¹⁰“ ‘So do not fear,^† O Jacob my servant;^†

do not be dismayed, O Israel,’

declares the LORD.

‘I will surely save^† you out of a distant place,

your descendants from the land of their exile.

Jacob will again have peace and security,^†

and no one will make him afraid.

¹¹I am with you and will save you,’

declares the LORD.

‘Though I completely destroy all the nations

among which I scatter you,

I will not completely destroy^† you.

I will discipline^† you but only with justice;

I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’^†

¹²“This is what the LORD says:

“ ‘Your wound is incurable,

your injury beyond healing.^†

¹³There is no one to plead your cause,

no remedy for your sore,

no healing^† for you.

¹⁴All your allies^† have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you.

I have struck you as an enemy^† would

and punished you as would the cruel,^†

because your guilt is so great

and your sins^† so many.

¹⁵Why do you cry out over your wound,

your pain that has no cure?

Because of your great guilt and many sins

I have done these things to you.

¹⁶“ ‘But all who devour^† you will be devoured;

all your enemies will go into exile.^†

Those who plunder^† you will be plundered;

all who make spoil of you I will despoil.

¹⁷But I will restore you to health

and heal your wounds,’

declares the LORD,

‘because you are called an outcast,^†

Zion for whom no one cares.’

¹⁸“This is what the LORD says:

“ ‘I will restore the fortunes^† of Jacob’s tents

and have compassion^† on his dwellings;

the city will be rebuilt^† on her ruins,

and the palace will stand in its proper place.

¹⁹From them will come songs^† of thanksgiving^†

and the sound of rejoicing.^†

I will add to their numbers,^†

and they will not be decreased;

I will bring them honor,^†

and they will not be disdained.

²⁰Their children^† will be as in days of old,

and their community will be established^† before me;

I will punish all who oppress them.

²¹Their leader^† will be one of their own;

their ruler will arise from among them.

I will bring him near^† and he will come close to me,

for who is he who will devote himself

to be close to me?’

declares the LORD.

²²“ ‘So you will be my people,

and I will be your God.’ ”

²³See, the storm^† of the LORD

will burst out in wrath,

a driving wind swirling down

on the heads of the wicked.

²⁴The fierce anger^† of the LORD will not turn back^†

until he fully accomplishes

the purposes of his heart.

In days to come

you will understand^† this.

Jeremiah 31

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God^† of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the LORD says:

“The people who survive the sword

will find favor^† in the desert;

I will come to give rest^† to Israel.”

³The LORD appeared to us in the past,^[62] saying:

“I have loved^† you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn^† you with loving-kindness.

⁴I will build you up again

and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.

Again you will take up your tambourines

and go out to dance with the joyful.^†

⁵Again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;^†

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.^†

⁶There will be a day when watchmen cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the LORD our God.’ ”^†

⁷This is what the LORD says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost^† of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘O LORD, save^† your people,

the remnant^† of Israel.’

⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north^†

and gather^† them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind^† and the lame,^†

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

⁹They will come with weeping;^†

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead^† them beside streams of water

on a level^† path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,^†

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:^†

‘He who scattered Israel will gather^† them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’^†

¹¹For the LORD will ransom Jacob

and redeem^† them from the hand of those stronger^† than they.

¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights^† of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty^† of the LORD—

the grain, the new wine and the oil,^†

the young of the flocks and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,^†

and they will sorrow^† no more.

¹³Then maidens will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning^† into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy^† instead of sorrow.

¹⁴I will satisfy^† the priests with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,”

declares the LORD.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,^†

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,^†

because her children are no more.”^†

¹⁶This is what the LORD says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,^†

for your work will be rewarded,^†”

declares the LORD.

“They will return^† from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So there is hope for your future,”

declares the LORD.

“Your children will return to their own land.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined^† me like an unruly calf,^†

and I have been disciplined.

Restore^† me, and I will return,

because you are the LORD my God.

¹⁹After I strayed,^†

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat^† my breast.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

²⁰Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember^† him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion^† for him,”

declares the LORD.

²¹“Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,^†

the road that you take.

Return,^† O Virgin^† Israel,

return to your towns.

²²How long will you wander,^†

O unfaithful^† daughter?

The LORD will create a new thing on earth—

a woman will surround^[63] a man.”

²³This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity,^{[64] †} the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling,^† O sacred mountain.’^{† 24}People will live^† together in Judah and all its towns— farmers and those who move about with their flocks. ²⁵I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”^†

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

²⁷“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will plant^† the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. ²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster,^† so I will watch over them to build and to plant,”^† declares the LORD. ²⁹“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The fathers^† have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’^†

³⁰Instead, everyone will die for his own sin;^† whoever eats sour grapes— his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,

“when I will make a new covenant^†

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant^†

I made with their forefathers^†

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to^[65] them,^[66] ”

declares the LORD.

³³“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time,” declares the LORD.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.^†

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.^†

³⁴No longer will a man teach^† his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’

because they will all know^† me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the LORD.

“For I will forgive^† their wickedness

and will remember their sins^† no more.”

³⁵This is what the LORD says,

he who appoints^† the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,^†

who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar—

the LORD Almighty is his name:^†

³⁶“Only if these decrees^† vanish from my sight,”

declares the LORD,

“will the descendants^† of Israel ever cease

to be a nation before me.”

