Bible in 90 Days
23 Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 “Do you not consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has also cast them off?’ Thus they have despised My people, so that they would no longer be a nation before them.’
25 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My Covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the order of Heaven and Earth,
26 ‘then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David, My servant, and not take from his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captivity to return and have compassion on them.’”
34 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, (when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, and all his army and all the kingdoms of the Earth under the power of his hand, and all people, fought against Jerusalem and against all its cites) saying,
2 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babel. And he shall burn it with fire.
3 ‘And you shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand. And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babel. And he shall speak with you mouth to mouth. And you shall go to Babel.’
4 “Yet hear the Word of the LORD, O Zedekiah, king of Judah! Thus says the LORD of you: ‘You shall not die by the sword.
5 ‘You shall die in peace. And after the burnings for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they burn incense for you. And they shall lament you, saying, “Oh LORD,” For I have pronounced the Word,’ says the LORD.”’”’”
6 Then Jeremiah the Prophet spoke all these Words to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem
7 when the king of Babel’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left — against Lachish and against Azekah (for only these strong cities remained from the cities of Judah).
8 This is the Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them,
9 and that every man should let his Hebrew servant go free, either male or female, and that no one should have a Jewish brother as his servant.
10 Now, when all the princes and all the people who had agreed to the covenant heard that everyone should let his servants go free, both male and female, and that no one should make them his servants anymore, they obeyed and let them go.
11 But afterward, they repented and caused the male and female servants whom they had freed to return. And they held them in subjection as servants again.
12 Therefore, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I made a Covenant with your Fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants, saying,
14 “At the end of seven years, every man shall set free your Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you for six years. You shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me. Nor did they incline their ears.
15 ‘And now you had turned back and had done right in My sight in proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbor, and you had made a Covenant before Me in the House upon which My Name is called.
16 ‘But you turned back again and polluted My Name. For you have caused every man’s male and female servant, whom you had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return. And you hold them in subjection, to be to you as male and female servants again.’
17 “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty to every man’s brother and to every man’s neighbor. Behold, I proclaim a liberty to you,’ says the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the Earth.
18 ‘And I will give those men who have broken My Covenant, and have not kept the Words of the Covenant which they had 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 eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf —
20 ‘I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the beasts of the earth.
21 ‘And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes, I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the king of Babel’s army, which has gone up from you.
22 ‘Behold, I will Command,’ says the LORD, ‘and cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.’”
35 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
2 “Go to the House of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the House of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”
3 Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole House of the Rechabites,
4 and I brought them into the House of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the treasure.
5 And I set pots 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 will drink no wine. For Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.
7 ‘Nor shall you build house or sow seed or plant vineyard or have any of them. But you shall dwell in tents all your days, so that you may live a long time in the land where you are strangers.’
8 “Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, in all that he has charged us. And we never drink wine, neither we, our wives, our sons nor our daughters.
9 “Nor do we build houses for us to dwell in, nor do we have vineyard or field or seed.
10 “But we have remained in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 “But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, came up into the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem, for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and of the army of Aram.’ So we dwell in Jerusalem.”
12 Then came the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,
13 “Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive doctrine to obey My Words,” says the LORD?
14 ‘The commandment of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons—that they should drink no wine—is surely kept. For to this day they drink none and obey their father’s commandment. Nevertheless, I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you would not obey Me.
15 ‘I have also sent all My servants the Prophets to you, rising up early and sending, saying, “Turn now every man from his evil way, and amend your works, and do not go after other gods, to serve them. And you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you, and to your fathers.” But you would not incline your ear, nor obey Me.
16 ‘Surely the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have kept the commandment of their father, which he gave them. But this people has not obeyed Me.’
17 “Therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the misery that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them but they would not hear. And I have called to them, but they would not answer.’”
18 And Jeremiah said to the House of the Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of Hosts, 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 has commanded you,
19 ‘therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not lack a man to stand before Me, forever.”’”
36 And in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this Word to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 “Take a scroll of a Book and write in it all the Words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you (from the days of Josiah) to this day.
