Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining exiled elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had left Jerusalem.

³He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter stated:

⁴This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

⁶Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.

⁷Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

⁸For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them,

⁹for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁰For this is what the LORD says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

¹²You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you” — this is the LORD’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.”

¹⁵You have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon!”

¹⁶But this is what the LORD says concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and concerning all the people living in this city — that is, concerning your brothers who did not go with you into exile.

¹⁷This is what the LORD of Armies says: “I am about to send sword, famine, and plague against them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.

¹⁸I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth — a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.

¹⁹I will do this because they have not listened to my words” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “the words that I sent to them with my servants the prophets time and time again. And you too have not listened.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

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

²¹This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying a lie to you in my name: “I am about to hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

²²Based on what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will create a curse that says, ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire! ’

²³because they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken in my name a lie, which I did not command them. I am he who knows, and I am a witness.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁴To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you are to say,

²⁵“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You in your own name have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to be the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, responsible for every madman who acts like a prophet. You must confine him in the stocks and an iron collar.

²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who has been acting like a prophet among you?

²⁸For he has sent word to us in Babylon, claiming, “The exile will be long. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.”’ ”

²⁹The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

³¹“Send a message to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and made you trust a lie,

³²this is what the LORD says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to my people — this is the LORD’s declaration — for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write on a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you,

³for look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah,” says the LORD. “I will restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors and they will possess it.”

⁴These are the words the LORD spoke to Israel and Judah.

⁵This is what the LORD says: We have heard a cry of terror, of dread — there is no peace.

⁶Ask and see whether a male can give birth. Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

⁷How awful that day will be! There will be no other like it! It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.

⁸On that day — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains, and strangers will never again enslave him.

⁹They will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰As for you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid — this is the LORD’s declaration — and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you out of a distant place, your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

¹¹For I will be with you — this is the LORD’s declaration — to save you! I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have scattered you; however, I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you justly, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹²For this is what the LORD says: Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe.

¹³You have no defender for your case. There is no remedy for your sores, and no healing for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer look for you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁵Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁶Nevertheless, all who devoured you will be devoured, and all your adversaries — all of them — will go off into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered, and all who raid you will be raided.

¹⁷But I will bring you health and will heal you of your wounds — this is the LORD’s declaration — for they call you Outcast, Zion whom no one cares about.

¹⁸This is what the LORD says: I will certainly restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and show compassion on his dwellings. Every city will be rebuilt on its mound; every citadel will stand on its proper site.

¹⁹Thanksgiving will come out of them, a sound of rejoicing. I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will honor them, and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰His children will be as in past days; his congregation will be established in my presence. I will punish all his oppressors.

²¹Jacob’s leader will be one of them; his ruler will issue from him. I will invite him to me, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise risk his life to approach me? This is the LORD’s declaration.

²²You will be my people, and I will be your God.

²³Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a churning storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

²⁴The LORD’s burning anger will not turn back until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it.

¹“At that time” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the LORD says: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness. When Israel went to find rest,

³the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.

⁴Again I will build you so that you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will take up your tambourines again and go out in joyful dancing.

⁵You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen will call out in the hill country of Ephraim, “Come, let’s go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!”

⁷For this is what the LORD says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, “LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!”

⁸Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land. I will gather them from remote regions of the earth  — the blind and the lame will be with them, along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth. They will return here as a great assembly!

⁹They will come weeping, but I will bring them back with consolation. I will lead them to wadis filled with water, by a smooth way where they will not stumble, for I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰Nations, hear the word of the LORD, and tell it among the far off coasts and islands! Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him. He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,

¹¹for the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.”

¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant with joy because of the LORD’s goodness, because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and because of the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.

¹³Then the young women will rejoice with dancing, while young and old men rejoice together. I will turn their mourning into joy, give them consolation, and bring happiness out of grief.

¹⁴I will refresh the priests with an abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping — Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.

¹⁶This is what the LORD says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come — this is the LORD’s declaration — and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

¹⁷There is hope for your future  — this is the LORD’s declaration — and your children will return to their own territory.

¹⁸I have surely heard Ephraim moaning, “You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Take me back, so that I can return, for you, LORD, are my God.

¹⁹After my return, I felt regret; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

²⁰Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the LORD’s declaration.

²¹Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. Return, Virgin Israel! Return to these cities of yours.

²²How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the LORD creates something new in the land  — a female will shelter a man.

²³This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.’

²⁴Judah and all its cities will live in it together — also farmers and those who move with the flocks —

²⁵for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

²⁷“Look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals.