³⁷This is what the LORD says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured^†

and the foundations of the earth below be searched out

will I reject^† all the descendants of Israel

because of all they have done,”

declares the LORD.

³⁸“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt^† for me from the Tower of Hananel^† to the Corner Gate.^{† 39}The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰The whole valley^† where dead bodies^† and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley^† on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,^† will be holy^† to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah Buys a Field

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth^† year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth^† year of Nebuchadnezzar. ²The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard^† in the royal palace of Judah.

---

*

Baruch, Scribe of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 32 Baruch, a well-known figure in the book of Jeremiah, was Jeremiah’s secretary, representative and advisor, with an official title of “scribe” (Jer 36:26, 32). Evidence suggests that he was a royal scribe from a prominent family involved in this profession.¹ Jeremiah 32 describes how the prophet entrusted Baruch a deed of purchase for preservation (vv. 6–15). Jeremiah also dictated his prophecies to Baruch, who wrote them down on leather scrolls with pen and ink (36:4, 18). Baruch was forced to hide with Jeremiah because of official opposition to Jeremiah’s prophecies (36:26). Curiously, after the fall of Jerusalem,² when Jeremiah told the Jews left behind in Judah that God forbade them to flee to Egypt, the angry Jews blamed Baruch for that message (42:1–43:7, especially 43:3). Jeremiah 45 gives us a glimpse of the man Baruch. He was distraught over all that had happened and wondered what would become of him, but God responded with both an admonition and a promise.

Two seal impressions of Baruch, both made from the same seal, have been acquired on the antiquities market in Israel. One of them is on display in the Israel Museum. The three-line inscription on each of them reads, “Belonging to Berekyahu, son of Neriyahu, the scribe.” Berekyahu is a longer form of Baruch’s name; it includes the divine element “Yahu,” or Yahweh. The other seal, including a fingerprint (no doubt that of Baruch himself) is held in a private collection.

1. See “The Scribe.”

2. See “The Last Days of Jerusalem.”

---

³Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy^† as you do? You say, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture^† it. ⁴Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape^† out of the hands of the Babylonians^[67] but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵He will take^† Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’ ”^†

⁶Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: ⁷Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty^† to buy it.’

⁸“Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the LORD; ⁹so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[68] of silver.^{† 10}I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed,^† and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹I took the deed of purchase— the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— ¹²and I gave this deed to Baruch^† son of Neriah,^† the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. ¹⁵For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’^†

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

¹⁷“Ah, Sovereign LORD,^† you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.^† Nothing is too hard^† for you. ¹⁸You show love^† to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers’ sins into the laps of their children^† after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty,^{† 19}great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.^† Your eyes are open to all the ways of men;^† you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.^{† 20}You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt^† and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. ²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand^† and an outstretched arm and with great terror.^{† 22}You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{† 23}They came in and took possession^† of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law;^† they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster^† upon them.

²⁴“See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague,^† the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said^† has happened, as you now see. ²⁵And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’ ”

²⁶Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁷“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.^† Is anything too hard for me? ²⁸Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar^† king of Babylon, who will capture it.^{† 29}The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down,^† along with the houses^† where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings^† to other gods.

³⁰“The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth;^† indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke^† me with what their hands have made,^† declares the LORD. ³¹From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove^† it from my sight. ³²The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil^† they have done— they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. ³³They turned their backs^† to me and not their faces; though I taught^† them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. ³⁴They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled^† it. ³⁵They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters^[69] to Molech,^† though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind,^† that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

³⁶“You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague^† it will be handed over to the king of Babylon’; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ³⁷I will surely gather^† them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.^{† 38}They will be my people,^† and I will be their God. ³⁹I will give them singleness^† of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. ⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant^† with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.^{† 41}I will rejoice in doing them good^† and will assuredly plant^† them in this land with all my heart and soul.

⁴²“This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised^† them. ⁴³Once more fields will be bought^† in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.’ ⁴⁴Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds^† will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev,^† because I will restore^† their fortunes,^[70] declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 33

Promise of Restoration

¹While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard^† of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: ²“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth,^† the LORD who formed it and established it— the LORD is his name:^{† 3}‘Call^† to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ ⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege^† ramps^† and the sword ⁵in the fight with the Babylonians^[71]: ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath.^† I will hide my face^† from this city because of all its wickedness.

⁶“ ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. ⁷I will bring Judah^† and Israel back from captivity^{[72] †} and will rebuild them as they were before.^{† 8}I will cleanse^† them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive^† all their sins of rebellion against me. ⁹Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise^† and honor^† before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’

¹⁰“This is what the LORD says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without men or animals.”^† Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more ¹¹the sounds of joy and gladness,^† the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings^† to the house of the LORD, saying,

“Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,

for the LORD is good;^†

his love endures forever.”^†

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the LORD.

¹²“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate^† and without men or animals— in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.^{† 13}In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev,^† in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand^† of the one who counts them,’ says the LORD.

¹⁴“ ‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise^† I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

¹⁵“ ‘In those days and at that time

I will make a righteous^† Branch^† sprout from David’s line;

he will do what is just and right in the land.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved^†

and Jerusalem will live in safety.

