Jeremiah:3:6-4
Seeker Overlay ON
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Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king ,
Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done ?
She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree ,
and has committed adultery there .
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And after she had done all these things I said ,
Turn back to Me !
But she did not return .
And her treacherous sister Judah saw it .
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And I saw ,
when for all the causes for which backsliding Israel committed adultery ,
I put her away and gave her a certificate of divorce ;
yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear ,
but she also went and committed adultery .
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So it came to pass through the wantonness of her harlotry ,
that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and pieces of wood .
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And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to Me with her whole heart ,
but in pretense ,
says Jehovah .
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And Jehovah said to me ,
Backsliding Israel has shown herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah .
*
Go and proclaim these words toward the north ,
and say ,
Return ,
O backsliding Israel ,
says Jehovah ;
and I will not cause My anger to fall upon you ;
for I am merciful ,
says Jehovah ,
and I will not keep anger forever .
*
Only ,
acknowledge your iniquity ,
that you have transgressed against Jehovah your God and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree ,
and you have not obeyed My voice ,
says Jehovah .
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Return ,
O backsliding children ,
says Jehovah ;
for I am married to you .
And I will take you ,
one from a city ,
and two from a family ;
and I will bring you to Zion .
*
And I will give you shepherds according to My heart ,
who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding .
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And it shall come to pass ,
when you have multiplied and increased in the land in those days ,
says Jehovah ,
that they shall say no more ,
The ark of the covenant of Jehovah !
Nor shall it come to mind ;
nor shall they remember it ;
nor shall they seek it ;
nor shall it be made anymore .
*
At that time Jerusalem shall be called ,
The Throne of Jehovah ;
and all the nations shall be gathered to it ,
to the name of Jehovah ,
to Jerusalem .
Nor shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts .
*
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel ,
and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers .
*
But I said ,
How shall I put you among the children ,
and give you a pleasant land ,
a beautiful inheritance among the multitudes of nations !
And I said ,
You shall call Me ,
My Father ,
and shall not turn away from Me .
*
Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her companion ,
so you have dealt treacherously with me ,
O house of Israel ,
says Jehovah .
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A voice was heard on the desolate heights ;
weeping and supplications of the children of Israel ;
for they have perverted their way ,
and they have forgotten Jehovah their God .
*
Return ,
O backsliding children ,
and I will heal your backslidings .
Behold ,
we come to You ;
for You are Jehovah our God .
*
Truly ,
deception comes from the high hills ,
from the multitudes on the mountains .
Truly ,
in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel .
*
For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth ,
their flocks and their herds ,
their sons and their daughters .
*
We lie down in our shame ,
and our reproach covers us ;
for we have sinned against Jehovah our God ,
we and our fathers ,
from our youth even to this day ,
and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God .
*
The Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah ,
saying ,
*
Thus speaks Jehovah the God of Israel ,
saying ,
Write all the Words that I have spoken to you in a book .
*
For ,
lo ,
the days are coming ,
says Jehovah ,
that I will bring back the captives of My people Israel and Judah ,
says Jehovah .
And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave their fathers ,
and they shall possess it .
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And these are the Words that Jehovah spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah .
*
For thus says Jehovah ,
We have heard a voice of trembling ,
of fear ,
and not of peace .
*
Ask now ,
and see whether a man ever gives birth ?
Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins ,
like a woman in labor ,
and all faces are turned pale ?
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Alas !
For that day is great ,
so that none is like it ;
it is even the time of Jacob
s trouble ;
but he shall be saved out of it .
*
For it shall come to pass in that day ,
says Jehovah of Hosts ,
that I will break his yoke from your neck and will burst your bonds .
And strangers shall no longer enslave him ,
*
but they shall serve Jehovah their God ,
and David their king ,
whom I will raise up unto them .
*
Therefore ,
do not fear ,
O My servant Jacob ,
says Jehovah .
Do not be dismayed ,
O Israel .
For lo ,
I will save you from afar ,
and your seed from the land of their captivity .
And Jacob shall return ,
and shall be at rest ,
and be quiet ,
and no one shall make him afraid .
*
For I am with you ,
says Jehovah ,
to save you .
Though I make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you ,
yet I will not make a complete end of you ;
but I will correct you in justice ,
and will not acquit nor leave you unpunished .
*
For thus says Jehovah ,
Your break is incurable ,
and your wound is making you sick .
*
There is no one to plead your cause ;
for your wounds there are no healing medicines .
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All your lovers have forgotten you ;
they do not seek you .
