Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, king of Judah, - Thus, saith Yahweh Concerning thee, Thou shalt not die, by the sword;

In peace, shalt thou die, And with the burnings made for thy fathers the former kings who were before thee, so, shall they make a burning unto thee, And, with an, Alas lord! shall they lament thee, - Because of the word, I, have spoken, Declareth Yahweh.

that every man should let his servant and every man his handmaid, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, - so that no man should use them as slaves, to wit a Jew his brother;

so then they hearkened - even all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant that every man should let his servant and every man his handmaid, go free, so as not to use them as slaves, any longer, - yea they hearkened, and let them go,

Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, - I myself, solemnised a covenant with your fathers, in the day when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves saying:

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,

yet have ye turned and profaned my Name, and brought back, every man his servant and every man his hand-maid, whom ye had let go, free, at their own desire, - and have brought them into subjection, to become your servants and handmaids.

Therefore - Thus, saith Yahweh, Ye, have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother and every man to his neighbour: Behold me! proclaiming, to you, a liberty: Declareth Yahweh unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, so will I make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth;

Behold me! giving command, Declareth Yahweh, and I will bring them back unto this city, and they will fight against it and capture it, and consume it with fire, - and, the cities of Judah, will I make too desolate to have an inhabitant.

Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers, - and give them, wine, to drink.

So we have hearkened unto the voice of Jonadab, son of Rechab, our father, in all that be commanded us, - not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons nor our daughters;

and not to bud houses for us to dwell in, - and so, vineyard or field or seed, have we none;

but we have dwelt in tents, - and have hearkened and done, according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

And so it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, - Let us even enter, Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans and because of the force of the Syrians: So have we dwelt in Jerusalem.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Go and say to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, - Will ye not receive correction by hearkening unto my words? Demandeth Yahweh:

Confirmed are the words of Jonadab son of Rechab - which he commanded his sons that they should not drink, wine, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have hearkened unto the command of their father, But, I, have spoken unto you, betimes, speaking, and ye have not hearkened, unto me.

And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, betimes, sending, saying, Return I pray you - every man from his wicked way, And amend your doings, And do not go after other gods to serve them, So shall ye remain on the soil which I gave to you, and to your fathers, - but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened, unto me.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! bringing in against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the calamity, which I have spoken concerning them, - Because I spake unto them and they did not hearken, And I called to them and they did not answer.

But to the house of the Rechabites, said Jeremiah: Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Because ye have hearkened unto the commandment of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and dune according to all that he commanded you

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, - Jonadab son of Rechab shall not want one to stand before me, all the days!

And it came to pass, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:

Take thee a scroll, and write therein all the words which I have spoken unto thee concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations, - from the day I began to speak unto thee from the days of Josiah, even until this day:

Peradventure, the house of Judah will hearken unto all the calamity, which I am devising to execute against them, - to the end they may return every man from his wicked way, whereupon I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin.

Thou, therefore shalt enter and read in the roll which thou hast written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in the house of Yahweh on the day of a fast, - moreover also, in the ears of all Judah who are coming in out of their cities, shalt thou read them:

So then Baruch son of Neriah did according to all which Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh.

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;

then went he down unto the house of the king up to the chamber of the scribe, and lo! there, all the princes sitting, - Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan son of Achbor, and Gemariah son of Shaphan and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the princes,

And it came to pass when they heard all the words, that they turned with fear one to another, - and said unto Baruch, We must, surely tell, the king, all these words!

So Baruch said unto them, With his own mouth, used he to proclaim unto me all these words, - and I kept on writing in the book, with ink.

The king, therefore sent, Jehudi, to fetch the roll, and he fetched it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe, - and Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who were standing near the king.

So then it came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four columns that he cut it up into fragments with a scribes knife, and cast them into the fire that was in the stove, - until, all the roll, was consumed on the fire that was on the stove.

Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah, interceded with the king, not to burn the roll, - but he hearkened not unto them.

Then did the king command Jerahmeel son of the king, and Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to fetch Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet, - but Yahweh had hid them.

But unto Jehoiakim king of Judah, shalt thou say, Thus, saith Yahweh, - Thou, hast burned this roll saying, Why hast thou written thereon - saying, The king of Babylon shall, certainly, come and lay waste this land, and cause to cease therefrom man and beast?

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, - He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, - And, his dead body, shall be cast out - to the heat by day, and to the frost by night;

Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, Thus, shall ye say unto the king of Judah, who sent you unto me to enquire of me, - Lo! the force of Pharaoh which is coming out to you to help is about to return to its own land to Egypt;

Now it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans, had gone up from Jerusalem, - because of the force of Pharaoh,

then went forth Jeremiah out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, - to receive a portion from thence in the midst of the people.

And so it came to pass he being in the gate of Benjamin and there being there a ward-master whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, that he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Unto the Chaldeans, art thou falling away!

Now therefore, hear I beseech thee, O my lord the king, - Let my, supplication, I pray thee, fall prostrate before thee, and do not cause me to return unto the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there!

Thus saith Yahweh, He that remaineth in this city shall die, by sword by famine, or by pestilence, - whereas, he that goeth forth unto the Chaldeans, shall live, so shall he have his life for a spoil, and shall live.

Then said the princes unto the king, - Let this man we pray thee, be put to death, for in this way, is he weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this, city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them such words as these; for, this man, is not seeking prosperity for this people but misfortune.

Then said King Zedekiah, - Lo! he is in your hand; for the king is not one who is able to do anything against you.