This is the name by which it^[73] will be called:

The LORD Our Righteousness.’^†

¹⁷For this is what the LORD says: ‘David will never fail^† to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, ¹⁸nor will the priests, who are Levites,^† ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present 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 no longer come at their appointed time, ²¹then my covenant^† with David my servant— and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me— can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne.^{† 22}I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless^† as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ ”

²³The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁴“Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms^{[74] †} he chose’? So they despise^† my people and no longer regard them as a nation.^{† 25}This is what the LORD says: ‘If I have not established my covenant with day and night^† and the fixed laws of heaven and earth,^{† 26}then I will reject^† the descendants of Jacob^† and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes^{[75] †} and have compassion on them.’ ”

Jeremiah 34

Warning to Zedekiah

¹While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples^† in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem^† and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah^† king 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 down.^{† 3}You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over^† to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.

---

*

The Hittite Ritual of Passing Between the Pieces of a Sacrifice

Jeremiah 34 Jeremiah 34:18–20 refers to Zedekiah’s covenant with God, in which the people passed between the parts of a calf cut in two. A similar ceremony is described in Genesis 15. What was the significance of passing between the pieces of an animal that had been split in half? Ancient texts supply us with several parallels to the Biblical rite:

• A Middle Hittite text describes a purification ceremony. This ceremony required defeated troops to march between the severed halves of a human, a billy goat, a puppy and a piglet, with fires burning on each side. The troops were first to perform the ritual near a river, where they would sprinkle themselves with water as they marched; then they were to enact it in the plain in like manner.

• In an eighth-century B.C. Aramaic treaty between Ashurnirari V of Assyria and his vassal Matilu of Arpad, Matilu and his sons are likened to a spring lamb whose knuckle is placed in the mouth of its severed head, lest he should “sin” against the treaty with his lord.

• Esarhaddon (680–669 B.C.) of Assyria declared in a treaty that his vassal and the vassal’s children, if he were to break the Assyrian king’s covenant, were to be treated in the same manner as the animals that lay slaughtered and gutted before them.

The Hittite ritual is similar to its Biblical counterpart, but the Assyrian texts may help us to understand its true significance. Essentially, these rites served as self-imprecation oaths, by which people called down curses upon their own heads should they fail to keep their part of the covenant they were solemnly ratifying. The ritual was a way of saying, “May what happened to these animals happen to us if we break this covenant.” Zedekiah’s covenant symbolized what would befall covenant-breakers. In this case Zedekiah and his people did break the covenant, and the death and destruction the ritual enacted were indeed the outcome.

---

*

The Lachish Ostraca

Jeremiah 34 In 1935 18 ostraca (broken pieces of pottery used for writing) were discovered in a guard room below the gate tower inside the outer wall at Lachish (“Map 4”), a fortified town protecting the southern Judean hill country, and in 1938 three more were found. While a few of the ostraca are unreadable, and four are administrative lists, the remaining are letters dating to the period from 597 to 587 B.C. They are extremely important, not only for their value in studying the development of Hebrew grammar and syntax, but also for their illumination of the political situation and general turmoil as Judah prepared for the inevitable attack by Nebuchadnezzar.

The most significant of the letters are numbers 3, 4 and 6. Number 3 is from Hoshaiah, a subordinate officer writing to Yaosh, probably the governor or military commander of Lachish. He reported that Coniah, son of Elnathan, had traveled to Egypt to obtain military assistance. Jeremiah 37:6–8 indicates that king Zedekiah had believed that Egyptian forces would come to his aid but that the Lord had declared otherwise: The pharaoh’s army would not stave off the Babylonian onslaught. Some suggest that Elnathan might have been the official of Zedekiah mentioned in 26:22 and 36:12, 25. The letter concludes with a warning message from an unnamed prophet.

A Lachish ostracon

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin; permission of The Israel Museum

In letter number 4 the author appears to say that he was watching for the fire signals of Lachish; those of Azekah were not visible. This may indicate that Azekah had already capitulated at the time the ostracon was inscribed. Azekah was the only other fortified city besides Lachish still standing in Judah just prior to Jerusalem’s fall.

Letter number 6 is concerned with the words of certain princes and officials of the sort intended to demoralize troops facing imminent war. A prophet is mentioned, but the name is illegible except for the ending “-yahu” (i.e., “Yahweh”). It may be that the prophet was either Uriah or Jeremiah (both their names end in “-yahu” in Hebrew), although of course we cannot know. Jeremiah had already prophesied that God would hand over Jerusalem to Babylon; many had thus regarded him as a traitor and a bad influence upon the people.

---

⁴“ ‘Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; ⁵you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire^† in honor of your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas,^† O master!” I myself make this promise, declares the LORD.’”

⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, ⁷while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out— Lachish^† and Azekah.^† These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.

Freedom for Slaves

⁸The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people^† in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom^† for the slaves. ⁹Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage.^{† 10}So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. ¹¹But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ¹³“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers^† when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, ¹⁴‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.’^{[76] †} Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or pay attention^† to me. ¹⁵Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen.^† You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.^{† 16}But now you have turned around^† and profaned^† my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

¹⁷“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,^† declares the LORD— ‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.^{† 18}The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.^{† 19}The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,^† the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, ²⁰I will hand over^† to their enemies who seek their lives.^† Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.^†

²¹“I will hand Zedekiah^† king of Judah and his officials^† over to their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn^† from you. ²²I am going to give the order, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take^† it and burn^† it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”

Jeremiah 35

The Recabites

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim^† son of Josiah king of Judah: ²“Go to the Recabite^† family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms^† of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink.”

