Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders in exile and to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²(This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes (court officials) of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)

³The letter was hand-carried by Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

⁴"So says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

⁵'Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.

⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease [in number].

⁷Seek peace and well-being for the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its peace (well-being) you will have peace.'

⁸For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours,

⁹for they prophesy falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,' says the LORD.

¹⁰"For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years [of exile] have been completed for Babylon, I will visit (inspect) you and keep My good promise to you, to bring you back to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,' says the LORD, 'plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.

¹²Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.

¹³Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you,' says the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' says the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

¹⁵"Because you [who have remained in Jerusalem] have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,'

¹⁶thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers (fellow people of Judah) who did not go with you into captivity—

¹⁷thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold (listen very carefully), I am sending the sword, famine, and virulent disease (pestilence) on them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.

¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with virulent disease; and I will make them a terror (warning) to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a horror, a hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,

¹⁹because they have not listened to and honored My words,' says the LORD, 'which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets. Moreover, you [exiles] did not listen [either],' says the LORD.

²⁰Hear, therefore, the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in My Name, 'Behold, I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slaughter them before your eyes [yes, all the false prophets in Babylon whom you follow shall die]!

²²Because of them, this curse shall be taken up and used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,

²³because they have acted foolishly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and in My Name have spoken false and concocted words, which I did not command them. I am He who knows and I am a witness,' says the LORD."

²⁴Also you shall speak to Shemaiah of Nehelam [among the exiles in Babylon], saying,

²⁵"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶"The LORD has made you [Zephaniah] priest instead of Jehoiada the [deputy] priest, to be the overseer in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar,

²⁷now therefore [continued the letter from Shemaiah in Babylon to Zephaniah in Jerusalem], why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

²⁸For he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, 'This captivity [of yours] will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their fruit.'"'"

²⁹Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹"Send [this message] to all the exiles, saying, 'Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam, "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,"

³²therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He will not have anyone [born] to live among this people, nor will he see the good that I am about to do to My people," says the LORD, "because he has spoken and preached rebellion against the LORD."'"

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

²"Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Write in a book all the words which I have spoken to you.

³For behold (hear this), the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD, 'and I will return them to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they will take possession of it.'"

⁴Now these are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

⁵"Thus says the LORD, 'We have heard a terrified voice Of panic and dread, and there is no peace.

⁶'Ask now, and see Whether a man can give birth [to a child]. Why then do I see every man With his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor? Why have all faces turned pale?

⁷'Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; It is the time of Jacob's [unequaled] trouble, But he will be saved from it.

⁸'It shall come about on that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'that I will break the yoke off your neck and I will tear off your bonds and force apart your shackles; and strangers will no longer make slaves of the people [of Israel].

⁹But they shall serve the LORD their God and [the descendant of] David their King, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰'Fear not, O Jacob My servant,' says the LORD, 'Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile] And your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, And no one will make him afraid.

¹¹'For I am with you,' says the LORD, 'to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, But I will not destroy you completely. But I will judge and discipline you fairly And will by no means regard you as guiltless and leave you unpunished.'

¹²"For thus says the LORD, 'Your wound is incurable And your injury is beyond healing.

¹³'There is no one to plead your cause; No [device to close and allow the] healing of your wound, No recovery for you.

¹⁴'All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you; They do not seek and long for you. For I have injured you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel and merciless foe, Because your guilt is great And your sins are glaring and innumerable.

¹⁵'Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]? Your pain is incurable (deadly). Because your guilt is great And your sins are glaring and innumerable, I have done these things to you.

¹⁶'Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity. And they who plunder you will become plunder, And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

¹⁷'For I will restore health to you And I will heal your wounds,' says the LORD, 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying: "This is Zion; no one seeks her and no one cares for her."'

¹⁸"Thus says the LORD, 'Behold (hear this), I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city will be rebuilt on its [old, mound-like] ruin, And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

¹⁹'From them (city, palace) will come [songs of] thanksgiving And the voices of those who dance and celebrate. And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished [in number]; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰'Their children too will be as in former times, And their congregation will be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors.

²¹'Their prince will be one of them, And their ruler will come forward from among them. I will bring him near and he shall approach Me, For who is he who would have the boldness and would dare [on his own initiative] to risk his life to approach Me?' says the LORD.

²²'Then you shall be My people, And I will be your God.'"

