Truly, after I had been turned, I had regret for my ways; and after I had got knowledge, I made signs of sorrow: I was put to shame, truly, I was covered with shame, because I had to undergo the shame of my early years.

Upon this complaint, I thought thus by myself: Is not Ephraim my dear son? Is he not the child, with whom I have had all mirth and pastime? For since the time that I first communed with him, I have him ever in remembrance: therefore my very heart driveth me unto him; gladly and lovingly will I have mercy upon him, sayeth the LORD.

At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”—the Lord’s declaration.

and, then, the forces of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem, - and, Jeremiah the prophet, had been shut up in the guard-court, which was in the house of the king of Judah;

where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, {saying}, "Why [are] you prophesying, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it,

So Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, came to me, as the Lord had said, to the place of the armed watchmen, and said to me, Give the price and get my property which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: for you have the nearest relation's right to the heritage; so get it for yourself. Then it was clear to me that this was the word of the Lord.

I signed the deed of purchase, sealed it, and had some men serve as witnesses to the purchase. I weighed out the silver for him on a scale.

and I gave the writing of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Nerijah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that had subscribed the writing of purchase, before all the Jews that were sitting in the court of the guard.

Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto Jehovah, saying,

You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt which have had lasting effect. By this means you gained both in Israel and among humankind a renown that lasts to this day.

And you gave them this land which you had promised their ancestors that you would give them a land flowing with milk and honey.

But when they came in and took possession of it, they did not obey you or live as you had instructed them. They did not do anything that you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.

And they built the high places of Baal that [are] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my {mind} to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin."

Let your cry come to me, and I will give you an answer, and let you see great things and secret things of which you had no knowledge.

Hast thou not seen what this people have spoken, saying, The two families that Jehovah had chosen, he hath even cast them off? And they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

Thus says Yahweh: 'If my covenant [with] day and [with] night, [the] regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established,

When the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the towns of Judah which had not been taken, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these were the last of the walled towns of Judah.

The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let [them] go.

But {afterward} they turned back and they brought back the [male] slaves and the female slaves whom they had let go free, and they subdued them as [male] slaves and female slaves.

"The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. 'I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. It stipulated,

And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

But you turned back and you profaned my name when you brought back each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, whom you had let go free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be to you as [male] slaves and as female slaves.'

And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two, and passed between its parts,

and I brought them into the temple of the Lord to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, who had a chamber near the officials’ chamber, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh that he had spoken to him on {a scroll}.

So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.

And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah in the ninth month, that all the people of Jerusalem, and all the people who were coming in out of the cities of Judah into Jerusalem, had proclaimed a fast before Yahweh;

At that time Baruch went into the temple of the Lord. He stood in the entrance of the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan who had been the royal secretary. That room was in the upper court near the entrance of the New Gate. There, where all the people could hear him, he read from the scroll what Jeremiah had said.

And when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Jehovah,

And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard at the reading aloud of Baruch from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

And they went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king.

And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

But they had no fear and gave no signs of grief, not the king or any of his servants, after hearing all these words.

Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them.

Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them.

Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the secretary, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and furthermore was added to them many words like these.

And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made king, reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim.

And neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah.

Now Jeremiah [was] coming and going out in the midst of the people and they had not put him [in] the house of imprisonment.

And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem.

For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yea would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans had left from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

that Jeremiah left Jerusalem [during the withdrawal of the Chaldean invaders] to go to [Anathoth, his hometown, in] the land of Benjamin to take possession of [the title to] the land [which he had purchased] there among the people.

And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him [in] {prison}, [in] the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the {prison}.

When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, "Is there any message from the Lord?" Jeremiah answered, "Yes, there is." Then he announced, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."

Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

They had also heard him say, "The Lord says, 'This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.'"

When Ebed-melech the Cushite, {a eunuch} who [was] in the house of the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the pit--now the king [was] sitting at the Gate of Benjamin--

Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.”

Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. If you do, you will die.

Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment upon him.

There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death.

And more than this, he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and had him put in chains to take him away to Babylon.

And the Chaldaeans put the king's house on fire, as well as the houses of the people, and had the walls of Jerusalem broken down.