---

*

The Septuagint and the Masoretic Text

Jeremiah 35 Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and thus we would expect the current Hebrew version to be the best witness we have to these books in their initial form. However, some scholars believe that the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, is a superior witness to what the prophets originally wrote.

The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. However, we should not think of it as a uniform and consistent translation like the NIV. Much to the contrary, the Septuagint was translated by numerous scholars with varying skill levels and philosophies of translation, and it was also revised many times. The first portion to be translated was the Pentateuch in the third century B.C. The rest was completed over the next couple of centuries, and the entire corpus underwent continuous revisions for hundreds of years. A modern copy of the Septuagint is really an amalgam of manuscripts and fragments, and it inevitably includes many revisions slipped in by later scribes (even though modern editors do strive to get back to the earliest version, called the “Old Greek” text). One reality is clear, however: At some points the text of the Septuagint is different from what we see in the standard Hebrew Old Testament, the Masoretic Text:

• Sometimes the Greek variants were interpretive in nature, such as in the misunderstanding of a Hebrew term or phrase. For example, the Hebrew phrase translated as “For the director of music” in the headings of many psalms (e.g., Ps 4)¹ is somewhat oddly translated as “Into the ending” in the Septuagint.

• Sometimes, however, it appears that a particular translator was working with a Hebrew original of the Old Testament that was somewhat different from what we now see in the standard Hebrew Bible, the Masoretic Text. For example, Hosea 13:4 in the Masoretic Text (as translated by the NIV) says, “But I am the LORD your God, [who brought you] out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me.” The Septuagint rendition of this verse, however, is significantly longer: “I am the LORD your God who fixed heaven and created earth; and I did not show them to you to go after them. And I led you up from Egypt and you should acknowledge no God but me. Except for me there is no Savior.” It is obvious that the Septuagint rendering here was based upon an original that included words not found in the standard version of the Hebrew, but it is an open question whether these extra words are original to the book of Hosea or reflect a later addition.

Replica of a portion of the second century B.C. Fouad 266 papyrus—the oldest Septuagint papyrus to date

© Dr. James C. Martin; Jerusalem Bible Society; Photographed by permission

In no other portion of the Old Testament are the differences between the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text so pronounced as in the book of Jeremiah. This suggests that for a time two different Hebrew versions of Jeremiah were circulating, one reflected in the Masoretic Text and the other in the Septuagint.² Even so, we have no reason to doubt that the Masoretic Text is overall the best witness we have to the original text of the Old Testament. In the vast majority of cases where the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint differ, the Masoretic Text is intrinsically more probable than the Septuagint. Modern translations of the Old Testament are rightly based upon the Hebrew Masoretic Text and not upon the Greek Septuagint.³

1. See “The Psalm Superscripts.”

2. See “The Problem of the Septuagint Version of Jeremiah.”

3. See also “Textual Criticism”, “Texts of the Old Testament” and “The Ancient Translations.”

---

³So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons— the whole family of the Recabites. ⁴I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God.^† It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum^† the doorkeeper.^{† 5}Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite family and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

⁶But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab^† son of Recab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.^{† 7}Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.^† Then you will live a long time in the land^† where you are nomads.’ ⁸We have obeyed everything our forefather^† Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine ⁹or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops.^{† 10}We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded^† this land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem^† to escape the Babylonian^[77] and Aramean armies.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: ¹³“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson^† and obey my words?’ declares the LORD. ¹⁴‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again,^† yet you have not obeyed^† me. ¹⁵Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets^† to you. They said, “Each of you must turn^† from your wicked ways and reform^† your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land^† I have given to you and your fathers.” But you have not paid attention or listened^† to me. ¹⁶The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather^† gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’

¹⁷“Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster^† I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen;^† I called to them, but they did not answer.’ ”^†

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ ¹⁹Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab son of Recab will never fail^† to have a man to serve^† me.’ ”

Jeremiah 36

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

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 other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah^† till now. ³Perhaps^† when the people of Judah hear^† about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn^† from his wicked way; then I will forgive^† their wickedness and their sin.”

---

*

Gemariah, the Official, and Jerahmeel, the King’s Son

Jeremiah 36 During the fourth year of king Jehoiakim (605 B.C.), God directed Jeremiah to record on a scroll prophecies against the nations and particularly against Jerusalem and Judah (Jer 36:1–3).¹ Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary,² documented the prophecies and later read the scroll in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe (vv. 4–10). When Gemariah’s son Micaiah notified the king’s officials of the scroll, they requested Baruch to read its words to them (vv. 11–19), after which they confiscated the scroll and read it to the king (vv. 20–21). As the scroll was being read, each portion already read was cut away and burned, even though Gemariah and others pleaded with the king not to do so (vv. 22–25). The prophecies made the king so angry that he dispatched his son Jerahmeel and several others to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah, “but the LORD had hidden them” (v. 26; cf. v. 19). God then directed Jeremiah to replicate the first scroll, including in the new one additional indictments against Jehoiakim (vv. 27–32).

