It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;

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

It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

But I will deliver you in that day, says the LORD; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life will be given to you as a reward; because you have put your trust in me,"' says the LORD."

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, "The LORD your God pronounced this evil on this place;

Now, behold, I release you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, do not: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go."

Now while he had not yet gone back, "Go back then," he said, "to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go." So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.

Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

Now when all the captains of the forces who 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 to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;

As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken."

Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;

then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

and said to him, "Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

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 it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?"

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

Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.

But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped, and did not kill them among their brothers.

Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.

Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

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

then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.

Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:

because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.

and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us:

that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do."

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you."

Then they said to Jeremiah, "The LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not do according to all the word with which the LORD your God shall send you to us.

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

Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him:

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him, says the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

I will grant you mercy, 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'; so that you do not obey the voice of the LORD 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 of bread; and there will we dwell':

now therefore hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;

then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

So shall it be with 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 pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.'

For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it':

and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.

Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live there."

then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, "You speak falsely. The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You shall not go into Egypt to live there';

But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah;

"Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.

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

"Thus says the LORD 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, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,

because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods, that they did not know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.

But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.

Therefore my wrath and my 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 it is this day.'

Therefore now thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the midst of Judah, to leave yourselves none remaining;

in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.'

so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape.'"

But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our 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 leaders, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?"

"The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land. Did not the LORD remember them, and did not it come into his mind,

so that the LORD could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed? Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 'You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, "We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her": establish then your vows, and perform your vows.'

Behold, I watch over them for disaster, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone.

Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for, behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh, says the LORD; but your life will I give to you for a reward in all places where you go."'"

Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.

Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled in haste, and do not look back: terror is on every side," says the LORD.

The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together."

Why are your strong ones swept away? They did not stand, because the LORD pushed them.

He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, 'Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.'

Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they did not stand: for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation.

They shall cut down her forest, says the LORD, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.

'But do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Do not be afraid, O Jacob my servant,' says the LORD; 'for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.'"

You sword of the LORD, "how long will it be before you be quiet? Put up yourself into your scabbard; rest, and be still."

"Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness."

For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his officials together.

How can you say, "We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?"

Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter,' says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, "How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod."

You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.

and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

For wasn't Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head.

With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.

For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth.

On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights,' says the LORD.

How it is broken down. How they wail. How Moab has turned the back with shame. So shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.'

Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, inhabitant of Moab, says the LORD.

He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,' says the LORD.

Woe to you, O Moab. The people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.

Therefore behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the LORD.

Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"

Behold, I will bring a fear on you,' says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.'