3 “It may be that the House of Judah will hear of all the misery which I determined to bring to them, so that everyone may turn from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sins.”
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah. And Jeremiah dictated, and Baruch wrote down, all the Words of the LORD which He had spoken to Jeremiah upon a scroll of a Book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am detained, and cannot go into the House of the LORD.
6 “Therefore, you go and read the scroll which I have dictated and you have written, the Words of the LORD, in the audience of the people in the LORD’s House, upon the fasting day. Also, you shall read them within the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.
7 “It may be that they will pray before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has declared against this people.”
8 So Baruch, the son of Neriah, did according to all that Jeremiah the Prophet commanded him, reading the Words of the LORD from the Book in the LORD’s House.
9 And in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah.
10 Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the Book, in the House of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the Secretary, in the higher court at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s House, within the hearing of all the people.
11 When Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the Words of the LORD from the Book,
12 then, he went down to the king’s house, into the Chancellor’s chamber. And lo, all the princes sat there: Elishama the Chancellor, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the Words that he had heard when Baruch read from the Book in the audience of the people.
14 Therefore, all the princes sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take the scroll in your hand from which you have read in the audience of the people, and come.” So, Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the scroll in his hand and came to them.
15 And they said to him, “Sit down, now, and read it, so that we may hear.” So, Baruch read it, and revealed it to them.
16 Now when they had heard all the Words, they turned in fear to one another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely declare to the king all of these Words!”
17 And they examined Baruch, saying, “Tell us, now, how did you write all these Words — from his mouth?”
18 Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these Words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them in the Book with ink.”
19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah. And do not let anyone know where you are.”
20 And they went in to the king, to the court. But they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the Chancellor, and told the king all the Words, so that he might hear.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the scroll. And he took it out of Elishama the Chancellor’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the audience of all the princes who stood beside the king.
22 Now the king sat in the winter house, in the ninth month. And there was a fire burning before him.
23 And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with the sheath and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until the whole scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Yet they were not afraid and did not tear their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these Words.
25 Nevertheless, Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah had implored the king not to burn the scroll. But he would not hear them.
26 Rather, the king commanded Jerahmeel, the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the Prophet. But the LORD hid them.
27 Then the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah (after the king had burnt the scroll and the Words that Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch) saying,
28 “Again, take another scroll. And write in it all the former Words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, has burnt.
29 “And you shall say to Jehoiakim, king of Judah, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have burnt this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it, saying that the king of Babel shall certainly come and destroy this land and shall cause man and beast to cease from there?’”
30 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast out in the heat of the day and to the frost of the night.
31 “And I will visit him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity. And I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the misery that I have pronounced against them. But they would not hear.”’”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote in it, from the dictation of Jeremiah, all the Words of the Book which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had burnt in the fire. And many similar Words were also added to them.
37 And King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, made king in the land of Judah.
2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land would obey the Words of the LORD which He spoke by the ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah.
3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the Priest, to the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now to the LORD our God for us.”
4 Now Jeremiah went in and out among the people, for they had not put him in prison.
5 Then Pharaoh’s army came out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
6 Then came the Word of the LORD to the Prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to Me to inquire of Me, “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which came forth to help you, shall return to Egypt, into their own land.
8 “And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.”’
9 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us.” For they shall not depart.
10 ‘For even if you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans that fights against you, and there only remained wounded men among them, every man would still rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’”
11 When the army of the Chaldeans withdrew from Jerusalem because they feared Pharaoh’s army,
12 then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to claim property there among the people.
13 And when he was at the gate of Benjamin, there was a chief officer whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he took Jeremiah the Prophet, saying, “You flee to the Chaldeans!”
14 Then Jeremiah said, “That is false. I do not flee to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So, Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.
15 Therefore, the princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jehonathan the scribe (for they had made that the prison).
16 After Jeremiah had entered into the dungeon, and into the prisons, and had remained there a long time,
17 then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly, in his house, and said, “Is there any Word from the LORD?” And Jeremiah said, “Indeed.” he said. “For you shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babel.