²³Behold, the tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping and gathering tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked.

²⁴The fierce (righteous) anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has fulfilled and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart (mind); In the latter days you will understand this.

¹"At that time," says the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

²Thus says the LORD, "The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness [of exile]— Israel (the Northern Kingdom), when it went to find its rest."

³The LORD appeared to me ( Israel) from ages past, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

⁴"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel! You will again be adorned with your tambourines and timbrels And go out to the dances of those who celebrate.

⁵"Again you will plant vineyards On the mountains of Samaria; The planters will plant And enjoy the [abundant] fruit [in peace].

⁶"For there will be a day when the watchmen On the hills of Ephraim cry out, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.'"

⁷For thus says the LORD, "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout for the first and foremost of the nations [the chosen people, Israel]; Proclaim, give praise and say, 'O LORD save Your people, The remnant of Israel!'

⁸"Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them [will be] the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together; A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].

⁹"They will come with weeping [in repentance and for joy], And by [their] prayer [for the future] I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble, For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim (Israel) is My firstborn."

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, And declare it in the isles and coastlands far away, And say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him And will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock."

¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And has redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

¹²"They will come and sing aloud and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And will be radiant [with joy] over the goodness of the LORD— For the grain, for the new wine, for the oil, And for the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, And they shall never sorrow or languish again.

¹³"Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, And the young men and old, together, For I will turn their mourning into joy And will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.

¹⁴"I will fully satisfy the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people will be satisfied with My goodness," says the LORD.

¹⁵Thus says the LORD, "A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation (songs of mourning) and bitter weeping. Rachel (Israel) is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are gone."

¹⁶Thus says the LORD, "Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears, For your work will be rewarded," says the LORD; "And your children will return from the enemy's land.

¹⁷"There is [confident] hope for your future," says the LORD; "Your children will come back to their own country.

¹⁸"I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

¹⁹'After I turned away [from You], I repented; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse]; I was ashamed and even humiliated Because I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].'

²⁰"Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a darling and beloved child? For as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him. Therefore My affection is renewed and My heart longs for him; I will surely have mercy on him," says the LORD.

²¹"Place for yourself road signs [toward Canaan], Make for yourself guideposts; Turn your thought and attention to the highway, To the way by which you went [into exile]. Retrace your steps, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

²²"How long will you hesitate [to return], O you faithless and renegade daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land [of Israel]: A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man."

²³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Once more they will speak these words in the land of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and in her cities when I restore their fortunes and release them from exile, 'The LORD bless you, O habitation of justice and righteousness, O holy mountain!'

²⁴And [the people of] Judah and all its cities will live there together—the farmer and they who wander about with flocks.

²⁵For I [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I replenish every languishing and sorrowful person."

²⁶At this I (Jeremiah) awoke and looked, and my [trancelike] sleep was sweet [in the assurance it gave] to me.

²⁷"Behold (listen carefully), the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

²⁸It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good]," says the LORD.

²⁹"In those days they will not say again, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.'

³⁰But everyone will die [only] for his own wickedness; every man who eats sour grapes—his [own] teeth shall be set on edge.

³¹"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and with the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),

³²not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," says the LORD.

³³"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

³⁴And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest," says the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin."

³⁵Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and of the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea's roaring billows or stills the waves when they roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

³⁶"If this fixed order departs From before Me," says the LORD, "Then the descendants of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever."

³⁷Thus says the LORD, "If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off and abandon all the descendants of Israel For all that they have done," says the LORD.

³⁸"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when the city [of Jerusalem] will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

³⁹The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

⁴⁰And the whole valley (Hinnom) of the dead bodies and [the hill] of the ashes [long dumped there from the temple sacrifices], and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It (the city) will not be uprooted or overthrown anymore to the end of the age."

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

²Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.

³For Zedekiah [the last] king of Judah had locked him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy [disaster] and say, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

⁴and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye;

⁵and he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him [for evaluation and judgment]," says the LORD. "If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed"'?"

⁶And Jeremiah [answered King Zedekiah and] said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁷'Behold (listen carefully), Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, "Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it [in accordance with the law]."'

⁸Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard in accordance with the word of the LORD, and he said to me, 'Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for you have the right of inheritance and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹"I bought the field that was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed out the money for him, seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰I signed the deed and sealed it, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the money on the scales.

