And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.

"Send to all the exiles, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,"

For lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, when I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, Saith Yahweh, - and will bring them back into the land which I gave to their fathers that they might possess it.

For the Lord has said, Your disease may not be made well and your wound is bitter.

And gone forth from them hath thanksgiving, And the voice of playful ones, And I have multiplied them and they are not few, And made them honourable, and they are not small.

From far away he saw the Lord: my love for you is an eternal love: so with mercy I have made you come with me.

Again thou dost plant vineyards In mountains of Samaria, Planters have planted, and made common.

For the Lord has given a price for Jacob, and made him free from the hands of him who was stronger than he.

Then shall the maid rejoice in the dance, yea both young and old folks. For I will turn their sorrow into gladness, and will comfort them and make them joyful, even from their hearts.

Truly, after I had been turned, I had regret for my ways; and after I had got knowledge, I made signs of sorrow: I was put to shame, truly, I was covered with shame, because I had to undergo the shame of my early years.

How long will you go on turning this way and that, O wandering daughter? for the Lord has made a new thing on the earth, a woman changed into a man.

Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant,

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 brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

The Lord has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all.

Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye.

Now after I had given the paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I made my prayer to the Lord, saying,

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

And they came in and took it for their heritage, but they did not give ear to your voice, and were not ruled by your law; they have done nothing of all you gave them orders to do: so you have made all this evil come on them:

See, they have made earthworks against the town to take it; and the town is given into the hands of the Chaldaeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword and need of food and disease: and what you have said has taken place, and truly you see it.

And come in have the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it, and the houses on whose roofs they made perfume to Baal, and poured out libations to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger.

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my eyes from their earliest years: the children of Israel have only made me angry with the work of their hands, says the Lord.

This will happen because the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now. They have made me so angry that I am determined to remove it from my sight.

I am determined to do so because the people of Israel and Judah have made me angry with all their wickedness -- they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and especially the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have done this wickedness.

and I have made for them a covenant age-during, in that I turn not back from after them for My doing them good, and My fear I put in their heart, so as not to turn aside from me;

For the Lord has said: As I have made all this great evil come on this people, so I will send on them all the good which I said about them.

Yea, land shall be bought for money, and evidences made thereupon and sealed before witnesses in the country of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem: in the cities of Judah; in the cities that are upon the mountains; and in them that lie beneath; yea, and in the cities that are in the desert. For I will bring their prisoners hither again, sayeth the LORD.'"

“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is His name,

‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word and promise which I have made regarding the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

"I, Lord, make the following promise: 'I have made a covenant with the day and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people could break that covenant

then my covenant with my servant David might also be broken so that he wouldn't have a son sitting on his throne, and so also with my servants the Levitical priests.

The Lord has said, If I have not made day and night, and if the limits of heaven and earth have not been fixed by me,

then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David—not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”

As for you, you will not escape from his hand but are certain to be captured and handed over to him. You will meet the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak face to face; you will go to Babylon.

You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for [the memory and honor of] your fathers, the former kings who reigned before you, so shall a [ceremonial] burning be made for you; and people will lament (grieve) for you, saying, “Alas, lord (master)!”’ For I have spoken the word,” says the Lord.

This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, that is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, to wit , of a Jew his brother.

And all the princes and all the people obeyed, that had entered into the covenant, that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondmen of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:

and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants.

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

And -- ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure,) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants.

And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

It may be that their prayer for grace will go up to the Lord, and that every man will be turned from his evil ways: for great is the wrath and the passion made clear by the Lord against this people.

Then read Baruch the words of Jeremiah out of the book within the house of the LORD, out of the treasury of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the Scribe, which is beside the higher loft of the new door of the LORD's house: that all the people might hear.

And they said unto him, "Sit down, and read the book that we may hear also." So Baruch read, that they might hear.

And they went in to the king to the court. but they kept the book in the chamber of Elishama the Scribe, and told the king all the words that he might hear.

So the king sent Jehudi to fetch him the book, which he brought out of Elishama the Scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it, that the king and all the princes, which were about him might hear.

Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.

