Bible in 90 Days

²³ The word of Adonai came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁴ “Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying: ‘The two families which Adonai did choose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people—no longer a nation before them.” ²⁵ Thus says Adonai: “If I have not made My covenant of day and night firm, and the fixed patterns ordering the heavens and earth, ²⁶ only then would I reject the offspring of Jacob,^[a] and of My servant David so that I would not take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from their exile, and have compassion on them.”

Warning to Zedekiah

34 The word which came to Jeremiah from Adonai, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion and all the peoples were warring against Jerusalem and its towns, saying, ² thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Go, speak to King Zedekiah of Judah and tell him, thus says Adonai: ‘I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire, ³ and you will not escape out of his hand, but will surely be captured and given into his hand. Your eyes will behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth, and you will go to Babylon.”

⁴ Yet hear the word of Adonai, O Zedekiah king of Judah, thus says Adonai concerning you: “You will not die by the sword; ⁵ you will die in peace. As there were burning ceremonies for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you, and they will lament for you: ‘Oy, lord!’ For it is a word I have spoken,” declares Adonai.

Covenant Breaking With Slaves

⁶ Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was warring against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left—against Lachish and against Azekah, for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. ⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, ⁹ so that everyone should let his manservant and his maidservant—Hebrew man or Hebrew woman—go free, so that no one should make a slave of a Jew, his brother. ¹⁰ So all the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone would free his manservant and his maidservant and not make them slaves any more—they obeyed, and freed them. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and made the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, return, and brought them back into subjection as servants and as handmaids.”

¹² So the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying, ¹³ thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: ¹⁴ ‘At the end of seven years you are to set free every man his brother that is a Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you are let him go free from you.’ But your fathers did not obey Me, nor inclined their ear. ¹⁵ Now you had repented, and had done that which is right in My eyes, by proclaiming liberty everyone to his neighbor. You even had made a covenant before Me in the House where My Name is called. ¹⁶ But you turned around and profaned My Name, and made everyone his servant and his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their will, return, and you brought them back into subjection, to be your servants and handmaids.”

¹⁷ Therefore thus says Adonai: “You have not obeyed Me, to proclaim liberty, everyone to his brother and everyone to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim for you a liberty,” declares Adonai, “to the sword, to plague and to famine! So I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts ¹⁹ —the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the officers, the kohanim, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them who seek their life, and their dead bodies will be for food to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth. ²¹ King Zedekiah of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, who were withdrawing from you. ²² Indeed, I will command,” declares Adonai, “and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a wasteland, with no one living.”

Obedience of Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: ² “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into one of the chambers of the House of Adonai, and give them wine to drink.”

³ So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the House of Adonai to the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. ⁵ I set jars full of wine and cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites, and said to them: “Drink wine!”

⁶ But they said: “We drink no wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab our father commanded us: ‘You will drink no wine, not you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ Also you are not to build a house, or sow seed, or plant a vineyard or own one. Instead all your days you are to dwell in tents, so that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸ So we obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab our father in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters, ⁹ nor to build houses for us to dwell in, nor to own a vineyard, field or seed, ¹⁰ and we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Arameans. So we are dwelling in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then came the word of Adonai to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Go, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?’” says Adonai. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are observed, and to this day they drink none, for they listen to their father’s commandment. Yet I have spoken to you, early and often, and you have not obeyed Me.

¹⁵ “I have sent also to you all My servants the prophets, sending them early and often, saying: ‘Return you now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to Me. ¹⁶ For the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have kept the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people have not obeyed Me.’”

¹⁷ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to bring on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I spoke to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.”

¹⁸ Now Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you,” ¹⁹ therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “There will never be cut off for Jonadab son of Rechab a man to stand before Me forever.”

Baruch Reads Jeremiah’s Scroll

36 Now it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of King Josiah of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: ² “Take a megillah scroll, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations from the day I spoke to you—from the days of Josiah until this day. ³ Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity that I am planning to do to them, in order that they may turn, each one from his evil way. Then I would forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from Jeremiah’s mouth, all the words that Adonai had spoken to him, into a megillah scroll. ⁵ Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying: “I am detained; I cannot go into the House of Adonai. ⁶ So you go and read in the megillah—which you have written from my mouth, the words of Adonai—in the ears of the people, in the House of Adonai, on a fast day. You should also read them in the ears of all Judah coming from their towns. ⁷ Perhaps they will present their supplication before Adonai, and each one will turn from his wicked way. For great is the anger and fury that Adonai has pronounced against this people.”