²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I watch over them to build and to plant them”  — this is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁹“In those days, it will never again be said, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰Rather, each will die for his own iniquity. Anyone who eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹“Look, the days are coming”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

³²This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”  — the LORD’s declaration.

³³“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the LORD’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

³⁴No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”  — this is the LORD’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.

³⁵“This is what the LORD says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar  — the LORD of Armies is his name:

³⁶If this fixed order departs from before me — this is the LORD’s declaration — only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever.

³⁷“This is what the LORD says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³⁸“Look, the days are coming” — the LORD’s declaration — “when the city from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt for the LORD.

³⁹A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.

⁴⁰The whole valley — the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east — will be holy to the LORD. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”

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

²At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.

³King Zedekiah of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why are you prophesying as you do? You say, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it.

⁴King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye.

⁵He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him — this is the LORD’s declaration. For you will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed.’”

⁶Jeremiah replied, “The word of the LORD came to me:

⁷Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.’

⁸“Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out the silver to him  — seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰I recorded it on a scroll, sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

¹¹I took the purchase agreement — the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy —

¹²and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.

¹³“I charged Baruch in their sight,

¹⁴‘This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls — this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy — and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time.

¹⁵For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

¹⁶“After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:

¹⁷Oh, Lord GOD! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

¹⁸You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ iniquity on their sons’ laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Armies,

¹⁹the one great in counsel and powerful in action. Your eyes are on all the ways of the children of men in order to reward each person according to his ways and as the result of his actions.

²⁰You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and still do today, both in Israel and among all mankind. You made a name for yourself, as is the case today.

²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.

²²You gave them this land you swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.

²³They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey you or live according to your instructions. They failed to perform all you commanded them to do, and so you have brought all this disaster on them.

²⁴Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you have spoken has happened. Look, you can see it!

²⁵Yet you, Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Purchase the field and call in witnesses’ — even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!”

²⁶The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

²⁷“Look, I am the LORD, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?

²⁸Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.

²⁹The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire. They will burn it, including the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to anger me.

³⁰From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in my sight! They have done nothing but anger me by the work of their hands”  — this is the LORD’s declaration —

³¹“for this city has caused my wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from my presence

³²because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to anger me — they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.

³³They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline.

³⁴They have placed their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name and have defiled it.

³⁵They have built the high places of Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire to Molech  — something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!

³⁶“Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:

³⁷I will certainly gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in my anger, rage and intense wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.

³⁸They will be my people, and I will be their God.

³⁹I will give them integrity of heart and action so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them.

⁴⁰“I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.

⁴¹I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all my heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.

⁴²“For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this terrible disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.

⁴³Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’

⁴⁴Fields will be purchased, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities — the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev — because I will restore their fortunes.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹While he was still confined in the guard’s courtyard, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time:

²“The LORD who made the earth, the LORD who forms it to establish it, the LORD is his name, says this:

³Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.

⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of Judah’s kings, the ones torn down for defense against the assault ramps and the sword:

⁵The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in my wrath and rage. I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

⁶Yet I will certainly bring health and healing to it and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance of true peace.

⁷I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times.

⁸I will purify them from all the iniquity they have committed against me, and I will forgive all the iniquities they have committed against me, rebelling against me.

⁹This city will bear on my behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the prosperity I will give them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them.

¹⁰“This is what the LORD says: In this place, which you say is a ruin, without people or animals — that is, in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets that are a desolation without people, without inhabitants, and without animals — there will be heard again

¹¹a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride, and the voice of those saying, Give thanks to the LORD of Armies, for the LORD is good; his faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the LORD.

¹²“This is what the LORD of Armies says: In this desolate place — without people or animals — and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks.

¹³The flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them in the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin — the areas around Jerusalem and in Judah’s cities, says the LORD.

¹⁴“Look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will fulfill the good promise that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch to sprout up for David, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The LORD Is Our Righteousness.

¹⁷“For this is what the LORD says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.

¹⁸The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices.”

¹⁹The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

²⁰“This is what the LORD says: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,

²¹then also my covenant with my servant David may be broken. If that could happen, then he would not have a son reigning on his throne and the Levitical priests would not be my ministers.

²²Even as the stars of heaven cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so too I will make innumerable the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister to me.”

²³The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

²⁴“Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say, ‘The LORD has rejected the two families he had chosen.’ My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them.

