Chapter 34

1; The Word which was to Jeremiah from YAHWEH when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, and all the peoples fought against Jerusalem, and against all its cities, saying,

2; So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, So says YAHWEH, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

3; And you shall not escape out of his hand, but surely shall be captured and delivered into his hand. And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak, his mouth with your mouth; and you shall go to Babylon.

4; Yet hear the Word of YAHWEH, O Zedekiah, king of Judah: So says YAHWEH concerning you, You shall not die by the sword.

5; You shall die in peace. And as the burnings of spices for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they shall burn spices for you, saying, Ah, master! They will wail for you. For I have spoken the Word, says YAHWEH.

6; And Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these Words to Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem,

7; when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that remained; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

8; The Word that was to Jeremiah from YAHWEH after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, to proclaim freedom to them,

9; that each man should release his male slave, and each man his female slave, if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, to go free, that not any should enslave a Jew, a man, his brother among them.

10; And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave; so that not any should enslave among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go.

11; But afterward they turned and caused to return the male slaves and the female slaves whom they sent away. And they subjected them for male slaves and for female slaves.

12; For this reason the Word of YAHWEH came to Jeremiah from YAHWEH, saying,

13; So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel: I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

14; At the end of seven years each man should let go his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to him. When he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not listen to Me nor stretch out their ear.

15; And you had turned today, and you did right in My eyes, to call for freedom, each man to his neighbor. And you cut a covenant before Me in the house on which is called My name.

16; But you turned and profaned My name, and each man caused his male slave, and each man his female slave, to return whom you had sent away according to their desire. And you subjected them to be slaves and female slaves to you.

17; So YAHWEH says this: You have not listened to Me, to call for liberty, each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I call for freedom to you, says YAHWEH: to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will give you for a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

18; And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not stood on the words of the covenant which they have cut with Me when they cut the calf in two, and passed between its pieces,

19; the rulers of Judah and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf;

20; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

21; And I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life, even into the hand of the king of Babylon's army that has gone up from you.

22; Behold, I will command and cause them to return to this city, says YAHWEH. And they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah desolation, without an inhabitant to live in it.

 

Chapter 35

1; The Word which was to Jeremiah from YAHWEH in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

2; Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them to the house of YAHWEH, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.

3; Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites.

4; And I brought them into the house of YAHWEH, into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of Elohim, which was near the room of the rulers, above the room of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

5; And I set bowls and cups full of wine before the sons of the house of the Rechabites. And I said to them, Drink wine.

6; But they said, We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, commanded us, saying, You shall not drink wine, you nor your sons forever.

7; And you shall not build a house nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor shall there be anything to you; but all your days you shall live in tents, so that you may live many days on the face of the land where you are residing.

8; And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, to all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters,

9; nor to build houses for us for our dwelling; nor do we have a vineyard, or field, or seed.

10; But we live in tents, and we have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11; But it happened when Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, then we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem, because of the army of the Chaldeans and because of the army of the Syrians. And we live in Jerusalem.

12; Then the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah, saying,

13; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction, to listen to My Words? says YAHWEH.

14; The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab are done, in which he commanded his sons not to drink wine. And to this day they do not drink, but obey their father's command. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; and you did not listen to Me.

15; I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, Each man now turn back from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall live in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But you have not bowed your ear, nor listened to Me.

16; Because the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have stood on the command of their father which he gave them, but this people has not listened to Me,

17; so YAHWEH, Elohim of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, says this, Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken against them because I have spoken to them, but they did not listen. Yea, I have called to them, but they did not answer.

18; And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Because you have obeyed your father Jonadab's command, and have kept all his commands, and have done according to all that he has commanded you,

19; so YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, says this: Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not have a man cut off from standing before Me all the days.

 

Chapter 36

1; And it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this Word was to Jeremiah from YAHWEH, saying,

2; Take a scroll of a book for yourself 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.

3; It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I plan to do to them, that they may each man turn from his evil way, and I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4; Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah. And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of YAHWEH that He had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.

5; And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go to the house of YAHWEH.

6; So you go and read in the scroll the Words of YAHWEH that you have written from my mouth, in the house of YAHWEH, in the ears of the people on the day of fasting . And also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out from their cities.

7; Perhaps their pleading will fall before YAHWEH, and each man will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the wrath that YAHWEH has spoken against this people.

8; And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the Words of YAHWEH in the house of YAHWEH.

9; And it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, they called a fast before YAHWEH, to all the people of Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

10; And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of YAHWEH, in the room of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entrance to the New Gate of the house of YAHWEH, in the ears of all the people.

11; When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the Words of YAHWEH out of the book,

12; then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room. And, behold, all the rulers were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the rulers.

13; And Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

14; And all the rulers sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take the scroll in your hand, 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.

15; And they said to him, Sit down now and read it in our ears. So Baruch read in their ears.

16; And it happened, when they had heard all the Words, they turned each man to his companion in fear. And they said to Baruch, We will surely tell all these words to the king.

17; And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, how did you write all these words? From his mouth?

18; And Baruch said to them, He spoke all these words to me from his mouth, and I wrote with ink on the book.

19; And the rulers said to Baruch, Go, hide yourselves, you and Jeremiah; and do not let any man know where you are.

20; And they went in to the king, into the court. But they laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. And they told all the words in the ear of the king.

21; And the king sent Jehudi to take the scroll. And he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the king's ears, and in the ears of all the rulers who stood beside the king.

22; And the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and with the burning fire pan before him.

23; And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the scribe's knife and threw it into the fire in the fire-pan, until all the scroll was burned up in the fire that was in the fire-pan.

24; Yet the king and all his servants who heard these Words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments.

