^32:1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ^32:2Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house. ^32:3For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; ^32:4and Zedekiah king of Judah won’t escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes; ^32:5and he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” says Yahweh: “though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will not prosper?”’” ^32:6Jeremiah said, “Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ^32:7‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’” ^32:8“So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to Yahweh’s word, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.’ “Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s word. ^32:9I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. ^32:10I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him. ^32:11So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open; ^32:12and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard. ^32:13“I commanded Baruch before them, saying, ^32:14Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.’ ^32:15For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.’ ^32:16Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying, ^32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you, ^32:18who show loving kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, Yahweh of Armies is his name; ^32:19great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; ^32:20who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today; ^32:21and brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, with wonders, with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with great terror; ^32:22and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^32:23They came in and possessed it, but they didn’t obey your voice and didn’t walk in your law. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them. ^32:24“Behold, siege ramps have come to the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, of the famine, and of the pestilence. What you have spoken has happened. Behold, you see it. ^32:25You have said to me, Lord Yahweh, ‘Buy the field for money, and call witnesses;’ whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ^32:26Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, ^32:27“Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? ^32:28Therefore Yahweh says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. ^32:29The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. ^32:30“For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh. ^32:31For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, so that I should remove it from before my face, ^32:32because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger: they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ^32:33They have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. Although I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. ^32:34But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. ^32:35They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I didn’t command them. It didn’t even come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” ^32:36Now therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:” ^32:37“Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely. ^32:38Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. ^32:39I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and the good of their children after them. ^32:40I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. ^32:41Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” ^32:42For Yahweh says: “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them. ^32:43Fields will be bought in this land, about which you say, ‘It is desolate, without man or animal. It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ^32:44Men will buy fields for money, sign the deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed,” says Yahweh.

^33:1Moreover Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still locked up in the court of the guard, saying, ^33:2“Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it—Yahweh is his name, says: ^33:3‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’ ^33:4For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword; ^33:5while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city: ^33:6‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. ^33:7I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. ^33:8I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and by which they have transgressed against me. ^33:9This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide to it.’” ^33:10Yahweh says: “Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’ ^33:11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says Yahweh. ^33:12Yahweh of Armies says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ^33:13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says Yahweh. ^33:14“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. ^33:15“In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ^33:16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.” ^33:17For Yahweh says: “David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. ^33:18The priests the Levites won’t lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.” ^33:19Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, ^33:20“Yahweh says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time; ^33:21then may my covenant also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. ^33:22As the army of the sky can’t be counted, and the sand of the sea can’t be measured; so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’” ^33:23Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, ^33:24“Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.” ^33:25Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; ^33:26then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them.”

^34:1The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying: ^34:2“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Yahweh says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire. ^34:3You won’t escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth. You will go to Babylon.”’ ^34:4“Yet hear Yahweh’s word, O Zedekiah king of Judah: Yahweh says concerning you, ‘You won’t die by the sword. ^34:5You will die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will make a burning for you. They will lament you, saying, “Ah Lord!” for I have spoken the word,’ says Yahweh.” ^34:6Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ^34:7when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. ^34:8The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them; ^34:9that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. ^34:10All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go; ^34:11but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. ^34:12Therefore Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^34:13“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ^34:14At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you; but your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear. ^34:15You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; ^34:16but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’” ^34:17Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. ^34:18I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts: ^34:19the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf; ^34:20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. ^34:21“I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life and into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, who has gone away from you. ^34:22Behold, I will command,” says Yahweh, “and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

^35:1The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ^35:2“Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Yahweh’s house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.” ^35:3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, with his brothers, all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; ^35:4and I brought them into Yahweh’s house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. ^35:5I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!” ^35:6But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever. ^35:7You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, or have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land in which you live as nomads.’ ^35:8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; ^35:9and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed; ^35:10but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ^35:11But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we will dwell at Jerusalem.’” ^35:12Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, ^35:13“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?” says Yahweh. ^35:14“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me. ^35:15I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. ^35:16The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.”’ ^35:17“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’” ^35:18Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;’ ^35:19therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.’”