A clay seal impression of Gemariah was unearthed in excavations in Jerusalem of the 587 B.C. destruction level.³ It reads, “Belonging to Gemariah (son of) Shaphan.” Researchers are in possession of a seal and a seal impression of Jerahmeel, both acquired on the antiquities market, which read, “Belonging to Jerahmeel the king’s son.”

1. See “Scrolls, Seals and Codices.”

2. See “Baruch, Scribe of Jeremiah.”

3. See “The Last Days of Jerusalem.”

---

⁴So Jeremiah called Baruch^† son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated^† all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.^{† 5}Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD’s temple. ⁶So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting^† and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. ⁷Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each will turn^† from his wicked ways, for the anger^† and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.”

⁸Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD’s temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll. ⁹In the ninth month^† of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting^† before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. ¹⁰From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary,^† which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate^† of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

¹¹When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, ¹²he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan^† son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, ¹⁴all the officials sent Jehudi^† son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. ¹⁵They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.”

So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

¹⁸“Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated^† all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

¹⁹Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide.^† Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

²⁰After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. ²¹The king sent Jehudi^† to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king^† and all the officials standing beside him. ²²It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment,^† with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. ²³Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.^{† 24}The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear,^† nor did they tear their clothes.^{† 25}Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest^† Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden^† them.

²⁷After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation,^† the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁸“Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. ²⁹Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it?”^{† 30}Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out^† and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. ³¹I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster^† I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’ ”

³²So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated,^† Baruch wrote^† on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned^† in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah in Prison

¹Zedekiah^† son of Josiah was made king^† of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin^{[78] †} son of Jehoiakim. ²Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention^† to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

³King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah^† son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray^† to the LORD our God for us.”

⁴Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.^{† 5}Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,^† and when the Babylonians^[79] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew^† from Jerusalem.^†

⁶Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^† of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^{† 8}Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn^† it down.’

⁹“This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive^† yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[80] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”

¹¹After the Babylonian army had withdrawn^† from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹²Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property^† among the people there. ¹³But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”

¹⁴“That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested^† Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten^† and imprisoned in the house^† of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked^† him privately,^† “Is there any word from the LORD?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over^† to the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime^† have I committed against you or your officials or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”

²¹King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread^† in the city was gone.^† So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^†

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

¹Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal^{[81] †} son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, ²“This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague,^† but whoever goes over to the Babylonians^[82] will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.’^{† 3}And this is what the LORD says: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’ ”^†

---

*

Wells, Cisterns and Aqueducts in the Ancient World

Jeremiah 38 The semiarid climate of the Mediterranean basin made water acquisition and storage a critical issue.

Wells

A well is a deep reservoir fed by percolation from the soil, by a spring or by groundwater. The lower part is usually dug into impermeable rock or built with rock and then coated with a thick layer of lime plaster, which prevents seepage. It is possible either to tap into a natural spring or to dig down to the groundwater level. Archaeologists date the first such use of plaster to around 1200 B.C.

A very ancient well in Jerusalem, known as “Job’s well,” is nearly 44 yards (40.2 m) deep. Water was taken from it by lowering a drawing vessel attached to a rope. The high concentration of pottery sherds found in Near Eastern wells suggests that clay pots were used for this purpose, although wooden pails found in the Athenian agora (marketplace) seem to have served the same function.¹ Wells were often dug in rural areas in order to provide water for flocks and herds (Ge 26:18; 2Ch 26:9–10). A stone slab or wooden planks covered the mouth of the well when it was not in use to prevent people or animals from falling in and to lower the risk of pollution from surface debris (see Ge 29:10; Ex 21:33–34).

Cisterns

A cistern is a collection chamber that gathers runoff. Cisterns typically have a bottle or bell shape, with a narrow top to prevent evaporation. The entire interior is coated with plaster, so that every drop of water is preserved. Water was drawn from a cistern in the same fashion as from a well. Homes could have private cisterns (see 2Ki 18:31; Pr 5:15); in fact, excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh, a site north of Jerusalem that is usually identified as the Biblical Mizpah, revealed 50 cisterns from the ninth century B.C.² Cities had larger, public cisterns. In the temple area of Jerusalem, for example, excavators discovered 37 large cisterns, the largest of which is known as the “Great Sea.” About 14 yards (13 m) deep, it can hold over two million gallons (9,917 cu yd) of water! Also in Jerusalem is the Pool of Siloam, constructed by Hezekiah (2Ch 32:30) and embellished by Herod—the Upper Pool of Isaiah 7:3. In order to ensure a steady and reliable supply of water to this reservoir, Hezekiah undertook the construction of a tunnel aqueduct that travels over 547 yards (500 m) through solid rock from the spring to the cistern. Dry cisterns also served as detention cells (Ge 37:22–24; Jer 38:6).³

Aqueduct at Greek Neapolis (modern Kavala)

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin

Aqueducts

The first aqueducts (artificial water channels similar to pipelines) were simple channels dug into the ground. Eventually the channels were formed by plastering fieldstones together and covering the aqueduct with stone slabs to prevent contamination. Shallow settling basins were dug intermittently, allowing the heavier sediment to drop out of the water. Pools and reservoirs were often placed along the aqueduct to control water flow. The earliest known substantial aqueduct—from the early eighth century B.C.—is at Urartu in Turkey. The Assyrian king Sennacherib constructed a 34-mile (55-km) aqueduct to Nineveh.⁴ Excavators have found numerous inscriptions along the course of the conduit praising Sennacherib for this impressive deed.

