\v 1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.
\v 2 The word of Yahweh came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
\v 3 It also came in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.
\v 13 The word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a heated pot, whose surface is churning, tipping away from the north.”
\v 14 Yahweh said to me, “Disaster will be opened up out of the north on all who live in this land.
\v 15 For I am calling all the tribes of the northern kingdoms, declares Yahweh. They will come, and everyone will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all the walls that surround it, and against all the cities of Judah.
\v 16 I will pronounce sentence against them for all their evil in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods, and in worshiping what they made with their own hands.
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\v 17 Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be shattered before them, or I will shatter you before them!
\v 18 Behold! Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
\v 6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Do you see what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up every high hill and under every leafy tree, and there she has acted like a prostitute.
\v 7 I said, ‘After she does all these things, she will return to me,’ but she did not return. Then her faithless sister Judah saw these things.
\v 8 So I saw that, in the same way that faithless Israel had committed adultery and I had sent her away and had given a bill of divorce against her, her faithless sister Judah did not fear; she also went out and acted like a prostitute.
\v 9 Her prostitution was nothing to her; she defiled the land, and she committed adultery with stones and trees.
\v 16 Then it will happen that you will increase and bear fruit in the land in those days—this is Yahweh’s declaration-they will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of Yahweh!” This matter will no longer come up in their hearts or be remembered; it will not be missed, and another one will not be made.’
\v 17 In that time they will proclaim about Jerusalem, ‘This is Yahweh’s throne,’ and all the other nations will gather at Jerusalem in Yahweh’s name. They will no longer walk in the stubbornness of their wicked hearts.
\v 18 In those days, the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
\v 9 Then it will happen in that day—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that the hearts of the king and his officials will die. The priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be horrified.’”
\v 10 So I said, “Ah! Lord Yahweh. Surely you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘There will be peace for you.’ Yet the sword is striking against their life.”
\v 11 In that time it will be said of this people and Jerusalem, “A burning wind from the plains of the desert will make its way to the daughter of my people. It will not winnow or cleanse them.
\v 12 A wind far stronger than that will come at my command, and I will now pass sentence against them.
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\v 13 See, he is attacking like clouds, and his chariots are like a storm. His horses are faster than eagles. Woe to us, for we will be devastated!
\v 14 Cleanse your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you might be saved. How long will your deepest thoughts be about how to sin?
\v 15 For a voice is bringing news from Dan, and the coming disaster is heard from the mountains of Ephraim.
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\v 16 Make the nations think about this: See, announce to Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a distant land to shout in battle against the cities of Judah.
\v 17 They will be like the watchmen of a cultivated field against her all around, since she has been rebellious against me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—
\v 18 and your conduct and your deeds have done these things to you. This will be your punishment. How terrible it will be! It will strike your very heart.
\s5
\p
\v 19 My heart! My heart! I am in anguish in my heart. My heart is turbulent within me. I cannot keep quiet for I hear the sound of the horn, an alarm for battle.
\v 20 Disaster follows after disaster; for all the land lies in ruins. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment.
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\v 21 How long will I see the standard? Will I hear the sound of the horn?
\v 22 For the foolishness of my people—they do not know me. They are idiotic people and they have no understanding. They have skill at evil, but do not know to do good.
\s5
\p
\v 23 I saw the land. Behold! It was formless and empty. For there was no light for the heavens.
\v 24 I looked at the mountains. Behold, they were trembling, and all the hills were shaking about.
\v 25 I looked. Behold, there was no one, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
\v 28 For this reason, the land will mourn, and the heavens above will darken. For I have declared my intentions; I will not hold back; I will not turn from carrying them out.
\v 29 Every city will flee from the noise of the cavalry and the archers with a bow; they will run into the forests. Every city will climb up into the rocky places. The cities will be abandoned, for there will be no one to inhabit them.
\v 30 Now that you have been devastated, what will you do? For though you dress in scarlet, adorn yourself with gold jewelry, and make your eyes look bigger with paint, the men who lusted for you now reject you. Instead, they are trying to take away your life.
\v 31 So I hear the sound of anguish, distress as in the birth of a firstborn child, the sound of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath. She spreads out her hands, ‘Woe to me! I am fainting because of these murderers.’”
\v 18 But even in those days—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I do not intend to destroy you completely.
\v 19 When you, Israel and Judah, say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you, Jeremiah, will say to them, ‘Just as you abandoned Yahweh and served foreign gods in your land, so you must also serve strangers in a land that is not your own.’
\v 2 “Stand at the gate of Yahweh’s house and proclaim this word! Say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, you who enter these gates to worship Yahweh.
\v 5 For if you actually make your ways and practices good; if you completely execute justice between a man and his neighbor—
\v 6 if you do not exploit the one staying in the land, the orphan, or the widow and do not pour out innocent blood in this place, and do not walk after other gods to your own harm—
\v 7 then I will let you stay in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors from ancient times and forever.
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\p
\v 8 Behold! You are trusting in deceitful words that do not help you.
\v 9 Do you steal, kill, and commit adultery? Do you swear deceitfully and offer incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you have not known?
\v 12 ‘So go to my place that was in Shiloh, where I allowed my name to stay there in the beginning, and look at what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
\v 13 So now, on account of your doing all of these practices—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I spoke to you time and time again, but you did not listen. I summoned you, but you did not answer.
\v 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh, I will also do to this house that is called by my name, the house in which you have trusted, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.
\v 16 As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a lamenting wail or say a prayer on their behalf, and do not petition me, for I will not listen to you.
\v 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
\v 18 The children are gathering wood and the fathers kindling the fire! The women are kneading dough to make cakes for the queen of the heavens and pour out drink offerings for other gods so that they will provoke me.
\v 19 Are they truly provoking me?—this is Yahweh’s declaration—is it not themselves whom they are provoking, so that shame is on them?
\v 20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘See, my anger and wrath will gush out onto this place, on both man and beast, on the tree in the fields and the fruit on the ground. It will burn and never be extinguished.’
\v 22 For when I brought your ancestors out from the land of Egypt, I did not require anything from them. I gave them no command about matters of burnt offerings and sacrifices.
\v 23 I only gave them this command, “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God and you will be my people. So walk in all the ways that I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you.”
\v 24 But they did not listen or pay attention. They lived by their own stubborn plans of their wicked hearts, so they went backwards, not forward.
\v 25 Ever since the day when your ancestors went out from the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent every one of my servants, my prophets, to you. I persisted in sending them.
\v 27 So proclaim all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. Proclaim these things to them, but they will not answer you.
\v 28 Say to them: This is a nation that does not listen to the voice of Yahweh its God and does not receive discipline. Truth is destroyed and cut off from their mouths.
\v 29 Cut off your hair and shave yourself, and throw away your hair. Sing a funeral song over the open places. For Yahweh has rejected and abandoned this generation in his rage.
\v 30 For the sons of Judah have done evil in my eye—this is Yahweh’s declaration—they have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, in order to defile it.
\v 31 Then they built the high place of Topheth that is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. They did this to burn their sons and daughters in fire—something that I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.
\v 32 So see, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when it will no longer be called Topheth or Valley of Ben Hinnom. It will be the Valley of Slaughter; they will bury bodies in Topheth until there is no room left.
\v 34 I will put an end to the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, for the land will become a desolation.”
\v 1 “At that time—this is Yahweh’s declaration—they will bring out from the graves the bones of the kings of Judah and its officials, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
\v 2 Then they will spread them out in the light of the sun and moon and all the stars of the skies; these things in the sky that they have followed and served, that they have walked after and sought, and that they have worshiped. The bones will not be gathered or buried again. They will be like dung on the surface of the earth.
\v 3 In every remaining place where I have driven them, they will choose death instead of life for themselves, all who are still left over from this evil nation—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.
\v 12 Were they ashamed when they practiced abominations? They were not ashamed; they did not know how to blush! So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says Yahweh.
\v 13 I will remove them completely—this is Yahweh’s declaration—there will be no grapes on the vine, nor will there be figs on the fig trees. For the leaf will wither, and what I have given to them will pass away.
\v 15 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to make this people eat wormwood and drink poisonous water.
\v 16 Then I will scatter them among the nations that they have not known, neither they nor their ancestors. I will send out a sword after them until I have completely destroyed them.’”
\v 25 “See, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will punish all the circumcised who are such only in their body.
\v 26 I will punish Egypt and Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all the people who cut the hair on their heads very short. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel has an uncircumcised heart.”
\q and do not be dismayed by the signs in the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by these.
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\q
\v 3 For the religious customs of these people are worthless.
\q They cut down a tree in the forest, and the craftsman carves the wood.
\q
\v 4 Then they decorate it with silver and gold. They strengthen it with hammer and nails so it will not fall over.
\q
\v 5 What they make with their hands is like scarecrows in a cucumber field, because they, too, can say nothing, and they have to be carried because they cannot walk.
\v 12 But it was he who made the earth by his power, and he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
\q
\v 13 His voice makes the roar of waters in the heavens, and he brings up the mists from the ends of the earth.
\q He makes lightning for the rain and sends out wind from his storehouse.
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\q
\v 14 Every man has become ignorant, without knowledge. Every metalworker is put to shame by his idols.
\q For his cast images are frauds; there is no life in them.
\q
\v 15 They are useless, the work of mockers; they will perish at the time of their punishment.
\q
\v 16 But God, the portion of Jacob, is not like these, for he is the molder of all things.
\q Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is his name.
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\q
\v 17 Gather your bundle and leave the land, you people who have been living under the siege.