^36:1In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ^36:2“Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. ^36:3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them; that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” ^36:4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Yahweh’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. ^36:5Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into Yahweh’s house. ^36:6Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, Yahweh’s words, in the ears of the people in Yahweh’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. ^36:7It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will each return from his evil way; for Yahweh has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.” ^36:8Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book Yahweh’s words in Yahweh’s house. ^36:9Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh. ^36:10Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in Yahweh’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house, in the ears of all the people. ^36:11When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all Yahweh’s words, ^36:12he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. ^36:13Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. ^36:14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. ^36:15They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing. ^36:16Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” ^36:17They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?” ^36:18Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.” ^36:19Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.” ^36:20They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king. ^36:21So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. ^36:22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month; and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. ^36:23When Jehudi had read three or four leaves, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. ^36:24The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments. ^36:25Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. ^36:26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them. ^36:27Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, ^36:28“Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ^36:29Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Yahweh says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written therein, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal?’”’ ^36:30Therefore Yahweh says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. ^36:31I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.”’” ^36:32Then took Jeremiah another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

^37:1Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ^37:2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to Yahweh’s words, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. ^37:3Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now to Yahweh our God for us.” ^37:4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. ^37:5Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem. ^37:6Then Yahweh’s word came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^37:7“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. ^37:8The Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city. They will take it and burn it with fire.”’ ^37:9“Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us;” for they will not depart. ^37:10For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes they would each rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’” ^37:11When the army of the Chaldeans had broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ^37:12then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the middle of the people. ^37:13When he was in Benjamin’s gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!” ^37:14Then Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he didn’t listen to him; so Irijah siezed Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. ^37:15The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison. ^37:16When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, ^37:17then Zedekiah the king sent, and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” He also said, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ^37:18Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? ^37:19Now where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land?’ ^37:20Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.” ^37:21Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

^38:1Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, ^38:2“Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and he will escape with his life, and he will live.’ ^38:3Yahweh says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’” ^38:4Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.” ^38:5Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.” ^38:6Then took they Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. ^38:7Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate), ^38:8Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, ^38:9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.” ^38:10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.” ^38:11So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ^38:12Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.” Jeremiah did so. ^38:13So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. ^38:14Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in Yahweh’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.” ^38:15Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” ^38:16So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.” ^38:17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house. ^38:18But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’” ^38:19Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.” ^38:20But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, Yahweh’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live. ^38:21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: ^38:22‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.” ^38:23They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. You won’t escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will cause this city to be burned with fire.’” ^38:24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you won’t die. ^38:25But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also tell us what the king said to you;’ ^38:26then you shall tell them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’” ^38:27Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. ^38:28So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

^39:1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. ^39:2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. ^39:3All the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. ^39:4When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went 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. ^39:5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him. ^39:6Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. ^39:7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. ^39:8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ^39:9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained. ^39:10But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. ^39:11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying, ^39:12“Take him, and take care of him. Do him no harm; but do to him even as he tells you.” ^39:13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, with Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; ^39:14they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home. So he lived among the people. ^39:15Now Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, ^39:16“Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they will be accomplished before you in that day. ^39:17But I will deliver you in that day,” says Yahweh; “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. ^39:18For I will surely save you, and you won’t fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life; because you have put your trust in me,” says Yahweh.’”

^40:1The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after 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. ^40:2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; ^40:3and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. ^40:4Now, behold, I release you today 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, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.” ^40:5Now 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. ^40:6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. ^40:7Now 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, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon; ^40:8then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men came to Gedaliah to Mizpah. ^40:9Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you. ^40:10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will 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.” ^40:11Likewise 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; ^40:12then 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 very much wine and summer fruits. ^40:13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, ^40:14and 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 didn’t believe them. ^40:15Then 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 will 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?” ^40:16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”

^41:1Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah. ^41:2Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, 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. ^41:3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. ^41:4The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, ^41:5men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to Yahweh’s house. ^41:6Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” ^41:7It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. ^41:8But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t 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 didn’t kill them among their brothers. ^41:9Now 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 that 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. ^41:10Then Ishmael carried away captive all the of the people who were left 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. ^41:11But 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, ^41:12then 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. ^41:13Now 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. ^41:14So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ^41:15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. ^41:16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, with the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ^41:17They departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt ^41:18because 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.

^42:1Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near, ^42:2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us; ^42:3that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.” ^42:4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing Yahweh answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.” ^42:5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God sends you to tell us. ^42:6Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.” ^42:7After ten days, Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah. ^42:8Then he called 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, ^42:9and said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says: ^42:10‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. ^42:11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Yahweh: ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ^42:12I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land. ^42:13“‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land;” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice, ^42:14saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:”’ ^42:15now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there; ^42:16then it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there. ^42:17So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’ ^42:18For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ ^42:19“Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today. ^42:20For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ ^42:21I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you. ^42:22Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live there.”