18 Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What offense have I committed against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
19 “Where are your prophets, now, who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babel shall not come against you or against this land?’
20 “Therefore, please hear now, O my lord the king. Let my prayer be acceptable before you, so that you cause me not to return to the house of Jehonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”
21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should put Jeremiah in the court of the prison, and that they should give him a piece of daily bread out of the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was eaten up. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
38 Then Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, heard the Words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,
2 “Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine and by the pestilence. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live. For his life shall be as a prize, and he shall live.’
3 “Thus says the LORD: ‘This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babel’s army, which shall take it.’”
4 Therefore the princes said to the king, “We implore you, let this man be put to death. For thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the wealth of this people, but the hurt.”
5 Then Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hands. For the king can deny you nothing.”
6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let down Jeremiah with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
7 Now when Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the Eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon and that the king sat in the gate of Benjamin,
8 Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house 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 have cast into the dungeon. And he dies of hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take Jeremiah the Prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”
11 So, Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, under the treasury, and took old rotten rags there, and old worn clothes, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon, to Jeremiah.
12 And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn clothes under your arm pits, in the place of the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.
13 So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and brought Jeremiah the Prophet to him, into the third entry of the House of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not kill me? And if I give you counsel, you will not hear me.”
16 So the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, Who made us these souls, I will not kill you or give you into the hands of those men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you will go forth to the king of Babel’s princes, then your soul shall live. And this city shall not be burnt up with fire. And you and your House shall live.
18 ‘But if you will not go forth to the king of Babel’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. And they shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of their hands.’”
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen before the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please listen to the Voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So shall it go well with you, and your soul shall live.
21 “But if you will refuse to go forth, this is the Word that the LORD has shown me:
22 ‘And behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babel’s princes. And those women shall say, “Your friends have misled you and have overcome you. Your feet were sunken in the mire. They have turned back.”
23 ‘So they shall bring out all your wives, and your children, to the Chaldeans. And you shall not escape from their hands, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babel. And you shall cause this city to be burnt with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.
25 “But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us, now, what you have said to the king and also what the king said to you. Do not hide it from us, and we will not kill you,’
26 “then you shall say to them, ‘I humbly petitioned the king not to make me return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’”
27 Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So, they stopped speaking with him. For the matter was not heard.
28 So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, and all his army against Jerusalem. And they besieged it.
2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was breached.
3 And all the princes of the king of Babel came in and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babel.
4 And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled and went out of the city by night, through the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went toward the wilderness.
5 But the Chaldean’s army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the desert of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6 Then the king of Babel killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. Also, the king of Babel killed all the nobles of Judah.
7 Moreover, he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in chains, to carry him to Babel.
8 And the Chaldeans burnt the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 Then Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, carried away captive into Babel the remnant of the people who remained in the city, and those who had fled and fallen to him, with the rest of the people who remained.
10 But Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, left the poor who had nothing in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at that same time.
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, gave orders concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, saying,
12 “Take him and look after him and do him no harm. But do to him just as he shall say to you.”
13 So Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezar, Rabmag, and all the king of Babel’s princes.
14 Then they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, so that he would carry him home. So he dwelt among the people.
15 Now the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was detained in the court of the prison, saying,
16 “Go and speak to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring My Words upon this city for misery, and not for prosperity. And they shall be accomplished before you on that day.
17 “But I will deliver you on that day,” says the LORD, “and you shall not be given into the hand of the men whom you fear.
18 “For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword. But your life shall be as a prize for you because you have put your trust in Me,” says the LORD.’”
40 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, had let him go from Ramah when he had taken him, bound in chains, among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, and were carried away captive to Babel.
2 And the chief steward took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God has pronounced this plague upon this place.
3 “Now the LORD has brought it and done as He has said. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed His Voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.
4 “And now, behold, I free you this day from the chains which were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babel, come. And I will look after you well. But if it pleases you not to come with me to Babel, stay here. Behold, all the land is before you. Wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.”
5 Still, Jeremiah did not return. Therefore, the chief steward said, “Return to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babel has made governor over all the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it pleases you to go.” So, the chief steward gave him rations and a reward and let him go.
