings — that is, Pharaoh and those who trust in him; ²⁶ I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to his servants. But afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited, as in the past,” says Adonai.