¹¹So I took the deeds of the purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy;

¹²and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in sight of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

¹³And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,

¹⁴'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this unsealed deed, and put them in an earthen jar, that they may last a long time."

¹⁵For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land."'

¹⁶"Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

¹⁷'Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—

¹⁸You who show lovingkindness to thousands, but repay the wickedness (sin, guilt) of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], O great and mighty God; the LORD of hosts is His name;

¹⁹great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

²⁰who set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so] both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.

²¹You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;

²²and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey.

²³They entered and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore You have caused all this disaster and suffering to come upon them.

²⁴See the siege ramps [of mounded earth that the enemy has built against the walls]; they have come up to the city to capture it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans [of Babylon] who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the virulent disease [that have overcome the people]. What You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You see it.

²⁵Yet, O Lord GOD, You said to me, "Buy the field with money and get witnesses," even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.'"

²⁶Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for Me?"

²⁸Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.

²⁹"The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

³⁰For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have been provoking Me to anger by the [idols that are the] work of their hands," says the LORD.

³¹"From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,

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.

³³They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them repeatedly, yet they would not listen and receive instruction.

³⁴But they put their detestable things (idols) in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.

³⁵They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.

³⁶"Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by virulent disease.'

³⁷Behold, I will gather them out of all countries to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them live in safety.

³⁸They will be My people, and I will be their God;

³⁹and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may [reverently] fear Me forever, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will do them good and not turn away from them; and I will put in their heart a fear and reverential awe of Me, so that they will not turn away from Me.

⁴¹I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.

⁴²For thus says the LORD, 'Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

⁴³Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, "It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans."

⁴⁴People will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, 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 (the Negev); for I will restore their fortunes and release them from exile,' says the LORD."

¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying,

²"Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is His name,

³'Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.'

⁴For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,

⁵'While they (the besieged Jews) are coming to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, for I have hidden My face [in disgust] from this city because of all their wickedness.

⁶Behold, [in the restored Jerusalem] I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace (prosperity, security, stability) and truth.

⁷I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first.

⁸I will cleanse them from all their wickedness (guilt) by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon (forgive) all their sins by which they rebelled against Me.

⁹Jerusalem will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for it, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace (prosperity, security, stability) that I provide for it.'

¹⁰"Thus says the LORD, 'Yet again there will be heard in this place of which you say, "It is a [desolate] 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—

¹¹the [sound of the] voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the [song-filled] voice of those who say, "Give praise and thanks to the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good; For His [steadfast] lovingkindness (mercy) endures forever"; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,' says the LORD.

¹²"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'There will again be in this desolate place—[a place] without man or animal—and in all its cities, pastures for shepherds who rest their flocks.

¹³In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South (the Negev), in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says the LORD.

¹⁴'Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the good word and promise which I have made regarding the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He (the Messiah) shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and [the people of] Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD Our Righteousness (Justice).'

¹⁷For thus says the LORD, 'David shall never lack a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man (descendant) to offer burnt offerings before Me and to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices all day long.'"

¹⁹The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰"Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not take place at their appointed times,

²¹then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and [My covenant may also be broken] with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

²²As the host of [the stars of] heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'"

²³And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴"Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, 'The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the LORD chose, He has rejected'? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight.

²⁵Thus says the LORD, 'If My covenant with day and night does not stand, and if I have not established the fixed patterns of heaven and earth, [the whole order of nature,]

²⁶then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.'"

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his sovereignty and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all of its cities:

²"Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire and burn it down.

³You will not escape from his hand, for you will definitely be captured and handed over to him; you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face; and you will go to Babylon.'"'

⁴"Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you, 'You will not die by the sword.

⁵You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for [the memory and honor of] your fathers, the former kings who reigned before you, so shall a [ceremonial] burning be made for you; and people will lament (grieve) for you, saying, "Alas, lord (master)!"' For I have spoken the word," says the LORD.

⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, against Lachish and Azekah, for these were the [only] fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant (solemn pledge) with all the [Hebrew] people who were [slaves] in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:

⁹that every man should let his Hebrew slaves, male and female, go free, so that no one should make a slave of a Jew, his brother.

¹⁰So all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that everyone would let his male servant and his female servant go free, and that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

¹¹But afterward they backed out [of the covenant] and made the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free return [to them], and brought the male servants and the female servants again into servitude.

