Chapter 40
1; The Word that was to Jeremiah from YAHWEH, after Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, had sent him from Ramah, when he had taken him.
2; And the chief of the executioners took Jeremiah and said to him, YAHWEH your Elohim has spoken this evil against this place.
3; And YAHWEH has brought it and has done according as He has spoken, because you have sinned and have not obeyed His voice, even this thing has come upon you.
4; And now, behold! I free you today from the chains on your hand. If it is good in your eyes to come with me into Babylon, come. And I will set my eye on you. But if it is evil in your eyes to come with me into Babylon, stay. Behold, all the land is before you, to go to the good and to the right in your eyes, go there.
5; Even while he had not yet returned, he said, Or go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and live with him among the people. Or to all that is right in your eyes to go, go. And the chief of the executioners gave him ration and a reward, and sent him away.
6; And Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he lived with him among the people remaining in the land.
7; And when all the commanders of the army who were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, over the land, and had appointed with him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of those who were not exiled to Babylon,
8; then they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, even Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai of Netopha, and Jezaniah the son of the Maachathite, they and their men.
9; And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, Do not fear to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
10; As for me, behold, I will live at Mizpah to stand before the Chaldeans who have come to us. But you, go gather wine, and the harvest, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken.
11; And when all the Jews in Moab, and among the sons of Ammon, and in Edom, and in all the lands, 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,
12; even all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.
13; And Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the army that were in the field, came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah.
14; And they said to him, surely you know that Baalis, the king of the sons of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to strike your soul. But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, did not believe them.
15; And Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will strike Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and a man shall not know. Why should he strike your soul, and all the Jews who are gathered to you be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?
16; But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing. For you speak falsely concerning Ishmael.
Chapter 41
1; And it happened in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and of the chief ones of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah. And they ate bread together there in Mizpah.
2; And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men with him rose up and struck Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword. And they killed him whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
3; Ishmael also struck all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4; And it happened, the second day after he had killed Gedaliah; and no one knew,
5; men from Shechem came from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaved, and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, and with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring to the house of YAHWEH.
6; And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, walking as he walked and was weeping. And it happened, as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.
7; And it happened when they came into the middle of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, killed them, he and the men with him, throwing them into the middle of the pit.
8; But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he held back, not killing them with their brothers.
9; And the pit there in which Ishmael had thrown all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had struck because of Gedaliah, was the one which Asa the king had made from the face of Baasha, king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with the slain.
10; And Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people who stayed in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, had entrusted to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took captive and went to go over to the sons of Ammon.
11; But when Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army heads with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done,
12; then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And they found him by the many waters that are in Gibeon.
13; And it happened when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army heads with him, then they were glad.
14; And all the people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan, the son of Kareah.
15; But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon.
16; Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army heads with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon.
17; And they departed and lived in the inn of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter Egypt,
18; because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had struck Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.
Chapter 42
1; And all the army heads, 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.
2; And they said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beg you, let our plea fall before you; and pray for us to YAHWEH your Elohim, for all this remnant,
3; that YAHWEH your Elohim may show us the way in which we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
4; Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard. Behold, I will pray to YAHWEH your Elohim according to your words; and it shall be, all the word YAHWEH shall answer, I will declare to you. I will not keep back a thing from you.
5; And they said to Jeremiah, Let YAHWEH be a true and faithful witness between us if not according to all things YAHWEH your Elohim shall send you to us, so we will do.
6; Whether it is good, or whether evil, we will obey the voice of YAHWEH our Elohim, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of YAHWEH our Elohim.
7; And it happened at the end of ten days, the Word of YAHWEHwas to Jeremiah.
8; And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army heads with him, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest.
9; And he said to them, So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, to whom you sent me to cause to fall your petition before Him.
10; If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you up, and will not tear you down. And I will plant you, and will not pluck you up. For I repent as to the evil that I have done to you.
11; Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of his face, declares YAHWEH, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.
12; And I will show mercies to you, so that he may have pity on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13; But if you say, We will not live in this land or obey the voice of YAHWEH your Elohim,
14; saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war or hear the sound of the ram's horn, and we will not hunger for bread, and there we will live;
15; then hear now the Word of YAHWEH, O remnant of Judah, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: If you surely set your faces to go into Egypt, and go to live there,
16; then it shall be, the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt. And the famine which you were anxious about shall cling to you there in Egypt, and you shall die there.
