and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and rejoined Johanan son of Kareah.

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

Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon.

away from the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.

Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached

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.”

and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘because I am with you to save you and deliver you from him.

All who resolve to go to Egypt to live there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no one escape or survive from the disaster I will bring on them.’

Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned from all the nations where they had been banished to live in the land of Judah for a while—

But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their evil or stop burning incense to other gods.

“So now, this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? You are cutting off man and woman, child and infant from Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant.

And I will take away the remnant of Judah, those who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to live there for a while; they will meet their end. All of them in the land of Egypt will fall by the sword; they will meet their end by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by famine. Then they will become an object of cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace.

but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.”

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?”

Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah only few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to live there for a while, will know whose word stands, Mine or theirs!

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.”

Egypt is a beautiful young cow,
but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,
and do not be discouraged, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away
and your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.

This is what the Lord says:

Look, waters are rising from the north
and becoming an overflowing wadi.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the cities and their inhabitants.
The people will cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land will wail.

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.

There is no longer praise for Moab;
they plan harm against her in Heshbon:
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.

A voice cries out from Horonaim,
“devastation and great disaster!”

The one who does
the Lord’s business deceitfully is cursed,
and the one who withholds
his sword from bloodshed is cursed.

Moab has been left quiet since his youth,
settled like wine on its dregs.
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.

Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,
resident of the daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.

Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not a shout of joy.

“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz—from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah—because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.

He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,
and he who climbs from the pit
will be captured in the trap,
for I will bring against Moab
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow
because fire has come out from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It will devour Moab’s forehead
and the skull of the noisemakers.

Look, I am about to bring terror on you—
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Hosts—
from all those around you.
You will be banished, each man headlong,
with no one to gather up the fugitives.

About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom rotted away?

I have heard a message from the Lord;
a messenger has been sent among the nations:
Assemble yourselves to come against her.
Rise up for war!

As to the terror you cause,
your presumptuous heart has deceived you.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,
you who occupy the mountain summit,
though you elevate your nest like the eagle,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

I will bring the four winds against Elam
from the four corners of the heavens,
and I will scatter them to all these winds.
There will not be a nation
to which Elam’s banished ones will not go.

I will set My throne in Elam,
and I will destroy the king and officials from there.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

For a nation from the north will come against her;
it will make her land desolate.
No one will be living in it—
both man and beast will escape.

My people are lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray,
guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.
They have wandered from mountain to hill;
they have forgotten their resting place.

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

For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon
an assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will line up in battle formation against her;
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior
who does not return empty-handed.

Cut off the sower from Babylon
as well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time.
Because of the oppressor’s sword,
each will turn to his own people,
each will flee to his own land.

Come against her from the most distant places.
Open her granaries;
pile her up like mounds of grain
and completely destroy her.
Leave her no survivors.

“There is a voice of fugitives and those who escape
from the land of Babylon
announcing in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
the vengeance for His temple.

Look! A people comes from the north.
A great nation and many kings will be stirred up
from the remote regions of the earth.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Babylon away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.

When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.

Look, I am against you, devastating mountain—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.

No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

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.

Come out from among her, My people!
Save your lives, each of you,
from the Lord’s burning anger.

Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

You who have escaped the sword,
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.

Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

The sound of a cry from Babylon!
The sound of great destruction
from the land of the Chaldeans!

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

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.

The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him.

From the city he took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors; seven trusted royal aides found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people who were found within the city.

The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

in his eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

ב BetShe weeps aloud during the night,
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

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.

מ MemHe sent fire from heaven into my bones;
He made it descend.
He spread a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
sick all day long.

How the Lord has overshadowed
Daughter Zion with His anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s glory
from heaven to earth.
He has abandoned His footstool
in the day of His anger.

ח KhetThe Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line
and did not restrain Himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.

ט TetZion’s gates have fallen to the ground;
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.

כ KafMy eyes are worn out from weeping;
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief
because of the destruction of my dear people,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.

ק QofArise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord’s presence.
Lift up your hands to Him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
on the corner of every street.

Then I thought: My future is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.

It is good to wait quietly
for deliverance from the Lord.

Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?

until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.

ק QofI called on Your name, Yahweh,
from the depths of the Pit.

ד DaletThe nursing infant’s tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.
Little children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.

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.

Slaves rule over us;
no one rescues us from their hands.

Our skin is as hot as an oven
from the ravages of hunger.

The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned.

You, Lord, are enthroned forever;
Your throne endures from generation to generation.

I looked and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber.

The form of four living creatures came from it. And this was their appearance: They had human form,

So when the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels also rose.

When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

A voice came from above the expanse over their heads; when they stood still, they lowered their wings.

From what seemed to be His waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire enclosing it all around. From what seemed to be His waist down, I also saw what looked like fire. There was a brilliant light all around Him.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

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.

The food you eat each day will be eight ounces by weight; you will eat it from time to time.

You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon, which you will drink from time to time.

But I said, “Oh, Lord God, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”

But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.

Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it. A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive, how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did, their detestable practices of every kind.

I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

He appointed His beautiful ornaments for majesty,
but they made their abhorrent images from them,
their detestable things.
Therefore, I have made these
into something filthy for them.