²⁵This is what the LORD says: If I do not keep my covenant with the day and with the night, and if I fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth,

²⁶then I might also reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David. That is, I would not take rulers from his descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But in fact, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his whole army, all the kingdoms of the lands under his control, and all other peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities:

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it.

³As for you, you will not escape from him but are certain to be captured and handed over to him. You will meet the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak face to face; you will go to Babylon.

⁴“‘Yet hear the LORD’s word, King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;

⁵you will die peacefully. There will be a burning ceremony for you just like the burning ceremonies for your ancestors, the kings of old who came before you. “Oh, master!” will be the lament for you, for I have spoken this word. This is the LORD’s declaration.’”

⁶So the prophet Jeremiah related all these words to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷while the king of Babylon’s army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah’s remaining cities — that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they were the only ones left of Judah’s fortified cities.

⁸This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them.

⁹As a result, each was to let his male and female Hebrew slaves go free, and no one was to enslave his fellow Judean.

¹⁰All the officials and people who entered into covenant to let their male and female slaves go free — in order not to enslave them any longer — obeyed and let them go free.

¹¹Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had let go free and forced them to become slaves again.

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

¹³“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying,

¹⁴‘At the end of seven years, each of you must let his fellow Hebrew who sold himself to you go. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free from your service.’ But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention.

¹⁵Today you repented and did what pleased me, each of you proclaiming freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me at the house that bears my name.

¹⁶But you have changed your minds and profaned my name. Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been let go free to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

¹⁷“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming freedom, each for his fellow Hebrew and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you  — this is the LORD’s declaration — to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth’s kingdoms.

¹⁸As for those who disobeyed my covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.

¹⁹The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf —

²⁰all these I will hand over to their enemies, to those who intend to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

²¹I will hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who intend to take their lives, to the king of Babylon’s army that is withdrawing.

²²I am about to give the command — this is the LORD’s declaration — and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it. I will make Judah’s cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”

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

²“Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the temple of the LORD to offer them a drink of wine.”

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

⁴and I brought them into the temple of the LORD to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, who had a chamber near the officials’ chamber, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

⁵I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”

⁶But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine.

⁷You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a resident alien.’

⁸We have obeyed Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, in all he commanded us. So we haven’t drunk wine our whole life — we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters.

⁹We also have not built houses to live in and do not have vineyard, field, or seed.

¹⁰But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

¹¹However, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched into the land, we said, ‘Come, let’s go into Jerusalem to get away from the Chaldean and Aramean armies.’ So we have been living in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹³“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go, say to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not accept discipline by listening to my words? — this is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁴The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have been carried out. He commanded his descendants not to drink wine, and they have not drunk to this day because they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I have spoken to you time and time again, and you have not obeyed me!

¹⁵Time and time again I have sent you all my servants the prophets, proclaiming, “Turn, each one from his evil way, and correct your actions. Stop following other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay attention or obey me.

¹⁶Yes, the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab carried out their ancestor’s command he gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.

¹⁷Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring on Judah and on all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster I have pronounced against them because I have spoken to them, but they have not obeyed, and I have called to them, but they did not answer.’”

¹⁸But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab and have kept all his commands and have done everything he commanded you,

¹⁹this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before me always.’”

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

²“Take a scroll, and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah’s reign until today.

³Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. At Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah.

⁵Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the temple of the LORD,

⁶so you must go and read from the scroll — which you wrote at my dictation  — the words of the LORD in the hearing of the people at the temple of the LORD on a day of fasting. Read his words in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities.

⁷Perhaps their petition will come before the LORD, and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people are intense.”

⁸So Baruch son of Neriah did everything the prophet Jeremiah had commanded him. At the LORD’s temple he read the LORD’s words from the scroll.

⁹In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people of Jerusalem and all those coming in from Judah’s cities into Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD.

¹⁰Then at the LORD’s temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the LORD’s temple, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll.

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

¹²he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace. All the officials were sitting there — Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

¹³Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

¹⁴Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them.

¹⁵They said to him, “Sit down and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

¹⁶When they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these things.”

¹⁷Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?”

¹⁸Baruch said to them, “At his dictation. He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink.”

¹⁹The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide and tell no one where you are.”

²⁰Then, after depositing the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, the officials came to the king at the courtyard and reported everything in the hearing of the king.

²¹The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi then read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king.

²²Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning in front of him.

²³As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the fire in the hearth until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the hearth.

²⁴As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified or tear their clothes.

²⁵Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them.

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

²⁷After the king had burned the scroll and the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

²⁸“Take another scroll, and once again write on it the original words that were on the original scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned.