\v 3 Say to them, ‘Yahweh, God of Israel says this: Cursed is anyone who does not listen to the words of this covenant.
\v 4 This is the covenant that I commanded your ancestors to keep the day I brought them out from the land of Egypt, from the furnace for smelting iron. I said, “Listen to my voice and do all of these things just as I have commanded you, for you will be my people and I will be your God.”
\v 5 Obey me so that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your ancestors, the oath that I would give them the land flowing with milk and honey, where you live today.’” Then I, Jeremiah, answered and said, “Yes, Yahweh!”
\v 6 Yahweh said to me, “Proclaim all these things in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Listen to the words of this covenant and carry them out.
\v 7 For I have been giving solemn commands to your ancestors from the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt until this present time, persistently warning them and saying, “Listen to my voice.”’
\v 8 But they did not listen or pay attention. Each person has been walking in the stubbornness of his wicked heart. So I brought all the curses in this covenant that I commanded to come against them. But the people still did not obey.”
\v 10 They have turned to the iniquities of their earliest ancestors, who refused to listen to my word, who instead walked after other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke my covenant that I established with their ancestors.
\v 11 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘See, I am about to bring disaster on them, disaster from which they will not be able to escape. Then they will call out to me, but I will not listen to them.
\v 12 The cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and call out to the gods to which they had given offerings, but they will certainly not be saved by them at the time of their disaster.
\v 13 For you Judah, the number of your gods has increased to equal the number of your cities. You have made the number of shameful altars in Jerusalem, incense altars for Baal, equal to the number of her streets.
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\p
\v 14 So you yourself, Jeremiah, must not pray for this people. You must not wail or pray on their behalf. For I will not be listening when they call on me in their disaster.
\q
\v 15 Why is my beloved one, the one who has had so many wicked intentions, in my house?
\q The meat of your sacrifices cannot help you. You rejoice because of your evil actions.
\q
\v 16 In the past Yahweh called you a leafy olive tree, beautiful with lovely fruit.
\q But he will light a fire on it that will sound like the roar of a storm; its branches will be broken.
\v 17 For Yahweh of hosts, the one who planted you, has decreed disaster against you because of the wicked acts that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have committed—they have angered me by giving offerings to Baal.’”
\v 19 I was like a gentle lamb being led to a butcher. I did not know that they had formed plans against me, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit! Let us cut him off from the land of the living so his name will be no longer remembered.”
\v 21 Therefore Yahweh says this concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life, “They say, ‘You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will die by our hand.’
\v 22 Therefore Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘See, I am about to punish them. Their vigorous young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by famine.
\v 23 None of them will be left, because I am bringing disaster against the people of Anathoth, a year of their punishment.’”
\v 14 Yahweh says this against all my neighbors, the wicked ones who strike at the possession that I made my people Israel inherit, “See, I am the one who is about to uproot them from their own ground, and I will pull up the house of Judah from among them.
\v 15 Then after I uproot those nations, it will happen that I will have compassion on them and bring them back; I will return them—each man to his inheritance and his land.
\v 16 It will come about that if those nations carefully learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name ‘As Yahweh lives’ just as they have taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
\v 17 But if any do not listen, then I will uproot that nation. It will certainly be uprooted and destroyed—this is Yahweh’s declaration.”
\v 4 “Take the undergarment that you purchased that is around your waist, get up and go now to Perath.\f + \ft Some transate \fqa Perath \fqa* as \fqa the Euphrates \fqa* . \f* Hide it there in a rock crevice.”
\v 7 So I went back to Perath \f + \ft Some versions transate \fqa Perath \fqa* as \fqa the Euphrates \fqa* . \f* and dug out the undergarment where I had hid it, and behold, it was destroyed and completely useless.
\v 10 This wicked people who refuses to listen to my word, who walk in the hardness of their heart, who go after other gods to worship them and bow down to them—they will be like this undergarment that is good for nothing.
\v 11 For just as an undergarment clings to someone’s hips, so I have made all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—to be my people, to bring me fame, praise, and honor. But they would not listen to me.
‘Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: Every jar will be filled with wine.’ They will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’
\v 13 So say to them, ‘Yahweh says this: See, I am about to fill with drunkenness every inhabitant of this land, the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
\v 14 Then I will smash each man against the other, fathers and children together—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will not pity them or have compassion, and I will not spare them from destruction.’”
\v 11 Yahweh said to me, “Do not pray for good on behalf of this people.
\v 12 For if they fast, I will not listen to their wailing, and if they offer up burnt offerings and food offerings, I will not take pleasure in them. For I will put an end to them by sword, famine, and plague.”
\v 13 Then I said, “Oh, Lord Yahweh! Behold! The prophets are saying to the people, ‘You will not see the sword; there will be no famine for you, for I will give you true security in this place.’”
\v 14 Yahweh said to me, “The prophets prophesy deceit in my name. I did not send them out, nor did I give them any command or speak to them. But deceitful visions and useless, deceitful divination coming from their own minds are what they are prophesying to you.”
\v 15 Therefore Yahweh says this, “About the prophets prophesying in my name but whom I did not send out—those who say there will be no sword or famine in this land: These prophets will perish by sword and famine.
\v 16 Then the people to whom they prophesied will be thrown out in the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword, for there will be no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness on them.
\q Do not let them stop, for there will be a great collapse of the virgin daughter of my people—
\q a great and incurable wound.
\q
\v 18 If I go out to the field, there are the ones who were killed by the sword! \q If I come to the city, there are the diseases that are caused by famine.
\v 1 Then Yahweh said to me, “Even if Moses or Samuel were standing in front of me, I would still not be in favor of this people. Send them out from before me, for them to go away.
\v 2 It will happen that they will say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ Then you must say to them, ‘Yahweh says this:
\v 3 For I will assign them to four groups—this is Yahweh’s declaration—the sword to slaughter some, the dogs to drag some away, the birds of the skies and the beast of the earth to consume and destroy some.
\v 4 I will make of them a horrifying thing to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
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\q
\v 5 For who will have compassion for you, Jerusalem? Who will grieve for you?
\f + \ft Instead of \fqa Then I will make you serve your enemies \fqa* , some ancient copies have \fqa Then I will make your enemies take you \fqa* . \f*
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\q
\v 15 Yahweh, you know! Remember me and help me. Bring vengeance for me against those who persecute me.
\q You are patient, but do not allow them to take me away; know that I suffer reproach for your sake.
\q
\v 16 Your words have been found, and I consumed them. Your words became to me a joy
\q and the delight of my heart,
\q for I bear your name, Yahweh, God of hosts.
\s5
\q
\v 17 I did not sit in the circle of those who celebrated or rejoiced.
\q I sat in solitude because of your powerful hand, for you filled me with indignation.
\q
\v 18 Why is my pain ongoing and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
\q Will you be like deceitful waters to me, waters that dry up?
\v 3 For Yahweh says this to the sons and daughters who are born in this place, to the mothers who bear them, and to the fathers who caused them to be born in this land,
\v 4 ‘They will die diseased deaths. They will not be mourned or buried. They will be like dung on the ground. For they will come to an end by sword and famine, and their corpses will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth.’
\v 5 For the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ‘Do not enter a house where there is mourning. Do not go to mourn or to show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and my steadfast love and mercy.
\v 6 Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and no one will mourn for them or cut themselves or shave their heads for them.
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\v 7 No one must share any food in mourning to comfort them because of the deaths, and none must give a comforting cup to his father or his mother in order to comfort them.
\v 8 You must not go to a banquet house to sit with them in order to eat or drink.’
\v 9 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, before your eyes, in your days and in this place, I am about to put an end to the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride.’
\v 10 Then it will happen that you will report all these words to this people, and they will say to you, ‘Why has Yahweh decreed all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity and sin that we sinned against Yahweh our God?’
\v 11 So say to them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and they went after other gods and worshiped and bowed down to them. They abandoned me and have not kept my law.
\v 12 But you yourselves have brought about more wickedness than your ancestors, for see, each person is walking by the stubbornness of his wicked heart; there is no one who listens to me.
\v 13 So I will throw you from this land to a land that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors, and you will worship other gods there by day and night, for I will not give any favor to you.’
\v 14 Therefore, behold, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when it will no longer be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’
\v 15 but, ‘As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of the north and from the lands where he had scattered them.’ For I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors.
\v 16 Behold! I will send for many fishermen—this is Yahweh’s declaration—so they will fish the people out. After this I will send for many hunters so they will hunt for them among all the mountains and hills, and in rock crevices.
\v 18 I will first pay back double for their iniquity and sin for their polluting of my land with their disgusting idol figures, and for their filling my inheritance with their disgusting idols.”
\v 19 Yahweh said this to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the people where the kings of Judah enter and where they exit, then in all the other gates of Jerusalem.
\v 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all you people of Judah, and every resident of Jerusalem who comes in through these gates.
\v 21 Yahweh says this: “Be careful for the sake of your lives and do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day to bring it to the gates of Jerusalem.
\v 22 Do not bring a load out from your house on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work, but set apart the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors to do.”’
\v 24 It will happen that if you truly listen to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and do not bring a load to the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but instead set apart the Sabbath day to Yahweh and not do any work on it,
\v 25 then kings, princes, and those who sit on David’s throne will come to the gates of this city in chariots and with horses, they and their leaders, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.
\v 26 They will come from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and the lowlands, from the mountains, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, thank offerings to the house of Yahweh.