6 Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah and dwelt there with him among the people who were left in the land.
7 Now when all the captains of the army who were in the fields, both they and their men, heard that the king of Babel had made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, governor in the land, and that he had committed to him men and women and children and of the poor of the land who were not carried away captive to Babel,
8 then they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah—Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, Johanan, Jonathan, the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of Maachathi—both they and their men.
9 And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not fear to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babel, and it shall be well with you.
10 “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans who will come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
11 Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babel had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
12 then all the Jews returned from all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered much wine and summer fruits.
13 Moreover, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah,
14 and said to him, “Do you not know that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to kill you?” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, did not believe them.
15 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And no one shall know it. Why should he kill you, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?”
16 But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing. For you speak falsely about Ishmael.”
41 But in the seventh month came Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and the princes of the king, and ten men with him, to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah. And they ate bread together there, in Mizpah.
2 Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, arose with these ten men who were with him and struck Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babel had made governor over the land.
3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and all the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4 Now, the second day after he had killed Gedaliah (though no one knew it),
5 80 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes ripped and cut, with offerings and incense in their hands, to offer in the House of the LORD.
6 And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. And when he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.”
7 And when they came into the midst of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, killed them and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men who were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” So he refrained, and did not kill them along with their brethren.
9 Now the pit in which Ishmael had cast the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed because of Gedaliah is the same one which Asa the king had made because of Baasha, king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with those who were killed.
10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done,
12 then they all took men and went to fight with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 Now, when all the people whom Ishmael carried away captive saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were with him, they were glad.
14 So, all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah, turned around and came back and went to Johanan, the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were with him, took the whole remnant of the people whom Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had carried away captive from Mizpah (after he had killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam), the strong men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs whom he had brought back from Gibeon.
17 And they departed and dwelt in Geruth, Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, on the way to Egypt,
18 because of the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babel made governor in the land.
42 Then all the captains of the army, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the most, came
2 and said to Jeremiah the Prophet, "Please hear our prayer! And pray for us to the LORD your God for all this remnant (for we remain, a few of many, as your eyes do behold),
3 so that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we may walk, and the thing that we may do!”
4 Then, Jeremiah the Prophet said to them, “I have heard! Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words. And whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “The LORD be a Witness of truth and faith between us if we do not do according to all the things which the LORD your God shall send us by you.
6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the Voice of the LORD God to Whom we send you, so that it may be well with us when we obey the Voice of the LORD our God.”
7 And so, after ten days, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
8 And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were with him, and all the people from the least to the most,
9 and said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, to Whom you sent me to present your prayers before Him:
10 ‘If you will dwell in this land, then I will build you and not destroy. And I will plant you and not root you out. For I relent concerning the misery that I have brought upon you.
11 ‘Do not fear the king of Babel, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘For I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand,
12 ‘And I will grant you mercy, so that he may have compassion upon you. And he shall cause you to dwell in your own land.
13 ‘But if you say, “We will neither dwell in this land nor hear the Voice of the LORD your God,”
14 ‘saying, “No. But we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war nor hear the sound of the trumpet nor have hunger for bread. And there will we dwell,”
15 ‘now therefore hear the Word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “If you set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to dwell there,
16 ‘then the sword that you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt. And the famine about which you worry shall hang upon you there in Egypt. And there you shall die.
17 ‘And all the men who set their faces to enter into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the plague that I will bring upon them.’
18 “For thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My wrath have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My wrath be poured forth upon you when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be a detestation and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach. And you shall see this place no more.’
19 “O, you remnant of Judah! The LORD has said concerning you: ‘Do not go into Egypt!’ Know for certain that I have admonished you this day.
20 “Surely you erred in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and declare to us all that the LORD our God shall say, and we will do it.’
21 “For I have declared it you this day, but you have not obeyed the Voice of the LORD your God, nor anything for which He has sent me to you.
22 “Now, therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go and dwell.”
