Jeremiah 38

1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,

2 “Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.’

3 Yahweh says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’”

4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”

5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”

6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),

8 Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying,

9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.”

11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.”

Jeremiah did so.

13 So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in Yahweh’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”

16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house.

18 But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’”

19 Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”

20 But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, Yahweh’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul shall live.

21 But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me:

22 ‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say,

“Your familiar friends have turned on you,

and have prevailed over you.

Your feet are sunk in the mire,

they have turned away from you.”

23 They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. You won’t escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will cause this city to be burned with fire.’”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you won’t die.

25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you;’

26 then you shall tell them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’”

27 Then came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28 So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/38-1463e906e77f96e6e5029d0639edea3c.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 39

1 When Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.

2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city),

3 all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.

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

7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

8 The Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained.

10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying,

12 “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall tell you.”

13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon;

14 they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.

15 Now Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

16 “Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day.

17 But I will deliver you in that day,’ says Yahweh; ‘and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in me,’ says Yahweh.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/39-5b85574e52cb95b0d1a28b37150f1f92.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 40

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place;

3 and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you.

4 Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.”

5 Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.”

So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.

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

7 Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;

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

9 Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

11 Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;

12 then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?”

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them.

15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”

16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/40-e40e2abff20f3abefb68174f5030831a.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 41

1 Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspringand one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

2 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

4 The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,

5 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to Yahweh’s house.

6 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.”

7 It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.

8 But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.”

So he stopped, and didn’t kill them among their brothers.

9 Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.

10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the of the people who were left in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

12 then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13 Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.

14 So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

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

16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

17 They departed, and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,

18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/41-da58405df17c3a0a93fa3a4603b51ef4.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 42

1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,

2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us;

3 that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.”

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you; behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.”

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God shall send you to us.

6 Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”

7 After ten days, Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah.

8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 and said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says:

10 ‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.

11 Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Yahweh: ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.

13 “‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land;” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice,

14 saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:”’

15 now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;

16 then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you shall die there.

17 So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’

18 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured out on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’

19 “Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, Don’t you go into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified to you today.

20 For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it:’

21 and I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you.

22 Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live there.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/42-6b151c55d8c11cc9c1ced951fb69092c.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 43

1 When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

2 then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’

3 but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.”

4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice, to dwell in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah;

6 the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah;

7 and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice: and they came to Tahpanhes.

8 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

9 “Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

10 and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

11 He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.

12 I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he shall go out from there in peace.

13 He shall also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he shall burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/43-ad0cc4fa02a4c8e08a90bc65bcf8e351.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 44

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

2 “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,

3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods, that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.

4 However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.”

5 But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods.

6 Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’

7 “Therefore now Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining;

8 in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.’

11 “Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.

12 I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

13 For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;

14 so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’”

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you.

17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

19 “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying,

21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t Yahweh remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind?

22 Thus Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.

23 Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.”

24 Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, “Hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!

25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.”

“‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’

26 “Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.”

27 Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone.

28 Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

29 “‘This shall be the sign to you,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil.’

30 Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/44-fd81583643bf29c50ee6c398d3c6ce17.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 45

1 The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

2 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch:

3 ‘You said, “Woe is me now! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain! I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.”’

4 “You shall tell him, Yahweh says: ‘Behold, that which I have built, I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.

5 Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh,’ says Yahweh; ‘but your life will I give to you for a prey in all places where you go.’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/45-dbe16031de98313fe60e3056ea15258f.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 46

1 Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 “Prepare the buckler and shield,

and draw near to battle!

4 Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen,

and stand up with your helmets.

Polish the spears,

put on the coats of mail.

5 Why have I seen it?

They are dismayed and are turned backward.

Their mighty ones are beaten down,

have fled in haste,

and don’t look back.

Terror is on every side,”

says Yahweh.

6 “Don’t let the swift flee away,

nor the mighty man escape.

In the north by the river Euphrates

they have stumbled and fallen.

7 “Who is this who rises up like the Nile,

whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?

8 Egypt rises up like the Nile,

and his waters toss themselves like the rivers:

and he says, ‘I will rise up, I will cover the earth.

I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’

9 Go up, you horses;

and rage, you chariots!

Let the mighty men go out:

Cush and Put, who handle the shield;

and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.

10 For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies,

a day of vengeance,

that he may avenge himself of his adversaries.

The sword will devour and be satiated,

and will drink its fill of their blood;

for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt.

In vain do you use many medicines.

There is no healing for you.

12 The nations have heard of your shame,

and the earth is full of your cry;

for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty,

they both fall together.”

13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.

14 “Declare in Egypt,

publish in Migdol,

and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes:

say, ‘Stand up, and prepare;

for the sword has devoured around you.’

15 Why are your strong ones swept away?

they didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them.

16 He made many to stumble,

yes, they fell on one another:

and they said, ‘Arise, and let us go again to our own people,

and to the land of our birth,

from the oppressing sword.’

17 They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise;

he has let the appointed time pass by.’

18 “As I live,” says the King,

whose name is Yahweh of Armies,

“surely like Tabor among the mountains,

and like Carmel by the sea,

so shall he come.

19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt,

furnish yourself to go into captivity;

for Memphis shall become a desolation,

and shall be burned up,

without inhabitant.

20 “Egypt is a very beautiful heifer;

but destruction out of the north has come.

It has come.

21 Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall;

for they also are turned back.

They have fled away together.

They didn’t stand,

for the day of their calamity has come on them,

the time of their visitation.

22 It’s sound will go like the serpent;

for they shall march with an army,

and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.

23 They shall cut down her forest,” says Yahweh,

“though it can’t be searched;

because they are more than the locusts,

and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed;

she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”

25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.

26 I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh.

27 “But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant,

neither be dismayed, Israel;

for, behold, I will save you from afar,

and your offspringfrom the land of their captivity.

Jacob will return,

and will be quiet and at ease.

No one will make him afraid.

28 Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh;

“for I am with you;

for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you;

but I will not make a full end of you,

but I will correct you in measure,

and will in no way leave you unpunished.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/46-edc4a9d509905581c3a7036f0c325916.mp3?version_id=206—

Jeremiah 47

1 Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza.

2 Yahweh says:

“Behold, waters rise up out of the north,

and will become an overflowing stream,

and will overflow the land and all that is therein,

the city and those who dwell therein.

The men will cry,

and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.

3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones,

at the rushing of his chariots,

at the rumbling of his wheels,

the fathers don’t look back to their children

for feebleness of hands;

4 because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines,

to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains;

for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines,

the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.

5 Baldness has come on Gaza;

Ashkelon is brought to nothing,

the remnant of their valley:

how long will you cut yourself?

6 “‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet?

Put yourself back into your scabbard;

rest, and be still.’

7 “How can you be quiet,

since Yahweh has given you a command?

Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore,

there has he appointed it.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/47-f2cec909460c196c400a67482287e511.mp3?version_id=206—