It may be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may relent of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.

When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people."

But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.

But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, says the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein."'"

Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon'; for they prophesy a lie to you.

'For I have not sent them,' says the LORD, 'but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.'"

Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.

But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.

'They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them,' says the LORD; 'then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.'"

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also."'"

Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and do not be diminished.

For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them,' says the LORD.

thus says the LORD of hosts; 'Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.

because they have not listened to my words,' says the LORD, 'with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,' says the LORD.

because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness,' says the LORD."

For, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD; 'and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"

but they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.

All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.

For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds," says the LORD; "because they have called you an outcast, saying, 'It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.'"

Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

"At that time," says the LORD, "will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.

They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.'"

They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and they shall be radient over the goodness of the LORD, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."

Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded," says the LORD; "and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.'

"In those days they shall say no more, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'

not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them," says the LORD.

"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the LORD: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:

and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD'; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest," says the LORD: "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."

Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done," says the LORD.

'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days."'

and they came in, and possessed it, but they did not obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them.

Behold, the mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it.

and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.

For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.

But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.

"Do not consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'The two families which the LORD chose, he has cast them off?' Thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, saying, "Ah Lord." for I have spoken the word,' says the LORD."'"

And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that none should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:

but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;

Behold, I will command, says the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."'"

But they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:

"The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.

therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'"'"

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."

It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return everyone from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people."

They said to him, "Sit down now, and read it in our ears." So Baruch read it in their ears.

Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, "We will surely tell the king of all these words."

They asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth?"

They went in to the king into the court; but they had put the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king.

They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.

I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they did not listen."'"

Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.

Pharaoh's army had come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.

The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire."

Thus says the LORD, "Do not deceive yourselves, saying, 'The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us'; for they shall not depart.

For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire."'"

And the officials were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),

"My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city."

So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's officers, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.'"

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

But Jeremiah said, "They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of the LORD, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's officers, and those women shall say, 'Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away back.'

They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire."

But if the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, 'Declare to us now what you have said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you':

Then all the officials came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.

they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.

"Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring my words on this city for disaster, and not for prosperity; and they shall be fulfilled before you in that day.

Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;

then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.

then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.

and they departed, and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,

because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.

Then they said to Jeremiah, "The LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not do according to all the word with which the LORD your God shall send you to us.

So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.'

but Baruch the son of Neriah sets you 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."

But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah;

and they came into the land of Egypt; for they did not obey the voice of the LORD: and they came to Tahpanhes.