This is the text of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:

As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius.

This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:

A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples so that they might get ready for that day.

“I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls, and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction.”

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

The fortress disappears from Ephraim,
and a kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites.
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Only gleanings will be left in Israel,
as if an olive tree had been beaten—
two or three berries at the very top of the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches.
This is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Israel.

I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh masters,
and a strong king will rule it.
This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts.

Woe to the rebellious children!
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan, but not Mine;
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.

He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Remember what happened long ago,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like Me.

No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,
and their righteousness is from Me.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive in spirit,
and trembles at My word.

“Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their leader, eating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will come, and each king will set up his throne
at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.

They will fight against you but never prevail over you, since I am with you to rescue you.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.

Your own evil will discipline you;
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Think it over and see how evil and bitter it is
for you to abandon the Lord your God
and to have no fear of Me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord God of Hosts.

Even if you wash with lye
and use a great amount of soap,
the stain of your sin is still in front of Me.
This is the Lord God’s declaration.

Why do you bring a case against Me?
All of you have rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled?
But you!
You have played the prostitute with many partners—
can you return to Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say:

Return, unfaithful Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not look on you with anger,
for I am unfailing in My love.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not be angry forever.

If you return, Israel—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will return to Me,
if you remove your detestable idols
from My presence
and do not waver,

They have her surrounded
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.

Do you not fear Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will gather them and bring them to an end.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
There will be no grapes on the vine,
no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither.
Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

This is your lot,
what I have decreed for you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in Falsehood.

You have left Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
You have turned your back,
so I have stretched out My hand against you
and destroyed you.
I am tired of showing compassion.

Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze
to this people.
They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Beware! I am against you,
you who sit above the valley,
you atop the rocky plateau—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you who say, “Who can come down against us?
Who can enter our hiding places?”

I will punish you according to what you have done—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest
that will consume everything around it.’”

He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

because both prophet and priest are ungodly,
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exiles, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.

As for you, My servant Jacob,
do not be afraid—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and do not be dismayed, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away,
your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.

For I will be with you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
to save you!
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

But I will bring you health
and will heal you of your wounds—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for they call you Outcast,
Zion whom no one cares about.

Jacob’s leader will be one of them;
his ruler will issue from him.
I will invite him to Me, and he will approach Me,
for who would otherwise risk his life to approach Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

This is what the Lord says:

Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

There is hope for your future—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return to their own territory.

If this fixed order departs from My presence—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
then also Israel’s descendants will cease
to be a nation before Me forever.

Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities—the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev—because I will restore their fortunes.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Why have I seen this?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors are crushed,
they flee headlong,
they never look back,
terror is on every side!
This is the Lord’s declaration.

As I live—
this is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
He will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.

They will cut down her forest—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
though it is dense,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.

I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, it will be inhabited again as in ancient times.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for I will be with you.
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have banished you,
but I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you with justice,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

Therefore look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will send those to him, who will pour him out.
They will empty his containers
and smash his jars.

The destroyer of Moab and its towns
has come up,
and the best of its young men
have gone down to slaughter.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

Moab’s horn is chopped off; his arm is shattered.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I know his outburst.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is empty.
His boast is empty.

Panic, pit, and trap
await you, resident of Moab.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Yet, I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.

Therefore look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will make the shout of battle heard
against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
It will become a desolate mound,
and its villages will be burned down.
Israel will dispossess their dispossessors,
says the Lord.

Look, I am about to bring terror on you—
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Hosts—
from all those around you.
You will be banished, each man headlong,
with no one to gather up the fugitives.

Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the declaration of
the Lord of Hosts.

Run! Escape quickly! Lie low,
residents of Hazor—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has drawn up a plan against you;
he has devised a strategy against you.

Rise up, go up against a nation at ease,
one living in security.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They have no doors, not even a gate bar;
they live alone.

Their camels will become plunder,
and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil.
I will scatter them to the wind in every direction,
those who shave their temples;
I will bring calamity on them across all their borders.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will devastate Elam before their enemies,
before those who want to take their lives.
I will bring disaster on them,
My burning anger.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will send the sword after them
until I finish them off.

In those days and at that time—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
the Israelites and Judeans will come together,
weeping as they come,
and will seek the Lord their God.

The Chaldeans will become plunder;
all Babylon’s plunderers will be fully satisfied.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

In those days and at that time—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
one will search for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for Judah’s sins,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.

“Go against the land of Merathaim,
and against those living in Pekod.
Put them to the sword;
completely destroy them—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
do everything I have commanded you.

Therefore, her young men will fall
in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Look, I am against you, you arrogant one—
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Hosts—
because your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.

A sword is over the Chaldeans—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
against those who live in Babylon,
against her officials, and against her sages.

Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
so no one will live there;
no human being will even stay in it
as a temporary resident.

“I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Look, I am against you, devastating mountain—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.

While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.

I will make her princes and sages drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

Surely it will be a trial!
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
The scepter will not continue.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

You will drink it and drain it;
then you will gnaw its broken pieces,
and tear your breasts.
For I have spoken.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

I, Yahweh, have spoken.
It is coming, and I will do it!
I will not refrain, I will not show pity,
and I will not relent.
I will judge you
according to your ways and deeds.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

You will die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of strangers.
For I have spoken.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

This is what the Lord says:
Those who support Egypt will fall,
and its proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall within it by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted over all his hordes—
Pharaoh and all his army,
slain by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

For I will spread My terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

And I will punish her for the days of the Baals
when she burned incense to them,
put on her rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but forgot Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria.
Then I will settle them in their homes.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Even now—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

I raised up some of your sons as prophets
and some of your young men as Nazirites.
Is this not the case, Israelites?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Listen and testify against the house of Jacob—
this is the declaration of the Lord God,
the God of Hosts.

You will go through breaches in the wall,
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,
for that is what you Israelites love to do!
This is the Lord’s declaration.