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy ,
with the chastisement of a cruel one ,
for the abundance of your iniquity ,
because your sins are many .
*
Why do you cry over your break ?
Your pain is incurable ,
because of the abundance of your iniquities ;
because your sins have increased ,
I have done these things to you .
*
Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured ;
and all your adversaries ,
every one of them ,
shall go into captivity .
And those who plunder you shall become plunder ,
and all who prey upon you I will give as prey .
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For I will stir up health to you ,
and will heal you of your wounds ,
says Jehovah ;
because they called you an outcast ,
saying ,
This is Zion ;
no one seeks after her .
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Thus says Jehovah :
Behold ,
I will bring back the captives of Jacob
s tents ,
and will have mercy on his dwelling places .
And the city shall be built on her own hill ,
and the palace shall remain in its own place .
*
And out of them shall come forth thanksgiving ,
and the voice of those who make merry .
And I will multiply them ,
and they shall not diminish ;
I will also glorify them ,
and they shall not be small .
*
Their children shall also be as they were before ,
and their congregation shall be established before Me ,
and I will punish all who oppress them .
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And their rulers shall be from among themselves ,
and their governor shall come from their midst ;
and I will cause him to be brought near ,
and he shall draw near to Me .
For who is this who pledged his heart to come near to Me ?
says Jehovah .
*
And you shall be My people ,
and I will be your God .
*
Behold ,
the tempest of Jehovah
s wrath goes forth ,
a roaring tempest ;
it shall whirl on the head of the wicked .
*
The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return until He has done it ,
and until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart .
In the latter days you shall understand it .
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At that time ,
says Jehovah ,
I will be the God of all the families of Israel ,
and they shall be My people .
*
Thus says Jehovah ,
The people who were survivors of the sword have found grace in the wilderness ;
even Israel ,
when I go to give him rest .
*
Jehovah has appeared to me from afar ,
saying ,
Yea ,
I have loved you with an everlasting love ;
therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you .
*
Again I will build you ,
and you shall be built ,
O virgin of Israel .
You shall again put on your tambourines ,
and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice .
*
You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria ;
the planters shall plant ,
and shall eat them as common food .
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For there shall be a day that the watchmen on Mount Ephraim shall cry ,
Arise and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God !
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For thus says Jehovah ,
Sing with gladness for Jacob ,
and shout among the chief of the nations .
Cry out ,
give praise and say ,
O Jehovah ,
save Your people ,
the remnant of Israel !
*
Behold ,
I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the recesses of the earth ,
and with them the blind and the lame ,
the woman with child and she who is in labor with child ,
together ;
a great company shall return there .
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They shall come with weeping ,
and with supplications I will lead them .
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way ;
they shall not stumble in it ,
for I am a father to Israel ,
and Ephraim is My firstborn .
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Hear the Word of Jehovah ,
O nations ,
and declare it on distant shores ;
and say ,
He who scattered Israel will gather him ,
and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock .
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For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob ,
and ransomed him from the hand of the one stronger than him .
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Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion ,
and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah ,
for wheat ,
and for wine ,
and for oil ,
and for the young of the flock and the herd .
And their souls shall be as a watered garden ;
and they shall not languish any more at all .
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Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance ,
and the young men and old together ;
for I will turn their mourning into joy ,
and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow .
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And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness ,
and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness ,
says Jehovah .
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Thus says Jehovah :
A voice was heard in Ramah ,
wailing and bitter weeping ;
Rachel weeping for her children ;
she refuses to be comforted for her children ,
because they are not .
*
Thus says Jehovah :
Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears ;
for your work shall be rewarded ,
says Jehovah .
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy .
*
And there is hope for your future ,
says Jehovah ,
that your children shall come back to their own territory .
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I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself ,
saying ,
You have chastised me ,
and I was chastised ,
like an untrained bull ;
draw me back ,
and I shall return .
For You are Jehovah my God .
*
Surely after I was turned back ,
I repented ;
and after I was instructed ,
I struck my thigh .
I was ashamed ,
yes ,
even humiliated ,
because I bore the reproach of my youth .
*
Is Ephraim My dear son ?
Is he a delightful child ?
For as often as I spoke against him ,
I call to mind and remember him still .
Therefore My heart is stirred for him ;
I will have mercy and compassion upon him ,
says Jehovah .
*
Set up signposts ,
make landmarks for yourself .
Set your heart toward the highway ,
the way you went .
Turn back ,
O virgin of Israel ,
turn back to these cities of yours .
