For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah.

“for this city has caused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence,

And they have been turning their backs and not their faces to me: and though I was their teacher, getting up early and teaching them, their ears were not open to teaching.

And they will set their abominations in the house which my name was called upon it, to defile it

They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.'

And now for this, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, to this city of which ye are saying, It was given into the hand of the king of Babel by sword and by famine, and by death.

And the field was purchased in in this land which ye are saying, It is a desolation without man and cattle; it was given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah second [time] while he [was] still held back in the courtyard of the guard, {saying},

And it was to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for an honor to all the nations of the earth who shall hear all the good which I did them: and they trembled and were moved for all the good and for all the peace which I did to it

Thus said Jehovah: Yet shall be heard in this place which ye were saying it was laid waste without man and without cattle, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, being desolate without man and without inhabitant, and without cattle,

Once again there will be sounds of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms. Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, "Give thanks to the Lord who rules over all. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever." For I, the Lord, affirm that I will restore the land to what it was in days of old.'

Thus said Jehovah, If ye shall break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, and there was not day and night in their season;

The word that was to Jeremiah from Jehovah and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel, and all his strength, and all the kingdoms of the earth, the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples warring against Jerusalem, and against all its cities, saying

In peace you will die, and as [there was] burning for your ancestors, the former kings who were {before you}, so they will burn for you, and they will lament for you, "Alas, lord!" For [the] word I have spoken,' {declares} Yahweh." '"

when the army of the king of Babylon [was] fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left over--Lachish and Azekah, for these remained among the cities of Judah, the cities of fortification.

The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah after king Zedekiah cut out a covenant with all the people which were in Jerusalem, to call to them liberty;

That every man was to let his Hebrew man-servant and his Hebrew servant-girl go free; so that no one might make use of a Jew, his countryman, as a servant:

And this was done by all the rulers and the people who had taken part in the agreement, and every one let his man-servant and his servant-girl go free, not to be used as servants any longer; they did so, and let them go.

That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah,

And, though, ye, just now turned and did that which was right in mine eyes, by proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbour, - and solemnised a covenant before me, in the house on which my Name hath been called,

And I will give the men who have gone against my agreement and have not given effect to the words of the agreement which they made before me, when the ox was cut in two and they went between the parts of it,

The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

and I brought them [to] the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which [was] beside the chamber of the officials, which [was] above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.

Now it came about in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that it was given out publicly that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem, were to keep from food before the Lord.

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.

Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll everything the Lord had said.

Then Micaiah gave them an account of all the words which had come to his ears when Baruch was reading the book to the people.

All the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Cushi, to Baruch. They ordered him to tell Baruch, "Come here and bring with you the scroll you read in the hearing of the people." So Baruch son of Neriah went to them, carrying the scroll in his hand.

And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?”

And Baruch said to them, "From his mouth. He dictated to me all these words and I [was] writing on the scroll with the ink."

Now the king [was] sitting [in] the quarters of the winter in the ninth month, and a fire-pot [was] burning {before} him.

{And then}, as Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut it up in pieces with the knife of the scribe, and he would throw [it] into the fire that [was] in the fire-pot until the whole of the scroll [was] consumed in the fire that was in the fire-pot.

Yet no man was abashed thereof, or rent his clothes: neither the king himself, nor his servants, though they heard all these words.

He also ordered Jerahmeel, who was one of the royal princes, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. However, the Lord hid them.

"Get another scroll and write on it everything that was written on the original scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned.

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.

Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim as king. He was elevated to the throne of the land of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

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 Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that were besieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they brake up from Jerusalem.

"The Lord God of Israel says, 'Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him. Tell him, "The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt.

And it came to pass that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there.

{And when} he [was] at the Gate of Benjamin, there [was] {a sentry on duty} whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, {saying}, "You [are] deserting to the Chaldeans!"

Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, causing him to be beaten, and to be laid in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For he was the ruler of the prison.

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

Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers'street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah [was] saying to all the people, {saying},

Thus said Jehovah, He dwelling in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by death; and he going forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and his soul was to him for booty, and he lived.

Then Zedekiah the king said, See, he is in your hands: for the king was not able to do anything against them.