17; So it shall be to all the men who have set their faces to go into Egypt to reside there. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. And none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.
18; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, As My anger and My fury has flowed out upon the people of Jerusalem, so shall My fury flow out on you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be a curse, and a horror, and a shame, and a reproach, and you shall not see this place anymore.
19; YAHWEH has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah. Do not go into Egypt. surely, know that I have testified against you today.
20; For you used deceit against your souls when you sent me to YAHWEH your Elohim, saying, Pray for us to YAHWEH our Elohim; and according to all that YAHWEH our Elohim shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.
21; And I have declared it to you this day, but you have not obeyed the voice of YAHWEH your Elohim, or anything for which He has sent me to you.
22; And now know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague in the place where you desire to go to sojourn.
Chapter 43
1; And it happened when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the Words of
YAHWEH their Elohim, for which YAHWEH their Elohim had sent him to them, all these words,
2; Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, then spoke, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely. YAHWEH our Elohim has not sent you to say, Do not go to Egypt, to sojourn there.
3; But Baruch, the son of Neriah, is inciting you against us, to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might cause us to die, or exile us to Babylon.
4; And Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army commanders, and all the people, did not obey the voice of YAHWEH, to live in the land of Judah.
5; But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the army heads, took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah:
6; men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7; And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of YAHWEH. And they came to Tahpanhes.
8; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9; Take great stones to your hand and hide them in the mortar in the brickwork which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.
10; And say to them, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, 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 shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
11; And when he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt. And whoever is for death shall go to death; and whoever is for captivity shall go into captivity; and whoever is for the sword, to the sword.
12; And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. And he shall burn them, and take them captive. And he shall adorn himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd covers himself with his robe. And he shall go forth from there in peace.
13; He shall also break the obelisks of The House of the Sun which is in the land of Egypt; and he shall burn the houses of the gods of the Egyptians with fire.
Chapter 44
1; The Word which was to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt, those living at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. And, behold! This day they are a ruin, and no one lives in them,
3; because of the evil which they have done, by provoking Me to anger, by going to burn incense, by serving other gods that they did not know, they, you nor your fathers.
4; And, I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate!
5; But they did not listen nor bow their ear, to turn from their evil, not to burn incense to other gods.
6; For this reason My fury and My anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are for a waste and for a desolation as at this day.
7; And now so says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Why do you work great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, not leaving to yourselves a remnant,
8; to provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, there where you have gone to reside, that I might cut you off, and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9; Have you forgotten the evilness of your fathers, and the evilness of the kings of Judah, and the evilness of his wives, and your own evilness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have done in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10; They are not crushed to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in My Torah, nor in My statutes which I have set before you and before your fathers.
11; So YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel says this: Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12; And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to reside there; and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine. They shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword, and by the famine, and they shall be a curse, a horror, and a shame, and a reproach.
13; For 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 plague,
14; so that none of the remnant of Judah which has gone into the land of Egypt, to reside there, will be a refugee, or a survivor, or turn back to the land of Judah to which they are lifting up their soul to return back to live there, for none shall return, except those who escape.
15; Then all the men who knew that their wives had 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,
16; As for the Word that you have spoken to us in the name of YAHWEH, we will not listen to you.
17; But we will certainly do whatever thing goes out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
18; But when we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been devoured by the sword and by the famine.
19; And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, and did we also, without our men make her cakes to worship her image, and pour out drink offerings to her?
20; Then Jeremiah said to all the people; to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who were answering,
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 rulers, and the people of the land, did not YAHWEH remember them? Yea, it came into His heart.
22; And YAHWEH could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, because of the detestable things you have committed. For this reason your land is a waste, and a horror, and a curse, without one living in it, as at this day.
23; Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against YAHWEH, and have not obeyed the voice of YAHWEH, in His Torah, or in His statutes; and because you did not walk in His testimonies, therefore this evil has happened to you, as at this day.
24; Jeremiah also said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the Word of YAHWEH, all Judah in the land of Egypt.
25; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, saying: You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, surely we will perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her. Certainly, you lift up your vows and certainly, you perform your vows.
26; So hear the Word of YAHWEH, all Judah who reside in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says YAHWEH, that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, Adonai YAHWEH lives.
27; Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt shall be destroyed by the sword, and by the famine, until they come to an end.
28; And he who escapes the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number. And all the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt, to reside there, shall know whose word shall stand, theirs or Mine.
29; And this shall be a sign to you, says YAHWEH, that I will punish you in this place, so that you may know that My Words surely shall stand against you for evil:
30; So says YAHWEH, Behold, I am giving Pharaoh-Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his soul, even as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchad- nezzar, the king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his soul.
Chapter 45
1; The Word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a writing from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, to you, O Baruch:
3; You said, Woe is me now, for YAHWEH has added grief to my pain; I fainted in my groaning, and I find no rest.
4; So you shall say to him, YAHWEH says this: Behold, I am tearing down what I have built; and I am pulling up what I have planted, even all the land itself to Me.
5; And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, declares YAHWEH. But I will give your soul to you for a prize, there on all the places where you go.
Chapter 46
1; The Word of YAHWEH which was to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations:
2; against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3; Set in order the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
4; Harness the horses, and mount, O horsemen. Yea, stand with helmets, polish the spears, put on coats of armor.
5; Why have I seen that they are afraid and turned backward? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled for refuge, and do not look back. Terror is all around, says YAHWEH.
6; Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They stumbled and fell to the north, by the side of the river Euphrates.
7; Who is this rising up like the Nile, whose waters surge about like the rivers?
8; Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its people.
9; Come up, horses; and rage, chariots! And let the mighty men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and tread the bow.
10; For this is the day of Adonai, YAHWEH of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His foes. And the sword shall devour, and be filled to satisfaction, and made drunk with their blood, for there is a sacrifice to Adonai, YAHWEH of Hosts in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11; Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain you shall use many remedies; healing is not for you.
12; The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty; they have fallen together, both of them.
13; The Word that YAHWEH spoke to Jeremiah the prophet of the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to strike the land of Egypt.
14; Declare it in Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Tahpanhes; say, Stand fast and get yourself ready, for the sword shall devour all around you.
15; Why is your mighty one swept away? He did not stand because YAHWEH thrust him down.
16; He made many stumble; yea, one fell on his neighbor. And they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.
17; They cried there, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is an empty roar; he has passed the appointed time.
18; As I live, says the King whose name is YAHWEH of Hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, he shall come.
19; O daughter dwelling in Egypt, get ready to go into captivity. For Noph shall be a waste, and set afire, without inhabitant.
20; Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but coming a stinger comes out of the north.
21; Also her hired ones are in the midst of her like calves of the stall; for they also have turned back, fleeing together. They did not stand because the day of their calamity had come on them, the time of their punishment.
22; Its sound is like a serpent's going, for they shall go in force, and come against her with axes, like woodcutters.
23; They have cut down her forest, says YAHWEH, though it cannot be searched, because they are more than the locusts, and there is no number to them.
24; The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25; YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, says, Behold, I am punishing the multitudes of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
26; And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it will be inhabited, as in the days of old, declares YAHWEH.
27; But you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob; and do not be afraid, O Israel. For, behold, I am saving you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their exile. And Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make afraid.
28; You shall not fear, O Jacob My servant, says YAHWEH, for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations there where I have driven you. But I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you justly, and by no means will I leave you unpunished.
Chapter 47
1; The Word of YAHWEH that was to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.
2; So says YAHWEH, Behold, waters rise up out of the north and shall become an overflowing torrent. And it shall overflow the land and all its fullness; the city, and those who dwell in it. Then the men shall cry, and all the people of the land shall wail.
3; At the noise of the stamping of the hooves of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their sons, because of feebleness of hands;
4; because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every survivor who helps. For YAHWEH will plunder the Philistines, the rest of the coast of Caphtor.
5; Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is ruined. O remnant of their valley, until when will you cut off yourself?
6; O sword of YAHWEH, until when will you not be quiet? Put yourself into your sheath; rest, and be still.
7; How can you be quiet, since YAHWEH has given it a command? He has set it there against Ashkelon, and against the seashore.