43 Now when Jeremiah had ended speaking all the Words of the LORD their God to all the people for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, all these Words,
2 then spoke Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go into Egypt to dwell there.’
3 “But Baruch, the son of Neriah, incites you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, so that they might kill us and carry us away captives into Babel.”
4 So Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army, and all the people did not obey the Voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
5 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all nations to which they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah:
6 men and women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, had left with Gedaliah (the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan), Jeremiah the Prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7 So they came into the land of Egypt. For they did not obey the Voice of the LORD. Thus they came to Tahpanhes.
8 Then the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9 “Take great stones in your hand and hide them in the clay, in the brick kiln which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.
10 “And say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babel, My servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hidden. And he shall spread his pavilion over them.
11 “And when he shall come, he shall strike the land of Egypt — those who are appointed for death, to death; and those who are for captivity, to captivity; and those who are for the sword, to the sword.
12 “And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. And he shall burn them and carry them away captives. And he shall clothe himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and shall depart from there in peace.
13 “He shall also break the images of Beth Shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt. And he shall burn the houses of the gods of the Egyptians with fire.”
44 The Word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt and remained at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2 “Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You have seen all the misery that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are desolate, and no one dwells in it,
3 ‘because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense to serve other gods whom they did not know, neither they nor you nor your fathers.
4 ‘However, I sent all my servants, the Prophets, to you, rising early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!”
5 ‘But they would not hear or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness and to no longer burn incense to other gods.
6 ‘Therefore, My wrath and My anger was poured forth, and was kindled, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they were desolate and wasted, as they are this day.
7 “Therefore, now, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Why do you commit great evil against yourselves—to cut off man and woman from you, child and infant from out of Judah, leaving no one remaining—
8 in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, so that you might bring destruction to yourselves, and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all nations of the Earth?
9 ‘Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 ‘They are not humbled to this day, nor have they feared or walked in My Law or in My Statutes, which I set before you and before your fathers.’
11 “Therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set My Face against you to misery, and to destroy all Judah.
12 ‘And I will take the remnant of Judah that has set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell. And they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die, from the least to the most, by the sword, and by the famine. And they shall be a detestation and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach.
13 ‘For I will visit those who dwell in the land of Egypt as I have visited Jerusalem—by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence—
14 ‘so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they should return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return, to dwell there. For no one shall return but those who shall escape.’”
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burnt incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by (a great multitude), all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
16 “The Word that you have spoken to us in the Name of the LORD, we will not hear it from you.
17 “But we will do whatever thing goes out of our own mouth—to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, both 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 rations and were well and felt no misery.
18 “But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had scarceness of all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”
19 And the women said, “And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to make her glad and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands?”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,
21 “Did not the LORD remember the incense that you burnt in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? And has He not considered it?
22 “So the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the wickedness of your inventions, because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore, your land was desolate and an astonishment and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
23 “Because you have burnt incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the Voice of the LORD, nor walked in His Law, nor in His Statutes, nor in His Testimonies, therefore this plague has come upon you, as it is this day.”
24 Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, “Hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!
25 “Thus speaks the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, “We will perform our vows that we have vowed to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.” You will perform your vows and do the things that you have vowed.’
26 “Therefore, hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great Name,’ says the LORD, ‘that My Name shall no longer be called upon by the mouth of any man of Judah, in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The LORD God lives.”
27 ‘Behold, I will watch over them for misery, and not for prosperity. And all men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine, until they are utterly destroyed.
28 ‘Still, a small number who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt, into the land of Judah. And all the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall know Whose Words shall stand, Mine or theirs.
29 ‘And this shall be a sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘when I visit you in this place, so that you may know that My Words shall surely stand against you for misery.’
30 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, his enemy, who also sought his life.’”
45 The Word that Jeremiah the Prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these Words from the mouth of Jeremiah in a Book, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
2 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel to you, O Baruch:
3 ‘You said, “Woe is me now! For the LORD has laid sorrow to my sorrow. I fainted in my mourning, and I can find no rest.”’
4 “Thus shall you say to him, ‘The LORD says this: “Behold, that which I have built, I will destroy. And that which I have planted, will I pluck up, even this whole land.