So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

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--

My lord, O King! wickedly, have these men done all that they haw done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom indeed they have cast into the dungeon, - since he would have died where he was because of the famine, for there is no bread any longer, in the city.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king, to the place where the clothing was kept, and got from there old clothing and bits of old cloth, and let them down by cords into the water-hole where Jeremiah was.

So pulling Jeremiah up with the cords they got him out of the water-hole: and Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen.

And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to [the] third entrance that [was] at the {temple} of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] asking you {something}, you must not hide {anything} from me."

And if thou wilt not go forth to the chiefs of the king of Babel, and this city was given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they burnt it with fire, and thou shalt not escape from their hand.

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.

Then you shall say to them, 'I [was] presenting my plea {before} the king, to not cause me to return [to] the house of Jonathan to die there.'"

And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the {conversation} was not heard.

And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until [the] day that Jerusalem was captured. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.

And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;

In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on [the] ninth [day] of the month, the city was taken by assault.

Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the Middle Gate.

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.

As for the remnant of the people that were in the city, and such as were come to help them, whatsoever was left of the common sort, Nebuzaradan the chief captain carried them to Babylon.

And from the weak people which to them was nothing, Nebuzaradan chief of the cooks left in the land of Judah, and he will give to them vineyards and fields in that day.

So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, Nebushazban, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon

And they sent and took Jeremiah out of the place of the watchmen, and gave him into the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to his house: so he was living among the people.

Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

For escaping, I will let thee escape, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, and thy soul was to thee for booty: for thou didst trust in me, says Jehovah.

The word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah after Nebuzaradan chief of the cooks sent him from Ramah, in his taking him, he being bound in manacles in the midst of all the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah, being carried away captive to Babel.

And the captain of the armed men took Jeremiah and said to him, The Lord your God gave word of the evil which was to come on this place:

And Jehovah will bring and do as he spake: because ye sinned against Jehovah, and ye heard not to his voice, and this word was to you.

Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then,'said he , to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth right unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go.

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah, and was living with him among the people who were still in the land.

But in the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah's chief officers, came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah,

Now on the day after Gedaliah was killed, when as yet no one knew about it,

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out to meet them from Mizpah, {weeping as he came}. {And then} as [he was] meeting them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam."

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.

And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let our request come before you, and make prayer for us to the Lord your God, even for this small band of us; for we are only a small band out of what was a great number, as your eyes may see:

And Jeremiah the prophet will say to them, I heard; behold me praying to Jehovah your God according to your words; and it was all the word that Jehovah shall answer you I will announce to you; I will not withhold a word from you.

And it was the sword which ye were afraid of it, there it shall overtake you in the land of Egypt, and the famine which ye feared from it, shall cleave after you there in Egypt, and there shall ye die.

For thus said Jehovah of armies, God of Israel, as mine anger was poured out, and my wrath upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured out upon you in your going to Egypt: and ye were for a curse and for an astonishment and for reviling, and for reproach; and ye shall no more see this place.

If ye will not follow it, be sure that ye shall perish with the sword, with hunger and pestilence: even in the same place where your lust was to go, and dwell."

The word which was to Jeremiah to all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt, dwelling in the tower, and in Tahpanhes, and Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying,

Therefore were mine indignation and mine anger poured out, and a fire was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, - and they became waste and desolate, as at this day.

I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that was determined to go and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle or perish from starvation. People of every class will die in war or from starvation. They will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse.

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt. They answered,

And indeed, [when] we [were] making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and {pouring out} to her libations, [was it not] {with the consent of} our husbands [that] we made for her sacrificial cakes {marked with her image}, and we poured out to her libations?"

Was it not, the very incense which ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers your kings and your princes and the people of the land, was it not those very things, that Yahweh did remember, and that came up on his heart;

And Yahweh was no longer able to bear [it], {because of} the evil of your deeds, {because of} the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, {without} inhabitants, as [it is] this day.

Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah while he was writing down in a scroll the words that Jeremiah spoke to him. This happened in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.

Thou saidst, Wo to me now! for Jehovah added grief upon my pain; I was weary in my sighing, and I found not rest.

This is what you are to say to him: The Lord has said, Truly, the building which I put up will be broken down, and that which was planted by me will be uprooted, and this through all the land;

The word of Jehovah which was to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations;

Of Egypt, Concerning the force of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates, in Carchemish, - which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, smote, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: -