²⁹You are to proclaim concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll, asking, “Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without people or animals?”

³⁰Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.

³¹I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.’”

³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah’s king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.

¹Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made him king.

²He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the LORD that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

³Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, requesting, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”

⁴Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks among the people, for he had not yet been put into the prison.

⁵Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

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

⁷“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, who is sending you to inquire of me: ‘Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.

⁸The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it.

⁹This is what the LORD says: Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, “The Chaldeans will leave us for good,” for they will not leave.

¹⁰Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you, and there remained among them only the badly wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city.’”

¹¹When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

¹²Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.

¹³But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans.”

¹⁴“That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not defecting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials.

¹⁵The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.

¹⁶So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days.

¹⁷King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah responded. He continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land’?

²⁰So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the bakers’ street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.

¹Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:

²“This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will retain his life like the spoils of war and will live.’

³This is what the LORD says: ‘This city will most certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon’s army, and he will capture it.’”

⁴The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not pursuing the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.”

⁶So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

⁷But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

⁸Ebed-melech went from the king’s palace and spoke to the king:

⁹“My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have dropped him into the cistern where he will die from hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.”

¹⁰So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here thirty men under your authority and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went to the king’s palace to a place below the storehouse. From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

¹²Ebed-melech the Cushite called down to Jeremiah, “Place these old rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did this.

¹³They pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, but he remained in the guard’s courtyard.

¹⁴King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the LORD’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”

¹⁵Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”

¹⁶King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private, “As the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who intend to take your life.”

¹⁷Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned, and you and your household will survive.

¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you yourself will not escape from them.’”

¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.”

²⁰“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the LORD in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live.

²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict that the LORD has shown me:

²²‘All the women who remain in the palace of Judah’s king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say to you, “Your trusted friends misled you and overcame you. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.”

²³All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn.’”

²⁴Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about this conversation or you will die.

²⁵The officials may hear that I have spoken with you and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’

²⁶If they do, tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

²⁷All the officials did come to Jeremiah, and they questioned him. He reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because the conversation had not been overheard.

²⁸Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened.

¹In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.

²In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.

³All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.

⁴When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.

⁵However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.

⁶At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles.

⁷Then he blinded Zedekiah and put him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon.

⁸The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported the rest of the people to Babylon — those who had remained in the city and those deserters who had defected to him along with the rest of the people who remained.

¹⁰However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

¹¹Speaking through Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah:

¹²“Take him and look after him. Don’t do him any harm, but do for him whatever he says.”

¹³Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, Nebushazban the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the captains of Babylon’s king

¹⁴had Jeremiah brought from the guard’s courtyard and turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he settled among his own people.

¹⁵Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah when he was confined in the guard’s courtyard:

¹⁶“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words for disaster and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day.

¹⁷But I will rescue you on that day — this is the LORD’s declaration — and you will not be handed over to the men you dread.

¹⁸Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in me, you will retain your life like the spoils of war. This is the LORD’s declaration.’”

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, released him at Ramah. When he found him, he was bound in chains with all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

²The captain of the guards took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place,

³and the LORD has fulfilled it. He has done just what he decreed. Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him, this thing has happened.

⁴Now pay attention: Today I am setting you free from the chains that were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look — the whole land is in front of you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.”

⁵When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people or go wherever it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the guards gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

⁶Jeremiah therefore went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

⁷All the commanders of the armies that were in the countryside — they and their men — heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land. He had been put in charge of the men, women, and children from among the poorest of the land, who had not been deported to Babylon.

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

⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.

¹⁰As for me, I am going to live in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have captured.”

¹¹When all the Judeans in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in all the other lands also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them,

¹²they all returned from all the places where they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and harvested a great amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the countryside came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah suggested to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah, “Let me go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it. Why should he kill you and allow all of Judah that has gathered around you to scatter and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

¹In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah,

²but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.

³Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.

⁴On the day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one knew yet,

⁵eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria who had shaved their beards, torn their clothes, and gashed themselves, and who were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the LORD.

⁶Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out of Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. When he encountered them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!”

⁷But when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

⁸However, there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field — wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.

⁹Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one that King Asa had made in the encounter with King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king — all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹¹When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,

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

¹³When all the people held by Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the army with him, they rejoiced.

¹⁴All the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and rejoined Johanan son of Kareah.

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

¹⁶Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam — men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon.

¹⁷They left, stopping in Geruth Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, in order to make their way into Egypt,

¹⁸away from the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.