If ye will indeed abide, in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull you down, and plant you and not uproot you , - for I have compassion as touching the calamity which I have caused you.

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.

But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so as not to hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God,

then {therefore} hear the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "{If you are determined} to go [to] Egypt, and you go to dwell as aliens there,

So all the people who {are determined} to go [to] Egypt to dwell as aliens there will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, and there will not be for them an escapee or a survivor from the disaster that I [am] bringing upon them."

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

You have led your own selves astray because you are the ones who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’

Now then, certainly you must know that by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague you will die in the place where you desire to go, to dwell as aliens there."

But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words—

Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the insolent men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, "You [are] telling a lie! Yahweh our God did not send you, {saying}, 'You must not go [to] Egypt to dwell as aliens there.'

But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations [to] which they had been scattered to dwell as aliens in the land of Judah--

and they came into the land of Egypt: for they hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah. And they came as far as Tahpanhes.

And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.

And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.

because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers.

but they hearkened not neither inclined their ear, by turning from their wickedness, - so as not to burn incense to other gods.

Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.

'And, now, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Why are ye doing great evil unto your own souls, to cut off to you man and woman, infant and suckling, from the midst of Judah, so as not to leave to you a remnant:

by provoking Me to anger by the works of your hands, by making perfume to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are going in to sojourn, so as to cut yourselves off, and so as to your being for a reviling and for a reproach among all nations of the earth?

And I will take the remnant of Judah who have decided to go into the land of Egypt to live there [instead of surrendering to the Chaldeans as directed], and they will all fall and die in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or perish by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword or by famine; and they will become detestable, an object of horror, a curse, and a disgrace.

For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt. They answered,

As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.

But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

And, though we are burning incense to the queen of the heavens and pouring out to her drink-offerings, is it, without our men that we have made to her sacrificial cakes as images of her and poured out to her, drink-offerings?

“As for the incense you burned in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the Lord not remember them? He brought this to mind.

So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto 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!’

Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Jehovah liveth.

And [the] survivors of [the] sword will return from the land of Egypt [to] the land of Judah {few in number}. And all the remnant of Judah who have come to the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there will know whose word will endure, from me or from them.

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

Insomuch as thou thoughtest thus, when thou wast writing, 'Woe is me, the LORD hath given me pain for my travail: I have wearied myself with sighing, and shall I find no rest?'

And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh,’ says the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you [as your only reward and] as a prize of war wherever you go.’”

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

These words following preached he to the Egyptians concerning the Host of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, when he was in Carchemish beside the water of Euphrates: what time as Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon slew him; In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?

It is Egypt that riseth up as the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! For the Lord God who rules over all will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

The word which Yahweh spake unto Jeremiah the prophet, - as to the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: -

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

Pack [your] baggage for exile, O inhabitants of the daughter of Egypt, for Memphis will become as a horror, and it will be destroyed, {without} inhabitant.

Even her hired ones in her midst are as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection.

The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].

And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

"But [as for] you, my servant Jacob, you must not be afraid, and Israel, you must not be dismayed, for look, I [am] going to save you from far, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return, and he will be quiet, and he will be at ease, and without [one who] makes [him] afraid.

"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."

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah the prophet, Against the Philistines, - before Pharaoh smote Gaza:

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, waters [are] rising from [the] north, and they will become as a raging torrent, and they will overflow [the] land, and that which fills it, [the] city and those who live in it. And the people will cry out, and every inhabitant of the land will wail,

“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;
Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.
O remnant of their valley,
How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?

The praise of Moab has come to an end; as for Heshbon, evil has been designed against her; come, let us put an end to her as a nation. But your mouth will be shut, O Madmen; the sword will go after you.

“Moab is destroyed;
Her little ones have called out a cry of distress [to be heard as far as Zoar].

Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction.

Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness.

For because you have put your faith in your strong places, you, even you, will be taken: and Chemosh will go out as a prisoner, his priests and his rulers together.

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

Give salt for Moab, for certainly she will go to ruin, and her towns will become as a desolation, {without} an inhabitant in them.

From his earliest days, Moab has been living in comfort; like wine long stored he has not been drained from vessel to vessel, he has never gone away as a prisoner: so his taste is still in him, his smell is unchanged.

And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?

"Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock.

For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest the head.

Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth.

As for Moab's pride, we have heard of it, she is very high-minded. I know her stoutness, her boasting, her arrogance, and the pride of her stomach, sayeth the LORD.

I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as they say.

More than the weeping for Jazer, I'll weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches spread out to the sea, and reached as far as the Sea of Jazer. On your summer fruit and grapes the destroyer will fall.

From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish.

On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it -- is lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah.

"How it is filled with terror! [How] they wail! How Moab has turned [his] back! He is disgraced! So Moab has become as a derision, and as a terror for all his surrounding [peoples]."

For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Moab will be destroyed as a people
because he has exalted himself against the Lord.

Sorrow is yours, O Moab! the people of Chemosh are overcome: for your sons have been taken away as prisoners, and your daughters made servants.

As concerning the Ammonites, thus the LORD sayeth, "Hath Israel no children, or is he without a heir? Why hath your king then taken Gad in? Wherefore doth his people dwell in his cities?

{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will sound against Rabbah, the {Ammonites}, [the] alarm of [the] war, and it will become as a mound of desolation, and its daughters will burn in the fire. Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors," says Yahweh.

If the grape gathers come upon thee, should they not leave some grapes? If the night robbers came upon thee, should they not take so much as they thought were enough?

For I have sworn by myself," {declares} Yahweh, "that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be {everlasting sites of ruins}."

Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

"And Edom will become as a horror, {everyone who passes by it} will be appalled, and will hiss because of all its blows.

As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who is this shepherd who standeth before Me?

Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

"As for Kedar and the kingdom of Hazor, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon smote down, the LORD hath spoken thus upon them: Arise, and get you up unto to Kedar, and destroy the people toward the east.

“Their camels will become plunder,
And their herds of cattle a spoil;
And I will scatter to all the [four] winds those who cut the corners of their hair [as evidence of their idolatry],
And I will bring their disaster from every side,” says the Lord.

"And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals, a waste forever; no one will live there, and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it."

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah the prophet, Against Elam, - in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah saying: -

For a nation will come up against her from [the] north. It will make her land as a horror, and an inhabitant will not be in her. From humans to animals they [all] will wander [off]. They will go [away].

In those days, and at that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping as they go, and shall seek Jehovah their God.

They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

“All who came upon them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,
Inasmuch as they have sinned against the Lord who is the habitation of righteousness,
Even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

And Chaldea will be as booty, all [those who] plunder her will be satisfied," {declares} Yahweh.

Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about All ye who tread the bow, Shoot at her, do not spare so much as an arrow, - For against Yahweh, hath she sinned.

Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.