\v 27 But if you do not listen to me—to set apart the Sabbath day and to not carry heavy loads and to not enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day—then I will light a fire in its gates, and it will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem, and it cannot be put out.”
\v 4 But the pot he was making from the clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, so he returned the clay and formed it into another pot, and he made that pot an object that was pleasing in his eyes.
\v 6 “Should I not be able to act like this potter with you, house of Israel?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. Behold! Like clay in a potter’s hand—that is how you are in my hand, house of Israel.
\v 7 At one moment, I may proclaim something about a nation or a kingdom, that I will drive it out, tear it down, or destroy it.
\v 8 But if the nation about which I have made that proclamation turns from its evil, then I will relent from the disaster that I was planning to bring upon it.
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\p
\v 9 At another moment, I may proclaim something about a nation or a kingdom, that I will build it up or plant it.
\v 10 But if it does evil in my eyes by not listening to my voice, then I will stop the good that I had said I would do for them.
\v 11 So now, speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and say, ‘Yahweh says this: See, I am about to form disaster against you. I am about to devise a plan against you. Repent, each person from his wicked way, so your ways and your practices will bring good to you.’
\v 12 But they will say, ‘This is no use. We will act according to our own plans. Each one of us will do what his evil, stubborn heart desires.’
\v 18 So the people said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, since the law will never perish from the priests, or advice from the wise men, or words from the prophets. Come, let us attack him with our words and no longer pay attention to anything he proclaims.”
\v 3 Say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, “See, I am about to bring disaster on this place, and the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.
\v 4 I will do this because they have abandoned me and profaned this place. In this place they offer sacrifices to other gods that they did not know. They, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have also filled this place with innocent blood.
\v 5 They built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to him—something that I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.
\v 6 Therefore, see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when this place will no longer be called Topheth, the Valley of Ben Hinnom, for it will be the Valley of Slaughter.
\v 7 In this place I will make the plans of Judah and Jerusalem useless. I will make them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of the ones seeking their lives. Then I will give their corpses as food to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth.
\v 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters; each man will consume the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the anguish brought on them by their enemies and the ones seeking their lives.”’
\v 11 You will say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: I will do this same thing to this people and this city—this is Yahweh’s declaration—just as Jeremiah shattered the clay flask so that it could not be repaired again. People will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left for any more dead.
\v 12 This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants when I make this city like Topheth—this is Yahweh’s declaration—
\v 13 so the houses of Jerusalem and of the kings of Judah will become like Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops the unclean people worship all the stars of the heavens and pour out drink offerings to other gods.’”
\v 14 Then Jeremiah went from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of Yahweh’s house and he said to all the people,
\v 15 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to bring to this city and to all of its towns all the disaster that I have proclaimed against it, since they stiffened their neck and refused to listen to my words.’”
\v 3 It happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but you are Magor Missabib.
\v 4 For Yahweh says this, ‘Look, I will make you an object of horror, you and all of your loved ones, for they will fall by the sword of their enemies and your eyes will see it. I will give all of Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will make them captives in Babylon or attack them with the sword.
\v 5 I will give him all the wealth of this city and all of its riches, all of its precious items and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. I will place these things in the hand of your enemies, and they will seize them. They will take them and bring them to Babylon.
\v 6 But you, Pashhur, and all the inhabitants of your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and die there. You and all of your loved ones to whom you prophesied deceitful things will be buried there.’”
\v 1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest to him, and they said,
\v 2 “Seek advice from Yahweh on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war on us. Perhaps Yahweh will do miracles for us, as in times past, and will make him withdraw from us.”
\v 3 So Jeremiah said to them, “This is what you must say to Zedekiah,
\v 4 ‘Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to turn back the instruments of war that are in your hand, with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are closing you in from outside the walls! For I will gather them in the middle of this city.
\v 7 After this—this is Yahweh’s declaration—Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, the people, and whoever remains in this city after the plague, the sword, and the famine, I will give them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life. Then he will kill them with the edge of the sword. He will not pity them, spare them, or have compassion.’
\v 9 Anyone staying in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague; but anyone going out and falling on his knees before the Chaldeans who have closed in against you will live. He will escape with his life.
\v 10 For I have set my face against this city in order to bring disaster and not to bring good—this is Yahweh’s declaration. It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it.’
\v 1 This is what Yahweh says, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and proclaim this word there.
\v 2 Say, ‘King of Judah, listen to the word of Yahweh—you who sit on David’s throne—you, and your servants, and your people who come through these gates.
\v 3 Yahweh says this, “Perform justice and righteousness, and anyone who has been robbed—rescue him from the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat any foreigner in your land, or any orphan or widow. Do not commit violence or pour out innocent blood in this place.
\v 4 For if you truly do these things, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter the gates of this house riding in a chariot and on horses, he, his servants, and his people!
\v 5 But if you do not listen to these words from me that I have announced—this is Yahweh’s declaration—then this royal house will become a ruin.”’
\v 11 For Yahweh says this about Jehoahaz son of Josiah king of Judah, who served as king instead of Josiah his father, ‘He has gone from this place and will not come back.
\v 12 He will die there in the place to where they have exiled him, and he will never again see this land.’
\v 24 “As I live—this is Yahweh’s declaration—even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on my right hand, I would tear you off.
\v 25 For I have given you to the hand of the ones seeking your life and to the hand of those before whom you are afraid, even to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.
\v 26 I will throw you and your mother who bore you into another land, a country where you were not born, and there you will die.
\s5
\v 27 About this land to which they will want to return, they will not come back here.
\q
\v 28 Is this a despised and shattered vessel? Is this man Jehoiachin a pot that pleases no one?
\q Why have they thrown him and his descendants out, and have poured them out into a land that they did not know?
\v 1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture—this is Yahweh’s declaration.”
\v 2 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this concerning the shepherds who are shepherding his people, “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away. You have not cared for them. So I am about to punish you for the evil you have done—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 3 I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all of the lands where I have driven them, and I will return them to a grazing place, where they will be fruitful and increase.
\v 4 Then I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them so they will no longer fear or be shattered. None of them will go missing—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 7 Therefore see, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought the people of Israel up from the land of Egypt.’
\v 8 Instead they will say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the northern land and all the lands where they had been driven.’ Then they will live in their own land.”
\v 27 They are planning on making my people forget my name with the dreams that they report, each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors forgot my name in favor of Baal’s name.
\v 28 The prophet who has a dream, let him report the dream. But the one to whom I have declared something, let him declare my word truthfully. What does straw have to do with grain?—this is Yahweh’s declaration—
\v 29 Is not my word like fire?—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and like a hammer that shatters a rock into pieces?
\v 30 So see, I am against the prophets—this is Yahweh’s declaration—anyone who steals words from another person and says they come from me.
\v 31 See, I am against the prophets—this is Yahweh’s declaration—who use their tongues to prophesy proclamations.
\v 32 See, I am against the prophets who dream deceitfully—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and then proclaim them and in this way mislead my people with their deceit and boasting. I am against them, for I have not sent them out nor given them commands. So they will certainly not help this people—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 33 When these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of Yahweh?’ you will say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off’—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 34 As for the prophets, priests, and people who are saying, ‘This is the burden of Yahweh’ I will punish that man and his house.
\v 35 You continue to say, each person to his neighbor and each man to his brother, ‘What did Yahweh answer?’ and ‘What did Yahweh declare?’
\v 36 But you must no longer talk about the ‘burden of Yahweh,’ for the burden is every man’s own word, and you have perverted the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God.
\v 1 Yahweh showed me something. Behold, two baskets of figs were placed before Yahweh’s temple. (This vision happened after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took into exile Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, the officials of Judah, the craftsmen and the metalworkers from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon.)
\v 5 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: I will look on the exiles of Judah for their benefit, just like these good figs, the exiles whom I have sent out from this place to the land of Chaldea.
\v 6 I will set my eyes on them for good and restore them to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down. I will plant them, and not uproot them.
\v 7 Then I will give them a heart to know me, for I am Yahweh. They will be my people and I will be their God, so they will turn to me with all their heart.
\s5
\p
\v 8 But like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten—this is what Yahweh says—I will act in this way with Zedekiah, king of Judah, with his officials, and with the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this land or go to stay in the land of Egypt.
\v 9 I will turn them into a frightening thing, a disaster, in the sight of all the kingdoms on earth, a disgrace and a subject for proverbs, taunts, and curses in every place where I will have driven them.
\v 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. That was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
\v 3 He said, “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah until this day, Yahweh’s words have been coming to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
\v 5 These prophets said, ‘Let each man turn from his wicked way and the corruption of his practices and return to the land that Yahweh gave in ancient times to your ancestors and to you, as a permanent gift.
\v 6 So do not walk after other gods to worship them or bow down to them, and do not provoke him with the work of your hands so that he does you harm.’
\v 7 But you have not listened to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—so you have provoked me with the work of your hands to do harm to you.
\v 8 So Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘Because you did not listen to my words,
\v 9 see, I am about to send out a command to gather all the peoples of the north—this is Yahweh’s declaration—with Nebuchadnezzar my servant, king of Babylon, and bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all the nations around you. For I will set them apart for destruction. I will turn them into a horror, an object for hissing, and an unending desolation.
\v 10 I will put an end to the sound of joy and sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
\v 11 Then all of this land will become a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
\v 12 Then it will happen when seventy years have been completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for their iniquity and make it an unending desolation.
\v 13 Then I will carry out against that land all the words that I had spoken, and everything written in this book that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
\v 14 For also many other nations and great kings will make slaves out of these nations. I will repay them for their deeds and the works of their hands.’”