Then the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those deserting who had deserted to him, and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, deported [to] Babylon.

And some of the poor people, {who had nothing}, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, left in the land of Judah. And he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given charge concerning Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard, saying,

had Jeremiah brought from the guard’s courtyard and turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he settled among his own people.

Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah when he was confined in the guard’s courtyard:

The thing that happened unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh, after Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had let him go from Ramah, - when he had taken him, he having been bound in fetters in the midst of all the captive-host of Jerusalem, and Judah, who were being carried away captive to Babylon.

So then the, chief of the royal executioners took Jeremiah, - and said unto him, Yahweh thy God had threatened this calamity against this place;

Now the LORD hath sent it, and performed it as he had promised. For ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not been obedient to his voice, therefore cometh this plague upon you.

While he still had not turned back, [Nebuzaradan] added, "Return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed [in an official position] over the towns of Judah, and stay with him in the midst of the people. Or to [wherever it is] right in your eyes to go, [then] go [there]." Then [the] captain of [the] guard gave him an allowance of provisions and a present, and let him go.

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah.

Now, when all the captains of the forces which were in the field - they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had set Gedaliah son of Ahikam in charge over the land, - and that he had committed to him men and women and children, and the poor of the land of those who had not been carried away captive to Babylon,

Likewise also, all the Jews, who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and who were in any of the lands, when they heard that the king of Babylon had granted a remnant to Judah, and that he had set in charge over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan,

yea, then returned all the Jews out of all the places whither they had been driven, and came into the land of Judah unto Gedaliah, in Mizpah, - and gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.

Johanan and all the officers of the troops that had been hiding in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

Now it came about in the seventh month that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king's seed, having with him ten men, came to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah; and they had a meal together in Mizpah.

Then arose Ishmael son of Nethaniah - and the ten men who were with him and they smote Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan - with the sword and slew him whom the king of Babylon had set in charge, over the land.

And it came to pass, on the second day, after he had slain Gedaliah, not, a man, knowing it,

that men came in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, - eighty men, with beards shaven and clothes rent who also had cut themselves, with a meal-offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring them into the house of Yahweh.

And so it was when they had come into the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah slew them and east them into the midst of a pit, he and the men who were with him.

Now the pit whereinto Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had smitten, was a large pit which King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel, - the same, did Ishmael son of Nethaniah fill with the slain,

Then did Ishmael take captive all the remnant of the people that was in Mizpah, - the daughters of the king, and all the people that were left remaining in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had committed unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, - yea Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive, and departed to pass over unto the sons of Ammon.

But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him heard of all the wickedness which Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,

When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad.

So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive out of Mizpah, compassed about, and returned and went their way unto Johanan son of Kareah.

Then did Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him take all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah out of Mizpah, after he had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, - mighty men, men of war, and women and children and eunuchs, whom he had recovered out of Gibeon;

because of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, - because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had set in charge over the land.

And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him unto them, - even all these words,

but Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned, out of all the nations whither they had been driven to sojourn in the land of Judah:

both the men and the women and the children, and the daughters of the king, and every soul that Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had left, with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, - and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch son of Neriah;

because of their wickedness which they committed, provoking me to anger, by going to burn incense, to serve other gods, whom they had not known, they, ye nor your fathers;

Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

But certainly we will do {everything} that went out from our mouths, to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors, our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, [for] then {we had enough to eat}, and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster.

But since we left off to offer and to do sacrifice unto the Queen of heaven, we have had scarceness of all things, and perish with the sword and hunger.

Then spake Jeremiah unto all the people, - against the men and against the women, and against all the people who had been making any answer unto him, saying:

The perfumes which you have been burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers and your kings and your rulers and the people of the land, had the Lord no memory of them, and did he not keep them in mind?

And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.

The Lord has said, See, I will give up Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of those who are fighting against him and desiring to take his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, his hater, who had designs against his life.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet spake, unto Baruch son of Neriah, - when he had written these words upon a book, from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah saying -

Thus, shalt thou say unto him Thus, saith Yahweh, - Lo! what I had built, I am pulling down, And what I had planted, I am rooting up, - And that is, all the land:

“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise;
He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!’