^43:1When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words, ^43:2then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’ ^43:3but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.” ^43:4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice, to dwell in the land of Judah. ^43:5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah; ^43:6the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah; ^43:7and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice: and they came to Tahpanhes. ^43:8Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ^43:9“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; ^43:10and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ^43:11He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword. ^43:12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace. ^43:13He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”

^44:1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying, ^44:2“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, ^44:3because 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 didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ^44:4However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.” ^44:5But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods. ^44:6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’ ^44:7“Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘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 middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining; ^44:8in 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? ^44:9Have 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? ^44:10They 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.’ ^44:11“Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. ^44:12I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. ^44:13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; ^44:14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’” ^44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, ^44:16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. ^44:17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to 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 food, and were well, and saw no evil. ^44:18But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. ^44:19“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?” ^44:20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, ^44:21“The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t Yahweh remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind? ^44:22Thus Yahweh could no longer bear it, 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 today. ^44:23Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.” ^44:24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! ^44:25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘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.’ ^44:26“Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.” ^44:27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. ^44:28Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. ^44:29“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ ^44:30Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.’”

^45:1The 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, ^45:2“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: ^45:3‘You said, “Woe is me now! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain! I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.”’ ^45:4“You shall tell him, Yahweh says: ‘Behold, that which I have built, I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land. ^45:5Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh,’ says Yahweh; ‘but I will let you escape with your life wherever you go.’”

^46:1Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. ^46:2Of 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. ^46:3“Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle! ^46:4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail. ^46:5Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says Yahweh. ^46:6“Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. ^46:7“Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? ^46:8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers. He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’ ^46:9Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow. ^46:10For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satiated, and will drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. ^46:11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you. ^46:12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.” ^46:13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt. ^46:14“Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, ‘Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.’ ^46:15Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them. ^46:16He made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’ ^46:17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’ ^46:18“As I live,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies, “surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come. ^46:19You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis will become a desolation, and will be burned up, without inhabitant. ^46:20“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come. ^46:21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back. They have fled away together. They didn’t stand, for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation. ^46:22It’s sound will go like the serpent; for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters. ^46:23They will cut down her forest,” says Yahweh, “though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. ^46:24The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed; she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.” ^46:25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. ^46:26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh. ^46:27“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid. ^46:28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “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.”

^47:1Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. ^47:2Yahweh says: “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and will become an overflowing stream, and will overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein. The men will cry, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail. ^47:3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back to their children for feebleness of hands; ^47:4because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. ^47:5Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself? ^47:6“‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’ ^47:7“How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.”

^48:1Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down. ^48:2The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you. ^48:3The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! ^48:4Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. ^48:5For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping. For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. ^48:6Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness. ^48:7For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also will be taken. Chemosh will go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ^48:8The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken. ^48:9Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away: and her cities will become a desolation, without anyone to dwell in them. ^48:10“Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. ^48:11“Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. ^48:12Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces. ^48:13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. ^48:14“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?’ ^48:15Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. ^48:16“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. ^48:17All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’ ^48:18“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. ^48:19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’ ^48:20Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ^48:21Judgment has come on the plain country, on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath, ^48:22on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, ^48:23on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon, ^48:24on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. ^48:25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says Yahweh. ^48:26“Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision. ^48:27For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. ^48:28You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock. Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. ^48:29“We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. ^48:30I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing. ^48:31Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. ^48:32With 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. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage. ^48:33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting. ^48:34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate. ^48:35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says Yahweh, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. ^48:36Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished. ^48:37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist. ^48:38On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says Yahweh. ^48:39“How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So will Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.” ^48:40For Yahweh says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle, and will spread out his wings against Moab. ^48:41Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized. The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ^48:42Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. ^48:43Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh. ^48:44“He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh. ^48:45“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. ^48:46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. ^48:47“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

^49:1Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities? ^49:2Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burned with fire: then Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says Yahweh. ^49:3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourself in sackcloth. Lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam will go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ^49:4Why do you boast in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come to me?’ ^49:5Behold, I will bring a terror on you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, “from all who are around you. All of you will be driven completely out, and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives. ^49:6“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says Yahweh. ^49:7Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? ^49:8Flee! Turn back! Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him. ^49:9If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough? ^49:10But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring is destroyed, with his brothers and his neighbors; and he is no more. ^49:11Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. Let your widows trust in me.” ^49:12For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. ^49:13For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.” ^49:14I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together! Come against her! Rise up to the battle!” ^49:15“For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. ^49:16As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh. ^49:17“Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues. ^49:18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. ^49:19“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?” ^49:20Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. ^49:21The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea. ^49:22Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ^49:23Of Damascus: “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t be quiet. ^49:24Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. ^49:25How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy? ^49:26Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says Yahweh of Armies. ^49:27“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.” ^49:28Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Yahweh says: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east. ^49:29They will take their tents and their flocks. they will carry away for themselves their curtains, all their vessels, and their camels; and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’ ^49:30Flee! Wander far off! Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says Yahweh; “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. ^49:31Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care,” says Yahweh; “that has neither gates nor bars, that dwells alone. ^49:32Their camels will be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a plunder. I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,” says Yahweh. ^49:33Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.” ^49:34Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, ^49:35“Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. ^49:36I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds. There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come. ^49:37I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them. ^49:38I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says Yahweh. ^49:39‘But it will happen in the latter days that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”

