Then came all the princes unto 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.

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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment upon him.

There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death.

And more than this, he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and had him put in chains to take him away to Babylon.

And the Chaldaeans put the king's house on fire, as well as the houses of the people, and had the walls of Jerusalem broken down.

Then the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those deserting who had deserted to him, and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, deported [to] Babylon.

And some of the poor people, {who had nothing}, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, left in the land of Judah. And he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given charge concerning Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard, saying,

had Jeremiah brought from the guard’s courtyard and turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he settled among his own people.

Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah when he was confined in the guard’s courtyard:

The thing that happened unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh, after Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had let him go from Ramah, - when he had taken him, he having been bound in fetters in the midst of all the captive-host of Jerusalem, and Judah, who were being carried away captive to Babylon.

So then the, chief of the royal executioners took Jeremiah, - and said unto him, Yahweh thy God had threatened this calamity against this place;

Now the LORD hath sent it, and performed it as he had promised. For ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not been obedient to his voice, therefore cometh this plague upon you.

While he still had not turned back, [Nebuzaradan] added, "Return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed [in an official position] over the towns of Judah, and stay with him in the midst of the people. Or to [wherever it is] right in your eyes to go, [then] go [there]." Then [the] captain of [the] guard gave him an allowance of provisions and a present, and let him go.

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah.

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,

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.

Johanan and all the officers of the troops that had been hiding in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

Now it came about in the seventh month that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king's seed, having with him ten men, came to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah; and they had a meal 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.

And it came to pass, on the second day, after he had slain Gedaliah, not, a man, knowing it,

that men came in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, - eighty men, with beards shaven and clothes rent who also had cut themselves, with a meal-offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring them into the house of Yahweh.

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.

Now the pit whereinto Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had smitten, was a large pit which King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel, - the same, did Ishmael son of Nethaniah fill with the slain,

Then did Ishmael take captive all the remnant of the people that was in Mizpah, - the daughters of the king, and all the people that were left remaining in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had committed unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, - yea Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive, and departed to pass over unto the sons of Ammon.

But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him heard of all the wickedness which Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,

When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad.

So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive out of Mizpah, compassed about, and returned and went their way unto Johanan son of Kareah.

Then did Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him take all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah out of Mizpah, after he had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, - mighty men, men of war, and women and children and eunuchs, whom he had recovered out of Gibeon;

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 it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him unto them, - even all these words,

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:

both the men and the women and the children, and the daughters of the king, and every soul that Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had left, with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, - and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch son of Neriah;

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;

Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

But certainly we will do {everything} that went out from our mouths, to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors, our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, [for] then {we had enough to eat}, and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster.

But since we left off to offer and to do sacrifice unto the Queen of heaven, we have had scarceness of all things, and perish with the sword and hunger.

Then spake Jeremiah unto all the people, - against the men and against the women, and against all the people who had been making any answer unto him, saying:

The perfumes which you have been burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers and your kings and your rulers and the people of the land, had the Lord no memory of them, and did he not keep them in mind?

And Jehovah could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations that ye had committed; and your land is become a waste, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as at this day.

The Lord has said, See, I will give up Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of those who are fighting against him and desiring to take his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, his hater, who had designs against his life.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet spake, unto Baruch son of Neriah, - when he had written these words upon a book, from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah saying -

Thus, shalt thou say unto him Thus, saith Yahweh, - Lo! what I had built, I am pulling down, And what I had planted, I am rooting up, - And that is, all the land:

“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise;
He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!’

Also her hired soldiers are in the midst of her like fatted calves; for they also are turned back, and have fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity had come upon them, and the time of their punishment.

“Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord [by denying Reuben’s occupation of the land the Lord had assigned him]. Moab also will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock.

We have had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride; and his great opinion of himself, and that his heart is lifted up.

O how fearful is she? O how mourneth she? O how doth Moab hang down her head, and is ashamed? Thus shall Moab be a laughingstock, and had in derision of all them, that be round about her.

Behold therefore, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that I will bring a noise of war into Rabbah of the Ammonites. And it shall be laid on a desolate heap, and her cities burnt up: and the Israelites shall be lords over those that had them in possession afore, sayeth the LORD.

If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough?

I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours.

For, thus saith Yahweh - Lo! they who had not been adjudged to drink the cup, shall surely drink, And art thou, the one to go unpunished? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but shalt surely drink.

Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.

The king of Babylon has had news of them, and his hands have become feeble: trouble has come on him and pain like the pain of a woman in childbirth.

Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord's hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.

Against the walls of Babylon, Lift ye up a standard, Strengthen ye the watch, Station the watchmen, Make ready the ambuscades, - For Yahweh hath both planned and also performed that which he had spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon.

Every son of earth had become too brutish to know, - Every goldsmith, hath been put to shame, by a graven image, - For a falsehood, is his molten image Seeing there is no breath in them:

Then did the land tremble and was in pain, - For the plans of Yahweh, had been established against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon an astonishment, without inhabitant.

As Babylon had the dead of Israel put to the sword, so in Babylon the dead of all the land will be stretched out.

Even if Babylon was lifted up to heaven, even if she had the high places of her strength shut in with walls, still I would send against her those who will make her waste, says the Lord.

And he did that which was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, - according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

For it was, because the anger of Yahweh, had come against Jerusalem and Judah until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

In the fourth month on the ninth of the month, when the famine had become severe in the city, - and there had come to be no bread for the people of the land,

They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king's garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.

The king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.

He had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire:

And seine of the poor of the people and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and the disheartened who had fallen away unto the king of Babylon and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners carry away captive.

As for the two pillars the one sea, and the twelve oxen of bronze which were under the stands which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, without weight was the bronze of all these things.

One pillar was 27 feet tall, had a circumference of 18 feet, was hollow—four fingers thick—

And a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like unto these, and pomegranates.

Each capital had 96 pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the latticework numbered 100.

He took also out of the city a eunuch, who had charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were the king's counsel, who were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year after he became king, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.

So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life.

And he had a continual living given him of the king of Babylon; every day a certain thing allowed him all the days of his life, until he died.

Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.

{Khet} Jerusalem sinned ever more and more, therefore is she come in decay. All they that had her in honour, despise her: for they have seen her filthiness. Yea she sigheth and is ashamed of herself.

Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembers not her latter end; therefore she came down awesomely: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy has magnified himself.

י YodThe adversary has seized
all her precious belongings.
She has even seen the nations
enter her sanctuary—
those You had forbidden
to enter Your assembly.

Righteous is Yahweh, for, against his bidding, had I rebelled, - Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and see my pain, My virgins and my young men, have gone into exile.

(Qof) I called for my lovers, but they had deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city. Truly they had searched for food to keep themselves alive.

{Zayin} The LORD hath forsaken his own altar, and is wroth with his own sanctuary, and hath given the walls of their towers into the hands of the enemy. Their enemies made a noise in the house of the LORD, as it had been in a solemn feast day.

{Khet} The LORD thought to break down the walls of the daughter Zion; he spread out his line, and drew not in his hand, till he had destroyed them. Therefore mourn the turrets and the broken walls together.

Her doors have gone down into the earth; he has sent destruction on her locks: her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; even her prophets have had no vision from the Lord.

{Lamed} Even when they spake to their mothers, "Where is meat and drink?" For while they so said, they fell down in the streets of the city, like as they had been wounded, and some died in their mothers' bosom.

Thy prophets, have had visions for thee, false and foolish, and have not unveiled thine iniquity, to turn back thy captivity, - Yea they have had visions for thee, oracles of falsehood, and enticements!

The LORD has done that which he had purposed; he has fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he has thrown down, and has not pitied: and he has caused your enemy to rejoice over you, he has set up the might of your adversaries.

{Tav} My neighbours that are round about me hast thou called, as it were to a feast day: so that in the day of the LORD's wrath none escaped, neither was any left behind. Those that I had brought up and nourished, hath mine enemy destroyed.

Who was it that spake, and it was done, when , My Lord, had not commanded?

We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.

They silenced me in the pit
And placed a stone over me.

And the punishment of the daughter of my people hath grown greater than the punishment of Sodom, - which was overthrown as in a moment, when no hands had been laid violently upon her.

They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with blood
So that no one could touch their garments.

The face of the Lord has sent them in all directions; he will no longer take care of them: they had no respect for the priests, they gave no honour to the old men.

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!

The fragrance of our nostrils, The Anointed of Yahweh, hath been captured in their pits, - of whom we had said - In his shade, shall we live among the nations.

We have to pay for our drinking water;
Our wood comes to us at a price.

Our skin is as it had been burnt in an oven, for very sore hunger.