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 said to him, "Sit please and read it aloud in our hearing." So Baruch read aloud in their hearing.

{And then}, the moment of their hearing all the words, {they turned to one another in alarm} and they said to Baruch, "We must certainly report all these words to the king!"

Then they asked Baruch, {saying}, "Tell us please, how did you write all these words, from his mouth?"

Baruch answered, "Yes, they came from his own mouth. He dictated all these words to me and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll."

And they went to the king, [to the] courtyard, and they {put} the scroll for safe-keeping in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words in the hearing of the king.

And the king and any of his servants who heard all these words were not startled, and they did not tear their garments.

And I will punish him, and his offspring, and his servants for their guilt, and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster with which I have threatened them, but they would not listen." '"

Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind.

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.

And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire." '

Thus says Yahweh: 'You must not deceive yourselves, {saying}, "Surely the Chaldeans will go from us," for they will not go.

For [even] if you struck the whole army of [the] Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and [only] men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.'"

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}.

So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers {every day} until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah had heard the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people. They had heard him say,

"The Lord says, 'Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives.'"

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.'"

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 the king, these men have done evil [in] all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, [in] that they have thrown [him] into the pit, and he will die {there} {because of} starvation, for there is no longer any bread in the city."

And they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes and brought him up from the pit. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

But if you [do] not go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.'"

And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me."

And Jeremiah said, "They will not give [you over]. Please obey the voice of Yahweh with regard to what I [am] saying to you, and it will go well with you, and {you} will live.

Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah [are] being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, [they are] saying, '{Your trusted friends} have misled you, and they have prevailed against you. Your feet are stuck in the mud, [so] they turned backward.'

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.

And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, 'Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal [it] from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?'

If they do this, tell them, 'I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan's house.'"

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.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year. On that day they broke through the city walls.

and come in do all the heads of the king of Babylon, and they sit at the middle gate, Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-Sharezer, chief of the Mages, and all the rest of the heads of the king of Babylon.

{And then} {when} Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all {the soldiers} [with him], they fled and went out [at] night from the city [by] the way of the garden of the king through [the] gate between the walls. And they went out toward the Jordan Valley.

But the army of [the] Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon [at] Riblah in the land of Hamath. And he pronounced {sentence} on him.

And the house of the king, and the house of the people, have the Chaldeans burnt with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they have broken down.

And they sent and took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house, so he stayed in the midst of the people.

"Go and say to Ebed-melech the Cushite, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to bring my words to pass against this city for evil and not for good. And they will be {before you} on that day.

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 came they in unto Gedaliah in Mizpah, - both Ishmael son of Nethaniah and Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite and Jezaniah son of the Maachathite, they and their men.

I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs, and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over."

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.

And said to him, Has it come to your knowledge that Baalis, the king of the children of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to take your life? But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, put no faith in what they said.

And Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will smite Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and no man shall know it: why should he take thy life, and all they of Judah who are gathered unto thee be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?

Then said Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Thou shalt not do it, for they are but lies, that men say of 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.

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.

Some people came from Shechem, from Shiloh and Samaria, eighty men, with the hair of their faces cut off and their clothing out of order, and with cuts on their bodies, and in their hands meal offerings and perfumes which they were taking to the house of the Lord.

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.

But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for {we have} hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen.

But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all they which had been captains over the king's Host with him, heard of all the wickedness that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done;

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 all the people whom Ishmael hath taken captive from Mizpah turn round, yea, they turn back, and go unto Johanan son of Kareah.

But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped with eight men {from} Johanan, and they went to the {Ammonites}.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. They took mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon.

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

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 they come nigh -- all the heads of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest --

and they say unto Jeremiah the prophet, 'Let, we pray thee, our supplication fall before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as thine eyes do see us;

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:

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.

but Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.

So Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, did not give ear to the order of the Lord that they were to go on living in the land of Judah.

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:

They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.

and entered the land of Egypt, for they hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh, - yea entered as far as Tahpanhes.