\v 15 For Yahweh, God of Israel, said this to me, “Take this cup of the wine of fury from my hand and make all the nations to which I am sending you drink it.
\v 16 For they will drink and then stagger about and rant madly before the sword that I am sending out among them.”
\v 18 Jerusalem, the cities of Judah and her kings and officials—to turn them into ruins and something terrifying, and into an object for hissing and cursing, as they are at this present day.
\s5
\v 19 Other nations also had to drink it: Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants; his officials and all his people;
\v 20 all people of mixed heritage and all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of Philistia—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
\v 21 Edom and Moab and the people of Ammon.
\s5
\v 22 The kings of Tyre and Sidon, the kings of the coasts on the other side of the sea,
\v 23 Dedan, Tema, and Buz with all the ones who cut the hair on the sides of their heads, they also had to drink it.
\s5
\v 24 All the kings of Arabia and all the kings of people of mixed heritage who live in the wilderness;
\v 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
\v 26 all the kings of the north, the ones close by and the ones far away—everyone with his brother and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the surface of the earth, all of them had to drink the cup from Yahweh’s hand. Finally, the king of Babylon will also drink from that cup.
\v 27 Yahweh said to me, “Now you must say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Drink and become drunk, then vomit, fall down, and do not rise before the sword that I am sending among you.’
\v 28 Then it will happen that if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, you will say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: You must certainly drink it.
\v 29 For see, I am about to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and should you yourselves be free from punishment? You will not be free, for I am calling a sword against all the inhabitants of the land!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.’
\v 2 “Yahweh says this: Stand in the courtyard of my house and speak about all the cities of Judah who come to worship at my house. Proclaim all the words that I have commanded you to say to them. Do not cut short any word!
\v 3 It may be that they will listen, that each man will turn from his wicked ways, so I will relent concerning the disaster that I am planning to bring on them because of the wickedness of their practices.
\v 7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah announcing these words in Yahweh’s house.
\v 8 So it happened that when Jeremiah had finished announcing all that Yahweh commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, prophets, and all the people seized him and said, “You will certainly die!
\v 9 Why have you prophesied in Yahweh’s name and said that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will become desolate, with no inhabitant?” For all the people had formed a mob against Jeremiah in Yahweh’s house.
\v 10 Then the officials of Judah heard these words and went up from the king’s house to Yahweh’s house. They sat in the gateway at the New Gate of Yahweh’s house.
\v 11 The priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people. They said, “It is right for this man to die, for he prophesied against this city, just as you heard with your own ears!”
\v 12 So Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people and said, “Yahweh has sent me out to prophesy against this house and this city, to say all the words that you have heard.
\v 13 So now, improve your ways and your practices, and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God so that he will relent concerning the disaster that he has proclaimed against you.
\v 14 I myself—look at me!—am in your hand. Do to me what is good and right in your eyes.
\v 15 But you must surely know that if you kill me, then you are bringing innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and its inhabitants, for Yahweh has truly sent me to you to proclaim all these words for your ears.”
\v 16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “It is not right for this man to die, for he has proclaimed things to us in the name of Yahweh our God.”
\v 18 They said, “Micah the Morashite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He spoke to all the people of Judah and said, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this:
\q and the hill of the temple will become a thicket.’
\v 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear Yahweh and appease the face of Yahweh so that Yahweh would relent concerning the disaster that he proclaimed to them? So will we do greater evil against our own lives?”
\v 20 Meanwhile there was another man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim—he also prophesied against this city and this land, agreeing with all of Jeremiah’s words.
\v 21 But when King Jehoiakim and all his soldiers and officials heard his word, then the king tried to put him to death, but Uriah heard and was afraid, so he ran away and went to Egypt.
\s5
\v 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent out men to go to Egypt—Elnathan son of Akbor and men to go into Egypt after Uriah.
\v 23 They took Uriah out from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim. Then Jehoiakim killed him with a sword and sent his corpse out to the graves of the ordinary people.
\v 24 But the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so he was not given into the hand of the people to be put to death.
\s5
\c 27
\p
\v 1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh.
\f + \ft Although most Hebrew copies have \fqa Jehoiakim \fqa* , most modern versions have \fqa Zedekiah \fqa* , because the events in this chapter occur during his reign. \f*
\v 2 This is what Yahweh said to me, “Make fetters and a yoke for yourself. Place them on your neck.
\v 3 Then send them out to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the people of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them by the hand of those kings’ ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
\v 4 Give commands to them for their masters and say, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: This is what you must say to your masters,
\v 5 “I myself made the earth by my great strength and my raised arm. I also made the people and animals on the earth, and I give it to anyone who is right in my eyes.
\v 6 So now, I myself am giving all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant. Also, I am giving the living things in the fields to him to serve him.
\v 7 For all the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will subdue him.
\v 8 So the nation and the kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon—I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with the plague—this is Yahweh’s declaration—until I have destroyed it by his hand.
\v 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your seers, your soothsayers, and sorcerers, who have been speaking to you and saying, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon.’
\v 11 But the nation that places its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will allow it to rest in its land—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and they will cultivate it and make their homes in it.”’”
\v 12 So I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah and gave him this message, “Place your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and you will live.
\v 13 Why will you die—you and your people—by the sword, famine, and plague, just as I have declared about the nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon?
\v 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you and say, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you.
\v 15 ‘For I have not sent them out—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for they are prophesying deceit in my name so that I will drive you out and you will perish, both you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.’”
\v 16 I proclaimed this to the priests and all the people and said, “Yahweh says this: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you and say, ‘Look! The objects belonging to Yahweh’s house are being returned from Babylon now!’ They are prophesying lies to you.
\v 17 Do not listen to them. You should serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin?
\v 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh has truly come to them, let them beg Yahweh of hosts not to send to Babylon the objects that remain in his house, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem.
\v 19 Yahweh of hosts says this about the pillars, the large basin known as “The Sea” and its base, and the rest of the objects that remain in this city—
\v 20 the objects that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.
\s5
\v 21 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this about the objects that remain in the house of Yahweh, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem,
\v 22 ‘They will be brought to Babylon, and they will remain there until the day I have set to come for them—this is Yahweh’s declaration—then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’”
\v 1 It happened in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, Hananiah son of Azzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in Yahweh’s house in front of the priests and all the people. He said,
\v 2 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: I have broken the yoke imposed by the king of Babylon.
\v 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects belonging to Yahweh’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and transported to Babylon.
\v 4 Then I will bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah who were sent to Babylon—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
\v 5 So Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Hananiah the prophet in front of the priests and to all the people who stood in Yahweh’s house.
\v 6 Jeremiah the prophet said, “May Yahweh do this! May Yahweh confirm the words that you prophesied and bring back to this place the objects belonging to Yahweh’s house, and all the captives from Babylon.
\v 8 The prophets who existed before me and you from long ago also prophesied about many nations and against great kingdoms, about war, famine \f + \ft Some ancient manuscripts have \fqa disaster \fqa* instead of \fqa famine \fqa* . \f* , and plague.
\v 9 So the prophet who prophesies that there will be peace—if his word comes true, then it will be known that he is indeed a prophet sent out by Yahweh.”
\v 11 Then Hananiah spoke in front of all the people and said, “Yahweh says this: Just like this, within two years I will break from off the neck of every nation the yoke imposed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.
\v 13 “Go and speak to Hananiah and say, ‘Yahweh says this: You broke a yoke of wood, but I will make instead a yoke of iron.’
\v 14 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: I have placed a yoke of iron on the neck of all of these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also given him the wild beasts in the fields to rule over.”
\v 15 Next Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you yourself have caused this people to believe in lies.
\v 16 So Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to send you out from the earth. You will die this year, since you proclaimed rebellion against Yahweh.”
\v 17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.
\s5
\c 29
\p
\v 1 These are the words in the scroll that Jeremiah the prophet sent out from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the captives and to the priests, prophets, and all the people that Nebuchadnezzar exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon.
\v 2 This was after Jehoiachin the king, the queen mother, and the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen had been sent away from Jerusalem.
\v 3 He sent this scroll by the hand of Elasah son of Shapan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, had sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
\v 6 Take wives and give birth to sons and daughters. Then take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands. Let them give birth to sons and daughters and increase there so you do not become too few.
\v 7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be exiled, and intercede with me on its behalf since there will be peace for you if it is at peace.’
\v 8 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that you yourselves are having.
\v 9 For they are prophesying deceitfully to you in my name. I did not send them—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’
\v 10 For Yahweh says this, ‘When Babylon has ruled you for seventy years, I will help you and carry out my good word for you to bring you back to this place.
\v 11 For I myself know the plans that I have for you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—plans for peace and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
\v 14 Then I will be found by you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and I will bring back your fortunes; I will gather you from all the nations and places where I scattered you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I will bring you back to the place from where I caused you to be exiled.’
\v 15 Since you said that Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,
\v 16 Yahweh says this to the king who sits on the throne of David and to all the people who are staying in that city, your brothers who have not gone out with you into captivity—
\v 17 Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘See, I am about to send sword, famine, and disease on them. For I will make them like rotten figs that are too bad to be eaten.
\v 18 Then I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague and make them a horrible sight to all the kingdoms on earth—a horror, an object of curses and hissing, and a shameful thing among all the nations where I scattered her.
\v 19 This is because they did not listen to my word—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that I sent out to them through my servants the prophets. I repeatedly sent them, but you would not listen—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’
\v 21 ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you in my name: See, I am about to put them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will kill them before your eyes.