^50:1The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. ^50:2“Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.’ ^50:3For a nation comes up out of the north against her, which will make her land desolate, and no one will dwell in it. They have fled. They are gone, both man and animal. ^50:4“In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping, and will seek Yahweh their God. ^50:5They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’ ^50:6My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. ^50:7All who found them have devoured them. Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’ ^50:8“Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. ^50:9For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in vain. ^50:10Chaldea will be a prey. All who prey on her will be satisfied,” says Yahweh. ^50:11“Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses; ^50:12your mother will be utterly disappointed. She who bore you will be confounded. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ^50:13Because of Yahweh’s wrath she won’t be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. ^50:14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her. Spare no arrows; for she has sinned against Yahweh. ^50:15Shout against her all around. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls have been thrown down, for it is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her. ^50:16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they will each return to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. ^50:17“Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” ^50:18Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. ^50:19I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. ^50:20In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. ^50:21“Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says Yahweh, “and do according to all that I have commanded you. ^50:22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. ^50:23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ^50:24I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren’t aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have fought against Yahweh. ^50:25Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. ^50:26Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. ^50:27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. ^50:28Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple. ^50:29“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Pay her back according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel. ^50:30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says Yahweh. ^50:31“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; “for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. ^50:32The proud one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all who are around him.” ^50:33Yahweh of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go. ^50:34Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. ^50:35“A sword is on the Chaldeans,” says Yahweh, “and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes, and on her wise men. ^50:36A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. ^50:37A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed. ^50:38A drought is on her waters, and they will be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols. ^50:39Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein; and it will be inhabited no more forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. ^50:40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. ^50:41“Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. ^50:42They take up bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. They ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. ^50:43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor. ^50:44Behold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it; for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?” ^50:45Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they will drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. ^50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard among the nations.

^51:1Yahweh says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind. ^51:2I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her. They will empty her land; for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around. ^51:3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all her army! ^51:4They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. ^51:5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. ^51:6“Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Everyone save his own life! Don’t be cut off in her iniquity; for it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance. He will render to her a recompense. ^51:7Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad. ^51:8Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed. ^51:9“We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us each go into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. ^51:10‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’ ^51:11“Make the arrows sharp! Hold the shields firmly! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple. ^51:12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ^51:13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. ^51:14Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they will lift up a shout against you.’ ^51:15“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens. ^51:16When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries. ^51:17“Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. ^51:18They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation, they will perish. ^51:19The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things; including the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name. ^51:20“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms. ^51:21With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider. ^51:22With you I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein. With you I will break in pieces man and woman. With you I will break in pieces the old man and the youth. With you I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin. ^51:23With you I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke. With you will I break in pieces governors and deputies. ^51:24“I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says Yahweh. ^51:25“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says Yahweh, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain. ^51:26They won’t take a cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate for ever,” says Yahweh. ^51:27“Set up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her! Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint a marshal against her! Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm! ^51:28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion! ^51:29The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. ^51:30The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting, they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken. ^51:31One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter. ^51:32So the passages are seized. They have burned the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.” ^51:33For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her.” ^51:34“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out. ^51:35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!” the inhabitant of Zion will say; and, “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!” will Jerusalem say. ^51:36Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. ^51:37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ^51:38They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs. ^51:39When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says Yahweh. ^51:40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. ^51:41“How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ^51:42The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves. ^51:43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells. No son of man passes by it. ^51:44I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. The nations will not flow any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall. ^51:45“My people, go away from the middle of her, and each of you save yourselves from Yahweh’s fierce anger. ^51:46Don’t let your heart faint. Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land. For news will come one year, and after that in another year news will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. ^51:47Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land will be confounded. All her slain will fall in the middle of her. ^51:48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says Yahweh. ^51:49“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon. ^51:50You who have escaped the sword, go! Don’t stand still! Remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.” ^51:51“We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house.” ^51:52“Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded will groan. ^51:53Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet destroyers will come to her from me,” says Yahweh. ^51:54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! ^51:55For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice! Their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered. ^51:56For the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon. Her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces, for Yahweh is a God of retribution. He will surely repay. ^51:57I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. ^51:58Yahweh of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire. The peoples will labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they will be weary.” ^51:59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster. ^51:60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ^51:61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, ^51:62and say, ‘Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ ^51:63It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates. ^51:64Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.