And he will put a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and they will be burned by him: and he will make Egypt clean as a keeper of sheep makes clean his clothing; and he will go out from there in peace.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Ye yourselves, saw all the calamity which I brought in upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah, - and there they are, a desolation this day, and there is not in them an inhabitant:

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;

but they hearkened not neither inclined their ear, by turning from their wickedness, - so as not to burn incense to other gods.

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.

Have ye forgotten the wicked ways of your fathers and the wicked ways of the kings of Judah, and the wicked ways of his wives, and your own wicked ways, and the wicked ways of your own wives, - which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

They have not been crushed, unto this day; neither have they been afraid, neither have they walked in my law, and in ray statutes, which I set before you and before your fathers,

and I will take the remnant of Judah who did set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, in the land of Egypt, shall they fall by the sword, by famine, shall they be consumed, from the least even unto the greatest, by sword and by famine, shall they die, - so shall they become a curse, and an astonishment, and a contempt and a reproach;

and there shall be neither escape nor survival, unto the remnant of Judah who have been entering, to sojourn there into the land of Egypt, - that they should return to the land of Judah even when they are lifting up their soul to return to dwell there, for none shall return, saving fugitives.

And they answer Jeremiah -- all the men who are knowing that their wives are making perfume to other gods, and all the women who are remaining, a great assembly, even all the people who are dwelling in the land of Egypt, in Pathros -- saying:

"As for the sacrifices that you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land offered in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the LORD remembered them, did he not? And they came to his attention, did they not?

I am watching over them for disaster and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine until they are finished off.

And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

Why have I seen it? They, panic-struck, are drawing back, Yea, their heroes, are crushed, Yea they have, fled, and not turned, - Terror round about! Declareth Yahweh.

Let not the swift, flee, Nor let the hero, escape, - Northward, beside the river Euphrates, have they stumbled, and fallen.

It is Egypt that riseth up like a flood, and casteth out the waters with so great noise. For they say, 'We will go up, and will cover the earth; we will destroy the cities, with them that dwell therein.'

The nations have heard of thy disgrace, And, thine outcry, hath filled the earth, - For hero against hero, have they stumbled, Together, have fallen, the twain!

Why are thy strong ones swept away? they stood not, because Jehovah did drive them.

Hath made many a one to be stumbling, Yea fallen is every one against his neighbour, So they have said - Arise and let us return to our own people, And unto the land of our birth, From the face of the sword of the oppressor.

They will call there, 'Pharaoh, the king of Egypt [is but] a roar, {he missed the opportunity}.'

Even her hirelings in her midst are like fatted calves, For, even they, have turned - have fled at once! have made no stand! For, their day of doom, hath come upon them, The time of their visitation.

Her noise, like a serpent, departeth, - For, with a force, they advance, And with axes, have they come against her, like them who fell trees:

They have cut down her forest Declareth Yahweh, Surely he cannot be searched out, - For they have outnumbered locusts, and cannot be counted.

I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!"

But have no fear, O Jacob, my servant, and do not be troubled, O Israel: for see, I will make you come back from far away, and your seed from the land where they are prisoners; and Jacob will come back, and will be quiet and in peace, and no one will give him cause for fear.

Thus, saith Yahweh - Lo! waters rising from the North And they shall become a torrent overflowing, Which shall overflow The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and the dwellers therein, - Then shall men make outcry, And all the inhabitants of the land, howl.

At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions,
the rumbling of his chariots,
and the clatter of their wheels,
fathers will not turn back for their sons,
because they will be utterly helpless

No more, is the praise of Moab, In Heshbon, have they devised against her, calamity, Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation, - Even thou, Madmen also, shalt be silenced, After thee, shall march the sword.

For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping, one ascendeth - with weeping, - For in the descent of Horonaim, the distress of the outcry of destruction, have they heard:

They will hear, 'Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert!'

"From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed. It has never been taken into exile. Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs, never poured out from one jar to another. They are like wine which tastes like it always did, whose aroma has remained unchanged.