Yet, hear this message from the LORD, king Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the LORD says to you, "You won't die by the sword.

You will die peacefully, and as they burned fires for your ancestors, the former kings who were before you, so they'll burn fires for you, wailing, "Oh how terrible, your majesty!"' For I've spoken the message," declares the LORD.

This is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem proclaiming release for them.

"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "I made a covenant with your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I told them:

"At the end of seven years, each of you is to set free your fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you and has served you for six years. You are to send him out from you with no further obligation." But your ancestors didn't obey me or pay attention.

You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming release for one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name.

"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "You haven't obeyed me by each of you proclaiming a release for your brothers and neighbors. Now I'm going to proclaim a release for you,' declares the LORD, "a release to the sword, to plague, and to famine, and I'll make you a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth.

I'll give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officials into the domination of their enemies, to those who are seeking to kill them, and to the army of the king of Babylon that is coming against them.

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah:

But they said, "We won't drink wine, because our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab commanded us: "You and your descendants are never to drink wine!

We have obeyed everything that our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab, commanded us. So we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters have drunk no wine all our lives,

We have lived in tents. We have obeyed and have done everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: "Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not accept correction by listening to what I say?" declares the LORD.

"But what Rechab's son Jonadab commanded his sons about not drinking wine is observed, and they haven't drunk wine until this day. Indeed, they obey the commands of their ancestor. But I've spoken to you again and again, and you haven't obeyed me.

Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: "Look, I'm bringing on Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster that I pronounced against them, because I spoke to them, but they didn't listen, and I called out to them, but they didn't answer."'"

Then Jeremiah told the house of the Rechabites, "This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: "Because you obeyed the commandment of your ancestor Jonadab, have observed all his commandments, and have done everything that he commanded you,'

therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: "Rechab's son Jonadab won't lack a descendant who serves me always.'"

So Neriah's son Baruch did just as Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, reading the words of the LORD from the scroll at the LORD's Temple.

In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the LORD's presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah.

They told him, "Please sit down and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them.

Then they asked Baruch, "Please tell us how you wrote all the words. Did Jeremiah dictate them all?"

As Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut it with a scribe's knife and throw it into the fire which was in the stove, until all the scroll was burned in the fire in the stove.

Concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, "This is what the LORD says: "You burned this scroll, all the while saying, "Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon will definitely come, destroy this land, and eliminate both people and animals from it?'"

Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be thrown out to rot during the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

King Zedekiah sent Shelemiah's son Jehucal and Maaseiah's son Zephaniah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, asking him, "Please pray to the LORD our God for us."

"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "This is what you are to say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, "Look, Pharaoh's army that has come to help will go back to its own land of Egypt,

"This is what the LORD says: "Don't deceive yourselves by saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," "for they won't go.

Indeed, even if you defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and they had only wounded men left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city with fire.'"'"

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house: "Is there a message from the LORD?"

Jeremiah said, "There is," and then he said, "You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon." Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What offense have I committed against you, your officials, or these people that you have put me in prison?

"This is what the LORD says: "Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague, but the one who goes over to the Chaldeans will live. His life will be spared, and he will live.'

This is what the LORD says: "This city will surely be given to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'"

Then the officials told the king, "Let this man be put to death because he's undermining the efforts of the soldiers who remain in this city and that of all the people by speaking words like these to them. Indeed, this man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm."

"Your majesty, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern. He will die where he is because of the famine since there is no more bread in the city."

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian told Jeremiah, "Put the worn out rags and clothes under your armpits under the ropes," and Jeremiah did as he said.

Then King Zedekiah, in secret, swore an oath to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us this life to live, I won't have you put to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking to kill you."

So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "If you will immediately surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city won't be burned with fire. Both you and your family will live.

But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me:

If the officials hear that I've spoken with you, and they come to you and say, "Tell us what you told the king, and what the king told you; don't hide it from us, and we won't put you to death,'

When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he replied to them exactly as the king had ordered him. So they stopped speaking with him because the conversation had not been overheard.

This is how Jerusalem was captured: In the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.

"Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I'm going to fulfill my promise against this city for disaster rather than for good, and on that day it will happen before your eyes.

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him from Ramah, when he was bound in chains, along with all the exiles from Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken into exile in Babylon.

And now the LORD has brought it about and has done just as he said. Because you people sinned against the LORD and didn't obey him, this has happened to you.

As for me, I'll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over."

Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him (that is, with Gedaliah) at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.

Now on the day after Gedaliah was killed, when as yet no one knew about it,

Nethaniah's son Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. As he met them he told them, "Come meet with Ahikam's son Gedaliah."

Ten men who were among them told Ishmael, "Don't kill us, because we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field." So Ishmael stopped and did not kill them or their companions.

Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he killed on account of Gedaliah into the cistern that King Asa had made for protection against King Baasha of Israel. That is the same one Nethaniah's son Ishmael filled with those he killed.

So they took all the men and went to fight Nethaniah's son Ishmael, and they found him at the large pool that is at Gibeon.

They told Jeremiah the prophet, "Please listen to what we have to ask of you. Pray to the LORD your God for us and for all these survivors. Indeed, only a few of us remain out of many, as you can see.

Pray that the LORD your God may inform us as to how we should live and what we should do."

Jeremiah the prophet told them, "I've heard, and I'm going to pray to the LORD your God just as you have requested. Whatever the LORD answers, I'll tell you. I won't withhold anything from you."

Then they told Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't do everything that the LORD your God tells us through you.

Whether it seems good or bad, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we send you, so it may go well for us. Indeed, we will obey the LORD our God."

He told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says, to whom you sent me to take your request:

Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been. Don't fear him,' declares the LORD, "because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control.

then hear this message from the LORD, remnant of Judah: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "If you are really determined to go into Egypt, and you go there to settle,

For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.'

that you have deceived yourselves. Indeed, you yourselves sent me to the LORD your God, saying, "Pray to the LORD your God for us, and whatever the LORD our God tells us we will do.'

When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words that the LORD their God had sent him to tell them that is, all these words

Indeed, Neriah's son Baruch is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, or to take us into exile to Babylon."

So they went into the land of Egypt, because they did not obey the LORD, and they travelled as far as Tahpanhes.

Then say to them, "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "I'm going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I'll take him and set his throne over these stones that I've buried, and he will spread his canopy over them.

This is the message that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "You have seen the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. Look, they're in ruins today, with no one living in them,

My wrath and my anger were poured out, and they burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so that they have become a ruin and a desolate place, as is the case today.'

"Now, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Why are you doing great harm to yourselves so as to cut off from Judah man and woman, child and infant from you, leaving yourselves without a remnant?

"Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I've determined to bring disaster on you and to cut off all Judah.

I'll punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem with the sword, with famine, and with plague.

"As for the message that you reported to us in the name of the LORD, we won't listen to you!

Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn't experience disaster.

"As for the sacrifices that you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land offered in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the LORD remembered them, did he not? And they came to his attention, did they not?

The LORD could no longer bear it because of your evil deeds and the repulsive things that you did. So your land has become a ruin and an object of horror and ridicule without an inhabitant, as is the case today.

Because you offered sacrifices and sinned against the LORD, you didn't obey the LORD and didn't live according to his Law, his statutes, or his testimonies; therefore, this disaster has happened to you, as is the case today."

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and acted with your hands: "We will certainly carry through on the vows that we vowed to offer sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pour out liquid offerings to her!" Go ahead, carry through on your vows, and diligently do what you vowed!'

But listen to this message from the LORD, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. "Look, I've sworn by my great name', says the LORD, "my name will no longer be invoked by the mouth of any person in the entire land of Egypt, as he says, "As surely as the Lord GOD lives""

The ones who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have come into the land of Egypt to settle will know whose message will stand, mine or theirs.

This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and into the hands of those seeking his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking his life."

This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Neriah's son Baruch, when in the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son King Jehoiakim of Judah had, at Jeremiah's dictation, written these words in a scroll:

"This is what the LORD God of Israel says to you, Baruch:

Say this to him: "This is what the LORD says: "Look! What I've built I'm about to tear down, and what I've planted I'm about to pull up and this will involve the entire land."

This is the message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

Why am I seeing this? They're terrified, they have turned back. Their warriors are crushed, and they take flight. They don't look back. Terror is on every side," declares the LORD.

Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge?

Egypt is rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, "I'll rise and cover the land. I'll destroy the city and its inhabitants.'

That day belongs to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied, and will drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the Euphrates river.

Go up to Gilead and get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies, but there is no healing for you.

This is the message that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer the land of Egypt.

There they'll cry out, "Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just a big noise. He has let the appointed time pass by.'

As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the King, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "Indeed, one will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

Egypt is a beautiful calf, but a horsefly from the north is surely coming.

Even the mercenary troops in her ranks are like a fattened calf. They too will turn around, and will flee together. They won't stand, for the day of their disaster is coming on them, the time of their punishment.

I'll give them to those who are seeking their lives and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. Then afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past," declares the LORD.

"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.

"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed," declares the LORD, "for I am with you. Indeed, I'll make an end of all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you! I'll discipline you justly, but I'll certainly not leave you unpunished."

This is the message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.

This is what the LORD says: "Look, waters are rising from the north, and they'll become an overflowing river. They'll overflow the land and all that fills it the city and those that live in it. People will cry out, and all those living in the land will wail.

for the day is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains. For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastlands of Caphtor.