*
How long will you vacillate ,
O backsliding daughter ?
For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth ;
a woman shall contain a man .
*
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel ,
They shall speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities ,
when I shall bring back their captives ,
saying ,
Jehovah bless you ,
O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness .
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And farmers ,
and those going forth with flocks ,
shall dwell together in Judah and in all its cities .
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For I have satiated the weary soul ,
and I have satisfied every sorrowful soul .
*
After this I awoke and looked around ;
and my sleep was sweet to me .
*
Behold ,
the days are coming ,
says Jehovah ,
that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beasts .
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And it shall come to pass that ,
as I have watched over them to pluck up ,
and to break down ,
and to throw down ,
and to destroy ,
and to afflict ;
so I will watch over them to build and to plant ,
says Jehovah .
*
In those days they shall not say any more ,
The fathers have eaten sour grapes ,
and the teeth of the children are dull .
*
But every man shall die for his own iniquity .
Every man who eats the sour grapes ,
his teeth shall be dull .
*
Behold ,
the days are coming ,
says Jehovah ,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel ,
and with the house of Judah ,
*
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ;
My covenant which they broke ,
although I was a husband to them ,
says Jehovah .
*
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel :
After those days ,
says Jehovah ,
I will put My Law in their inward parts ,
and write it in their hearts ;
and I will be their God ,
and they shall be My people .
*
And they shall no more teach each man his neighbor and each man his brother ,
saying ,
Know Jehovah ;
for they shall all know Me ,
from the least of them to the greatest of them ,
says Jehovah .
For I will forgive their iniquity ,
and their sin I will remember no more .
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Thus says Jehovah ,
who gives the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night ,
who stirs up the sea when its waves roar (
Jehovah of Hosts is His name );
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if those ordinances depart from My presence ,
says Jehovah ,
then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever .
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Thus says Jehovah ,
If the heavens above can be measured ,
and the foundations of the earth below can be searched out ,
then I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done ,
says Jehovah .
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Behold ,
the days are coming ,
says Jehovah ,
that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate .
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And the measuring line shall come out to the hill Gareb ,
and shall go around to Goath .
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And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes ,
and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley ,
to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east ,
shall be holy to Jehovah .
It shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more forever .
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The Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah ,
which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar .
*
For then the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem .
And Jeremiah the prophet was shut in the court of the guard ,
which was in the house of the king of Judah .
*
For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up ,
saying ,
Why do you prophesy and say ,
Thus says Jehovah ,
Behold ,
I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon ,
and he shall take it ,
*
and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans ,
but shall be given over and delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon ,
and shall speak with him mouth to mouth ,
and his eyes shall behold his eyes ,
*
and he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon ,
and there he shall be until I visit him ,
says Jehovah ;
though you fight with the Chaldeans ,
you shall not succeed .
*
And Jeremiah said ,
The Word of Jehovah came unto me ,
saying ,
*
Behold ,
Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you ,
saying ,
Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth ;
for the right of redemption is yours ,
to buy it .
*
So Hanamel my uncle
s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the Word of Jehovah and said to me ,
Please buy my field in Anathoth ,
which is in the land of Benjamin ;
for the right of inheritance is yours ,
and the right of redemption is yours .
Buy it for yourself .
Then I knew that this was the Word of Jehovah .
*
And I bought the field in Anathoth ,
from Hanamel my uncle
s son ,
and weighed him the money ,
seventeen shekels of silver .
*
And I wrote it in the document ,
and sealed it ,
and called witnesses ,
and weighed the silver in the scales .
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So I took the document of the purchase ,
that which was sealed according to the law and custom ,
and the open copy .
*
And I gave the document of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah ,
the son of Maaseiah ,
in the eyes of Hanamel my uncle
s son ,
and in the eyes of the witnesses who wrote in the purchase document ,
before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard .
*
And I charged Baruch before them ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Take these documents ,
the purchase document ,
the one sealed and the open document ,
and put them in an earthen vessel so that they may survive many days .
*
For thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Houses and fields and vineyards shall be acquired again in this land .
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And after I gave the purchase document to Baruch the son of Neriah ,
I prayed to Jehovah ,
saying ,
*
Ah ,
Lord Jehovah !
You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm .
Nothing is too difficult for You .
*
You show lovingkindness to thousands ,
and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them .
The great ,
the strong and Mighty God ,
Jehovah of Hosts ,
is His name ,
*
great in counsel and mighty in work ;
for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men ,
to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings .
*
For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt ,
even to this day ,
and in Israel and among men ;
and have made Yourself a name ,
as it is this day ;
*
and have brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders ,
and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm ,
and with great terror .
*
And You have given them this land ,
which You swore to their fathers to give them ,
a land flowing with milk and honey .
*
And they came in and possessed it ,
but they have not obeyed Your voice ,
nor walked in Your Law .
They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do ;
therefore You have caused all this evil to come upon them .
*
Behold ,
the siege mounds have come to the city to take it ;
and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who fight against it ,
because of the sword ,
the famine ,
and the pestilence .
And what You have spoken has happened ;
and behold ,
there You see it .
*
And You have said to me ,
O Lord Jehovah ,
Buy the field for money ,
and take witnesses ;
yet the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans .
*
Then the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Behold ,
I am Jehovah the God of all flesh .
Is there anything too hard for Me ?
*
Therefore thus says Jehovah :
Behold ,
I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans ,
and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ,
and he shall take it .
*
And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set this city on fire ,
and burn it ,
with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods ,
to provoke Me to anger .
*
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth .
For the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands ,
says Jehovah .
*
For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it ,
even to this day ;
that I should remove it from before My face ,
*
because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah ,
which they have done to provoke Me to anger ;
they ,
their kings ,
their rulers ,
their priests ,
and their prophets ,
and the men of Judah ,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem .
*
And they have turned the back to Me ,
and not the face ;
though I taught them ,
rising up early and teaching them ,
yet they have not listened to receive instruction .
*
But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name ,
to defile it .
*
And they built the high places of Baal ,
in the valley of the son of Hinnom ,
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech ;
which I did not command them ,
nor did it even enter My mind that they should do this abomination ,
to cause Judah to sin .
*
And now therefore ,
thus says Jehovah the God of Israel ,
concerning this city of which you say ,
It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword ,
and by the famine ,
and by the pestilence :
*
Behold ,
I will gather them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My anger ,
and in My fury ,
and in great wrath .
And I will bring them back to this place ,
and I will cause them to dwell safely .
*
And they shall be My people ,
and I will be their God .
*
And I will give them one heart and one way ,
that they may fear Me forever ,
for their good and for the good of their children after them .
*
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them ,
that I will not turn away from them ,
to do them good .
But I will put My fear in their hearts ,
that they shall not depart from Me .
*
Yea ,
I will rejoice over them to do them good ,
and I will truly plant them in this land ,
with all My heart and all My soul .
*
For thus says Jehovah :
Just as I have brought all this great evil upon this people ,
so I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them .
*
And fields shall be bought in this land of which you say ,
It is desolate ,
without man or beast ;
it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans .
*
Men shall buy fields for money ,
and write it in a document ,
and seal it ,
and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin ,
and in the places around Jerusalem ,
and in the cities of Judah ,
and in the cities of the mountains ,
and in the cities of the valley ,
and in the cities of the south .
For I will cause their captives to return ,
says Jehovah .
*
And the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the second time ,
while he was still shut up in the court of the guard ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah the Maker ,
Jehovah who formed it in order to establish it ;
Jehovah is His name :
*
Call unto Me ,
and I will answer you ,
and show you great and unfathomable things which you do not know .
*
For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel ,
concerning the houses of this city ,
and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah ,
which are broken down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword :
*
They come to fight with the Chaldeans ,
only to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury ,
for all whose evil I have hidden My face from this city .
*
Behold ,
I will bring it health and healing ,
and I will heal them and will show them the abundance of peace and truth .
*
And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return ,
and will build them ,
as at the first .
*
And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me ;
and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned ,
and by which they have transgressed against Me .
*
And it shall be to Me a name of joy ,
a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth ,
who shall hear all the good that I do to them .
And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the welfare that I am bringing to it .
*
Thus says Jehovah :
Again there shall be heard in this place ,
which you say is desolate without man and without beast ,
even in the cities of Judah ,
and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man ,
and without inhabitant ,
and without beast ;
*
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness ,
the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride ,
the voice of those who shall say ,
Praise Jehovah of Hosts ,
for Jehovah is good ,
for His mercy is eternal ;
and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of Jehovah .
For I will cause the captives of the land to return ,
as at the first ,
says Jehovah .
*
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts :
Again in this place which is desolate without man and without beast ,
and in all its cities ,
there shall be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down .
*
In the cities of the mountains ,
in the cities of the valley ,
and in the cities of the south ,
and in the land of Benjamin ,
and in the places around Jerusalem ,
and in the cities of Judah ,
shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who counts them ,
says Jehovah .