⁸ So Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that the prophet Jeremiah commanded him, reading from the book the words of Adonai in the House of Adonai.

⁹ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of King Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before Adonai—all the people in Jerusalem and all the people that came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the House of Adonai, in the chamber of Gemariah son of the scribe Shaphan, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the House of Adonai, in the ears of all the people.

¹¹ Now when Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan, had heard from the scroll all the words of Adonai, ¹² he went down to the scribe’s chamber of the king’s palace. All the officials sat there—the scribe Elishama, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials. ¹³ Then Micaiah reported to them all the words that he had heard Baruch reading out of the scroll in the ears of the people.

¹⁴ All the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying: “Bring in your hand the megillah which you read in the ears of the people and come.”

So Baruch son of Neriah brought the megillah in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ Then they said to him: “Sit down now, and read it in our ears.” So Baruch read it in their ears.

¹⁶ After they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear, then said to Baruch: “We will surely report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ They also asked Baruch, saying: “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?”

¹⁸ Then Baruch answered them: “He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink into the scroll.”

¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch: “Go, hide yourself—you and Jeremiah—and let no one know where you are.”

²⁰ Then they went to the king in the courtyard, after they had deposited the megillah in the chamber of the scribe Elishama. They reported all the words in the ears of the king.

²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the megillah, and he brought it out of the chamber of the scribe Elishama. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king.

²² Since it was the ninth month, the king was residing in the winter house, with a fireplace burning before him. ²³ Now as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with the scribe’s knife and tossed it into the fire that was in the fireplace, until the whole megillah was consumed in the fire in the fireplace. ²⁴ Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words were afraid, nor tore their clothes. ²⁵ Moreover Elnatan, Delaiah and Gemariah entreated the king not to burn the megillah, but he would not listen to them.

²⁶ Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah—but Adonai hid them.

²⁷ Then the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the megillah with the words that Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸ “Take yet another megillah, and write in it all the original words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned up. ²⁹ About King Jehoiakim of Judah you will say, thus says Adonai: ‘You have burned this megillah, saying, “Why have you written in it, saying the king of Babylon will surely come and destroy this land and will bring an end to both man and beast from it?” ’”

³⁰ Therefore thus says Adonai about King Jehoiakim of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on the throne of David. Moreover, his dead body will be tossed out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will also punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the calamity that I have pronounced against them—but they did not listen.”

³² Then Jeremiah took another megillah and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll which King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned up in the fire—and added to them many similar words.

Imprisoned for the Word

37 Now Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ² But neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land, paid attention to the words of Adonai which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “Pray now to Adonai our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming in and going out among the people, for they had not put him into prison. ⁵ Meanwhile Pharaoh’s army had set out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then came the word of Adonai to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ⁷ thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, thus will you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Now, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. ⁸ The Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. Then they will capture it and burn it with fire.”

⁹ Thus says Adonai: “Do not deceive yourselves, saying: ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us’—for they will not depart. ¹⁰ For even if you had struck down the entire Chaldean army fighting against you, and there were left among them only wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down with fire.”

¹¹ So it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans went up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. ¹³ But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, who arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴ But Jeremiah said, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him, but arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ The officials were angry with Jeremiah, had him beaten, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ For Jeremiah went into a vaulted cell in the dungeon pit, and Jeremiah remained there many days. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him and received him in his palace secretly, and the king asked him: “Is there any word from Adonai?”

“There is,” Jeremiah said, and he also said, “You shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah: “How have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying: ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’ ²⁰ So now please listen, my lord the king! Please let my petition come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so I will not die there.”

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king gave a command, and they committed Jeremiah into the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the bakers’ street daily, until all the bread in the city was spent. So Jeremiah stayed in the guard’s courtyard.

In a Miry Cistern-Pit

38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, ² thus says Adonai: “He that remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, but anyone who goes out to the Chaldeans will live—so he will keep his life like the spoils of war, and will live.” ³ Thus says Adonai: “This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”

⁴ Then the officials said to the king: “This man should now be put to death, since he demoralizes the men of war remaining in this city as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the shalom of this people, but calamity.”

⁵ Then King Zedekiah said: “Here he is in your hand. For the king cannot do anything against you.”