The masters of aqueduct construction, however, were the Romans. To this day the landscape of numerous Mediterranean countries is dotted with the remains of these engineering masterpieces. Ancient Rome was serviced by 11 aqueducts, the largest of which were the Marcia and the Anio Novus. Altogether the 11 aqueducts provided the capital with the largest volume of water carried to any ancient city.

The Romans are also famous for their ability to carry water across challenging terrain. Valleys were traversed in one of two ways. If the distance from the proposed water line to the valley floor was less than about 55 yards (50 m), an arched bridge was constructed, containing a channel running along the top. The aqueduct was built so that the water ran downhill on a gentle slope. The tallest aqueduct of this type is the Pont du Gard in southern France. It rises 54 yards (49 m) above the valley and supplied water to Nimes beginning in 19 B.C. Pergamum was the first major city in Asia Minor (western Turkey) to establish an alliance with Rome and to construct Roman style aqueducts. Providing water to the upper city was a constant challenge, but engineers resolved the problem with a complex siphoning system.

1. See “The Ancient Agora.”

2. See “Mizpah.”

3. See “The Pool of Siloam.”

4. See “Nineveh.”

---

⁴Then the officials^† said to the king, “This man should be put to death.^† He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

⁵“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”

⁶So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.^† They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

⁷But Ebed-Melech,^† a Cushite,^[83] an official^{[84] †} in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,^{† 8}Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, ⁹“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread^† in the city.”

¹⁰Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “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 to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹²Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, ¹³and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^†

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide^† anything from me.”

¹⁵Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

¹⁶But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly^† to Jeremiah: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us breath,^† I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who are seeking your life.”^†

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.^{† 18}But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over^† to the Babylonians and they will burn^† it down; you yourself will not escape^† from their hands.’ ”

¹⁹King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid^† of the Jews who have gone over^† to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

²⁰“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey^† the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life^† will be spared. ²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me: ²²All the women^† left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“ ‘They misled you and overcame you—

those trusted friends of yours.

Your feet are sunk in the mud;

your friends have deserted you.’

²³“All your wives and children^† will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured^† by the king of Babylon; and this city will^[85] be burned down.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. ²⁵If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ ²⁶then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house^† to die there.’ ”

²⁷All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

²⁸And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard^† until the day Jerusalem was captured.

Jeremiah 39

The Fall of Jerusalem

¹This is how Jerusalem was taken: In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege^† to it. ²And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. ³Then all the officials^† of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim^[86] a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.^[87]

---

*

Nebuzaradan, Captain of the Guard

Jeremiah 39 When Zedekiah, king of Judah, rebelled against Babylonian rule in 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar responded quickly, capturing Jerusalem the following year.¹ Nebuzaradan, a high-ranking officer in the Babylonian army, was responsible for supervising the burning of the city, tearing down the defenses, deporting 832 captives to Babylon, plundering the temple and rounding up Judean officials to appear before Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 25:8–21; Jer 39:8–9; 52:15–27).²

Nebuchadnezzar left Nebuzaradan with specific instructions to deal kindly with Jeremiah, who had been imprisoned along with those going to Babylon (Jer 39:11–14; 40:1). Nebuzaradan released the prophet and gave him a choice of going to Babylon or remaining in Judah (40:2–4). Jeremiah opted to remain in Judah and joined the newly appointed Judean leader, Gedaliah, at Mizpah (39:14; 40:5–6).³ Five years later Nebuzaradan returned to Jerusalem and deported another 745 persons to Babylon (52:30).

A clay prism listing court officials was found during excavations in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon. Among the names is that of Nebuzaradan, along with the title “Chancellor.” The prism is thought to date to around 570 B.C. and thus to reflect a political appointment for Nebuzaradan following his military career.

1. See “The Last Days of Jerusalem.”

2. See “Nebuchadnezzar.”

3. See “Gedaliah, Governor of Judah, and Baalis, King of Ammon.”

---

⁵But the Babylonian^[88] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah^† in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah^† in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. ⁶There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. ⁷Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes^† and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.^†

⁸The Babylonians^[89] set fire^† to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls^† of Jerusalem. ⁹Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people.^{† 10}But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: ¹²“Take him and look after him; don’t harm^† him but do for him whatever he asks.” ¹³So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon ¹⁴sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.^† They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam,^† the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.^†

¹⁵While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him: ¹⁶“Go and tell Ebed-Melech^† the Cushite, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster,^† not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. ¹⁷But I will rescue^† you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. ¹⁸I will save you; you will not fall by the sword^† but will escape with your life,^† because you trust^† in me, declares the LORD.’”

Jeremiah 40

Jeremiah Freed

¹The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. ²When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place.^{† 3}And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned^† against the LORD and did not obey^† him. ⁴But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.”^{† 5}However, before Jeremiah turned to go,^[90] Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah^† son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”^†

---

*

Gedaliah, Governor of Judah, and Baalis, King of Ammon

Jeremiah 40 Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah, who came from a family of royal administrators, as governor of Judah in 587 B.C. (2Ki 25:22). Gedaliah attempted to rebuild the country following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (Jer 40:9–12).¹ Unfortunately, he became a victim of the political forces of the day when Baalis, king of Ammon, recruited Ishmael to assassinate him (vv. 13–14; 41:1–2). Ishmael, of the line of David (2Ki 25:25), may have had designs upon the leadership of the country, and Baalis may have wanted to set up a puppet king whom he could control.

