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

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah:

and unto Jehoiakim king of Judah thou dost say: Thus said Jehovah, Thou hast burnt this roll, saying, Wherefore hast thou written on it, saying, The king of Babylon surely cometh in, and hath destroyed this land, and caused to cease from it man and beast?

'Therefore, thus said Jehovah, concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He hath none sitting on the throne of David, and his carcase is cast out to heat by day, and to cold by night;

And I will send punishment on him and on his seed and on his servants for their evil-doing; I will send on them and on the people of Jerusalem and the men of Judah, all the evil which I said against them, but they did not give ear.

But he and his servants and the people of the land did not give ear to the words of the Lord which he said by Jeremiah the prophet.

'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt,

'Thus said Jehovah: Lift not up your souls saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go;

But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate. There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah, who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"

Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?

Where now are your prophets who said to you, The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land?

Then King Zedekiah gave command and they committed Jeremiah into the guard-court, and said that there should be given him a cake of bread daily, out of the bakers street, until all the bread out of the city should be spent, So Jeremiah remained in the guard-court.

Now it came to the ears of Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, that Jeremiah had said to all the people,

'Thus said Jehovah: He who is remaining in this city dieth, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and he who is going forth unto the Chaldeans liveth, and his soul hath been to him for a prey, and he liveth.

Thus said Jehovah: This city is certainly given into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, and he hath captured it.'

Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

And Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and said to the king,

Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian and said, "Take from hence thirty men whom thou wilt, and draw up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die."

And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing 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, wilt thou not hearken unto me?

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly 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 thine house:

And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

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 hast said unto them, I am causing my supplication to fall before the king, not to cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there.'

Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah, questioning him: and he gave them an answer in the words the king had given him orders to say. So they said nothing more to him; for the thing was not made public.

'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.

And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.

Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also 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 convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the Host, that were scattered on every side in the land, came to Gedaliah to Mizphah, and said unto him,

And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah said to Gedaliah in secrecy at Mizpah, {saying}, "Please let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and {nobody} will know. Why should he kill you, so that all of Judah who are gathered to you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish?"

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 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.

And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)

Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;

And now, therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: If ye really set your faces to enter Egypt, and have gone in to sojourn there,

for thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: As poured out hath been Mine anger and My fury on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so poured out is My fury upon you in your entering Egypt, and ye have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and ye do not see any more this place.

The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

For ye sent me unto the LORD your God and said, 'O pray thou the LORD our God for us: and look what answer the LORD our God giveth thee, that bring us again, and we shall do thereafter.'

This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you.

Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the proud and insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are not telling the truth! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go into Egypt to live there.’

and thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: 'Lo, I am sending, and I have taken Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have set his throne above these stones that I have hid, and he hath stretched out his pavilion over them,

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Ye -- ye have seen all the evil that I have brought in on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah, and lo, they are a waste this day, and there is none dwelling in them,

'And, now, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Why are ye doing great evil unto your own souls, to cut off to you man and woman, infant and suckling, from the midst of Judah, so as not to leave to you a remnant:

'Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am setting my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah,

Then all the men who had knowledge that their wives were burning perfumes to other gods, and all the women who were present, a great meeting, answering Jeremiah, said,

As for the word which you have said to us in the name of the Lord, we will not give ear to you.

Instead, we will do everything we said we would: burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food and good things and saw no disaster,

And said the wives, “When we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without [the knowledge and approval of] our husbands that we made cakes [in the shape of a star] to represent her and pour out drink offerings to her?”

Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,

Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: You women have said with your mouths, and with your hands you have done what you said, We will certainly give effect to the oaths we have made, to have perfumes burned to the queen of heaven and drink offerings drained out to her: then give effect to your oaths and do them.

Therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah, all Judah who are dwelling in the land of Egypt: Lo, I -- I have sworn by My great name, said Jehovah, My name is no more proclaimed by the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, Live doth the Lord Jehovah -- in all the land of Egypt.

Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those seeking his life, as I have given Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who is seeking his life.'

The words which Jeremiah the prophet said to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he put these words down in a book from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah; he said,

'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, concerning thee, O Baruch:

'Thou hast said, Woe to me, now, for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain, I have been wearied with my sighing, and rest I have not found.

Thus dost thou say unto him: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, that which I have built I am throwing down, and that which I have planted I am plucking up, even the whole land itself.

Egypt was like the Nile when it riseth, And like rivers, when the waters are tossed: So he said - I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city, and the dwellers therein.

The word which the Lord said to Jeremiah the prophet, of how Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, would come and make war on the land of Egypt.

He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.

Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him,

'Thus said Jehovah: Lo, waters are coming up from the north, And have been for an overflowing stream, And they overflow the land and its fulness, The city, and the inhabitants in it, And men have cried out, And howled hath every inhabitant of the land.

Concerning Moab: 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down.

And the waster shall come upon every city, that not a city shall escape; and the valley shall perish, and the plateau shall be destroyed: as Jehovah hath said.

For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab.

Concerning the sons of Ammon: 'Thus said Jehovah: Sons -- hath Israel none? heir -- hath he none? Wherefore hath Malcam possessed Gad? And his people in its cities have dwelt?

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sounded unto Rabbah of the sons of Ammon a shout of battle, And it hath been for a heap -- a desolation, And her daughters with fire are burnt, And Israel hath succeeded its heirs, Said hath Jehovah.

“Why do you boast of your valleys?
Your valley is flowing away,
[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’

Concerning Edom: 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom?

For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou art he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest.

I said, "I have heard a message from the Lord. A messenger has been sent among the nations to say, 'Gather your armies and march out against her! Prepare to do battle with her!'"

As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: 'Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.

'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

The word which the Lord said about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldaeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

Therefore thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, And after his land, As I have seen after the king of Asshur;

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Oppressed are the sons of Israel, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away.

Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb -- My withstanders, A destroying wind,

Moreover, the LORD hath said unto the bowmen, and to them that climb over the walls in breastplates: He shall not spare her young men; kill down all her host.

Let the flag be lifted up against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, put the watchmen in their places, make ready a surprise attack: for it is the Lord's purpose, and he has done what he said about the people of Babylon.

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon is as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing -- yet a little, And come hath the time of her harvest.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am pleading thy cause, And I have avenged thy vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon -- The broad one -- is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.

and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto are words of Jeremiah.

And he said kind words to him and put his seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.