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern-pit of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard, lowering Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

⁷ Now Ebed-melech^[b]—an Ethiopian official in the king’s palace—heard they had put Jeremiah in the pit. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, ⁸ Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying: ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they cast into the pit. He is likely to die right where he is from hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.”

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying: “Take thirty men from here with you, and bring the prophet Jeremiah up out of the cistern, before he dies.”

¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the king’s palace under the storehouse, from there he took worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and lowered them by ropes into the cistern-pit to Jeremiah. ¹² And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah: “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes.”

Jeremiah did so. ¹³ Then they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes, and lifted him up out of the pit. But Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance in the House of Adonai. The king said to Jeremiah: “I am going to ask you something—hide nothing from me.”

¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: “If I tell you, won’t you surely put me to death? Besides, if I give you counsel, you won’t listen to me.”

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying: “As Adonai lives, that gave us life, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men seeking your life.”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: Thus says Adonai, Elohim-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “If you will go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then your soul will live, this city will not be burned with fire; and you and your household will survive. ¹⁸ But if you do not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans; they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape out of their hand.”

¹⁹ Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah: “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they hand me over to them and they abuse me.”

²⁰ But Jeremiah said: “They will not hand you over. Please, obey the voice of Adonai, in what I am speaking to you, so it will go well for you, and your soul will live! ²¹ But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word that Adonai has shown me: ²² ‘Soon, all the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon, and those women will say:

²³ “Then they will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans, and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down with fire.”

²⁴ Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah: “Let no one know of these words, and you will not die.

²⁵ “But if the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you: ‘Tell us now what you have said to the king—hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death. And what did the king say to you?’ ²⁶ Then you will tell them, ‘I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”

²⁷ When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he told them with just these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, since the matter was not overheard.

²⁸ Then Jeremiah stayed in the guard’s courtyard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Judgment on Zedekiah and Jerusalem

39 Now when Jerusalem was captured, in the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all his army advanced against Jerusalem, and besieged it. ² On the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the city wall was broken through. ³ Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sarezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sarezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.

⁴ Now when King Zedekiah of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled. They went out of the city at night, by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, heading out toward the way of the Arabah. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they captured him, they brought him up to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed judgment on him. ⁶ The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. Moreover, the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he blinded Zedekiah’s eyes, and he bound him in shackles to carry him off to Babylon.

⁸ Then the Chaldeans burned the king’s palace and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile the rest of the people—those who remained in the city and also the deserters who had defected to him, and the rest of the people remaining. ¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the people, who had nothing, behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields in that day.

Vindication of Jeremiah

¹¹ Now King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying: ¹² “Take him, and look after him, and do no harm to him; rather, do to him just as he tells you.”

¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent word, so Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sarezer the Rab-mag and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon ¹⁴ sent and brought Jeremiah out of the guard’s courtyard, and gave him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the guard’s courtyard, saying, ¹⁶ “Go, speak to Eved-melech the Ethiopian, saying, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: ‘Listen, I will bring about My words on this city for evil and not for good. They will happen before you in that day. ¹⁷ But I will deliver you in that day—it is a declaration of Adonai—and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread.

¹⁸ “For I will surely rescue you, so you will not fall by the sword. But you will keep your life as spoils, because you put your trust in Me.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Jeremiah Returns to Judah

40 The word which came to Jeremiah from Adonai, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him from Ramah. He had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were being exiled to Babylon. ² Now the captain of the guard had taken Jeremiah and said to him: “Adonai your God pronounced this evil against this place, ³ and Adonai brought it about and did just as He said. Because you have sinned against Adonai and have not listened to His voice, this thing has happened to you. ^{[c] 4} But now behold, I am freeing you this day from the chains that are on your hand. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it is evil in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, stop. Look, the whole land is before you—wherever it seems good and right to you to go, there go.”

⁵ But he would not turn back. “Go back then to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go anywhere it seems right in your eyes to go.”

Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift, and let him go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

⁷ Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land, and had put him in charge of the men, and women and children, the poorest of the land who were not carried away captive to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—including Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ¹⁰ As for me, look, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who come to us. But as for you, gather wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your jars, and dwell in your cities that you have taken over.”

