But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict that the Lord has shown me:

If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’

then you will tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

However, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill My words for harm and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day.

But I will rescue you on that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and you will not be handed over to the men you fear.

Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will keep your life like the spoils of war.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, released him at Ramah. When he found him, he was bound in chains with all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

Now pay attention: Today I am setting you free from the chains that were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look—the whole land is in front of you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.”

When all the commanders of the armies in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children from the poorest of the land who had not been deported to Babylon,

When all the Judeans in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in all the other lands also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them,

and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

Then Johanan son of Kareah suggested to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah, “Let me go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it. Why should he kill you and scatter all of Judah that has gathered to you so that the remnant of Judah would perish?”

But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one that King Asa had made in the encounter with Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,

that the Lord your God may tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and every word that the Lord answers you I will tell you; I won’t withhold a word from you.”

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey the voice of the Lord our God!”

‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you.

The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today!

You have led your own selves astray because you are the ones who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’

Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to live for a while.”

“Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. Do this in the sight of the Judean men

and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them.

This is the word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros:

because of their evil ways that provoked Me to anger, going and burning incense to serve other gods that they, you, and your fathers did not know.

So I sent you all My servants the prophets time and time again, saying: Don’t do this detestable thing that I hate.

So My fierce wrath poured out and burned in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets so that they became the desolate ruin they are today.

Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of Judah’s kings, the evils of their wives, your own evils, and the evils of your wives that were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed My instruction or My statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.

However, all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women standing by—a great assembly—and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros answered Jeremiah,

And the women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

“Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: ‘I have sworn by My great name, says Yahweh, that My name will never again be invoked by anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives.”

This will be a sign to you’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘that I am about to punish you in this place, so you may know that My words of disaster concerning you will certainly come to pass.

This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:

That day belongs to the Lord, the God of Hosts,
a day of vengeance to avenge Himself
against His adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satisfied;
it will drink its fill of their blood,
because it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the God of Hosts,
in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

He continues to stumble.
Indeed, each falls over the other.
They say, “Get up! Let’s return to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the sword that oppresses.”

They will cut down her forest—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
though it is dense,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh defeated Gaza.

on account of the day that is coming
to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every remaining ally.
Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.

Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel was put to shame
because of Bethel that they trusted in.

Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.
Wail and cry out!
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.

Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,
residents of Moab!
Be like a dove
that nests inside the mouth of a cave.

I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
with more than the weeping for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea;
they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

The towns have been captured,
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.

But after that, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: The flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away, and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them.

Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.

About Damascus:

Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
for they have heard a bad report and are agitated;
in the sea there is anxiety that cannot be calmed.

How can the city of praise not be abandoned,
the town that brings Me joy?

Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the declaration of
the Lord of Hosts.

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

In those days and at that time—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
the Israelites and Judeans will come together,
weeping as they come,
and will seek the Lord their God.

They will ask about Zion,
turning their faces to this road.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Escape from Babylon;
depart from the Chaldeans’ land.
Be like the rams that lead the flock.

In those days and at that time—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
one will search for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for Judah’s sins,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.

Therefore, her young men will fall
in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Their Redeemer is strong;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
He will fervently plead their case
so that He might bring rest to the earth
but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Certainly the flock’s little lambs will be dragged away; certainly the grazing land will be made desolate because of them.

Messenger races to meet messenger,
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end.

While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.

Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud.

You must say, ‘Lord, You have threatened to cut off this place so that no one will live in it—man or beast. Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.’

Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.

Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord’s temple, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.

As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the 12 bronze bulls under the water carts that King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.

ו VavAll her splendor has vanished
from Daughter Zion.
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they walk away exhausted
before the hunter.

ז ZayinDuring the days of her affliction and homelessness
Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,
she had no one to help.
The adversaries looked at her,
laughing over her downfall.

פ PeZion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his adversaries.
Jerusalem has become
something impure among them.

שׁ ShinPeople have heard me groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;
they are glad that You have caused it.
Bring on the day You have announced,
so that they may become like me.

ג GimelHe has cut off every horn of Israel
in His burning anger
and withdrawn His right hand
in the presence of the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything.

מ MemWhat can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?

נ NunYour prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;
they did not reveal your guilt
and so restore your fortunes.
They saw oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.

ס SamekAll who pass by
scornfully clap their hands at you.
They mock and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?

You have covered Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.

ו VavThe punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.

ז ZayinHer dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like sapphire.

ח KhetNow they appear darker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become dry like wood.

ט TetThose slain by the sword are better off
than those slain by hunger,
who waste away, pierced with pain
because the fields lack produce.

ל LamedThe kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.

נ NunBlind, they stumbled in the streets,
defiled by this blood,
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.

ע AyinAll the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;
we watched from our towers
for a nation that refused to help.

צ TsadeOur steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our time ran out.
Our end had come!

ק QofThose who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

The form of each of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle.

That is what their faces were like. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching that of another and two wings covering its body.

When I looked at the living creatures, there was one wheel on the ground beside each creature that had four faces.

The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the form of the Lord’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

Whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

“And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you: Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, even though they are a rebellious house.”

Next He said to me: “Son of man, listen carefully to all My words that I speak to you and take them to heart.

If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

But if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have saved your life.”

Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.

Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.