*
Behold ,
the days are coming ,
says Jehovah ,
that I will establish the good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah .
*
In those days ,
and at that time ,
I will cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up to David ;
and He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land .
*
In those days Judah shall be saved ,
and Jerusalem shall dwell safely .
And this is the name by which she shall be called :
JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS .
*
For thus says Jehovah ,
David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel ,
*
nor shall the priests ,
the Levites ,
lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings ,
and to kindle grain offerings ,
and to sacrifice continually .
*
And the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah :
If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night ,
so that there should not be day and night in their season ,
*
then also may My covenant with David My servant be broken ,
that he should not have a son to reign on his throne ,
and with the Levites the priests ,
My ministers .
*
As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered ,
nor the sand of the sea measured ,
so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who serve Me .
*
Moreover the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Do you not consider what this people have spoken ,
saying ,
The two families which Jehovah has chosen ,
He has even cast them off ?
Thus they have despised My people ,
that they should no more be a nation before them .
*
Thus says Jehovah :
If My covenant is not with day and night ,
and if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and the earth ,
*
then I will cast away the seed of Jacob ,
and David My servant ,
so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham ,
Isaac ,
and Jacob .
For I will bring back their captives ,
and have mercy on them .
*
The Word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ,
and all his army ,
and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion ,
and all the peoples ,
fought against Jerusalem and against all its cities ;
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel :
Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him ,
Thus says Jehovah ,
Behold ,
I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon ,
and he shall burn it with fire .
*
And you shall not escape out of his hand ,
but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand .
And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon ,
and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth ,
and you shall go to Babylon .
*
Yet hear the Word of Jehovah ,
O Zedekiah king of Judah ,
thus says Jehovah concerning you :
You shall not die by the sword .
*
You shall die in peace ;
and as the burnings of incense for your fathers ,
the former kings which were before you ,
so they shall burn incense for you .
And they shall lament for you ,
saying ,
Ah ,
lord !
For I have spoken the Word ,
says Jehovah .
*
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem ,
*
when the king of Babylon
s army fought against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah ;
against Lachish ,
and against Azekah ;
for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah .
*
The Word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah ,
after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem ,
to proclaim liberty to them ;
*
that each man should let his male slave ,
and each man his female slave ,
if they were a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman ,
to go free ;
that no one should keep a Jewish brother enslaved .
*
And all the rulers obeyed ,
and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free ,
each man his male slave ,
and each man his female slave ,
so that no one should be enslaved among them any more ;
and they obeyed and let them go .
*
But afterward they changed their minds and caused the slaves and slave women whom they had let go free ,
to return !
And they subjected them as slaves and slave women .
*
Therefore the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel :
I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt ,
out of the house of slavery ,
saying ,
*
At the end of seven years let each man free his brother ,
a Hebrew ,
who has been sold to him .
And when he has served you six years ,
you shall let him go free from you .
But your fathers did not heed me ,
nor extend their ears .
*
And you had turned today ,
and had done what was right in My eyes proclaiming liberty ,
each man to his neighbor .
And you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name .
*
But you turned and violated My name ,
and each man caused his slave ,
and each man his slave woman ,
whom you had set free to do as they pleased ,
to return .
And you brought them back into bondage to be slaves and slave women to you .
*
Therefore thus says Jehovah :
You have not heeded Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother ,
and each man to his neighbor !
Behold ,
I proclaim liberty for you ,
says Jehovah ,
to the sword ,
to the pestilence ,
and to the famine .
And I will cause you to be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth .
*
And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant ,
who have not done the words of the covenant which they made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts ;
*
the rulers of Judah ,
and the rulers of Jerusalem ,
the officials ,
and the priests ,
and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf ;
*
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies ,
and into the hand of those who seek their life .
And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth .
*
And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah ,
and his rulers ,
into the hand of their enemies ,
and into the hand of those who seek their life ,
and into the hand of the king of Babylon
s army ,
who have withdrawn from you .
*
Behold ,
I will command ,
says Jehovah ,
and cause them to return to this city .
And they shall fight against it and capture it ,
and burn it with fire .
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant .
*
The Word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah ,
king of Judah ,
saying ,
*
Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them ,
and bring them into the house of Jehovah ,
into one of the rooms ,
and give them wine to drink .
*
Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah ,
the son of Habaziniah ,
and his brothers ,
and all his sons ,
and the whole house of the Rechabites .