5 “And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For behold, I will bring a plague upon all flesh,” says the LORD, “but I will give you your life as a prize in all places where you go.”’”
46 The Words of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the Prophet against the Gentiles,
2 against Egypt, and against the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, (which was by the river Perath in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah),
3 “Make ready buckler and shield and go forth to battle!
4 “Make ready the horses, and let the horsemen get up. And stand up with helmets, furbish the spears, and put on the armor!
5 “Why have I seen them afraid and driven back? For their mighty men are stricken and have fled away and do not look back, fear all around,” says the LORD.
6 “The swift shall not flee away, nor the strong man escape. They shall stumble and fall toward the north, by the river Perath.
7 “Who is this who comes up as the Nile, whose waters are moved like the rivers?
8 “Egypt rises up like the Nile. And its waters are moved like the rivers. And it says, ‘I will go up, and will cover the Earth! I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it!’
9 “Come up, you horses. And rage, you chariots. And let the valiant men come forth: the Ethiopians, and the Libyans who bear the shield, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 “For this is the day of the LORD God of Hosts, a day of vengeance, so that He may avenge Himself of His enemies. For the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood. For the LORD God of Hosts has a sacrifice in the north country, by the river Perath.
11 “Go up to Gilead and fetch balm. O Virgin, the daughter of Egypt, in vain you shall use many medicines. You shall not have health.
12 “The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the strong have stumbled against the strong. They have both fallen together.”
13 The Word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the Prophet of how Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, would come and strike the land of Egypt:
14 “Proclaim in Egypt, and declare in Migdol, and proclaim in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, and say, ‘Stand still and prepare yourselves! For the sword shall devour all around you!’
15 “Why are your valiant men beaten down? They could not stand because the LORD thrust them away.
16 “He made many fall. And one fell upon another, and they said, ‘Arise, let us turn back from the sword of the violent, to our own people and to the land of our birth.’
17 “They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise! He has passed the appointed time!’
18 “As I live,” says the King Whose Name is the LORD of Hosts, “surely as Tabor in the mountains, and as Carmel in the sea, it shall come.
19 “O you daughter dwelling in Egypt, make yourself gear to go into captivity! For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without an inhabitant.
20 “Egypt is like a fair calf, but destruction comes. Out of the North it comes.
21 “Also, her hired men, in the midst of her like fat calves, they are also turned back and have fled away together. They could not stand, because the day of their destruction had come upon them, the time of their reckoning.
22 “Its voice shall go forth like a serpent. For they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as woodcutters.
23 “They shall cut down her forest,” says the LORD, “for they cannot be counted, because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
24 “The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded. She shall be delivered into the hands of the people of the North.”
25 Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will visit your common people of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings, even Pharaoh, and all those who trust in him.
26 “And I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, and into the hands of his servants. And afterward, she shall dwell as in the old time,” says the LORD.
27 “But do not fear, O my servant Jacob. And do not be afraid, O Israel. For behold, I will deliver you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return and be in rest and prosperity. And no one shall make him afraid.
28 “Do not fear, O Jacob, My servant,” says the LORD, “for I am with you. And I will utterly destroy all the nations to which I have driven you. Yet I will not utterly destroy you, but correct you by judgment, and not utterly cut you off.”
47 The Words of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the Prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.
2 Thus says the LORD: “Behold, waters rise up out of the North, and shall be as a swelling torrent, and shall overflow the land and all that is in it, and the cities, with those who dwell in them. Then the men shall cry and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl
3 “at the noise and stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the noise of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels. The fathers shall not look back to their children, being limp-wristed
4 “because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to destroy Tyre and Sidon, and all the rest who take part. For the LORD will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
5 “Baldness has come upon Gaza. Ashkelon is cut up with the rest of their valleys. How long will you cut yourself?
6 “O, you sword of the LORD! How long will it be before you cease! Turn back into your scabbard! Rest and be still.
7 “How can it cease, seeing the LORD has given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea bank? There He has appointed it.”
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