Archaeologists have found a bulla of Gedaliah on the surface at Lachish, 27 miles (44 km) southwest of Jerusalem. The inscription reads “Belonging to Gedaliah Over(seer of) the (royal) house,” a title designating the chief steward of the royal palace. Individuals bearing this title took on major state responsibilities and were active in political and diplomatic activities. Evidently Gedaliah held this post prior to the fall of Jerusalem.

A seal and a seal impression with the name of Baalis have been discovered as well.

• The seal, acquired on the antiquities market, is that of Baalis himself. It depicts a winged sphinx with the words “Belonging to Baalis” above it, the letters for “king” on either side and “Sons of Ammon” (i.e., Ammonites) below it.

• The seal impression was unearthed at Tell el-Umeiri, just south of Amman in Jordan. It reads “Belonging to Milkomor servant of Baalis.”

1. See “The Last Days of Jerusalem.”

---

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. ⁶So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah^† and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Assassinated

⁷When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest^† in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, ⁸they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^†— Ishmael^† son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite,^† and Jaazaniah^[91] the son of the Maacathite,^† and their men. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^† the Babylonians,^[92]” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^{† 10}I myself will stay at Mizpah^† to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”^†

¹¹When all the Jews in Moab,^† Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, ¹²they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered.^† And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^{† 14}and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites^† has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

Jeremiah 41

¹In the seventh month Ishmael^† son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, ²Ishmael^† son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed^† as governor over the land.^{† 3}Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian^[93] soldiers who were there.

⁴The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it, ⁵eighty men who had shaved off their beards,^† torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem,^† Shiloh^† and Samaria,^† bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD.^{† 6}Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping^† as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ⁷When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. ⁸But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field.”^† So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. ⁹Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa^† had made as part of his defense^† against Baasha^† king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people^† who were in Mizpah— the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.^†

¹¹When Johanan^† son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, ¹²they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool^† in Gibeon. ¹³When all the people^† Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped^† from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.

Flight to Egypt

¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors^† from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon. ¹⁷And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham^† near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt^{† 18}to escape the Babylonians.^[94] They were afraid^† of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah^† son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

Jeremiah 42

¹Then all the army officers, including Johanan^† son of Kareah and Jezaniah^[95] son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest^† approached ²Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray^† to the LORD your God for this entire remnant.^† For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few^† are left. ³Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”^†

⁴“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray^† to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you.”^†

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness^† against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. ⁶Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well^† with us, for we will obey^† the LORD our God.”

⁷Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. ⁸So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers^† who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. ⁹He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:^{† 10}‘If you stay in this land, I will build^† you up and not tear you down; I will plant^† you and not uproot you,^† for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.^{† 11}Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,^† whom you now fear.^† Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save^† you and deliver you from his hands.^{† 12}I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’^†

¹³“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey^† the LORD your God, ¹⁴and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,^† where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ ¹⁵then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, ¹⁶then the sword^† you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. ¹⁷Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;^† not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath^† have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,^† so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror,^† of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.’^†

¹⁹“O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’^† Be sure of this: I warn you today ²⁰that you made a fatal mistake^[96] when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’^{† 21}I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.^{† 22}So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague^† in the place where you want to go to settle.”^†

Jeremiah 43

¹When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God— everything the LORD had sent him to tell them^†— ²Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan^† son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ ³But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians,^[97] so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”^†

---

*

The Elephantine Community

Jeremiah 43 The island of Elephantine is situated along the southern border of Egypt, near modern-day Aswan. This site functioned as an important military outpost throughout its long history. While its soldiers were usually Egyptian, other ethnic groups, including Jews, were periodically stationed at this garrison. By the time Persian rule commenced in 525 B.C., not only was there a Jewish community in Elephantine but also an established, thriving temple to Yahweh. We learn from Jeremiah 43 that a portion of the Jews of Judah fled to Egypt before the Babylonian invasion. Some scholars assume that a fragment of this group became the source of the Elephantine Jewish population. Others argue for a much earlier immigration of Jews to the area.

Evidence indicates that the Elephantine temple was a fully functioning sanctuary that performed animal sacrifices. Although this temple existed alongside temples to Egyptian gods for over a century, the priests of Khnum, the ram god, convinced the Egyptian authorities to have the temple destroyed in 410 B.C. (apparently because the Jewish practice of sacrificing sheep was offensive to the worshipers of Khnum). Soon thereafter the Jewish colony ceased to exist.

The knowledge we possess of this small, ancient community comes through a series of papyri found in the region. The majority of these texts are written in Aramaic, the international language of the Persian Empire.¹ While these documents reveal much concerning the daily life, customs and legal system of these people, most important to us are the archives of letters written between the Jews of Elephantine and the Jews of the region now known as Palestine. In these letters the Elephantine community requested and gained permission and aid to rebuild its temple. It remains unclear, however, whether that goal was ever accomplished.