*
And I brought them into the house of Jehovah ,
into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah ,
a man of God ,
which was near the room of the rulers ,
above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum ,
the keeper of the door .
*
And I set pots full of wine ,
and cups ,
before the sons of the house of the Rechabites .
And I said to them ,
Drink wine !
*
But they said ,
We will drink no wine ,
for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us ,
saying ,
You shall drink no wine ,
you nor your sons forever .
*
Nor shall you build houses ,
nor sow seed ,
nor plant a vineyard ,
nor have any of these ;
but all your days you shall live in tents ,
so that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn .
*
So we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he has commanded us ,
to drink no wine all our days ,
we ,
our wives ,
our sons ,
nor our daughters ;
*
nor to build houses for us to live in .
Nor do we have vineyard ,
nor field ,
nor seed .
*
But we have lived in tents ,
and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us .
*
But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land ,
that we said ,
Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans ,
and for fear of the army of Syria .
So we are living at Jerusalem .
*
Then came the Word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ,
Will you not receive instruction to heed My Words ?
says Jehovah .
*
The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab ,
which he commanded his sons not to drink wine ,
are done .
For to this day they do not drink ,
but obey their father
s commandment .
But I have spoken to you ,
rising early and speaking ,
but you have not heeded Me .
*
I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets ,
rising up early and sending them ,
saying ,
Turn back now each man from his evil way ,
and do good ,
and do not go after other gods to serve them ,
and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers .
But you have not extended your ear ,
nor heeded Me .
*
Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have done the commandment of their father ,
which He commanded them ;
but this people has not heeded Me ;
*
therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Behold ,
I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken against them .
Because I have spoken to them ,
but they have not given heed ;
and I have called to them ,
but they have not answered .
*
And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites ,
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father ,
and have kept all his precepts ,
and have done according to all that he has commanded you ;
*
therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever .
*
And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah ,
that this Word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah ,
saying ,
*
Take for yourself a scroll of a book ,
and write in it all the Words that I have spoken to you against Israel ,
and against Judah ,
and against all the nations ,
from the day I spoke to you ,
from the days of Josiah ,
even to this day .
*
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I plan to do to them ,
that they may turn ,
each man ,
from his evil way ,
so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin .
*
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah .
And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of Jehovah ,
which He had spoken to him ,
on a scroll of a book .
*
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch ,
saying ,
I am confined .
I cannot go into the house of Jehovah .
*
Therefore you go ,
and read from the scroll which you have written at my mouth ,
the Words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah
s house on the day of the fast .
And also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities .
*
It may be that they will present their supplication before Jehovah ,
and will turn back ,
each one from his evil way .
For great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah has pronounced against this people .
*
And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him ,
reading from the book ,
the Words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah .
*
And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah ,
in the ninth month ,
that they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah to all the people in Jerusalem ,
and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem .
*
And Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah ,
in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe ,
in the higher court ,
at the entrance to the New Gate of the house of Jehovah ,
in the ears of all the people .
*
When Michaiah ,
the son of Gemariah ,
the son of Shaphan ,
heard all the Words of Jehovah from the book ,
*
he then went down to the king
s house ,
into the scribe
s room .
And ,
lo ,
all the rulers sat there ,
even Elishama the scribe ,
and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah ,
and Elnathan the son of Achbor ,
and Gemariah the son of Shaphan ,
and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah ,
and all the rulers .
*
Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people .
*
Therefore all the rulers sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah ,
the son of Shelemiah ,
the son of Cushi ,
to Baruch ,
saying ,
Take the scroll in your hand from which you have read in the ears of the people ,
and come .
So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them .
*
And they said to him ,
Sit down now ,
and read it in our ears .
So Baruch read it in their ears .
*
And it happened when they had heard all the words ,
that they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch ,
We will surely tell the king of all these words .
*
And they asked Baruch ,
saying ,
Tell us now ,
How did you write all these words at his mouth ?
*
Then Baruch answered them ,
He spoke all these words to me with his mouth ,
and I wrote them with ink in the book .
*
And the rulers said to Baruch ,
Go hide yourselves ,
you and Jeremiah ;
and let no man know where you are .
*
And they went in to the king ,
into the court .
But they laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe ,
and told all the words in the ears of the king .
*
So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll .
And he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe .
And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king ,
and in the ears of all the rulers who stood beside the king .
*
And the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month ,
the fire burning in the hearth before him .
*
And it happened ,
when Jehudi had read three or four leaves ,
that he cut it with the scribe
s knife and threw it into the fire in the hearth ,
until all the scroll was burned up in the hearth .