\v 22 Then a curse will be spoken about these persons by all the captives of Judah in Babylon. The curse will say: May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in fire.
\v 23 This will happen because of the shameful things they did in Israel when they committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives and declared false words in my name, things that I never commanded them to say. For I am the one who knows; I am the witness—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’”
\v 25 ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Because you sent out letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, and said,
\v 26 “Yahweh has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for you to be in charge of Yahweh’s house. You are in control of all the people who rave and make themselves into prophets. You should put them in stocks and chains.
\v 31 “Send word to all the exiles and say, ‘Yahweh says this about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you when I myself did not send him, and he has led you to believe lies,
\v 32 therefore Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be a man for him to stay among this people. He will not see the good that I will do for my people—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for he has proclaimed rebellion against Yahweh.’”
\v 2 “This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says, ‘Write in a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you.
\v 3 For look, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah. I, Yahweh, have said it. For I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will possess it.’”
\q Why do I see every young man with his hand on his loins like a woman bearing a child?
\q Why have all their faces become pale?
\q
\v 7 Woe! For that day will be great, with none like it.
\q It will be a time of anxiety for Jacob, but he will be rescued from it.
\s5
\q
\v 8 For it will be in that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—that I will break the yoke off your neck, and I will shatter your chains, so foreigners will no longer enslave you.
\q
\v 9 But they will worship Yahweh their God and serve David their king, whom I will make king over them.
\v 7 For Yahweh says this, “Shout for joy over Jacob! Shout in gladness for the chief people of the nations! Let praise be heard. Say, ‘Yahweh has rescued his people, the remnant of Israel.’
\v 23 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, “When I bring back the people to their land, they will say this in the land of Judah and its cities, ‘May Yahweh bless you, you righteous place where he lives, you holy mountain.’
\v 27 “Look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will sow the houses of Israel and Judah with the descendants of man and beast.
\v 28 In the past, I kept them under surveillance in order to uproot them and to tear them down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring them harm. But in the coming days, I will watch over them, in order to build them up and to plant them—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the terraced fields going out to the Kidron Valley as far as the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be set apart for Yahweh. The city will not be pulled up or overthrown again, forever.”
\v 2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard at the house of the king of Judah.
\v 3 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him and said, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to give over this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
\v 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, for he will certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon. His mouth will speak to the king’s mouth, and his eyes will see the king’s eyes.
\v 5 He will take Zekediah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I have dealt with him—this is Yahweh’s declaration. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”
\v 6 Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
\v 7 ‘Look, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you and will say, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth for yourself, for the right to buy it belongs to you.”’”
\v 8 Then, as Yahweh had declared, Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me in the courtyard of the guard, and he said to me, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to buy it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s word.
\v 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and I weighed out for him the silver, seventeen shekels in weight.
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\v 10 Then I wrote in a scroll and sealed it, and had witnesses witness it. Then I weighed the silver in the scales.
\v 11 Next I took the deed of purchase that was sealed, following the command and the statutes, as well as the unsealed deed.
\v 12 I gave the sealed scroll to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in front of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and the witnesses who had written in the sealed scroll, and in front of all the Judeans who sat in the courtyard of the guard.
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\v 13 So I gave a command to Baruch before them. I said,
\v 14 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Take these documents, both this receipt of purchase that is sealed and the unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last for a long time.
\v 15 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
\v 17 “Woe, Lord Yahweh! Look! You alone have made the heavens and the earth by your great strength and with your raised arm. Nothing you say is too difficult for you to do.
\v 18 You show covenant faithfulness to thousands and pour the guilt of men into the laps of their children after them. You are the great and mighty God; Yahweh of hosts is your name.
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\v 19 You are great in wisdom and mighty in deeds, for your eyes are open to all the ways of people, to give to each man what his conduct and deeds deserve.
\v 20 You did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. To this present day here in Israel and among all mankind, you have made your name famous.
\v 21 For you brought your people Israel out from the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand, with a raised arm, and with great terror.
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\v 22 Then you gave them this land—which you had sworn to their ancestors to give to them—a land flowing with milk and honey.
\v 23 So they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or live in obedience to your law. They did nothing of what you had commanded them to do, so you brought all this disaster on them.
\v 24 Look! The siege mounds have reached up to the city to capture it. For because of sword, famine, and plague, the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. For what you have said would happen is happening, and see, you are watching.
\v 25 Then you yourself said to me, “Purchase a field for yourself with silver and have witnesses witness it, even though this city is being given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
\v 27 “Look! I am Yahweh, God of all mankind. Is anything too difficult for me to do?
\v 28 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘See, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will capture it.
\v 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set fire to this city and burn it, along with the houses on the roofs of which the people worshiped Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.
\v 30 For the people of Israel and Judah have certainly been people who have been doing evil before my eyes since their youth. The people of Israel have certainly offended me with the practices of their hands—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 31 Yahweh declares that this city has been a provocation of my wrath and fury since the day that they built it. It has been that right up to this present day. So I will remove it from before my face
\v 32 because of all the wickedness of the people of Israel and Judah, the things that they have done to provoke me—they, their kings, princes, priests, prophets, and every person in Judah and inhabitant of Jerusalem.
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\v 33 They turned their backs to me instead of their faces, though I had eagerly taught them. I tried to teach them, but not one of them listened in order to receive correction.
\v 34 They set up their abominable idols in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.
\v 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in order to put their sons and daughters in the fire for Molech. I did not command them. It never entered my mind that they should do this detestable thing and so cause Judah to sin.’
\v 36 So now therefore, I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say this concerning this city, the city about which you are saying, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague.’
\v 37 See, I am about to gather them from every land where I had driven them in my wrath, fury, and great anger. I am about to bring them back to this place and enable them to live in security.
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\v 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.
\v 39 I will give them one heart and one way to honor me every day so it will be good for them and their descendants after them.
\v 40 Then I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. I will set honor for me in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from me.
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\v 41 Then I will rejoice in doing good to them. I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and all my life.
\v 42 For Yahweh says this, ‘Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good things that I have said I would do for them.
\v 43 Then fields will be bought in this land, about which you are saying, “This is a ruined land, which has neither man nor beast. It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
\v 44 They will buy fields with silver and write in sealed scrolls. They will assemble witnesses in the land of Benjamin, all around Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, in the cities in the hill country and in the lowlands, and in the cities of the Negev. For I will bring back their fortunes—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’”
\v 4 For Yahweh, God of Israel, says this concerning the houses in this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that are torn down because of the siege ramps and the sword,
\v 5 ‘The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill the houses with corpses of people whom I will kill in my wrath and fury, when I hide my face from this city because of all their wickedness.
\v 6 But see, I am about to bring healing and a cure, for I will heal them and will bring to them abundance, peace, and faithfulness.
\v 7 For I will bring back the fortunes of Judah and Israel; I will build them up as in the beginning.
\v 8 Then I will purify them from all the iniquity that they have committed against me. I will pardon all the iniquities that they have done against me, and all the ways that they rebelled against me.
\v 9 For this city will become for me an object of joy, a song of praise and honor for all the nations of the earth who will hear of all the good things that I am going to do for it. Then they will fear and tremble because of all the good things and the peace that I will give to it.’
\v 10 Yahweh says this, ‘In this place about which you are now saying, “It is desolate, a place with neither man nor beast,” in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate having neither man nor beast, there will be heard again
\v 11 the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the sound of those who say, while they bring thank offerings to the house of Yahweh, “Give thanks to Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, and his unfailing love lasts forever!” For I will restore the fortunes of the land to what they were before,’ says Yahweh.
\v 12 Yahweh of hosts says this: ‘In this desolate place, where now there is neither man nor beast—in all its cities there will again be pastures where shepherds can rest their flocks.
\v 13 In the cities in the hill country, the lowlands, and the Negev,in the land of Benjamin and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the ones counting them,’ says Yahweh.
\v 17 For Yahweh says this: ‘A man from David’s line will never be lacking to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
\v 18 nor will a man from the Levitical priests be lacking before me to raise burnt offerings, to burn food offerings, and to perform grain offerings all the time.’”
\v 21 then you will be able to break my covenant with David my servant, so that he will no longer have a son to sit on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests, my servants.
\v 22 As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted, and as the sand of the seashores cannot be measured, so I will increase the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve before me.’”
\v 24 “Have you not considered what this people has declared when they said, ‘The two families that Yahweh chose, now he has rejected them’? In this way they despise my people, saying that they are no longer a nation in their sight.
\v 25 I, Yahweh, say this, ‘If I have not established the covenant of day and night, and if I have not fixed the laws of heaven and earth,
\v 26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant, and not bring from them a person to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and show mercy to them.’”
\v 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all of his army, together with all the kingdoms of the earth, the domains under his power, and all their people were waging war against Jerusalem and all of her cities, saying:
\v 2 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will burn it.
\v 3 You will not escape from his hand, for you will certainly be seized and given into his hand. Your eyes will look at the eyes of the king of Babylon; he will speak directly to you as you go to Babylon.’
\v 4 Listen to the word of Yahweh, Zedekiah king of Judah! Yahweh says this concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword.
\v 5 You will die in peace. As in the funeral burning of your ancestors, the kings who were before you, they will burn your body. They will say, “Woe, master!” They will lament for you. Now I have spoken—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’”
\v 6 So Jeremiah the prophet proclaimed to Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem.
\v 7 The army of the king of Babylon made war against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah: Lachish and Azekah. These cities of Judah remained as fortified cities.