¹²Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I made a covenant (solemn pledge) with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴"At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself [into servitude] or who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall release him from [serving] you; but your forefathers did not listen [submissively] to Me or obey Me.

¹⁵So then you recently turned and repented, doing what was right in My sight, each man proclaiming release [from servitude] to his countryman [who was his bond servant]; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.

¹⁶Yet you backed out [of the covenant] and profaned My Name, and each man took back his servants, male and female, whom had been set free in accordance with their desire, and you brought them into servitude [again] to be your male servants and your female servants."'

¹⁷"Therefore says the LORD, 'You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed liberty to your brother and your countryman. Behold (listen very carefully), I am proclaiming liberty to you—[liberty to be put] to the sword, [liberty] to [be ravaged by] the virulent disease, and [liberty] to [be decimated by] famine,' says the LORD; 'and I will make you a horror and a warning to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸The men who have violated My covenant, who have not kept the terms of the solemn pledge which they made before Me when they split the [sacrificial] calf in half, and then afterwards walked between its separated pieces [sealing their pledge to Me by placing a curse on themselves should they violate the covenant—those men I will make like the calf]!

¹⁹The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the high officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf,

²⁰I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. And [like the body of the calf] their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

²¹Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will place into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

²²Behold, I am going to command [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon],' says the LORD, 'and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and set it on fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.'"

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

²"Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the [side] chambers; then give them [who are pledged not to drink wine] some wine to drink."

³So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,

⁴and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

⁵Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, "Drink wine."

⁶But they said, "We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us: 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.

⁷Nor shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners (temporary residents).'

⁸We have obeyed the words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, in all our days we have never drunk wine, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

⁹nor have we built ourselves houses to live in; nor do we have vineyards or fields or seed.

¹⁰We have lived only in tents, and have obeyed and done [everything] according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans [who rule Babylon] and for fear of the army of the Arameans.' So we have lived in Jerusalem."

¹²Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

¹³"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words and honoring them?" says the LORD.

¹⁴The command which Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons not to drink wine has been observed [as a custom for more than two hundred years]. To this day they do not drink wine, for they have obeyed their father's command. But I have repeatedly spoken to you, yet you have not listened to Me.

¹⁵I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them repeatedly, saying, 'Let every one of you turn now from his evil way and alter your behavior, and do not follow other gods to worship and serve them; and then you will live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers. But you have not submitted or listened to Me.

¹⁶Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he gave them, but this people has not listened to Me.'"'

¹⁷"Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold (hear this), I am bringing on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened, and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'"

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and have kept all his commands and have done according to all that he commanded you,

¹⁹therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never fail to have a man (descendant) to stand before Me always."'"

¹In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²"Take a scroll [of parchment] and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and Judah, and all the nations, from the day I [first] spoke to you in the days of [King] Josiah until this day.

³It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster which I plan to bring on them, so that each one will turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin."

⁴Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on the scroll of the book all the words which Jeremiah dictated, [words] which the LORD had spoken to him.

⁵Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am [in hiding, virtually] restrained; I cannot go into the house of the LORD.

⁶So you go to the Lord's house on a day of fasting and read from the scroll the words of the LORD to the people which you have written as I dictated. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

⁷It may be that their supplication [for mercy] will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people."

⁸Baruch the son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from [Jeremiah's scroll] the words of the LORD in the Lord's house.

⁹Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, a fast was proclaimed before the LORD for all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah.

¹⁰Then Baruch read to all the people the words of Jeremiah from the scroll of the book in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house.

¹¹When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,

¹²he went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber; 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 [other] princes.

¹³Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to all the people.

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 from which you have read to the people and come [to us]." So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them.

¹⁵And they said to him, "Sit down now and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them.

¹⁶Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, "We must surely report all these words to the king."

¹⁷And they asked Baruch, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his (Jeremiah's) dictation?"

¹⁸Then Baruch answered them, "He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll."

¹⁹Then the princes said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are."

²⁰Then they went into the court to the king, but they [first] put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; then they reported all the words to the king.

²¹So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the princes who stood beside the king.

²²Now it was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, with a fire burning there in the brazier before him.

²³And after Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], King Jehoiakim would cut off that portion with a scribe's knife and throw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until the [entire] scroll was consumed by the fire.