*
Yet the king and all his servants who heard these words were not afraid ,
nor did they tear their garments .
*
But Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had entreated the king that he should not burn the scroll ,
but he would not consent to them .
*
And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech ,
and Seraiah the son of Azriel ,
and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel ,
to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet .
But Jehovah hid them .
*
Then the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah ,
after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Take for yourself another scroll ,
and write in it all the former Words that were in the first scroll ,
which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned .
*
And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah ,
Thus says Jehovah :
You have burned this scroll ,
saying ,
Why have you written in it ,
saying that the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land ,
and shall cause man and beast to be annihilated from there ?
*
Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah :
He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David .
And his dead body shall be cast out into the heat of the day ,
and the frost of the night .
*
And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity .
And I will bring upon them ,
and upon the people of Jerusalem ,
and upon the men of Judah ,
all the evil that I have spoken against them ;
but they have not given heed .
*
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe ,
the son of Neriah ,
who wrote in it at the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire .
And many words like them were added to them .
*
And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim ,
whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah .
*
But neither he ,
nor his servants ,
nor the people of the land ,
gave heed to the Words of Jehovah which He spoke by the hand of the prophet Jeremiah .
*
And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah ,
saying ,
Pray now to Jehovah our God for us .
*
And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people ,
for they had not yet put him into prison .
*
And Pharaoh
s army had come out from Egypt .
And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them ,
they departed from Jerusalem .
*
Then the Word of Jehovah came unto the prophet Jeremiah ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel :
You shall say this to the king of Judah ,
who sent you to Me to inquire of Me :
Behold ,
Pharaoh
s army ,
which has come forth to help you ,
shall return to Egypt into their own land .
*
And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city ,
and capture it ,
and burn it with fire .
*
Thus says Jehovah :
Do not deceive yourselves ,
saying ,
The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us .
For they shall not depart .
*
For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you ,
and there remained only wounded men among them ,
they would rise up ,
each man in his tent ,
and burn this city with fire .
*
And it happened when the army of Chaldeans went up from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh
s army ,
*
that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin ,
to claim his property there in the midst of the people .
*
And when he was in the gate of Benjamin ,
a commander of the guard named Irijah was there ,
the son of Shelemiah ,
the son of Hananiah .
And he seized Jeremiah the prophet ,
saying ,
You are defecting to the Chaldeans .
*
Then Jeremiah said ,
False !
I am not defecting to the Chaldeans .
But he did not listen to him ;
so Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers .
*
And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah ,
and struck him ,
and put him in prison ,
the house of Jonathan the scribe .
For they had made that the prison .
*
When Jeremiah had entered into the dungeon and the cell ,
and Jeremiah had remained there many days ,
*
then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out .
And the king asked him secretly in his house ,
and said ,
Is there any Word from Jehovah ?
And Jeremiah said ,
There is .
For ,
He said ,
you shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon .
*
Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah ,
What have I offended against you ,
or against your servants ,
or against this people ,
that you have put me in prison ?
*
Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you ,
saying ,
The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land ?
*
Therefore please hear now ,
O my lord the king ;
I beg you ,
let my supplication fall before you ,
so that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe ,
lest I die there .
*
And Zedekiah the king commanded that they should put Jeremiah into the court of the guard ,
and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the bakers
street daily ,
until all the bread in the city was gone .
Thus ,
Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard .
*
And Shephatiah the son of Mattan ,
and Gedaliah the son of Pashur ,
and Jucal the son of Shelemiah ,
and Pashur the son of Malchijah ,
heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people ,
saying ,
*
Thus says Jehovah ,
He who remains in this city shall die by the sword ,
by famine ,
and by pestilence .
But he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live ;
for he shall have his life as a prize ,
and shall live .
*
Thus says Jehovah :
This city shall be given and bestowed into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon ,
and he shall seize it .
*
Therefore the rulers said to the king ,
Please let this man be put to death .
For in this way he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city ,
and the hands of all the people ,
by speaking such words to them .
For this man does not seek the welfare of this people ,
but their harm .
*
Then Zedekiah the king said ,
Behold ,
he is in your hand .
For the king cannot do a thing against you .
*
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchijah the son of Hammelech ,
which was in the court of the guard .
And they let Jeremiah down with ropes .
And there was no water in the pit ,
only mud .
So Jeremiah sank into the mud .
*
And when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian ,
one of the officials in the king
s house ,
heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit (
the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin ),
*
Ebed-melech went out of the king
s house and spoke to the king ,
saying ,
*
My lord the king ,
these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet ,
whom they have thrown into the pit .
