then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring back their captivity, and have mercy on them.

So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

Yet hear the Word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: So says Jehovah of you, You shall not die by the sword.

You shall die in peace; and as the burnings of spices for your fathers, the former kings which were before you, so they shall burn spices for you. And they will mourn you, saying, Ah, lord! For I have spoken the Word, says Jehovah.

when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that not any should enslave among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go.

So the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

So Jehovah says this: You have not listened to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I call for freedom for you, says Jehovah, to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have withdrawn from you.

Nor shall you build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have anything; but all your days you shall live in tents, so that you may live many days in the land where you are strangers.

So we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he has commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

But it happened when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean army, and for fear of the Syrian army. So we are living at Jerusalem.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction to listen to My Words? says Jehovah.

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are done. For to this day they do not drink, but obey their father's commandment. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you did not listen to Me.

therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken against them. Because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.

And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done according to all that he has commanded you;

therefore so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I plan to do to them, that they may each man turn from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

Therefore you go, and read in the roll which you have written from my mouth, the Words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah's house on the fasting day. And also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.

And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book, the Words of Jehovah in Jehovah's house.

And Baruch read in the book, the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entrance to the New Gate of Jehovah's house, in the ears of all the people.

then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room. And, lo, all the rulers sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the rulers.

Therefore all the rulers sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take the roll in your hand in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand and came to them.

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

So the king sent Jehudi to bring the roll. And he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the rulers who stood beside the king.

And it happened when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the scribe's knife and threw it into the fire in the fire-pan, until all the scroll was burned up in the fire-pan.

And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, So says Jehovah: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause man and beast to cease from there?

Therefore so says Jehovah of Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

And Pharaoh's army had come out from Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: You shall say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

So says Jehovah: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us. For they shall not depart.

And it happened when the army of Chaldeans was made to go up from Jerusalem because of fear of Pharaoh's army,

Then Jeremiah said, A lie! I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him; so Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers.

And please hear now, O my lord the king; I beg you, let my cry be pleasing to you, so that you cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

And Zedekiah the king commanded that they should put Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the bakers' street daily, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

So says Jehovah, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as a prize, and shall live.

So says Jehovah: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, and he shall capture it.

And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.

And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, of the eunuchs in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),

Ebed-melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying,

So Ebed-melech took the men in his hand and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took worn out clothes and worn out rags from there, and let them down by ropes into the pit to Jeremiah.

And Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Now put the worn out clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the pit. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, So says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surely go forth to the king of Babylon's rulers, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire. And you shall live, and your house.

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

But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. I beg you, obey the voice of Jehovah which I speak to you; so it shall be well to you, and your soul shall live.

And, behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought out to the king of Babylon's rulers, and they shall say, Your friends have urged you on, and have prevailed against you. Your feet have sunk in the mire, and they have turned away.

So they shall bring out all your wives and your sons 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 rulers hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to 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 you shall say to them, I presented my cry before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.

Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they quit speaking with him; for the matter was not known.

So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was captured. And he was there when Jerusalem was captured.

And it happened when Zedekiah, the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out from the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out the way of the plain.

And he blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Take him, and set your eyes on him, and do him no evil. But do with him even as he shall say to you.

So Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, sent, and Nebu-shasban, chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylon's rulers,

even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house. So he lived among the people.

Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring My Words on this city for evil and not for good. And they shall be done in that day before you.

And while he had not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and live with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the chief of the executioners gave him food and a reward, and let him go.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go. And I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know. Why should he kill you so that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he held back and did not kill them among their brothers.

Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners had entrusted to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took captive and left to go over to the Ammonites.

And it happened when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, then they were glad.

So all the people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

And he said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your cry before Him:

And I will show mercies to you, so that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.

But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, nor obey the voice of Jehovah your God,

saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger for bread; and there we will dwell;

then now hear the Word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah. So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you surely set your faces to go into Egypt, and go to live there,

So it shall be to 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 plague. And none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.

For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My fury has been poured forth on the people of Jerusalem, so shall My fury be poured forth on you when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be a curse, and a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.

For you used deceit against your souls when you sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us to Jehovah our God; and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.

Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, spoke then, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely! Jehovah our God has not sent you to say, Do not go to Egypt to live there.

So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of Jehovah to live in the land of Judah.

men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

So they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of JehovahORD. So they came to Tahpanhes.

Take great stones to your hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.

And say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden. And he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. And, behold, today they are a ruin, and no one lives there

And now so says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and babe, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;

So Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

So that none of the remnant of Judah who has gone into the land of Egypt to live there shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to live there. For none shall return except those who escape.

But we will certainly do whatever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

Yea, so that Jehovah could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations which you have committed! So your land is a waste, and a wonder, and a curse, without anyone in it, as it is today.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will surely fulfil our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her. You will surely fulfil your vows and surely carry out your vows.

And this shall be a sign to you, says Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place so that you may know that My Words shall surely stand against you for evil.

So says Jehovah, Behold, I am giving Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his life.

So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch:

So you shall say to him, Jehovah says this: Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even all the land itself to Me.

Declare it in Egypt, and cry it in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Tahpanhes. Say, Stand fast and get ready, the sword shall devour all around you.

As I live, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

Its sound is like a serpent's going, for they shall go in force and come against her with axes like woodcutters.

So says Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all its fullness; the city and those who dwell in it. And the men shall cry, and all the people of the land shall howl.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is ravaged! Kiriathaim is shamed and captured. The Fortress is shamed and razed.

Give wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away; for its cities shall be a desert, without an inhabitant in them.

How do you say, We are mighty and strong men for war?

All you who are around him, mourn him. And all you who know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!