Jerusalem will be for me a name of joy, praise, and glory to all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good that I'm doing for them. They'll fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I'm bringing to Jerusalem.'

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In this place that is now a ruin without people or animals, and in all its towns there will again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.

""Look, the time is coming,' declares the LORD, "when I'll fulfill the good promise that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and Judah.

In those days and at that time I'll cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he will uphold justice and righteousness in the land.

At that time Judah will be delivered and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name people will call it, "The LORD is Our Righteousness."'

"This is what the LORD says: "If you could break my covenant with the day and night so that day and night wouldn't occur at the proper time,

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.

"Haven't you noticed what these people have been saying? "The LORD rejected the two families that he had chosen!' They have contempt for my people and no longer consider them a nation.

This is what the LORD says: "If I had not established my covenant for day and night and the laws that govern the heavens and earth,

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD while king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his authority, along with all the people were fighting against Jerusalem and all its towns:

while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, namely Lachish and Azekah. (They were the only fortified cities that remained among the cities of Judah.)

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.

Each person was to set free his male and female slaves who were Hebrews, so that no Jewish person would enslave his brother.

All the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that each would set his male and female slaves free so that they would not enslave them any longer. They obeyed and they released them.

But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves that they had set free, and they forced them to become male and female slaves.

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.

I'll give over the men who transgressed my covenant, who haven't fulfilled the terms of the covenant that they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts

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:

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.

I've sent you all my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again. I've said, "Each of you turn from his evil behavior and make your deeds right. Don't follow other gods to serve them. Then you will remain in the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.' But you haven't paid attention and you haven't obeyed me.

Indeed the descendants of Rechab's son Jonadab have carried out the command of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people has not 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,'

"Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I've spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations, since I first spoke to you in the time of Josiah until the present time.

Perhaps the house of Judah will hear about all the calamity that I'm planning to bring on them, and so each of them will turn from his wicked way and I'll forgive their iniquities and sins."

Jeremiah summoned Neriah's son Baruch and at Jeremiah's dictation, Baruch wrote on the scroll all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him.

You go and read the words of the LORD that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them to the people at the LORD's Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns.

Perhaps their pleas for help will come to the LORD's attention, and each of them will turn from his evil lifestyle in light of the great anger and wrath that the LORD has declared against this people."

Micaiah told them all the things that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to the people.

Then all the officials sent Nethaniah's son Jehudi, (who was also the grandson of Shelemiah and Cushi's great-grandson), to Baruch, who said, "Take the scroll that you read to the people and come." Neriah's son Baruch took the scroll with him and went to them.

This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation:

"Go back, take another scroll and write on it all the original words which were on the scroll that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, burned.

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?'"

Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Neriah's son Baruch the scribe. He wrote on it, at Jeremiah's dictation, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. He also added to them many similar words.

But neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that were spoken by Jeremiah the prophet.

"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,

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.'"'"

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?

Mattan's son Shephatiah, Pashhur's son Gedaliah, Shelemiah's son Jucal, and Malchijah's son Pashhur heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:

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."

So they threw Jeremiah into a cistern that belonged to the king's son Malchijah and was located in the courtyard of the guard. When they let Jeremiah down with ropes, because there was no water in the cistern only mud Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,

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,'

then you are to say to them, "I was presenting my request to the king that I not be taken back to the house of Jonathan to die there.'"

Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who did not have anything, and he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

"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.

But I'll deliver you on that day," declares the LORD. "You won't be given into the hands of the men you fear.

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.

Now, look, I've freed you today from the chains that were on your hands. If you want to come with me to Babylon, come, and I'll look after you. But if you don't want to come with me to Babylon, don't. Look, the whole land lies before you, so go wherever it seems good and right for you to go."

All the leaders of the forces who were in the field along with their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah over the men, women, children, and the poor of the land who had not been taken into exile in Babylon.

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."

All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them.

They told him, "Are you aware that Baalis, the king of the people of Ammon, has sent Nethaniah's son Ishmael to take your life?" But Ahikam's son Gedaliah did not believe them.

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.

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.

Kareah's son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him heard about all the terrible things that Nethaniah's son Ishmael had done.

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.

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

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.

the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die.

All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I'll bring on them."

The LORD has told you, remnant of Judah, "Don't go to Egypt!' So be fully aware that I've warned you, today,

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.'

I've told you today, but you haven't obeyed the LORD your God in all that he sent me to tell you.

Now, be fully aware that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague in the place where you want to settle."

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

Kareah's son Johanan and all the military leaders took the entire remnant of Judah that had returned from all the nations where they had been scattered to settle in the land of Judah

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,

because of the wickedness that they did, provoking me to anger by continuing to offer sacrifices and worship other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors had known.

Yet I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, "Don't do this repulsive thing that I hate."

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.'

And why have you provoked me to anger by the works of your hands, by offering sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to settle so that you cut yourselves off and become an object of ridicule and scorn among all the nations of the earth?

Have you forgotten the evil deeds of your ancestors, the evil deeds of the kings of Judah, the evil deeds of their wives, your evil deeds, and the evil deeds of your wives, that they did in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?

To this day they haven't humbled themselves, they haven't shown reverence for the LORD, and they haven't lived according to my Law and my statutes that I set before them and before their ancestors.'

I'll take the remnant of Judah that determined to go to the land of Egypt to settle there, and all of them will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They'll fall by the sword, and they'll come to an end by famine. They'll become a curse, an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn.

Of the remnant of Judah that came into the land of Egypt to settle there, no one will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return and live. Indeed, they won't return, except for some refugees.'"

Then all the men who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods and all the women who were standing by a large group, including all the people who were living in the land of Egypt in Pathros answered Jeremiah:

"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.

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!'

This will be a sign to you,' declares the LORD, "that I'll punish you in this place so that you may know that my words concerning disaster against you will surely stand.'

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

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.

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.

Her cry will be like that of a fleeing serpent when they come in strength. They're coming to her with axes like woodcutters.

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.

How can it be quiet, when the LORD has ordered disaster to come to Ashkelon and the seashore? That's where he has assigned it."

Moab will be put to shame, for it will be destroyed. Wail and cry out. Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

Wasn't Israel an object of mocking for you? Wasn't he treated like a thief, so that whenever you spoke about him you shook your head in contempt?

Abandon the cities, and live on the cliffs, you inhabitants of Moab. Be like a dove that builds a nest by the mouth of a cave.

I know his gall," declares the LORD, "and it's futile; the boasting that they do is futile.

On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets there will be nothing but mourning, for I'll break Moab like a vessel that no one wants," declares the LORD.