\v 9 that each man must free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, so one was to make a slave of a Jew, who was his brother.
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\v 10 So all the leaders and people entered into the covenant that each person would free his male and female slaves so that they would not be enslaved any longer. They obeyed and set them free.
\v 11 But after this they changed their minds. They brought back the slaves whom they had freed. They forced them to become slaves again.
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\p
\v 12 So the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,
\v 13 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, ‘I myself made a covenant with your ancestors on the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out from the house of slavery. That was when I said,
\v 14 “At the end of every seven years, each man must send away his brother, his fellow Hebrew who had sold himself to you and served you for six years. Send him away in freedom.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or incline their ears to me.
\v 15 Now you yourselves repented and began to do what is right in my eyes. You proclaimed freedom, each man to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name.
\v 16 But then you turned and polluted my name; you caused each man to bring back his male and female slaves, the ones whom you had sent out to go where they wished. You forced them to become your slaves again.’
\v 17 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘You yourselves have not listened to me. You should have proclaimed freedom, every one of you, to your brothers and fellow Israelites. So look! I am about to proclaim freedom to you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—freedom for the sword, the plague, and famine, for I am going to make you a horrible thing in the sight of every kingdom on earth.
\v 18 Then I will deal with the people who have broken my covenant, who did not keep the words of the covenant that they established before me when they cut a bull in two and walked between its parts,
\v 19 and then the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land walked between the parts of the bull.
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\v 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who are seeking their lives. Their bodies will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts on the earth.
\v 21 So I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his leaders into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who are seeking their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon that has risen up against you.
\v 22 Look, I am about to give a command—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and will bring them back to this city to wage war against it and take it, and to burn it. For I will turn the cities of Judah into ruined places in which there will be no inhabitants.’”
\v 3 So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah and his brothers, all his sons, and all the family of the Rekabites.
\v 4 I took them to the house of Yahweh, into the rooms of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. These rooms were beside the room of the leaders, which was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the gatekeeper.
\v 5 Then I placed bowls and cups full of wine in front of the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”
\v 6 But they said, “We will not drink any wine, for our ancestor, Jonadab son of Rekab, commanded us, ‘Do not drink any wine, neither you nor your descendants, forever.
\v 7 Also, do not build any houses, sow any seeds, or plant any vineyards; this is not for you. For you must live in tents all your days, so that you might live many days in the land where you are staying as foreigners.’
\v 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rekab, our ancestor, in all that he commanded us, to never drink wine all of our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters.
\v 9 We will never build houses to live in, and there will be no vineyard, field, or seed in our possession.
\v 10 We have lived in tents and we have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our ancestor commanded us.
\v 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape from the Chaldean and Aramean armies.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”
\v 13 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive correction and listen to my words?
—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 14 The words of Jonadab son of Rekab that he gave to his sons as a command, not to drink any wine, have been observed to this very day. They have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But as for me, I myself have been making persistent proclamations to you, but you do not listen to me.
\v 15 I sent out to you all my servants, the prophets. I was persistent in sending them to say, ‘Let each person turn from his wicked way and do good deeds; let no one walk any longer after other gods and worship them. Instead, come back to the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ Yet you will not listen to me or pay attention to me.
\v 16 For the descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have observed the commands of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people refuses to listen to me.”’
\v 17 So Yahweh, God of hosts and God of Israel, says this, ‘Look, I am bringing upon Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem, all the disasters I pronounced against them because I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”
\v 18 Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: You have listened to the commands of Jonadab your ancestor and have kept them all—you have obeyed all that he commanded you to do—
\v 19 so Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘There will always be someone descended from Jonadab son of Rekab to serve me.’”
\v 2 “Take a scroll for yourself and write on it all the words that I have told you concerning Israel and Judah, and every nation. Do this for everything I have told from the days of Josiah until this very day.
\v 3 Perhaps the people of Judah will listen to all the disasters that I intend to bring on them. Perhaps everyone will turn away from his wicked way, so I can forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
\v 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote in a scroll, at Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words of Yahweh spoken to him.
\v 5 Next Jeremiah gave a command to Baruch. He said, “I am in prison and cannot go to Yahweh’s house.
\v 6 So you must go and read from the scroll that you wrote at my dictation. On the day of the fast, you must read Yahweh’s words in the hearing of the people in his house, and also in the hearing of all of Judah who have come from their cities. Proclaim these words to them.
\v 7 Perhaps their pleas for mercy will come before Yahweh. Perhaps each person will turn from his wicked way, since the wrath and fury that Yahweh has proclaimed against this people are severe.”
\v 8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him to do. He read aloud the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh.
\v 9 It came about in the fifth year and ninth month of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, that all the people in Jerusalem and the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah proclaimed a fast before Yahweh.
\v 10 Baruch read aloud Jeremiah’s words in the house of Yahweh, from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, by the gate of the entrance to the house of Yahweh. He did this in the hearing of all the people.
\v 11 Now Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all of Yahweh’s words in the scroll.
\v 12 He went down to the house of the king, to the secretary’s room. Look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials.
\v 14 So all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, to Baruch. Jehudi said to Baruch, “Take the scroll in your hand, the scroll from which you were reading in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to the officials.
\v 15 Then they said to him, “Sit down and read this in our hearing.” So Baruch read the scroll.
\v 16 It happened that when they heard all these words, each man turned in fear to the one next to him and said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all of these words to the king.”
\v 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all these words at Jeremiah’s dictation?”
\v 18 Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on this scroll.”
\v 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, and Jeremiah, too. Do not let anyone know where you are.”
\v 20 So they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, and they went to the king in the courtyard and they reported everything in the hearing of the king.
\v 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Then he read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.
\v 22 Now the king was staying in the winter house in the ninth month, and a brazier was burning in front of him.
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\v 23 It happened that as Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut it off with a knife and throw it into the fire in the brazier until all of the scroll was destroyed.
\v 24 But neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were frightened, nor did they tear their clothes.
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\v 25 Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had even urged the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them.
\v 26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel, a relative, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh had hidden them.
\v 27 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, saying,
\v 28 “Go back, take another scroll for yourself, and write in it all the words that were on the original scroll, the one that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.
\v 29 Then you must say this to Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘You burned that scroll, saying, “Why have you written on it, ‘The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, for he will destroy both man and beast in it’?”’”
\v 30 Therefore Yahweh says this concerning you, Jehoiakim king of Judah: “No descendant of yours will ever sit on the throne of David. As for you, your corpse will be thrown out into the heat of day and the frost of night.
\v 31 For I will punish you, your descendants, and your servants for the iniquity of you all. I will bring on you, on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on every person in Judah all the disasters with which I have threatened you with, but to which you paid no attention.”
\v 32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe. Baruch wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words that had been in the scroll burned by Jehoiakim king of Judah. Furthermore, many other similar words were added to this scroll.
\v 1 Now Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king instead of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made Zedekiah king over the land of Judah.
\v 2 But Zedekiah, his servants, and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he proclaimed by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
\v 3 So King Zedekiah, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest sent a message to Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Pray on our behalf to Yahweh our God.”
\v 7 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: This is what you will say to the king of Judah, because he has sent you to seek advice from me, ‘See, Pharaoh’s army, which came to help you, is about to go back to Egypt, its own land.
\v 8 The Chaldeans will return. They will fight against this city, capture it, and burn it.’
\v 9 Yahweh says this: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘Surely the Chaldeans are leaving us,’ for they will not leave.
\v 10 Even if you had defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting you so that only wounded men were left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city.”
\v 13 As he was in the Benjamin Gate, a chief guard was there. His name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah. He grabbed hold of Jeremiah the prophet and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.”
\v 14 But Jeremiah said, “That is not true. I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah did not listen to him. He took Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
\v 15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah. They beat him and put him in prison, which had been the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had turned it into a prison.
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\p
\v 16 So Jeremiah was put into an underground cell, where he stayed for many days.
\v 17 Then King Zedekiah sent someone who brought him to the palace. In his house, the king asked him privately, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah answered, “There is a word: You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
\v 21 So King Zedekiah gave an order. His servants confined Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. A loaf of bread was given him every day from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
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\c 38
\p
\v 1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard the words that Jeremiah was declaring to all the people. He was saying,
\v 2 “Yahweh says this: Anyone staying in this city will be killed by sword, famine, and plague. But anyone who goes out to the Chaldeans will survive. He will escape with his own life, and live.
\v 3 Yahweh says this: This city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
\v 4 So the officials said to the king, “Let this man die, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people. He is proclaiming these words, for this man is not working for safety for this people, but disaster.”
\v 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hand since there is no king able to resist you.”
\v 6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, son of the king. The cistern was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down on ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but it was muddy, and he sank down into the mud.
\v 7 Now Ebed-Melek the Cushite was one of the eunuchs in the king’s house. He heard that they had placed Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate.
\v 8 So Ebed-Melek went from the king’s house and spoke with the king. He said,
\v 9 “My master the king, these men have done evil with the way they have treated Jeremiah the prophet. They threw him into a cistern for him to die in it from hunger, since there is no more food in the city.”
\v 10 Then the king gave a command to Ebed-Melek the Cushite. He said, “Take command of thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
\v 11 So Ebed-Melek took command of those men and went to the king’s house, to a storeroom for clothing under the house. From there he took rags and worn-out clothing and then let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
\v 14 Then King Zedekiah sent word and brought Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third entrance in Yahweh’s house. The king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something. Do not keep the answer from me.”