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.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian saying, - Take with thee from hence thirty men, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he die.

Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched Jeremiah the prophet unto him, in the third entrance, which is in the house of Yahweh, - and the king said unto Jeremiah - I am going to ask thee a thing, do not hide anything from me.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, When I tell thee, wilt thou not, surely put me to death? And when I counsel thee, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

So King Zedekiah aware unto Jeremiah secretly saying, - By the life of Yahweh who made for us, this soul, I will in no wise put thee to death, Neither will I deliver thee into the hand of these men who are seeking thy life.

But if thou art refusing to go forth, this, is the thing which Yahweh hath shewed 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.

Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah - Do not let, any man, know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

But, when the princes hear that I have spoken with thee and they come in unto thee and say unto thee - Do tell us we pray thee what thou didst speak unto the king, do not hide it from us so will we not put thee to death, - and what spake the king unto, thee?

Then shalt thou say unto them, - I was causing my supplication to fall prostrate before the king, - that he would not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there.

Then came in all the princes unto Jeremiah and asked him, and he told them according to all these words which the king, had commanded, - so they turned in silence from him, for the matter, had not been reported.

So Jeremiah remained in the guard-court, until the day when Jerusalem, was captured; thus it fell out when Jerusalem, was captured.

And it came to pass as soon as Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled, and went forth by night out of the city, by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, - and he went forth by way of the waste plain.

But the force of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the waste plains of Jericho, and when they had taken him, they brought him up unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, - and pronounced upon him sentences of judgment.

and the eyes of Zedekiah, did he put out, and bound him with fetters of bronze to bring him into Babylon.

and the remnant of the people who were left in the city, and the disheartened who fell away unto him, and the remnant of the people who were left, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners, take captive to Babylon.

But of the poor people, who had, nothing, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners, leave remaining in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and ploughed fields on the same day.

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.

yea they sent and fetched Jeremiah out of the guard-court, and delivered him unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, to bring him forth into a home, so he dwelt in the midst of the people.

Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, - Thus saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Behold me! bringing about my words against this city, for, calamity - and not for blessing, - and they shall come to pass before thee, in that day.

But I will deliver thee in that day, Declareth Yahweh, - and thou shalt not be given up into the hand of the men from the face of whom, thou, mightest shrink with fear.

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.

Now, therefore, lo! I have loosed thee today, from the fetters which were upon thy hand: If it be good in thine eyes to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will set urine eyes upon thee, but if evil in thine eyes to come with me into Babylon, forbear, - see! all the land, is before thee, whither it may be good and right in thine eyes to go, thither, go!

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.

Then came Jeremiah unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him in the midst of the people who were left in the land.

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,

Then Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swats unto them, and to their men saying, Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans, - dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon that it may be well with you.

But as for me, behold me! remaining in Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who may come unto us, Ye, however, gather ye wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your reties which ye have seized.

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,

and said unto him - Dost thou at all know, that, Baalis, king of the sons of Ammon, hath sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah, to smite thee to death? But Gedaliah son of Ahikam, believed them not.

Then, Johanan son of Kareah, spake unto Gedaliah secretly, in Mizpah, saying, - Let me go I pray thee, and smite Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and not, a man, shall know it, - wherefore should he smite thee to death, and all Judah who have gathered themselves unto thee, be dispersed, and the remnant of Judah perish?

Then said Gedaliah son of Ahikam unto Johanan son of Kareah, Thou mayest not do this thing, - for, falsely, art thou speaking against Ishmael.

And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama of the seed royal and chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, came in, unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, - and they did there eat bread together in Mizpah.

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.

Then went forth Ishmael son of Nethaniah to meet them out of Mizpah, weeping all along as he went, - and it came to pass when he fell in with them, that he said unto them, Come ye in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam.

But, ten men, were found among them, who said unto Ishmael - Do not put us to death, for we have secret treasures in the field, wheat and barley and oil and honey, So he forbare and put them not to death in the midst of their brethren.

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.

then took they all the men, and went their way to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, - and found him near the many waters which were in Gibeon.

And it came to pass, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then were they glad.

and they departed, and dwelt in the khan of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, - that they might go to enter Egypt;

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:

that Yahweh thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk, - and the thing that we should do.

And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words, - and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.

They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful, - if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform:

whether for good or for ill, unto the voice of Yahweh our God for which we are sending thee unto him, will we hearken, - to the end it may be well with us, because we will hearken unto the voice of Yahweh our God.

And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah.

and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel - unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him: -

Do not fear the face of the king of Babylon, of whose face ye are afraid, - do not fear him, Urgeth Yahweh, for with you, am I, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand:

that I may grant you compassions and he may have compassion upon you, - and suffer you to return unto your own soil.

Now, therefore, for this cause, hear ye the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah, - Thus! saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, - If, ye do indeed set your faces to enter Egypt and do enter to sojourn there,

then shall it come to pass that the sword which ye are fearing shall, there, overtake you, in the land of Egypt, - and the famine which ye are dreading, shall, there, lay fast hold of you, in Egypt, and, there, shall ye die.

So shall it be with all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there, they shah die by sword, by famine or by pestilence, - and they shall have neither survival nor escape, from the face of the calamity which I am about to bring in upon them.

Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, Do not enter into Egypt: Know certainly, that I have taken you to witness to-day.

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.

Therefore have I told you to-day, - and yet ye have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh your God, even in any thing for which he hath sent me unto you.

Now, therefore, know ye certainly, that by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, shall ye die, - in the place whither ye have desired to go, to sojourn.