25; But Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah had pleaded with the king that he should not burn the scroll, but he would not listen to them.

26; And the king commanded Jerahmeel, the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But YAHWEH hid them.

27; Then the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll and the Words which Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

28; Take for yourself another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.

29; And you shall say to Jehoiakim the king of Judah, So says YAHWEH, You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it, saying, surely, the king of Babylon shall come and destroy this land, and shall cause man and beast to cease from there?

30; Therefore, so says YAHWEH of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: There shall not be one to him to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

31; And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their sin. And I will bring on them, and on the people of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have spoken against them. But they did not listen.

32; Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire. And again, many words like them were added to them.

 

Chapter 37

1; And King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchad- nezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

2; But he did not listen to the Words of YAHWEH, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, which He spoke by Jeremiah the prophet.

3; And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now for us to YAHWEH our Elohim.

4; And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him into prison.

5; And Pharaoh's army had come forth out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they went up from Jerusalem.

6; And the Word of YAHWEH was to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

7; So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, You shall say this to the king of Judah who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

8; And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.

9; So says YAHWEH, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, surely the Chaldeans will go from us, for they shall not leave.

10; For though you had stricken the entire army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and only wounded men remained among them, yet they would rise up, each man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

11; And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans went up from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army,

12; then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people.

13; And it happened, he being in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, and his name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling to the Chaldeans.

14; And Jeremiah said, A lie! I am not falling to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him. And Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers.

15; And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah and struck him, and they put him in the prison house, the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made it into a prison house.

16; When Jeremiah had gone into the house of the pit, and into the cells, then Jeremiah remained there many days.

17; And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there Word from YAHWEH? And Jeremiah said, There is. For He said, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

18; And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me into the prison house?

19; Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, or against this land?

20; And now hear, I beg you, O my master the king, please let my plea fall before you, so that you do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I not die there.

21; And Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guardhouse, and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the baker's street daily, until all the bread of the city was gone. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.

 

Chapter 38

1; And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,

2; So says YAHWEH, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and his life shall be a prize; and he shall live.

3; So says YAHWEH, This city giving shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, and he shall capture it.

4; And the rulers said to the king, Please cause this man to die. For in this way he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking these words to them. For this man does not seek the peace of this people, but the evil.

5; And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand. For the king cannot do anything against you.

6; And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guardhouse. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. But no water was in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7; And Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian man, of the eunuchs in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the pit.

8; Ebed-Melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying,

9; My master the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have thrown into the pit. And it will be that he has died in his place because of the famine, for there is no more food in the city.

10; And the king commanded Ebed- Melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take in your hand thirty men from here and bring up Jeremiah the prophet out of the pit before he dies.

11; And Ebed-Melech took the men in his hand and went into the king's house, to under the treasury. And he took worn out clothes and worn out rags from there. And he let them down by ropes into the pit to Jeremiah.

12; And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Now put these worn out clothes and rags under the armpits of your hands, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

13; And they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and brought him up out of the pit. And Jeremiah dwelt in the court of the guardhouse.

14; And Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him, into the third entrance in the house of YAHWEH. And the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a thing; do not hide a thing from me.

15; And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, surely will you not cause me to die? And if I counsel you, you will not listen to me.

16; And Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As YAHWEH lives, who made us this soul, I will not cause you to die, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.

17; And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: If surely you will go out to the rulers of the king of Babylon, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire. And you and your house shall live.

18; But if you will not go out to the rulers of the king of Babylon, even this city shall be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of their hand.

19; And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me.

20; And Jeremiah said, They will not give. Please obey the voice of YAHWEH which I am speaking to you, and it will be well with you and your soul will live.

21; But if you refuse to go out, this is the Word YAHWEH has made me see:

22; Even, behold, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the rulers of the king of Babylon. And they will say, The men who look after your welfare have seduced you and have prevailed against you; your feet have sunk in the mire, and they turned back.

23; And they shall bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans. And you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon. And this city shall be burned with fire.

24; And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let not a man know of these words, and you shall not die.

25; But if the rulers hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, Now tell us what you said to the king; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death; also, What did the king say to you?

26; Then you shall say to them, I was causing my plea to fall before the king, that he should not return me to the house of Jonathan, to die there.

27; And all the rulers came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had ordered. And they were silent with him, for the matter was not heard.

28; And Jeremiah dwelt in the court of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured. And he was there when Jerusalem was captured.

 

Chapter 39

1; In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

2; In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth of the month, the city was breached.

3; And all the rulers of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-Sharezer, chief magician, and all the rest of the rulers of the king of Babylon.

4; And it happened when Zedekiah, king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out from the city by night, the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went the way of the Arabah.

5; But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the Arabah of Jericho. And they took him and brought him up to Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he spoke judgment on him.

6; And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah. Also the king of Babylon slaughtered all the rulers of Judah.

7; And he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in bronze fetters, to make him go to Babylon.

8; And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

9; Then the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to him, even the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, exiled to Babylon.

10; But Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, left some of the poor people, who had not a thing to themselves, in the land of Judah. And he gave to them vineyards and fields on that day.

11; And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners, saying:

12; Take him and set your eyes on him. But do not do anything evil to him. But do with him even as he shall say to you.

13; And Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, and Nebushasban the chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal- Sharezer, chief magician, and all the rulers of the king of Babylon, sent,

14; even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse. And they gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to cause him to go out to the house. And he lived among the people.

15; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guardhouse, saying,

16; Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Behold, I am bringing My Words on this city for evil, and not for good. And they shall be before you in that day.

17; But I will deliver you in that day, states YAHWEH, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men, of those whom you fear.

18; For surely I will deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be a prize to you, because you have trusted in Me, states YAHWEH.