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

²⁵Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

²⁶And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

²⁷Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah:

²⁸"Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

²⁹And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, 'Thus says the LORD, "You have burned this scroll, saying, 'Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off man and beast from it?'"

³⁰'Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, " He shall have no heir to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night.

³¹I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their wickedness, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the destruction that I have declared against them—but they would not listen."'"

³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah the son of Josiah king in the land of Judah so he reigned as king instead of Coniah (also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin) the son of Jehoiakim.

²But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

³Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah [along] with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Please pray [now] to the LORD our God for us."

⁴Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not [yet] put him in prison.

⁵Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah:

⁷"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'This is what you are to say 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, will return to Egypt, to their own land.

⁸And the Chaldeans [of Babylon] will come again and fight against this city, and they will capture it and set it on fire."'

⁹Thus says the LORD, 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will certainly stay away from us," for they will not stay away.

¹⁰For even if you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only the wounded men among them, yet they would rise up, every man confined in his tent, and burn down this city with fire.'"

¹¹Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans departed from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's [approaching] army,

¹²that Jeremiah left Jerusalem [during the withdrawal of the Chaldean invaders] to go to [Anathoth, his hometown, in] the land of Benjamin to take possession of [the title to] the land [which he had purchased] there among the people.

¹³When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he seized and arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are deserting to join the Chaldeans [of Babylon]!"

¹⁴But Jeremiah said, "That is a lie! I am not deserting to join the Chaldeans." But the guard would not listen to him. So Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes (court officials).

¹⁵The princes were enraged with Jeremiah and beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe—for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶When Jeremiah had come into the vaulted cell in the dungeon and had remained there many days,

¹⁷Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him, "Is there any word from the LORD?" And Jeremiah said, "There is!" Then he said, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."

¹⁸Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?'

²⁰Therefore now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my petition come before you and be acceptable and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there."

²¹Then King Zedekiah commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guardhouse, and a [round] loaf of bread from the bakers' street was given to him daily, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained [imprisoned] in the court of the guardhouse.

¹Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal (also called Jehucal) the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

²"So says the LORD, 'He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by virulent disease (pestilence), but he who goes out to the Chaldeans [of Babylon] will live and have his [own] life as a reward and stay alive.'

³Thus says the LORD, 'This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will take it.'"

⁴Therefore the princes (court officials) said to the king, "Please [we implore you] let this man [Jeremiah] be put to death; for [speaking] in this way he discourages and weakens [the will of] the soldiers who remain in this city and he discourages and weakens [the will of] all the people by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but rather their harm."

⁵Then King Zedekiah [fearing the princes] said, "Listen, he is in your hand; for the king is in no position to do anything against you."

⁶So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down [into the cistern] with ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

⁷Now Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Cushite), one of the eunuchs who was in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern, and while the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

⁸Ebed-melech went out of the king's palace and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹"My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die [of hunger] where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city."

¹⁰Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."

¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the palace of the king to a place under the storeroom and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

¹²Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Now put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits, then place the ropes under the padding"; and Jeremiah did so.

¹³So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and took him up out of the cistern; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me."

¹⁵Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Even if I do give you advice, you will not listen to me."

¹⁶But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, "As the LORD lives, who made our lives, be assured that I will not put you to death or put you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life."

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you will go out and surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live and this city will not be burned with fire; and you and your household will live.

¹⁸But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans [of Babylon] and they will set it on fire; and you yourself will not escape from their hand.'"

¹⁹Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews [my former subjects] who have deserted to join the Chaldeans, for the enemy may put me into their hand and they will mock me and abuse me."

²⁰But Jeremiah said, "They will not hand you over [to them]. Please obey [the voice of] the LORD [who speaks to you through me] in what I am saying to you. Then it will go well with you and you will live.

²¹But if you keep refusing to go out and surrender to them, this is the word [and the vision] which the LORD has shown me:

²²'Then behold, all the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon and those women will say [to you, King Zedekiah], "Your close friends Have prevailed against your better judgment and have overpowered and deceived you; While your feet were sunk in the mire [of trouble], They turned back."

²³Also, all your wives and your children will be brought out to the Chaldeans; and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city [Jerusalem] will be burned down with fire.'"

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no man know about this conversation and you will not die.