\v 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, will you not certainly kill me? But if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
\v 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private and said, “As Yahweh lives, the one who made us, I will not kill you or give you into the hand of those men who are seeking your life.”
\v 17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, says this: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon then you will live, and this city will not be burned. You and your family will live.
\v 18 But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you will not escape from their hand.”
\v 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I am afraid of the people of Judah who have deserted to the Chaldeans, because I might be given over into their hand, for them to treat me badly.”
\v 20 Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over to them. Obey the message from Yahweh that I am telling you, so that things will go well for you, and so that you will live.
\v 21 But if you refuse to go out, this is what Yahweh has shown me.
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\v 22 Look! All the women who are left in your house, king of Judah, will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. These women will say to you,
\v 23 For all of your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand. You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned.”
\v 24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not inform anyone about these words, so that you do not die.
\v 25 If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and if they come and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,’
\v 26 then you must say to them, ‘I made a humble plea before the king that he would not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
\v 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, so he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped talking with him, because they had not heard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king.
\v 28 So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
\s5
\c 39
\p
\v 1 In the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and besieged it.
\v 2 In the eleventh year and fourth month of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.
\v 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nebo-Sarsekim, Samgar Nebo, and Sarsechim, an important official. Nebo-Sarsekim was a high official and all the rest were the officials of the king of Babylon.
\v 4 It happened that when Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all his fighting men saw them, they fled. They went out at night from the city by the king’s garden path, through the gate between the two walls. The king went out in the direction of the Arabah.
\v 5 But the army of Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. Then they captured him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him.
\v 8 Then the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the people’s houses. They also tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
\v 9 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, took into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city. This included the people who had deserted to the Chaldeans and the rest of the people who were left in the city.
\v 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards allowed the poorest people who had nothing for themselves to remain in the land of Judah. He gave them vineyards and fields on that same day.
\v 11 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had given an order about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards. He had said,
\v 12 “Take him and care for him. Do not harm him. Do for him anything he tells you.”
\v 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards, Nebushazban the high eunuch, Nergal-Sharezer the high official, and all the most important officials of the king of Babylon sent men out.
\v 14 Their men took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, to take him home, so Jeremiah stayed among the people.
\s5
\p
\v 15 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah while he was under arrest in the courtyard of the guard, saying,
\v 16 “Speak to Ebed-Melek the Cushite and say, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to carry out my words against this city for disaster and not for good. For they will all come true before you on that day.
\v 17 But I will rescue you on that day—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you fear.
\v 18 For I will certainly rescue you. You will not fall by the sword. You will escape with your life, since you trust in me—this was Yahweh’s declaration.’”
\v 1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound with chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon.
\v 2 The chief guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God decreed this disaster for this place.
\v 3 So Yahweh brought it about. He did just as he had decreed, since you people sinned against him and did not obey his voice. That is why this thing has happened to you people.
\v 4 But now look! I have released you today from the chains that were on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it is not good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then do not do so. Look at all the land before you. Go where it is good and right in your eyes to go.”
\v 5 When Jeremiah did not reply, Nebuzaradan said, “Go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has put in charge of the cities of Judah. Stay with him among the people or go wherever it is good in your eyes to go.” The commander of the king’s bodyguards gave him food and a gift, and then sent him away.
\v 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. He stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.
\s5
\p
\v 7 Now some commanders of Judean soldiers who were still in the countryside—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor over the land. They also heard that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest people in the land, those who had not been exiled to Babylon.
\v 8 So they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah; Johanan and Jonathan, sons of Kareah; Seraiah son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai the Netophathite; and Jaazaniah son of the Maakathite—they and their men.
\v 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan took an oath to them and to their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.
\v 10 Look, I am living in Mizpah to meet with the Chaldeans who came to us. So harvest wine, summer fruit, and oil and store them in your containers. Live in the cities that you have occupied.”
\v 11 Then all the Judeans in Moab, among the people of Ammon, and in Edom, and in every land heard that the king of Babylon had allowed a remnant of Judah to stay, that he had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan over them.
\v 12 So all the Judeans returned from every place where they had been scattered. They came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They harvested wine and summer fruit in great abundance.
\v 14 They said to him, “Do you realize that Baalis king of the people of Ammon sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to murder you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikim did not believe them.
\v 15 So Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah and said, “Allow me to go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will suspect me. Why should he kill you? Why allow all of Judah that has been gathered to you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah destroyed?”
\v 16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling lies about Ishmael.”
\v 1 But it happened that in the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, from the royal family, and some officers of the king, came—ten men were with him—to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. They ate food together there in Mizpah.
\v 2 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him rose up and attacked Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, with the sword. Ishmael killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land.
\v 3 Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah and the Chaldean fighting men found there.
\s5
\p
\v 4 Then it was the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, but no one knew.
\v 5 Some men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men who had shaved their beard, torn their clothes, and cut themselves—with food offerings and frankincense in their hands to go to Yahweh’s house.
\v 6 So Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them as they went, walking and weeping. Then it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!”
\v 7 It came about that when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughtered them and threw them into a pit, he and the men who were with him.
\v 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for there are provisions of ours in a field: Wheat and barley, oil and honey.” So he did not kill them with their other companions.
\v 9 The cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies that he had killed, was a large cistern that King Asa dug to make a defense against King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it in with the dead.
\v 10 Next Ishmael captured all the other people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah whom Nebuzaradan the chief guard had assigned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. So Ishmael son of Nethaniah captured them and went to cross over to the people of Ammon.
\v 11 But Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him heard of all the harm that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done.
\v 12 So they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They found him at the great pool of Gibeon.
\s5
\v 13 Then it happened that when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders who were with him, they were very happy.
\v 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had captured at Mizpah turned around and went to Johanan son of Kareah.
\s5
\p
\v 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah fled with eight men from Johanan. He went to the people of Ammon.
\v 16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him took from Mizpah all the people who had been rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah. This was after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Johanan and his companions took the strong men, the fighting men, the women and children, and the eunuchs who had been rescued at Gibeon.
\s5
\v 17 Then they went and stayed for a while in Geruth Kimham, which is near Bethlehem. They were going to go to Egypt
\v 18 because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of them since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land.
\s5
\c 42
\p
\v 1 Then all the army commanders and Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet.
\v 2 They said to him, “Let our pleas come before you. Pray for us to Yahweh your God for these people who remain since we are so few in number, as you see.
\v 3 Ask Yahweh your God to tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”
\v 4 So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Look, I will pray to Yahweh your God as you have requested. Whatever Yahweh answers, I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
\v 5 They said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not do everything that Yahweh your God tells us to do.
\v 6 Whether it is good or if it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”
\v 9 Then he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel—to whom you sent me so I might lay your pleas before him—says,
\v 10 ‘If you go back and live in this land, then I will build you and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up, for I will turn back the disaster that I have brought on you.
\v 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you are fearing. Do not fear him—this is Yahweh’s declaration—since I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.
\v 13 But suppose that you say, “We will not stay in this land”—if you do not listen to my voice, the voice of Yahweh your God.
\v 14 Suppose that you say, “No! We will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see any war, where we will not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we will not go hungry for food. We will live there.”
\v 15 Now listen to this word of Yahweh, you remnant of Judah. Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘If you actually set out to go to Egypt, to go and live there,
\v 16 then the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you are worrying about will pursue you to Egypt, and you will die there.
\v 17 So it will happen that all the men who set out to go to Egypt to live there will die by sword, famine, or plague. There will be no survivor of them, no one to escape the disaster that I will bring on them.
\v 18 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Just as my wrath and my fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the same way my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and a horror, an object for speaking curses, and something dishonorable, and you will not see this place again.’”
\v 19 Then Jeremiah said, “Yahweh has spoken concerning you—the remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt! You certainly know that I have been a witness against you today.
\v 20 For you fatally deceived yourselves when you sent me to Yahweh your God and said, ‘Pray to Yahweh our God for us. Everything that Yahweh our God says, tell us, and we will carry it out.’
\v 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling lies. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there.’
\v 3 For Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, for you to cause our death and to make us captives in Babylon.”
\v 5 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders took away all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations where they had been scattered to live in the land of Judah.
\v 6 They took the men and women, the children and the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, had let remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan. They also took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.
\v 7 They went to the land of Egypt, to Tahpanhes, because they did not listen to Yahweh’s voice.
\v 9 “Take some large stones in your hand, and, in the sight of the people of Judah, hide them in the mortar in the pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes.”
\v 10 Then say to them, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to send messengers to take Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon as my servant. I will place his throne over these stones that you, Jeremiah, have buried. Nebuchadnezzar will place his pavilion over them.
\v 11 For he will come and attack the land of Egypt. Anyone who is assigned to death will be given to death. Anyone who is assigned to captivity will be taken captive. Anyone who is assigned to the sword will be given to the sword.
\v 12 Then I will light a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods. Nebuchadnezzar will burn them or capture them. He will clean out the land of Egypt just as shepherds clean vermin off their clothes. He will go out from that place in victory.
\v 1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, the ones staying in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in Upper Egypt:
\v 2 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says, ‘You yourselves have seen all the disasters that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. See, they are ruins today. There is no one to live in them.
\v 3 This is because of the wicked things they did to offend me by going to burn incense and to worship other gods. These were gods that neither they themselves, nor you, nor your ancestors knew.’
\v 6 So my fury and my wrath were poured out and kindled a fire in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. So they became ruins and devastations, as at this present day.’