And he is likely to die of hunger in the place where he is ,
for there is no more bread in the city .
*
Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian ,
saying ,
Take by your hand thirty men from here ,
and lift Jeremiah the prophet up out of the pit before he dies .
*
So Ebed-melech took the men by his hand and went into the house of the king under the treasury ,
and took worn out clothes and worn out rags from there ,
and let them down by ropes into the pit to Jeremiah .
*
And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah ,
Now put the worn out clothes and rags under your armpits ,
under the ropes .
And Jeremiah did so .
*
So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the pit .
And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard .
*
And Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third gate of the house of Jehovah .
And the king said to Jeremiah ,
I will ask you something .
Do not hide anything from me .
*
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah ,
If I declare it to you ,
will you not execute me to death ?
And if I give you advice ,
you will not give heed to me .
*
So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah ,
saying ,
As Jehovah lives ,
who made our souls ,
I will not put you to death ,
nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life .
*
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah ,
Thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
If you will come out and go forth to the rulers of the king of Babylon ,
then your soul shall live ,
and this city shall not be burned with fire .
And you and your house shall live .
*
But if you will not go forth to the rulers of the king of Babylon ,
then this city shall be given into the hands of the Chaldeans ,
and they shall burn it with fire ,
and you shall not escape out of their hand .
*
And 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 abuse me .
*
But Jeremiah said ,
They shall not deliver you .
I beg of you ,
obey the voice of Jehovah which I am speaking to you ;
so it shall be well with you ,
and your soul shall live .
*
But if you refuse to surrender ,
this is the Word that Jehovah has shown me :
*
Behold ,
all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the rulers of the king of Babylon ,
and they shall say ,
Your friends have enticed you ,
and have prevailed against you .
Your feet have sunk in the mire ,
and they have turned away .
*
So they shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans .
And you shall not escape out of their hand ,
but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon .
And this city shall be burned with fire .
*
Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah ,
Let no man know of these words ,
and you shall not die .
*
But if the rulers hear that I have talked with you ,
and they come to you and say to you ,
Declare to us now what you have said to the king ,
and what the king said to you ;
do not hide it from us ,
and we will not put you to death ;
*
then you shall say to them ,
I presented my supplication before the king ,
that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan
s house ,
to die there .
*
Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah and asked him .
And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded .
So they quit speaking with him ;
for the conversation had not been heard .
*
So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured .
And he was there when Jerusalem was captured .
*
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 .
*
In the eleventh year of Zedekiah ,
in the fourth month ,
the ninth of the month ,
the city was broken into .
*
And all the rulers of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate :
Nergal-sharezer ,
Samgar-nebo ,
Sarsechim ,
Rabsaris ,
Nergal-sharezer ,
Rabmag ,
and all the rest of the rulers of the king of Babylon .
*
And it came to pass that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them ,
then they fled ,
and went out from the city by night ,
by the way of the king
s garden ,
by the gate between the two walls .
And he went out the way of the plain .
*
But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho .
And they took him ,
and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ,
to Riblah in the land of Hamath ,
where he pronounced judgment upon him .
*
Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah .
The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah .
*
Moreover he put out Zedekiah
s eyes and bound him with chains ,
to bring him to Babylon .
*
And the Chaldeans burned the king
s house and the houses of the people ,
with fire ,
and broke down the walls of Jerusalem .
*
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city ,
and those who fell out and defected to him ,
with the rest of the people that remained .
*
But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor people ,
who had nothing ,
in the land of Judah ,
and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time .
*
And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ,
saying ,
*
Take him and look after him ,
and do him no evil ;
but do with him even as he says to you .
*
So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ,
sent ,
and Nebushasban ,
Rabsaris ,
and Nergal-sharezer ,
Rabmag ,
and all the princes of the king of Babylon ,
*
even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard ,
and assigned him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan ,
to take him home .
So he lived among the people .
*
Now the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah ,
while he was shut up in the court of the guard ,
saying ,
*
Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian ,
saying ,
Thus says Jehovah of Hosts ,
the God of Israel :
Behold ,
I will bring My Words upon this city for evil and not for good .
And they shall be done in that day before you .
*
But I will deliver you in that day ,
says Jehovah .
And you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid .
*
For I will give you an escape ,
to deliver you ,
and you shall not fall by the sword ,
but your life shall be as a prize to you ,
because you have put your trust in Me ,
says Jehovah .
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