²⁵But if the princes (court officials) hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, 'Tell us now what you said to the king and what he said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not execute you,'

²⁶then you are to say to them, 'I was presenting my [humble] petition and plea to the king so that he would not send me back to Jonathan's house to die there.'"

²⁷Then all the princes (court officials) came to Jeremiah and asked him [just what King Zedekiah had anticipated they would ask], and he reported to them in accordance with all that the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, since the conversation [with the king] had not been overheard.

²⁸So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured [by the Chaldeans of Babylon].

¹Now regarding the capture of Jerusalem: In the ninth year of [the reign of] Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it;

²and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, they breached the wall and broke into the city.

³Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate [establishing both military control of the city and their authority to judge the captives]: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris (chief of the eunuchs), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

⁴When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and escaped from the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and the king went out toward the Arabah (Jordan Valley).

⁵But the Chaldean (Babylonian) army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had seized him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the [Aramean] land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.

⁶Then at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.

⁷Moreover, he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.

⁸The Chaldeans also burned down the king's palace and the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Then Nebuzaradan the [chief executioner and] captain of the bodyguard took the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted and surrendered to him, and the rest of the [so-called better class of] people who were left and carried them into exile in Babylon.

¹⁰But Nebuzaradan the [Babylonian] captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

¹¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,

¹²"Take him and look after him; do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you."

¹³So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris (chief of the high officials), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;

¹⁴they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah [a prominent citizen], the son of Ahikam [who had once saved Jeremiah's life], the son of Shaphan, to take him home [with him to Mizpah]. So Jeremiah [was released and] lived among the people.

¹⁵Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was [still] confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,

¹⁶"Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am about to bring My words [of judgment] against this city through disaster and not for good; and they will take place before you on that day.

¹⁷But I will protect you [Ebed-melech] on that day," says the LORD, "and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid.

¹⁸For I will certainly rescue you; and you will not fall by the sword, but you will have your [own] life as a reward of battle, because you have placed your trust in Me," says the LORD.'"

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken as exiles to Babylon.

²And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God promised this disaster on this place.

³Now the LORD has brought it about and has done just as He promised. Because you [people of Judah] have sinned against the LORD and did not listen to and honor His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you.

⁴But now, listen carefully, [because of your innocence] I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you [carefully]; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, then do not do so. Look, all the land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right (convenient) for you to go."

⁵While Jeremiah was still hesitating, the captain of the bodyguard said, "Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed [governor] over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go wherever it seems right for you to go." So the captain of the bodyguard gave him an allowance of food and a gift and let him go.

⁶Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷Now when all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country [of Judah] and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land [of Judah] and had put him in charge of the men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon,

⁸they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

⁹Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans; stay in this land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.

¹⁰As for me, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand [for you] before the Chaldeans who come to us [ministering to them and looking after the king's interests]; but as for you, gather in wine, summer fruit and oil and store them in your utensils [designed for such purposes], and live in your cities that you have taken over."

¹¹Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the people of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the [other] countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant [of the people] in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them [as governor],

¹²then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered a great abundance of wine and summer fruits.

¹³Moreover, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴and said to him, "Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, "Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know [who is responsible]. Why should he kill you and cause all the Jews who are gathered near you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?"

¹⁶But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are lying about Ishmael."

¹Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [of David] and one of the princes of the king, came [at the instigation of the Ammonites] with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in Mizpah. As they were eating a meal together there in Mizpah,

²Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land.

³Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were [at the banquet] with Gedaliah at Mizpah, in addition to the Chaldean soldiers who were there.

⁴Now it happened on the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it,

⁵that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies cut, carrying in their hands grain offerings and incense to present at the [site of the] house of the LORD [in Jerusalem].

⁶Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping [false tears] as he went. As he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!"

⁷Yet when they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern (underground water reservoir).

⁸But ten men who were among them said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us! We have stores of wheat and barley and oil and honey hidden in the field." So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.

⁹Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one which King Asa [of Judah] had made [about three hundred years earlier] on account of King Baasha of Israel [believing that Baasha would lay siege to Mizpah]. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [the bodies of] those who were killed.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king's daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites.

¹¹But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of the murderous behavior of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,

¹²they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.

¹³Now when all the [captive] people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad.

¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to join the Ammonites.

¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: the soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials whom Johanan had brought back from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went and stayed in Geruth [the lodging place of] Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt

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 had appointed [governor] over the land [and whose death the king might avenge].