\v 7 So now Yahweh, the God of hosts and the God of Israel, says this, ‘Why are you doing great wickedness against yourselves? Why are you causing yourselves to be cut off from among Judah—men and women, children and babies? No remnant of you will be left.
\v 8 By your wickedness you have offended me with the deeds of your hands, by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live. You have gone there so that you will be destroyed, so that you will be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth.
\s5
\v 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your ancestors and the wickedness committed by the kings of Judah and their wives? Have you forgotten the evil committed by yourselves and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?
\v 10 To this day, they still are not humbled. They do not honor my law or decrees that I placed before them and their ancestors, nor do they walk in them.’
\v 11 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to set my face against you to bring disaster to you and to destroy all of Judah.
\v 12 For I will take the remnant of Judah that has set out to go to the land of Egypt to live there. I will do this so that they will all perish in the land of Egypt. They will fall by sword and famine. From the least to the greatest they will perish by sword and famine. They will die and will become an object of swearing, cursing, reproaching, and a horrible thing.
\s5
\v 13 For I will punish the people inhabiting the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem with the sword, with famine, and with the plague,
\v 14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and live; and none of them will return except a few who escaped from there.’”
\v 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were in the great assembly, and all the people who were living in Lower and Upper Egypt, answered Jeremiah.
\v 17 For we will certainly do all the things that we said we would do—burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we will be filled with food and will prosper, without experiencing any disaster.
\v 18 When we refrained from doing these things, not offering incense to the queen of heaven and not pouring out drink offerings to her, we were all suffering poverty and were dying by sword and famine.”
\v 19 The women said, “When we were making incense offerings before the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, was it against our husbands that we did these things, making cakes in her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”
\v 21 “Did not Yahweh remember the incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem—you and your ancestors, your kings and leaders, and the people of the land? For Yahweh calls this to mind; it comes to his thoughts.
\v 22 Then he was no longer able to bear it because of your wicked practices, because of the abominations that you did. Then your land became a desolation, a horror, and a curse so there was no longer an inhabitant as at this present day.
\v 23 Because you burned incense and sinned against Yahweh, and because you would not listen to his voice, his law, his statutes, or his covenant decrees, this disaster against you has happened as at this present day.”
\v 24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah who are in the land of Egypt.
\v 25 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘You and your wives both have said with your mouths and carried out with your hands what you said, “We will certainly carry out the vows that we made to worship the queen of heaven, to pour out drink offerings to her.” Now fulfill your vows; carry them out.’
\v 26 So then, hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah who are staying in the land of Egypt, ‘See, I have sworn by my great name—says Yahweh. My name will no longer be called upon by the mouths of any of the men of Judah in all the land of Egypt, you who now say, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.”
\v 27 See, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. Every person of Judah in the land of Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all finished.
\v 28 Then the survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, only a small number of them. So all the remnant of Judah who went to the land of Egypt to live there will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.
\v 29 This will be the sign for you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that I am setting against you in this place, so that you will know that my words will certainly attack you with disaster.’
\v 30 Yahweh says this, ‘Look, I am about to give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek to kill him. It will the same as when I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’”
\v 1 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah. This happened when he wrote in a scroll these words at Jeremiah’s dictation—this was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, and he said,
\v 2 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this to you, Baruch:
\v 3 You have said, ‘Woe is me, for Yahweh has added agony to my pain. My groaning has wearied me; I find no rest.’
\v 4 This is what you must say to him: ‘Yahweh says this: See, what I built, I am now tearing down. What I planted, I am now pulling up—I will do this throughout all the earth.
\v 5 But are you hoping for great things for yourself? Do not hope for that. For see, disaster is coming on all humanity—this is Yahweh’s declaration—but I am giving you your life as your plunder everywhere you will go.’”
\v 2 For Egypt: “This is about the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt that was at Carchemish by the Euphrates river. This was the army that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
\v 25 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “See, I am about to punish Amon of Thebes, Pharaoh, Egypt and her gods, her kings the Pharaohs, and those who trust in them.
\v 26 I am giving them into the hand of the ones seeking their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his servants. Then after this Egypt will be inhabited as in previous days—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 27 But you, my servant Jacob, do not fear. Do not be dismayed, Israel, for see, I am about to bring you back from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Then Jacob will return, find peace, and be secure, and there will be no one to terrify him.
\v 28 You, my servant Jacob, do not fear—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I am with you, so I will bring complete destruction against all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not destroy you completely. Yet I will discipline you justly and will certainly not leave you unpunished.”
\v 12 So see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will send him those who will tip him over and pour out all his pots and shatter his jars.
\v 15 Moab will be devastated and its cities attacked. For its finest young men have gone down to the place of slaughter. This is the king’s declaration! Yahweh of hosts is his name.
\v 26 Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh. Let Moab wallow in his vomit, and let him be an object of ridicule.
\v 27 For did not Israel become an object for laughter to you? Was he found among thieves, so that you shook your head at him as often as you spoke about him?
\s5
\q
\v 28 Abandon the cities and camp on the cliffs, inhabitants of Moab.
\q Become like a dove that is nesting over the mouth of a hole in the rocks.
\v 31 So I will howl a lament for Moab, and I will shout in sorrow for all of Moab.
\q I will lament for the people of Kir Hareseth.
\q
\v 32 I will weep for you more than I did for Jazer, vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed across the Salt Sea and reached
\q as far as Jazer. The destroyers have attacked your summer fruit and your wine.
\s5
\q
\v 33 So celebration and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruit trees and the land of Moab.
\q I have put an end to the wine from their winepresses. They will not tread with joyful shouts. Any shouts will not be shouts of joy.
\s5
\p
\v 34 From the shouts at Heshbon as far as Elealeh, their sound is heard at Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, since even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
\v 36 So my heart is lamenting for Moab like a flute. My heart is lamenting like flutes for the people of Kir Hareseth. The riches they gained are gone.
\v 37 For every head is bald and every beard shaved. Incisions are on every hand, and sackcloth is around their waists.
\v 38 There is mourning everywhere, on every flat roof of Moab and in Moab’s plazas. For I have destroyed Moab like pots that no one wants—this is Yahweh’s declaration.
\v 39 How it has been shattered! How they howl in their lamenting! Moab turns its back in shame! So Moab will become an object of derision and a terror to all those who are around him.”
\v 12 For Yahweh says this, “See, those who did not deserve it must certainly drink some of the cup. Do you yourself think you will go without punishment? You will not, for you will certainly drink.
\v 13 For I have sworn by myself—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that Bozrah will become a horror, a disgrace, a devastation, and an object for cursing. All of its cities will become devastations forever.
\v 34 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam. This happened at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, and he said,
\v 17 Israel is a sheep scattered and driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him;
\q then after this, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon broke his bones.
\v 18 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.
\s5
\q
\v 19 I will restore Israel to his homeland; he will graze on Carmel and Bashan.
\q Then he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
\q
\v 20 In those days and at that time, says Yahweh, iniquity will be looked for in Israel,
\v 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you go to Babylon, then you will see and you will read these words aloud.
\v 62 Then you will say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself have declared that you would destroy this place, and that no man or animal will live in it, and it will be desolate forever.’
\v 64 Say, ‘Babylon will sink like this. It will not arise because of the disaster that I am sending against it, and they will fall.’” Jeremiah’s words end here.
\v 1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal; she was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
\v 3 Through Yahweh’s anger, all these events happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he drove them from before himself. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
\v 4 It happened that in the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came with all his army against Jerusalem. They camped opposite it, and they built a siege wall around it.
\v 7 Then the city was broken into, and all the fighting men fled and went out of the city at night by the way of the gate that was between the two walls, by the king’s garden, although the Chaldeans were all around the city. So they went in the direction of the Arabah.
\v 8 But the army of Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. All his army was scattered away from him.
\s5
\v 9 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.
\v 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his own eyes, and at Riblah he also slaughtered all the leaders of Judah.
\v 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and brought him to Babylon. The king of Babylon put him in prison until the day of his death.
\v 12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem. He was the commander of the king’s bodyguards and a servant of the king of Babylon.
\v 13 He burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; also every important building in the city he burned.
\v 15 As for the poorest people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen— Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, took some of them away into exile.
\v 17 As for the bronze pillars that belonged to the house of Yahweh, and the stands, and the large bronze basin called “The Sea” that were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke them into pieces and carried all the bronze back to Babylon.
\v 18 The pots, shovels, lamp trimmers, bowls, and all the utensils of bronze with which the priests had served in the temple—the Chaldeans took them all away.
\v 19 The basins and the incense burners, the bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and basins that were made of gold, and those made of silver—the commander of the king’s guard took them away as well.
\v 20 The two pillars, the large bronze basin known as “The Sea,” and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the stands, things that Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, contained more bronze than could be weighed.
\v 21 The pillars were eighteen cubits high each, and a line around each one measured twelve cubits. Each was four fingers thick and hollow.
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\v 22 A capital of bronze was on top of it. The capital was five cubits high, with latticework and pomegranates all around. It was all made of bronze. The other pillar and its pomegranates were the same as the first.
\v 25 From the city he took prisoner an officer who was in charge of soldiers, and seven men of those who advised the king, who were still in the city. He also took prisoner the king’s army officer responsible for drafting men into the army, along with sixty important men from the land who were in the city.
\v 30 In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, exiled 745 Judean people. All the exiled people totaled 4,600.
\v 31 It happened later in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Awel-Marduk, king of Babylon released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. This happened in the year that Awel-Marduk began to reign.
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\v 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat more honorable than that of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
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