1. See “Languages of the Old Testament World.”

---

⁴So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD’s command^† to stay in the land of Judah.^{† 5}Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.^{† 6}They also led away all the men, women and children and the king’s daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. ⁷So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.^†

⁸In Tahpanhes^† the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ⁹“While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. ¹⁰Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant^† Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. ¹¹He will come and attack Egypt,^† bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.^{† 12}He^[98] will set fire to the temples of the gods^† of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd wraps^† his garment around him, so will he wrap Egypt around himself and depart from there unscathed. ¹³There in the temple of the sun^[99] in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’ ”

Jeremiah 44

Disaster Because of Idolatry

¹This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt— in Migdol,^† Tahpanhes^† and Memphis^{[100] †}— and in Upper Egypt^[101]:^{† 2}“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins^{† 3}because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods^† that neither they nor you nor your fathers^† ever knew. ⁴Again and again^† I sent my servants the prophets,^† who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ ⁵But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.^{† 6}Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.

---

*

Hophra, King of Egypt

Jeremiah 44 Hophra (known to Egyptologists by the Greek form of his name, Apries), the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth (Saite) Dynasty, ruled Egypt from 589 to 570 B.C. His palace has been excavated at Memphis.¹ When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah in 588 B.C., Zedekiah requested help from Egypt (Eze 17:15), and Hophra responded by sending troops. This resulted in Nebuchadnezzar lifting the siege of Jerusalem to deal with the Egyptian threat (Jer 37:5, 11). The relief was short-lived, however, because Nebuchadnezzar quickly drove off the Egyptians and returned to capture Jerusalem (2Ki 25:1–21; Jer 37:6–10; 39:1–10; 52:1–29).²

After Gedaliah, the new governor of Judah, was assassinated in 586 B.C.,³ the remaining Judean leadership fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them (41:16–43:7). While in Egypt the prophet declared that God would hand over Hophra to his enemies (44:30). Indeed, Jeremiah’s words reflect a disdain for Hophra. In 46:17 he declared, “There they will exclaim, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.’ ” (This could also be translated, “There they will call Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ‘Noisy has missed his opportunity.’ ”) The Hebrew for “he has missed” in this verse sounds like the name Hophra.

Hophra’s downfall does suggest a degree of ineptitude. In 570 B.C. he sent a force of Egyptians against a Greek colony in Cyrene in eastern Libya. The Egyptian army was badly defeated, leading to a soldiers’ revolt against Hophra’s leadership. Hophra sent his general, Amasis, to quell the rebellion, but Amasis joined it instead! Forced by Amasis into exile, Hophra made his way to the Babylonian court of Nebuchadnezzar II.⁴ He returned three years later with the Babylonian army in an attempt to regain the throne but was defeated and lost his life in the process. Nevertheless, Amasis buried him with full honors in the royal cemetery at Sais in Egypt’s western delta.

1. See “Memphis.”

2. See “The Last Days of Jerusalem.”

3. See “Gedaliah, Governor of Judah, and Baalis, King of Ammon.”

4. See “Nebuchadnezzar.”

---

*

The Queen of Heaven

Jeremiah 44 In the Bible the enigmatic title “Queen of Heaven” appears only in Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17–19, 25, but similar titles occur throughout the ancient Near East and apply to several goddesses. Anat is called the “Lady of Heaven,” and the Canaanite Astarte (Ashtoreth in the Bible) and her Mesopotamian counterpart, Ishtar, also bear the title “Queen of Heaven.”¹ These goddesses are connected to the worship of the planet Venus; astral worship was particularly popular during the seventh century B.C. (2Ki 21:3; 23:11).

The exiled Judahites conceived of this queen as a fertility goddess (Jer 44:17–18), in whose image the women made “cakes” (v. 19). This cultic practice may also be indicated by a discovery at Mari of a baking mold in the form of a naked female with hands supporting her breasts—a well-known fertility motif. Moreover, Jeremiah’s word for these cakes derives from the Akkadian for a type of bread that was often presented to Ishtar. Jeremiah described how a family would gather wood, make a fire, prepare the bread, pour out libations and burn incense (7:18; 44:18). Religious texts dedicated to Ishtar recount very similar steps. The Judahites were apparently following ritual practices associated with the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Canaanite Astarte/Ashtoreth (1Ki 11:5). The Queen of Heaven exemplified the religious syncretism that plagued Israel for centuries and ultimately led to God’s judgment upon his people.

Still today, believers in the God of the Bible are wise to beware of a gradual assimilation of unbiblical and even pagan concepts. The notion of a “Queen of Heaven” was just such an assimilation.²

1. For more on Ishtar, see “The Descent of Ishtar” and “Sexuality and Religion in the Sumerian Hymns to Ishtar.”

2. For other examples, see “The Golden Calf”, “Devotion to Asherah in the Khirbet El-Qom Inscription” and “The Kuntillet Ajrûd Inscriptions: The Lord’s Asherah?.”

---

⁷“Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster^† on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women,^† the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant? ⁸Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made,^† burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live?^† You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach^† among all the nations on earth. ⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?^{† 10}To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law^† and the decrees I set before you and your fathers.^†

¹¹“Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster^† on you and to destroy all Judah. ¹²I will take away the remnant^† of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine.^† They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach.^{† 13}I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague,^† as I punished Jerusalem. ¹⁴None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.”^†