And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

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, That is not true; I am not going to the Chaldaeans. But he would not give ear to him: so Irijah made him prisoner and took him to the rulers.

Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.

So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to [the] third entrance that [was] at the {temple} of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] asking you {something}, you must not hide {anything} from me."

So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me."

But if you do not go out, this is what the Lord has made clear to me:

Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah [are] being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, [they are] saying, '{Your trusted friends} have misled you, and they have prevailed against you. Your feet are stuck in the mud, [so] they turned backward.'

Then you are to say to them, I made my request to the king, that he would not send me back to my death in Jonathan's house.

Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah, questioning him: and he gave them an answer in the words the king had given him orders to say. So they said nothing more to him; for the thing was not made public.

in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city,)

But the Chaldaean army went after them and overtook Zedekiah in the lowlands of Jericho: and they made him a prisoner and took him up to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, to be judged by him.

And made Zedekiah's eyes to be put out, and bound him with chains, and sent him to Babylon.

*** and the Lord has made it come, and has done as he said; because of your sin against the Lord in not giving ear to his voice; and that is why this thing has come on you.

Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

Now when all the captains of the forces which 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 unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;

Yea all the Jews also that dwelt in Moab, under the Ammonites, in Idumaea and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan governor upon them that were left in Judah:

Then said Johanan the son of Kareah unto Gedaliah in Mizphah these words, secretly, "Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, so that nobody shall know it. Wherefore will he kill thee? That all the Jews which resort unto thee, might be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?"

Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

there came certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh and Samaria, to the number of eighty, which had shaven their beards, rent their clothes, and were all heavy, bringing meat offerings, and incense in their hands, to offer it in the house of the LORD.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.

As for the remnant of the people, the king's daughters and all the people that were yet left at Mizphah, upon whom Nebuzaradan the chief Captain had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away prisoners toward the Ammonites.

then they took all the men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they met him at [the] great pool that [is] in Gibeon.

Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, took all the rest of the people whom Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had made prisoners, after he had put to death Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the people from Mizpah, that is, the men of war and the women and the children and the unsexed servants, whom he had taken back with him from Gibeon:

and they departed, and dwelt in the khan of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, - that they might go to enter Egypt;

Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

that {you have made a fatal mistake}, for you sent me to Yahweh your God, {saying}, 'Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and all that Yahweh our God says, so tell us and we will do [it].'

And this day I have made it clear to you, and you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.

And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.

And he will come and overcome the land of Egypt; those who are for death will be put to death, those who are to be prisoners will be made prisoners, and those who are for the sword will be given to the sword.

This happened because of the wickedness the people living there did. They made me angry by worshiping and offering sacrifice to other gods whom neither they nor you nor your ancestors previously knew.

But they gave no attention, and their ears were not open so that they might be turned from their evil-doing and from burning perfume to other gods.

Wherefore mine indignation and wrath was kindled, and it burnt up the cities of Judah, the fields with the streets of Jerusalem, so that they were made waste and desolate, as it is come to pass this day.

In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

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.

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by, a great convocation, - with all the people who were dwelling in the land of Egypt in Pathros, made answer unto Jeremiah, saying:

But rather we will certainly perform every word of the vows we have made: to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for [then] we had plenty of food and were prosperous and saw no misfortune.

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 when we are making perfume to the queen of the heavens, and pouring out to her libations -- without our husbands have we made for her cakes to idolize her, and to pour out to her libations?'

'The perfume that ye made in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your heads, and the people of the land, hath not Jehovah remembered it? yea, it cometh up on His heart.

Insomuch that the LORD might no longer suffer the wickedness of your inventions, and the abominable things which ye did? Is not your land desolate and void; yea, and abhorred, so that no man dwelleth therein any more, as it is come to pass this day?

Because that ye have made perfume, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and in His law, and in His statutes, and in His testimonies ye have not walked, therefore hath this evil met you as at this day.'

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for you and your wives, you women have spoken with your mouths, and you men fulfilled it by your deeds, saying, “We will keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings for her.” Go ahead, confirm your vows! Pay your vows!’

I am watching over them for disaster and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine until they are finished off.

For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.