Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great things, and difficult, which thou knowest not.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah did choose, he hath cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Go, and thou hast spoken unto Zedekiah king of Judah, and hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath burned it with fire,

and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus saith Jehovah concerning thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword;

thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall lament thee,'saying , Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah.

At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

'Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and thou hast spoken with them, and brought them into the house of Jehovah, unto one of the chambers, and caused them to drink wine.'

Go, and thou hast said to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Do ye not receive instruction? -- to hearken unto My words -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

'Take to thee a roll of a book, and thou hast written on it all the words that I have spoken unto thee concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day;

And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of Jehovah; but go thou in,

therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah's house upon the fast-day; and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.

Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thy hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.

And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?

Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye are.

And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest unto Jeremiah the prophet saying, - Pray thou I beseech thee in our behalf, unto Yahweh, our God.

And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou art falling away to the Chaldeans.

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And Jeremiah will say to king Zedekiah, What did I sin against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people that thou gavest me to the house of the prison?

And now hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be presented before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

And the king commandeth Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying, 'Take with thee from this thirty men, and thou hast brought up Jeremiah the prophet from the pit, before he dieth.'

And king Zedekiah will send and take Jeremiah the prophet to him to the third entrance which was in the house of Jehovah; and the king will say to Jeremiah, I ask thee a word; thou shalt not hide a word from me.

Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thy house.

But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

But Jeremiah answered, "No, they shall not betray thee: O hearken unto the voice of the LORD, I beseech thee, which I speak unto thee; so shalt thou be well, and save thy life.

But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me:

behold, then, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Judah, brought forth unto the princes of the king of Babylon, - and, these very women, saying, The men thou wast wont to salute, have goaded thee on and prevailed upon thee, - Thy foot having sunk in the mire, they have turned away back.

And they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.

Take him and, thine eyes, set thou upon him, and do not unto him any harmful thing, - but just as he shall speak unto thee, so, shalt thou do with him.

'Go, and thou hast spoken to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in My words unto this city for evil, and not for good, and they have been before thee in that day.

But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.

For I will surely save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee; because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith Jehovah.

Behold, I loose the binds from thy hands this day: if thou wilt now go with me unto Babylon, up then. For I will see to thee, and provide for thee: But if thou wilt not go with me to Babylon, then remain here. Behold, all the land is at thy will, look where thou thinkest convenient and good for thee to abide, there dwell.

And ere yet he could make reply - Go thou back then unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath set in charge over the cities of Judah, and dwell thou with him in the midst of the people, or whithersoever it may be right in thine eyes to go, go! So the chief of the royal executioners gave him an allowance and a present and let him go.

and said unto him, Dost thou know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take thy life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

And ten men were found among them, and they will say to Ishmael, Thou shalt not slay us: for there is to us treasures in the field, wheat and barley and oil and honey. And he will desist and kill them not in the midst of their brethren.

and said unto Jeremiah the prophet - Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, - for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us:

For ye have deceived yourselves at the cost of your lives, for, ye yourselves, sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying, - Pray thou in our behalf, unto Yahweh our God, - and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so, tell us and we will do it.

then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say, Ye shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there;

Take in thy hand great stones, and thou hast hidden them, in the clay, in the brick-kiln, that is at the opening of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah,

Then shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel - Behold me! sending and fetching Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne over these stones which I have hid, - and he shall spread his canopy over them.

As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee.

Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.

Thus shalt thou say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.

And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.

Tell ye it in Egypt, And let it be heard in Migdol, Yea let it be heard in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, - Say ye - Stand thou forth, and prepare thyself, For a sword hath devoured round about thee.

They did cry, even there, 'O Pharaoh king of Egypt, thou troublous king; the time will bring sedition.'

O thou daughter that dwellest in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.

But fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.

Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.

How canst thou be quiet, seeing Jehovah hath given thee a charge? Against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore, there hath he appointed it.

The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue thee.

For, because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

O thou daughter that dwellest in Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab is come up against thee, he hath destroyed thy strongholds.

And thou that dwellest in Aroer, get thee to the street, and look about thee: ask them that are fled and escaped, and say, 'What thing is happened?'

For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest the head.

So will I mourn for thee also O Jazer, and for thee, O thou vineyard of Sibmah. Thy wine branches shall come over the sea, and the branches of Jazer but unto the sea. The destroyer shall break into thy harvest and grape gathering:

Fear, and the pit and the snare upon thee, thou inhabiting Moab, says Jehovah.

Woe be unto thee, O Moab, for thou people of Chemosh shall perish. Yea, thy sons and daughters shall be led away captive.

Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures,'saying , Who shall come unto me?

Thou shalt leave thy fatherless children behind thee, and I will keep them, and thy widows shall take their comfort in me.

For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink.

As for thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.

Because thou rejoicest, because thou exultest, O spoilers of Mine inheritance, Because thou increasest as a heifer at the tender grass, And dost cry aloud as bulls,

Against the land of Merathaim, go thou up against her, And against the inhabitants of Pekod, - Lay waste and devote to destruction after them Declareth Yahweh, And do according to all which I have commanded thee.

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.

Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness.

Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

"Behold, I come upon thee, thou noisesome hill, sayeth the LORD; thou that destroyest all lands. I will stretch out my hand over thee, and cast thee down from the stony rocks; and will make thee a burnt hill,

And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah.

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words,

and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:

and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.