¹¹ Also when all the Jews who were in Moab, among Ammon’s children, in Edom, and in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, ¹² then all the Jews returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah to Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you aware that Baalis the king of Ammon’s children has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah, saying, “Let me go now, and I will slay Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews that are gathered to you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?’

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do this thing! For what you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Gedaliah Assassinated

41 Now it was in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama—of royal descent and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men—came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam to Mizpah. While they were eating bread there together in Mizpah, ² Ishmael son of Nethaniah rose up with the ten men that were with him and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword—putting to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.

⁴ Now it was the next day after he had slain Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that 80 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, with their beards shaved off, their clothes rent, and having gashed themselves, with grain offerings and frankincense in their hand to bring to the House of Adonai. ⁶ So Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and as he came to meet them, he said to them: “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

⁷ Yet it was that as soon as they came within of the city that Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them within the cistern-pit. ⁸ However ten men were found among them that said to Ishmael: “Don’t kill us! For we have hidden stores in the field—wheat, barley, oil and honey!” So he held off and did not kill them along with their companions.

⁹ Now the cistern where Ishmael cast all the corpses of the men whom he killed, because they were on Gedaliah’s side, was the one which King Asa had made for fear of King Baasa of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people that were in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters—all the people who were left in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had put under the charge of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and set off to cross over to Ammon’s children.

¹¹ But Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.

¹³ Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to Ammon’s children. ¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah, after he had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the men, the soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he had brought back from Gibeon— ¹⁷ and they left and stayed at Chimham’s lodge, which is near Beth-lehem, in order to go on to enter Egypt, ¹⁸ away from the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Warning Against Flight to Egypt

42 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached ² and said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please, let our petition be presented before you, and pray to Adonai your God on our behalf,^[d] for all this remnant—for we who are left are but a few out of many, as you are seeing with your own eyes— ³ that Adonai your God may tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard you. Agreed: I will pray to Adonai your God according to your words, and it will be that every word Adonai will answer you, I will declare it to you—I will not keep a word from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah: “Let Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accord with every word that Adonai your God sends you to us. ⁶ Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of Adonai our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, when we obey the voice of Adonai our God.”

⁷ Now it was at the end of ten days that the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still stay in this land, then will I build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you. For I will relent concerning the calamity that I have done to you. ¹¹ Do not be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you dread—do not be afraid of him”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“for I am with you to save you, and deliver you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion and he will have compassion on you, and restore you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ so that you do not obey the voice of Adonai your God, ¹⁴ saying: ‘No, instead we’ll go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war or hear the sound of a shofar or hunger for food, and live there’ ¹⁵ now therefore hear the word of Adonai, O remnant of Judah, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then it will come to pass that the sword, which you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which you are anxious will follow hard after you there in Egypt—and there you will die. ¹⁷ So will it be for all the people who set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there—they will die by the sword, by famine and by plague. So none of them will remain or escape from the calamity that I will bring on them.’”

¹⁸ For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “As My anger and My fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you, if you will enter Egypt. You will be an execration, a horror, a curse, and a disgrace, and you will never see this place again.”

¹⁹ Adonai has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah: “Do not go to Egypt. Know for sure that I have forewarned you this day! ²⁰ For you have led your own souls in error, since it was you who sent me to Adonai your God, saying: ‘Pray to Adonai our God on our behalf, and in accord with all that Adonai our God will say, so declare to us, and we will do it. ²¹ So I have this day declared it to you, but you will not obey the voice of Adonai your God in anything for which He has sent me to you. ²² Now therefore know for sure that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, in the place whither you desired to go to sojourn there.”

Chaldeans Invade Egypt

43 But when Jeremiah had made an end of telling all the people all the words of Adonai their God—all these words for which Adonai their God had sent him to them— ² then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the insolent men responded, saying to Jeremiah: “You are telling a lie! Adonai our God has not sent you to say. ‘You must not go to Egypt to sojourn there.’ ³ Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us, to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they may put us to death or carry us away as captives to Babylon!”

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces and all the people, did not obey the voice of Adonai, to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven to dwell in the land of Judah— ⁶ the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, everyone that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah— ⁷ and they went to the land of Egypt. For they did not obey the voice of Adonai.

When they arrived at Tahpanhes ⁸ the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your hand and hide them in the mortar in the brickwork at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.

¹⁰ Then say to them, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to send for and bring King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I will set his throne over these stones where I have hid, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ¹¹ Yes, he will come, and will strike the land of Egypt.

Those for death—to death!

Those for exile—to exile!

Those for the sword—to the sword!

¹² “I will also set fire to the houses of Egypt’s gods. He will burn them and carry them off. He will wrap himself up with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself up with his garment. Then he will depart from there victoriously.

¹³ “He will also shatter the pillars of the temple of the sun^[e] in the land of Egypt, while houses of the gods of Egypt He will burn with fire.”

Calamity in Egypt

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph, and in the region of Pathros^[f], saying, ² thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “You have seen all the calamity that I brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a ruin, and no one lives in them, ³ because of their wickedness which they committed to provoke Me, by continuing to burn sacrifices for and serve other gods, whom they had not known—not they, nor you, nor your fathers. ⁴ Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them early and often, saying: ‘Oh, do not do this loathsome thing that I hate.’ ⁵ But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to stop making offering to other gods.

⁶ “Therefore My fury and Mine anger was poured out and blazed in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. So they are waste and a ruin, as it is today. ⁷ So now, thus says Adonai, Elohim-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Why are you committing this great evil against your own souls? You cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child, from the midst of Judah, to leave yourself without a remnant. ⁸ You are provoking Me with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have come to dwell, so that you will be cut off and become a curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of the kings of Judah, the evils of their wives, and your own evils and the evils of your wives, which were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My Torah, My statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.”

¹¹ Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I will soon set My face against you for calamity, to cut off all Judah. ¹² I will take the remnant of Judah who set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all be consumed, falling in the land of Egypt by the sword and by famine. They will die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine, and they will be an execration, and a horror, a curse, and a disgrace.

¹³ So I will punish those dwelling in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by plague. ¹⁴ So none of the remnant of Judah entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there will escape or remain, to return to the land of Judah, when they are longing with their soul to return to live there; for none will return except as refugees.”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women that stood by—a large assembly—with all the people dwelling in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you spoke to us in the Name of Adonai, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ Instead we will definitely do every word as went out of our mouth—burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we did, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—for then we had plenty of food, were well off, and saw no calamity. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine. ¹⁹ Moreover, when we were burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, when we made cakes for her in her image and poured out drink offerings to her, were we without our husbands?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and the women, to all the people that were giving him such an answer, saying: ²¹ “The incense-burning that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—Adonai did remember them, they did come into His heart. ²² Then Adonai could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations that you committed! So your land has become a wasteland, a desolation and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ Because you have burned incense, because you have sinned against Adonai and have not listened to the voice of Adonai, nor walked in His Torah, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies—that is why this calamity has befallen you, as it is this day.”

²⁴ Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women: “Hear the word of Adonai, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵ Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, saying: ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying: “We will definitely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink-offerings to her.” You surely will confirm your vows and surely will perform your vows!’”

²⁶ Therefore hear the word of Adonai, all Judah dwelling in the land of Egypt: “Behold, I have sworn by My great Name,”^[g] declares Adonai, “never more will My Name be invoked in the mouth of anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt saying: ‘As my Lord Adonai lives.’ ²⁷ Here I am, watching over them for evil, and not for good. All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. ²⁸ Those escaping the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah only few in number. Then the remnant of Judah who entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there, will know whose word stands up—Mine or theirs!” It is a declaration of Adonai.

²⁹ “Moreover, this will be the sign to you: I will visit punishment on you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you as calamity.”

³⁰ Thus says Adonai: “Soon, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them who seek his life, just as I gave King Zedekiah of Judah into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking his life.”

Message for Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a scroll from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, concerning you, Baruch: “you said: ³ ‘Oy to me now! For Adonai has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with my groaning, and I find no rest.’”

⁴ Thus shall you say to him, thus says Adonai: “Behold, what I have built I will tear down, and what I have planted I will uproot—the whole land. ⁵ But you, are you expecting great things for yourself? Seek no more! For I am about to bring calamity on all flesh”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“but I will grant you your soul as spoil in all places where you may go.”

Prophecy Against Egypt

46 The word of Adonai that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations.

² For Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.

¹³ The word that Adonai spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

²⁵ Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, Pharaoh, Egypt, with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh, and them that trust in him. ²⁶ I will hand them over to those seeking their lives, into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his servants. Yet afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Prophecy Against the Philistines

47 The word of Adonai that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. ² Thus says Adonai: