This book is the account of Jeremiah foretelling about God punishing the Israeli people because they rejected him and would not repent. We call this book

Jeremiah

1

Introduction

1I, Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, am writing these messages. I am a priest, from Anathoth town in the area where the tribe of Benjamin lives. 2Yahweh started to give me these messages when Josiah had been ruling Judah for almost 13 years. 3Yahweh continued to give me more messages when Josiah’s son Jehoiakim was the king, and he continued to do that until Zedekiah had been the king of Judah for almost eleven years. It was in August of that year that the people of Jerusalem were ◄exiled/taken as prisoners► to Babylonia.

Yahweh chose Jeremiah to be his prophet

4One day Yahweh gave me this message:

5“I knew you before I finished forming you in your mother’s womb.

Before you were born, I ◄set you apart/chose you►

and I appointed you to be my prophet

whose messages would be for all nations.”

6I replied, “O, Yahweh my God, I am not qualified to speak for you, because I am very young!”

7Yahweh replied, “Do not say that, because you must go to everyone to whom I will send you, and you must tell them everything that I tell you to say. 8And you must not be afraid of the people to whom you will speak, because I will protect you from being harmed by them. This will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

9Then it was as though Yahweh touched my mouth and said, “Listen to me! I am ◄putting my message into your mouth/telling you what you must speak►. 10Today I am appointing you to warn nations and kingdoms. You will tell them that I will completely destroy and get rid of [DOU] some of them and that I will establish [MET] others and cause them to be strong.”

11Then Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”

12Yahweh said, “That is correct. And because the word for ‘almond’ resembles the word for ‘watching’, it means that I am watching what will happen, and I will make certain that what I have said to you about destroying nations will happen.”

13Then Yahweh spoke to me again and said, “What do you see now?”

I replied, “I see a pot full of boiling water [MTY]. It is tipping toward me from the north.”

14Yahweh replied, “Yes! It means that from the north great trouble/destruction will spread [MET] over this land, like boiling water [MET] pouring from a pot.

15Listen to what I say:

I am summoning the armies of kingdoms that will come from the north of Judah to Jerusalem.

Their kings will set up their thrones at the gates of this city to indicate that they are now the kings of Judah.

Their armies will attack and break down the walls of this city, and they will do the same thing to all the other towns in Judah.

16I will punish [MTY] my people because of all the evil things that they have done;

they have abandoned me and they worship gods/idols.

They worship idols that they have made with their own hands!

17So, get up and put on your clothes to get ready for action! Then go to the people of Judah and tell them everything that I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, because if you are afraid of them, I will cause you to be truly terrified in front of them! 18But listen! I will cause you to be strong, like [MET] a city that has strong walls around it. You will be as strong as [MET] an iron pillar or a bronze wall. None of the kings or officials or priests will be able to defeat you. 19They will oppose you, but they will not be able to defeat you, because I will be with you and will protect you. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

2

The Israelis sinned in spite of God’s care for them

1Yahweh gave me another message

2to proclaim to everyone in Jerusalem. He said that I should tell them this [MET]:

“I, Yahweh, remember that you very much wanted to please me long ago.

You tried to please me like a bride tries to please her husband;

You loved me,

and you followed me through the desert [DOU].

3At that time you Israelis ◄were set apart/belonged only► to me;

you belonged to me like the first part of the harvests belong to me [MET].

I promised to punish all those who harmed you, my people,

and truly I did send disasters on them.

That happened because I, Yahweh, said that it would happen.”

4So, you descendants of [MTY] Jacob, all you people of [MTY] Israel,

5listen to what Yahweh says:

“◄What sin did I commit [RHQ] that caused your ancestors to turn far away from me?/Though your ancestors found no fault in me, they turned far away from me.►

They worshiped worthless idols,

and they themselves became worthless.

6They did not say, ‘Yahweh brought us safely out of Egypt,

and he led us through a desert

where there were a lot of pits;

he led us where there was no water and where it was very dangerous,

through a land where no one lives, and no one even travels.

◄So where is Yahweh now?/So he should be helping us now!► [RHQ]’

7And when I brought you into a very fertile land,

in order that you could enjoy all the fruit and other good things that you would harvest,

you caused the land that I promised to give to you to be unfit for me

and to become disgusting/detestable to me.

8Your priests also did not say,

‘◄Where is Yahweh now?/Yahweh should be helping us now!►’ [RHQ]

Those who teach/explain my laws do not want to know me,

and your leaders have rebelled against me.

Your prophets gave you messages from their god Baal,

and they worship worthless idols.”

Yahweh accused the Israeli people

9“So, I will accuse you in court.

In future years, I will say what your children and your grandchildren have done that is wrong.

That will happen because I, Yahweh, have said that it will happen.

10If you go west to the island of Cyprus,

or if you go east to Kedar land,

and if you ask people in those places,

they will tell you that no people from their countries have ever done the wicked things that you people have done!

11The people of no other nation have ever [RHQ] abandoned their gods that they thought were glorious

and started to worship gods that are not really gods,

but you people have abandoned me, your glorious God,

and are worshiping gods that are useless.

12It is as though everything in the sky is surprised and dismayed/appalled about what you have done;

it is as though they tremble because they are very horrified.

13You, my people, have done two evil things:

You have rejected me, the one who is like [MET] a fountain where you can obtain fresh water,

and you are worshiping gods that are like [MET] pits in the ground

that are cracked and which are not able to hold any water.

14You Israeli people, you were certainly not [RHQ] slaves when you were born;

you were captured by your enemies.

15Your enemies [MET] roared like lions,

and they destroyed your land.

Now your towns have been burned,

and no one lives in them.

16Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, cities in Egypt, have defeated you

and shaved your heads to show that you are their slaves.

17But it is [RHQ] because you abandoned me, Yahweh,

that these disasters have happened to you.

18So ◄why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Egypt?/it certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Egypt► [RHQ].

Why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Assyria who live near the Euphrates River?

19It is because you have been very wicked that I [PRS] will punish you.

It is because you have turned away from me that I [PRS] will condemn you.

When I do that, you will realize that painful and evil [DOU] things will happen to you because you have forsaken me, Yahweh, your God,

and you no longer revere me.

That will certainly happen because I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, have said it.

20Long ago, you stopped obeying me [MET], and you would not allow me to lead you [MET];

you refused to worship me.

Instead, you worship idols that are under trees on the top of every hill,

and your young women have sex with [EUP] men at those places.

21It is as though [MET] you were a grapevine that I planted

when it was a cutting from a very good vine.

So now it is disgusting that [RHQ] you have become like a rotten worthless vine.

22Your guilt from your sins is like [MET] very bad stains on a cloth,

and you cannot get rid of those stains even by using very strong soap.

This is true because I, Yahweh, have said it.

23You say that you have not sinned.

You say ‘We have not become unacceptable to God;

we have not worshiped Baal.’

But think about the disgusting things that you do very eagerly in Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem.

You are like desperate female camels, running here and there to find male camels to have sex with.

24You are like wild female donkeys in the desert.

They sniff the air to find where the male donkeys are,

and no one can [RHQ] restrain them.

The male donkeys that want them do not become tired searching for them,

because at mating time they find them easily.

25You constantly run here and there to find idols to worship, with the result that your sandals are worn out,

and your throats have become dry.

I told you to stop doing that,

but you said, ‘We cannot stop, because we love foreign gods,

and we must worship them.’ ”

26Yahweh says this:

“A robber is disgraced when he is caught.

And all of you, including your kings and priests and prophets, are similarly disgraced.

27You say to a piece of wood that is carved to become a sacred idol, ‘You are our father!’

And you say to a stone that you have set up, ‘You are our mother!’

You have rejected [IDM] me,

but when you experience troubles,

you cry out to me to rescue you.

28Why do you not [RHQ] cry out to the gods that you made?

You have as many gods as you have cities and towns in Judah.

So why do you not plead with them to rescue you

when you experience disasters?

29You complain that it was wrong for me not to have rescued you,

but you have all rebelled against me.

30I punished some of you,

but you did not learn anything from my doing that.

You have killed many of the prophets that I sent to you,

like [SIM] fierce lions kill other animals.

31You people of Israel, pay attention to what I say.

I have certainly [RHQ] never abandoned you in a desert;

I have never left you in a land full of darkness.

So, why do you, my people, say ‘We are free from God’s control;

we will not return to worship God anymore’?

32A young woman would certainly never [RHQ] forget to wear her jewelry,

and a bride would never [RHQ] forget to wear her wedding dress,

but you my people have forgotten me for many years.

33You know how to easily find gods from other countries whom you can love.

You can find them as easily as a prostitute can find men to sleep with.

34Although you have on your clothes the blood of poor people whom you have murdered,

people who ◄were innocent/had not done things that are wrong►,

35you say ‘We have not done anything that is wrong;

so surely Yahweh is not angry with us.’

But I will punish [MTY] you severely

for saying ‘We have not sinned.’

36Previously you requested the army of Assyria to help you,

but they were not able to help you.

Now you have requested the army of Egypt to help you,

but they will not be able to help you, either.

37They will capture you, and you will be their prisoners [MTY],

led to Egypt, very ashamed with your hands on your heads.

That will happen because I, Yahweh, have rejected those nations that you are relying on,

and they will not be able to help you at all.”

3

1“Moses wrote that if a man divorces his wife and then she marries another man,

her first husband certainly must not [RHQ] take her back again to be his wife,

because that would certainly [RHQ] cause the whole nation to become unacceptable to me.

But you have more idols than prostitutes have men whom they have slept with!

So, why should I accept you if you return to me?” [RHQ] says Yahweh.

2“Look up at the barren hilltops.

On every hilltop there are [RHQ] idols that you have worshiped.

It is as though they are all lovers with whom you have had sex.

It is as though you have sat along the roadsides like an Arab, waiting to attack and steal things from those who pass by.

Because of worshiping idols and all the other wicked things that you have done,

you have caused the entire land to become unacceptable to me.

3That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it.

But you are like prostitutes [MET]

who are not at all ashamed for what they have done.

4Now each of you says to me, ‘You are my father!

You have loved me ever since I was young!

5So surely you will not [RHQ] be angry with me forever!’

But you will not quit sinning!”

Israel’s idolatry

6One day when Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh said to me, “Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have turned away from me, like a woman who has abandoned her husband and sleeps with other men. They have gone up on every hilltop and under every big tree and worshiped idols there [MET]. 7I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away to other countries, like a man writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery [MET]. 8The people of Judah saw what I did to them. But they are just like the people of Israel. They are not afraid of what I will do to them. They also have turned away from me and are worshiping idols like women who abandon their husbands and go to other men [MET]. 9They thought that worshiping idols did not matter to me, so they have made the entire land unacceptable to me by worshiping idols of wood and stone. 10The people of Judah have pretended to return to me, but they have not really done that. This is true because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

11Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Israel have turned away from me, but what the people of Judah have done is worse. 12So go and tell this to the people of Israel:

‘Yahweh says this to you Israeli people who have turned away from him:

I am merciful.

I will not continue to be angry with you forever.

So return to me.

13But you must admit/say that you are guilty,

and that you have rebelled against me, Yahweh, your God,

that you have worshiped idols under big trees everywhere,

and you have not obeyed me.

You have turned away from me.

14But you belong to me.

So I will take you, one from each city and two from each clan,

and bring you back to Jerusalem

from the countries to which you were exiled.

15If you do that, I will appoint for you leaders with whom I am pleased,

leaders who will guide you well because they will know and understand what pleases me.

16And when you become very numerous [DOU] in your land,

you will not need to talk about the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments.

You will not think about it,

and you will not want to make a new one.

17At that time people will say, “Jerusalem is the place where Yahweh’s throne is.”

People from all nations will come there to worship me.

And they will no longer stubbornly do the evil things that they desire.

18At that time you people [MTY] of Israel and the people of Judah will return from being ◄exiled/forced to live► in lands to the northeast.

You will return to the land that I gave to your ancestors to belong to them forever.

19You people of Israel, I wanted to accept you to be my children.

I wanted to give you this delightful land.

It is a land more desirable/pleasant than the land of any other nation!

I wanted you to call me ‘father’,

and I wanted you to never turn away from me.

20But you have abandoned me like wives who have abandoned their husbands.’ ”

That is what Yahweh said, and I told it to the people of Israel.

21People will hear a noise on the barren hilltops.

It will be the noise made by people weeping and pleading for God to be merciful to them.

They will be admitting/saying that they have forgotten Yahweh their God,

and that they turned away from behaving as God wanted them to.

22Yahweh will say to them, “You Israeli people, come back to me!

If you do that, I will cause you to never turn away from me again.”

The people will reply, “We are returning to you,

because you are Yahweh, our God.

23We did not get any help from the idols that we worshiped on the hilltops;

we did not get any help from making all that noise up there.

24From the time when we were young, the shameful god Baal has taken away from us everything that our ancestors worked hard to acquire.

He has taken away their flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, their sons and their daughters.

25So, now we should lie down feeling very ashamed [DOU],

because we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our God,

and we have never obeyed him.”

4

What Yahweh says about returning to him

1Yahweh says, “You Israeli people, come back to me!

If you get rid of those detestable idols

and do not turn away from me again,

2and if you declare, ‘Just as surely as Yahweh lives, what he says is true,’

and if you start to always say what is true and act justly/fairly and righteously,

then the people in the other nations of the world will request that I bless them as I have blessed you,

and they will all come and honor/praise me.”

3This is what Yahweh says to the people of Jerusalem and the other cities in Judah:

“Prepare yourselves to receive my messages

like farmers plow up hard ground in order that they can plant seed in it.

Just as farmers do not waste good seed by sowing seeds among thorny plants,

I do not want to waste my time telling you messages that you are not ready to receive.

4Purify your inner beings and your minds for me.

If you do not do that, my being angry with you [MTY]

because of all the sins that you have committed

will be like a fire that will be impossible to extinguish.”

Disaster from the north

5“Declare this [DOU] to all the people in Jerusalem and the rest of Judea;

blow the trumpets everywhere in the land to warn the people.

Tell them that they should flee to

the cities that have high walls around them.

6Shout to the people of Jerusalem,

‘Run away now! Do not delay,

because I am about to cause you to experience a terrible disaster [DOU]

that will come from the north.

7An army that has destroyed many nations will attack you

like [MET] a lion that comes out of its den to attack other animals.

The soldiers of that army have taken down their tents

and they are ready to march toward your land.

They will destroy your cities and leave them without any people still living in them.’

8So, put on sackcloth/rough clothes

and weep and beat your chests

to show that you are very sorry for what you have done,

because Yahweh is still very angry with us.

9Yahweh said that at the time he punishes you, the King of Judah and all his officials will be very afraid.

The priests and the prophets will be terrified.

10Then I replied, “Yahweh my God, you completely deceived the people by telling them that there would be peace in Jerusalem, but now our enemies [PRS] are ready to slaughter us with their swords!”

11When that happens, Yahweh will say to the people of Jerusalem,

“A huge army will come to attack you.

They will not be like a gentle breeze that separates wheat from chaff.

They will be like a very hot wind that blows in from the desert [MET].

12They will be like [MET] a strong blast that I will send.

Now I am declaring that I will punish/destroy you.”

13Our enemies are about to rush down on us; their chariots are like [SIM] whirlwinds.

Their horses are faster than eagles.

It will be terrible for us!

14You people of Jerusalem [APO], purify your hearts/inner beings,

in order that Yahweh will rescue you.

How long will you continue to think about doing evil things?

15From Dan city in the far north to the hills of Ephraim a few miles/kilometers north of Jerusalem messengers are proclaiming that disasters are coming.

16Tell this to the people in other nations

but also announce it in Jerusalem:

Yahweh says, “An army is coming to Jerusalem from far away;

they will shout a battle-cry against the cities in Judah.

17They will set up tents around Jerusalem like people set up temporary shelters [SIM] around a field at harvest time.

That will happen because the people of Judah have rebelled against me.

18You will be punished very severely;

it will be as though a sword has stabbed your innerr beings.

But you are causing those things to happen to you

because of the evil things that you have done.”

19I am extremely anguished/sad;

the pain in my inner being is very severe.

My heart beats wildly.

But I cannot remain silent

because I have heard our enemies blowing their trumpets

to announce that the battle against Judah will start immediately.

20Disasters will occur one after another

until the whole land is ruined.

Suddenly all our tents will be destroyed;

even the curtains inside the tents will be ripped apart.

21How long will this battle continue?

How long will I continue to see the enemy battle flags

and hear the sound of their trumpets being blown?

22Yahweh says, “My people are very foolish!

They do not have a relationship with me.

They are like [MET] stupid children

who do not understand anything.

They very cleverly do what is wrong,

but they do not know how to do what is good.”

Jeremiah’s vision of the coming disaster

23God gave me a vision in which I saw

that the earth was barren and without form.

I looked at the sky,

and there was no light there.

24I looked at the mountains and hills,

and they shook and moved from side to side.

25I looked and saw that there were no more people,

and all the birds had flown away.

26I looked and saw that the fields that previously were fertile had become a desert.

The cities were all ruined;

they had all been destroyed by Yahweh because he was extremely angry.

The coming destruction of Jerusalem/Judah

27This is what Yahweh is saying:

“The entire land of Judah will be ruined,

but I will not destroy it completely.

28I will do to my people what I said that I would do,

and I will not change my mind.

So when that happens, it will be as though the earth will mourn

and the sky will become very dark.”

29When the people hear the sound of the enemy army marching,

they will be terrified as they flee from their cities.

Some of them will find places to hide in the bushes,

and others will run toward the mountains/hills to escape being killed by their enemies.

All the cities in Judah will be abandoned;

not one person will remain in them.

30So you who will surely be destroyed,

why are you doing the things that you are doing now?

Why are you wearing beautiful clothes and jewelry?

Why are you putting paint around your eyes?

Doing those things will not help you,

because the people in other countries that you think love you actually despise you,

and they will try to kill you.

31It is as though I already hear the people in Jerusalem crying very loudly,

like [SIM] a woman cries when she is giving birth to her first child;

she gasps for breath and pleads for someone to help her.

It is as though Jerusalem is crying, “Something terrible is happening to me! They are about to murder me!”

5

No one in Judah is honest

1Yahweh said to the people of Jerusalem, “Go up and down every street.

Search in the marketplaces to find people who do what is fair/right,

who try to be faithful to me.

If you find even one person like that,

I will forgive the people of Jerusalem and not destroy their city.

2But when people there say, ‘I solemnly declare that as surely as Yahweh lives, I will do what he says,’

they are lying.”

3Yahweh, you are certainly [RHQ] searching for people who tell the truth.

You struck/punished your people, but they did not pay any attention.

You crushed them, but they ignored what you were telling them to do.

They were extremely stubborn [IDM]

and refused to return to you.

4I thought, “We cannot expect these people to act righteously, because they are poor;

they do not have any sense.

They do not know the way Yahweh wants them to conduct their lives;

they do not know what God requires them to do.

5So, I will go and talk to their leaders,

because they surely know how God wants them to conduct their lives.”

But they also have stopped obeying Yahweh [MET],

and they will not allow him to lead them.

6Because of that, lions will come out of the forests and kill them;

wolves from the desert will attack them;

leopards that lurk/wait outside their cities will maul anyone who walks outside the cities.

Those things will happen because the people have sinned very much against God

and have turned away from him very frequently.

7Yahweh says, “I cannot [RHQ] forgive these people;

even their children have abandoned me.

When they solemnly declare something, they ask their gods to show that what they say is true.

I gave my people everything that they needed,

but they often went to the shrines of their idols and committed adultery there.

8Just like [MET] well-fed male horses neigh, wanting sex with female horses,

each of the men desires to have sex with his neighbor’s wife.

9◄Should I not punish them for this [RHQ]?/I will certainly get revenge on this nation for this!►

I will certainly get revenge [RHQ] on this nation whose people behave like that!

10I will say to your enemies, ‘The people of Judah and Israel are like a vineyard.

Go along the rows in their vineyards

and get rid of most of the people,

but do not kill all of them.

These people do not belong to me,

so get rid of them,

like a gardener [MET] lops/cuts off branches from a vine.

11The people of Israel and Judah have turned away from me completely.’

12They have lied about me and said,

‘He will not punish us!

He will not cause us to experience disasters!

We will not experience wars or famines!

13What God’s prophets say is nothing but hot air!

They do not have messages from God!

We would like the disasters that they predict to happen to them!’ ”

14So, this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, has said to me:

“Because my people are saying those things,

I will give you a message to tell them [MTY] that will be like [MET] a fire,

and these people will be like [MET] wood that the fire will burn up.

15Listen to this, you people of Israel:

I will bring the army of a distant nation to attack you.

It is a very powerful nation that has existed for a long time.

They speak a language that you do not know

and which you will not be able to understand.

16Their soldiers are all very strong,

and the arrows from their quivers [MET] will ◄send many Israeli men to their graves/cause many Israeli people to die►.

17They will eat the food that you have harvested from your fields,

and eat your bread.

They will kill your sons and daughters,

and they will kill your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

They will eat your grapes and your figs.

They will also destroy your cities that have high walls around them

and kill the people with their swords.

18But even when those things happen, I will not get rid of all of you.

19And when the survivors ask, ‘Why is Yahweh our God doing this to us?’

you will tell them, ‘You rejected him and worshiped foreign gods in your own land,

so now you will become slaves of foreigners in a land that is not your land.’ ”

20Yahweh said to me, “Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah:

21Listen to this, you people who are foolish and who do not have any sense:

You have eyes, but it is as though you cannot see;

you have ears, but it is as though you cannot hear.

22Why do you not revere me [RHQ]?

You should [RHQ] tremble when you are in my presence!

I, Yahweh, am the one who put a barrier along the shores

so that the waters of the ocean cannot cross it and flood the land.

The waves roll and roar, but they cannot go past that barrier.

23But you people are not like the waves that obey me.

You people are very stubborn and rebellious.

You have constantly turned away from me.

24You do not say to yourselves,

‘We should revere Yahweh our God,

the one who sends us rain at the times when we need it,

the one who causes the grain to become ripe at the harvest season.’

25It is because of the wrong things that you have done, that those good things have not happened;

it is because of the sins that you have committed that you have been prevented from receiving those blessings.

26Among my people are wicked people who hide along the roads to ambush/attack people

like [SIM] men who hunt birds ◄put out nets/set traps► to catch them.

27Like a hunter has a cage full of birds that he has captured,

their homes are full of things that they have gotten by deceiving others.

So now they are very rich and powerful.

28They are big and fat,

and there is no limit to the evil things that they have done.

They do not try to defend orphans in the courtrooms,

and they do not help poor people to get what they have a right to receive.

29So I will certainly [RHQ] punish them for doing those things.

I will certainly [RHQ] ◄get revenge on their nation/do to their nation what they deserve►.

30Very appalling/horrible and terrible [DOU] things are happening in this country:

31Prophets speak only lies

and priests rule by their own authority,

and you people like that!

But when you start to experience disasters, what will you do [RHQ]?”

6

Jeremiah warned the people of Jerusalem

1“You people in Jerusalem who are from the tribe of Benjamin,

flee from this city!

Blow the trumpets in Tekoa city south of Jerusalem!

Send up a smoke signal in Beth-Haccherem town

to warn the people of the coming danger!

A powerful army will come from the north,

and they will cause great destruction.

2Jerusalem is like a beautiful pasture full of sheep,

but it will soon be destroyed.

3Enemy kings, not shepherds [MET], will come with their armies and set up their tents around the city,

and each king will choose a part of the city for his soldiers to destroy like [MET] shepherds divide their pastures for their flocks of sheep.

4The kings will tell their troops,

“Get ready for the battle.

We should attack them before noontime.

But if we arrive there late in the afternoon

when the shadows are becoming long,

5we will attack them at night

and tear down their fortresses.”

Yahweh predicts what will happen to Jerusalem

6Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, says this:

“I will command those soldiers to cut down the trees outside Jerusalem

and to build dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls

in order that they can enter the city.

This city must be punished

because everyone there continually oppresses others.

7It is as though the wicked things that the people do

pour out of the city like [SIM] water flows out of a spring.

The noise from people doing violent and destructive actions is heard everywhere.

I continually see people who are suffering and wounded.

8Listen to what I am warning you, you people of [APO] Jerusalem,

because if you do not listen, I will reject you

and cause your land to become desolate,

a land where no one lives.”

9Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, also says this:

“I will tell your enemies to cause your country to become as desolate [SIM] as a vineyard from which all the grapes have been completely stripped from the vines.

Their soldiers will seize the possessions of those who remain in Israel after the others have been exiled

like [SIM] farmers go to the vines again to pick any grapes that were ◄left/not picked►.”

10Then I said, “If I speak to the Israeli people to warn them,

◄who will listen to me?/No one will listen to me.► [RHQ]

It is as though their ears are closed,

and as a result they cannot hear what I say.

They scorn Yahweh’s messages;

they do not want to listen to them at all.

11So now I am extremely angry, like Yahweh is angry,

and I cannot restrain it any longer.”

So Yahweh said to me,

“Tell everyone that you are very angry with them.

Tell the children in the streets and the young men who gather together.

Tell the men and their wives;

tell the very old people [DOU], also.

12Tell the men that I will give their houses to their enemies,

and I will give their property/fields and their wives to them, also,

when I punish [IDM] the people who live in this land.

13Everyone is trying to get money by tricking others,

from the most important people to the least important people;

even the prophets and the priests are trying to deceive people to get money.

14They act as though the sins of my people are like [MET] small wounds that they do not need to put bandages on.

They continually greet people by saying ‘I hope things are going well with you,’

when things are not going well.

15They should be [RHQ] ashamed about the disgusting things that they do,

but they are not ashamed at all.

They do not even know how to ◄blush/show on their faces that they are ashamed►.

So, they also will be among those who will be killed.

They will be destroyed when I punish them.”

16This is also what Yahweh said to the Israeli people:

“Stand at the crossroads and look at the people who pass by.

Ask them what was the good behavior that their ancestors had long ago.

And when they tell you, behave that way.

If you do that, you will find rest for your souls.”

But you replied, ‘We do not want to do that!’

17I sent my prophets who were like [MET] watchmen.

They said, ‘Listen carefully when we blow the trumpets to warn you that your enemies are approaching,’

but you said, ‘No, we do not want to listen.’

18Therefore, you people in the other nations, listen to this:

Pay attention to what is going to happen to the Israeli people.

19Listen, all of you!

I am going to cause the Israeli people to experience disasters.

That is what will happen to them because they have refused to listen to what I told them.

They have refused to obey my laws.

20You Israeli people, when you burn frankincense that came from far away in Sheba,

and when you offer to me sweet-smelling anointing oil that came from far away,

I will not [RHQ] be pleased with your sacrifices.

I will not accept the sacrifices that are completely burned on the altar;

I am not pleased with any of your sacrifices.

21Therefore, I will put obstacles on the roads on which my people will travel.

Men and their sons and people’s neighbors and friends will stumble over those obstacles and fall down;

everyone will die.”

22Yahweh also says this:

“You will see a huge army marching towards you from the north.

An army of a great nation very far away is preparing to attack you.

23They have bows and arrows and spears;

they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone.

As they ride along on their horses,

the horses’ feet sound like the roaring of the ocean waves;

they are riding in battle formation

to attack you people of Jerusalem.”

24The people of Jerusalem say,

“We have heard reports about the enemy;

so we are very frightened, with the result that we feel weak.

We are very afraid, and worried,

like [SIM] women who are about to give birth to babies.

25So one person says to another,

‘Do not go out into the fields! Do not go on the roads,

because the enemy soldiers have swords and they are everywhere;

they are coming from all directions, and we are extremely afraid.’ ”

26So I say, “My dear people, put on ◄sackcloth/rough clothes► and sit in ashes to show that you are sorry for your sins.

Mourn and cry very much,

like [SIM] a woman would cry if her only son had died,

because your enemies are very near,

and they are going to destroy everything.”

27Then Yahweh said to me,

“Jeremiah, I have caused you to become like [MET] someone who heats metal very hot to completely burn the impurities.

You will examine my people’s behavior.

28You will find out that they are very stubborn rebels,

they are always slandering others.

Their inner beings are as hard as bronze or iron;

they all continually deceive others.

29A metalworker causes the bellows to blow very hard to make the fire very hot to completely burn up the impurities [MET].

But just as a fire does not cause all the waste material to run off,

it is impossible to separate the righteous people from the wicked people, and punish only the wicked people.

30I, Yahweh, have rejected them;

I say that they are like [MET] worthless silver.”

7

Jeremiah spoke at the temple

1Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,

2“Go to the entrance of my temple, and give this message to the people:

You people of Judah who worship here, listen to this message from Yahweh!

3The Commander of the armies of angels says to you,

If you stop doing evil things and start doing what is right,

I will allow you to remain living in your land.

4But some people are repeatedly saying to you,

‘The temple of Yahweh is here,

so we will be safe;

he will not allow us and the temple to be destroyed.’

But do not pay attention to what they say,

because they are deceiving you.

5I will act mercifully to you only if you change your behavior and stop doing evil things,

and if you start to act fairly/justly toward others,

6and if you stop oppressing foreigners who live in your country, and orphans and widows,

and if you stop murdering people,

and if you stop worshiping ◄foreign gods/idols►.

However, if you continue to do those things, you will be destroyed.

7If you do what I have told you, I will allow you to stay in this land that I promised to your ancestors that it would belong to them and their descendants forever.

8People are repeatedly telling you, ‘The temple is here, so we are safe’,

and you are trusting/believing that what they are saying is true, but it is a lie.

Those people are deceiving you, and what they say is worthless.

9You think that [RHQ] you can steal things, murder people, commit adultery, tell lies in court, and worship Baal and all those other gods that you did not know about previously,

10and then come here and stand in front of this temple, which is my temple, and say ‘Nothing bad will happen to us!’,

while you continue to do all those abominable things.

11Do you realize that you are causing this temple, which is my temple, to become like [MET] a den where bandits hide [RHQ]?

Do you not know that I see all the evil things that you people do there?

12Long ago I put my Sacred Tent at Shiloh city, to be a place where people would worship me [MTY].

Think about how I destroyed it because my people, the Israeli people, did many wicked things there.

13And while you were continually doing those wicked things,

I told you about it many times, but you refused to listen.

I called out to you,

but you refused to answer me.

14Therefore, just like I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this temple

that was built for people to worship me [MTY],

this temple that you trust in,

that is in this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.

15And I will expel you from this land and send you to other countries far away from me,

just like I did to your relatives, the people of Israel.”

The warning from Yahweh

16Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, do not pray for these people any longer.

Do not cry for them or plead for me to help them,

because I will not pay any attention to you.

17Do you see the wicked things that they are doing in the streets of Jerusalem and in the other towns in Judah?

18The children gather firewood

and their fathers use it to make fires on the altars to burn sacrifices.

The women knead/make dough to make cakes to offer to their goddess Astarte who is called the Queen of Heaven.

And on their altars they pour out offerings of wine to their other idols.

All of those things cause me to become extremely angry!

19But I am not [RHQ] the one whom they are hurting;

they are really [RHQ] hurting themselves by doing these things for which they should be very ashamed!”

20So Yahweh the Lord says this:

“Because I am extremely angry with what happens at this place,

I will punish these people severely [MTY];

my being very angry will be like [MET] a fire that will not be extinguished,

and I will destroy the people, their animals, their fruit trees, and their crops.”

21Therefore, this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“Take away [IRO] your offerings that you bring to burn completely on your altars and your other sacrifices;

don’t give them to me; eat them yourselves!

22When I led your ancestors out of Egypt,

it was not offerings to be completely burned on the altar or other sacrifices that I wanted from them.

23What I told them was, ‘Obey me;

if you do that, I will be your God and you will be my people.

If you do the things that I want you to do,

everything will go well for you.’

24But your ancestors would not pay any attention [DOU] to me.

They continued to do the evil things that they wanted to do,

everything that in their stubborn inner beings they desired to do.

Instead of coming closer to me, they went further away from me.

25From the day that your ancestors left Egypt until now,

I have continued to send my prophets to you.

26But you, my people, have not listened to me or paid attention to what I said;

you have been stubborn, and you have done more sinful things than your ancestors did.”

27Then Yahweh said to me, “When you tell all this to my people,

they will not listen to you.

When you call to them,

they will not answer.

28Say to them, ‘You people of Judah have not obeyed Yahweh, your God;

you have not accepted it when he tried to correct you.

No one among you is truthful;

you do not say anything that is true; you speak only lies.’

29So, tell them to cut off their hair to show that they are mourning;

tell them to go up into the hills and sing a sad funeral song,

because I have completely rejected [DOU] this generation of people who have made me angry.”

The Valley of Slaughter

30Yahweh says this: “The people of Judah have done many things that I say are evil.

They have set up their disgusting idols in my temple,

causing it to become an unacceptable place to worship me.

31They have built altars at Topheth in Ben-Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem,

and they sacrifice their sons and daughters on those altars.

I never commanded them to do that;

I never even thought that anyone would do that.

32So they should beware!

There will be a time when that place will no longer be called Topheth or the Hinnom Valley;

instead, it will be called the Valley of Slaughter.

There will be a huge number of people who will be buried there,

with the result that there will be no space to bury more bodies.

33The corpses of my people that are not buried and are left on the ground will be eaten by vultures and wild animals,

and there will be no one to shoo/chase them away.

34There will be no one singing and laughing anymore in the streets of Jerusalem;

there will be no more joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides in Judah,

because the land will be completely destroyed.”

8

1Yahweh says, “At the time that your corpses are scattered on the ground,

your enemies will break open the graves of your kings and other officials who lived in Judah,

and the graves of your priests and prophets and other people who lived there.

2They will take out their bones from their graves and dishonor them by scattering them on the ground under the sun and the moon and the stars—

those are the gods which my people loved and served and worshiped.

No one will gather up their bones and bury them again;

they will remain scattered on the ground like dung.

3And all the people of this wicked nation who are still alive and whom I have exiled to other countries will say,

‘We would prefer to die than to continue to stay alive here in these countries.’

That will be true because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

The people will not admit their sins

4Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, tell the people that this is what I, Yahweh, am saying to them:

‘When people fall down, they get up again, do they not [RHQ]?

When people are going along a road and find out that they are walking on the wrong road, they go back and find the correct road, do they not [RHQ]?

5Yes, they do, so why do these people of Judah continue trusting in those idols that have deceived them?

They continue turning away from me,

even though I have warned them.

6I have listened carefully [DOU] to what they say,

but they do not say what they should say.

Not one of them is sorry for having sinned.

No one says, “I have done [RHQ] wicked things.”

They are sinning and doing what they want to

as fast as [SIM] a horse that is running into a battle.

7All the birds that fly south for the ◄winter/cold season► know the time that they need to fly south,

and they all return at the right time the following year.

But my people are not like those birds!

They do not know what I, Yahweh, require them to do.

8Your men who teach you the laws that Moses wrote have been saying false things about those laws.

So, why [RHQ] do they continue saying, “We are very wise because we have the laws of Yahweh”?

9Those teachers, who think that [IRO] they are wise, will be ashamed/disgraced and dismayed when they are taken to other countries by their enemies

because they sinned by rejecting what I told them.

Truly, they were not [RHQ] very wise to do that!

10So, I will give their wives to other men;

I will give their fields to the enemy soldiers who conquer them.

All the people, including those who are important and those who are not important, deceive others in order to obtain their possessions.

Even my prophets and my priests do that.

11They act as though the sins of my people are not serious,

like [MET] wounds that do not need to be cleaned and bandaged.

They tell the people that everything will go well with them,

but that is not true; things will not go well with them.

12They should be [RHQ] ashamed when they do disgusting things [RHQ],

but they do not even know how to show on their faces that they are ashamed about their sins.

So, they will be killed, and their corpses also will lie among the corpses of others who have been slaughtered by their enemies.

They will be killed when I punish them.

13I will allow their enemies to take away the figs and grapes that the people would have harvested from their fields.

Their fruit trees will all wither.

They will not receive all the blessings that I prepared for them.

This will certainly happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

14Then the people will say, “◄Why should we wait here in these small towns?/We should not wait here in these small towns. ► [RHQ]!

We should go to the cities that have high walls around them,

but even if we do that we will be killed there,

because Yahweh our God has decided that we must be destroyed;

it is as though [MET] he has given us a cup of poison to drink,

because we sinned against him.

15We hoped/desired that things would go well for us,

but things have not gone well.

We hoped that bad things would not happen to us anymore,

but only things that terrify us are happening to us.

16People far north in Israel in the city of Dan can already hear the snorting of the horses of their enemies who are preparing to attack us.

It is as though the entire land of Judah is shaking as their army approaches;

they are coming to destroy our land and everything in it, the people and the cities.”

17Yahweh says, “I will send those enemy soldiers to Judah,

and they will be like [MET] poisonous snakes among you.

No one will be able to stop them from attacking you [MET];

they will attack you like snakes do, and kill you.”

Jeremiah mourned for the people

18I grieve very much for the people of Judah, and my grieving does not end.

I am very sad [IDM].

19Throughout our land, the people ask,

“Has Yahweh abandoned Jerusalem?

Is he, our city’s king, no longer there?”

Yahweh replies, “Why do the people cause me to become very angry by worshiping idols and foreign gods?” [RHQ]

20The people say, “The harvest season is finished, the ◄summer/hot season► has ended,

and we hoped that we would receive blessings from Yahweh,

but he has not rescued us from our enemies.”

21I cry because my people have been crushed.

I mourn, and I am completely dismayed.

22I ask, “Surely there is [RHQ] medicinal balm in the Gilead region!

Surely there are [RHQ] doctors there!”

But my people have been badly wounded in their spirits,

and nothing can heal them.

9

1I wish that my head was like [MET] a spring of water,

and that my eyes were like a fountain of tears.

Then I would cry night and day for all of my people who have been killed by our enemies.

2I wish that I could leave my people and forget them,

and go and live in a shack/shelter in the desert,

because they have not remained faithful [MET] to Yahweh;

they are a mob of people who deceive others.

Yahweh replied to Jeremiah

3Yahweh replied to me,

“They use their tongues to tell [MET] lies

like people shoot arrows with bows.

It is because they tell lies that they have become more powerful in this land,

and they do not know me.

4Do not trust your neighbors and even your brothers!

They all are as deceitful as Jacob was.

They slander each other and tell lies about each other.

5They deceive their friends

and never tell the truth.

They lie continually and, because of that, they have become skilled liars;

they do one oppressive thing after another, and are unable to stop doing it.

6They habitually lie and deceive each other,

and no one will admit/say that I am God.

7Therefore I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say this:

Listen carefully to what I say: I will cause my people to experience great afflictions,

like a metalworker puts metal in a hot fire [MET] to completely burn out the impure bits.

Because of all the evil things that my people have done,

there is absolutely nothing else [RHQ] that I can do.

8What they say [MTY] injures people like [MET] poisoned arrows do.

They say to their neighbors, ‘I hope things will go well for you,’

while they are planning to kill them.

9Should I not punish them for doing that [RHQ]?

Yes, I should certainly ◄get revenge on/give what they deserve to► the people of a nation that does things like that!”

10So, I will weep and wail for the people who live in the mountains and in the ◄pastures/places where the livestock eat the grass►,

because those areas will be desolate, and no one will live there.

There will be no cattle there to call to each other,

and all the birds and wild animals will have fled to other places.

11Yahweh also says, “I will cause Jerusalem to become a heap of ruins,

and only jackals/wolves will live there.

I will destroy the towns of Judah, with the result that they will be completely deserted;

no one will live there.”

12I said, “Only people who are very wise [RHQ] can understand these things.

Only those who have been taught by Yahweh can [RHQ] explain these things to others.

The wise people are [RHQ] the only ones who can explain why the land will be completely ruined

with the result that everyone [RHQ] will be afraid to travel through it.”

13Yahweh replied, “These things will happen because my people have rejected my laws which I gave to them;

they have not obeyed me or my instructions.

14Instead, they have stubbornly done the things that they wanted to do.

They have worshiped the idols that represent the god Baal,

which is what their ancestors did.

15So now listen to what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God of the Israelis, say:

What I will do will be like [MET] giving these people bitter things to eat and poison to drink:

16I will scatter them to many nations which neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about;

I will enable their enemies to strike them with swords

until I have destroyed them.”

17This is also what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“Think about what is happening,

then summon those women who mourn when someone has died.

18Tell them to come quickly and start to wail,

with the result that tears will stream down from your(pl) eyes.

19Listen to the people of Jerusalem crying/lamenting, saying,

‘We have been ruined/destroyed!

We have experienced a terrible disaster!

Now we are very ashamed,

because our houses have been destroyed by our enemies, and we are being forced to leave our land.’ ”

20You women, listen to what Yahweh says [MTY].

Pay attention to his words [DOU].

Teach your daughters to wail.

Teach each other how to sing funeral songs,

21because people will be dying [PRS] in your houses and in palaces.

There will be no more children playing in the streets,

there will be no more young men gathering in the city squares/marketplaces.

22There will be corpses scattered across the fields like dung;

their dead bodies will lie there like [SIM] grain that has been cut by reapers/farmers,

and there will be no one still alive to bury them.

23Yahweh says this:

“Wise men should not boast about their being wise,

strong men should not boast about their being strong;

and rich people should not boast about their being rich.

24Instead, those who want to boast should boast about their knowing me

and about understanding that I am Yahweh,

that I am kind and just and righteous,

that I faithfully love people,

and that I am delighted with people who act that way.

25-26There will be a time when I will punish all those people of Egypt and of the Moab people-group and of the Edom people-group and of the Ammon people-group,

all those people who live close to desert areas (OR, who cut their hair short to please their gods) far from Judah,

all those people who have changed their bodies by circumcising them [MET]

but who have not changed their inner beings.

I will punish the people of Judah also,

because they have not changed their inner beings, either.”

10

Worthless idols

1You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:

2“Do not act like the people of other nations act,

and do not be terrified by strange/unusual things that you see in the sky,

even though they cause the people of other nations to be terrified.

3The customs of the people of other nations are worthless.

For example, they cut down a tree in the forest.

Then a skilled worker/craftsman cuts a section of it and uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section.

4Then people decorate the idol with silver and gold.

Then they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple/fall over.

5Then the idol stands there like [SIM] a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers/melons!

It cannot speak,

and people must carry it,

because it cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of idols,

because they cannot harm anyone,

and they cannot do anything good to help anyone.”

Hymn of praise to Yahweh

6Yahweh, there is no one like you.

You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.

7You are the king of all the nations!

Everyone should [RHQ] revere you,

because that is what you deserve.

Among all the wise people on the earth

and in all the kingdoms where they live,

◄there is no one like you./who can compare with you?►

8Those people who think that they are very wise [IRO] are stupid and foolish [DOU].

The idols that they worship are only made of wood!

Those idols certainly cannot teach them anything.

9People hammer into thin sheets silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz,

and then they give those sheets of silver and gold to skilled workers/craftsmen to cover the idols.

Then they put on those idols expensive purple robes

that are made by skilled workers.

10But Yahweh is the only true God;

he is the all-powerful God,

the king who rules forever.

When he is angry, all the earth shakes/quakes;

and the people of the nations cannot endure what he does when he is angry with them.

11You Israeli people, tell this to those people: “Those idols did not make the sky and the earth, and they will disappear from the earth.”

12But Yahweh made the earth by his power;

he established it firmly by his wisdom

and stretched out the sky by his understanding.

13When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky;

he causes clouds to form over every part of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and releases the winds from his storehouses.

14People are senseless and know very little [HYP];

those who make idols are always disappointed

because their idols do nothing for them.

The images/statues that they make are not real gods;

they are lifeless.

15Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed;

there will be a time when they all will be destroyed.

16But the God whom we Israelis worship is not like those idols;

he is the one who created everything that exists;

we, the tribe/people of Israel, belong to him;

he is the Commander of the armies of angels.

The coming destruction

17Yahweh says this to the people of Jerusalem:

“The army of your enemies surrounds your city,

so gather up your possessions and prepare to leave the city.

18I will soon throw you out of this land

and cause you to experience great troubles,

with the result that you will have severe pain (OR, none of you will be left here).”

19The people replied, “It is as though we have been badly wounded,

and we are very grieved;

It is as though we have a very serious illness,

and we must endure the pain.

20It is as though our great tent is destroyed;

the ropes that held it up have been cut;

our children have gone away from us and will not return;

there are no people left to rebuild our great tent.

21Our leaders [MET] no longer have any sense;

they no longer ask Yahweh to ◄guide them/tell them what to do►,

so they will no longer prosper,

and all those over whom they rule [MET] will be scattered.

22Listen! Our enemies’ armies in the north are making a very big noise/commotion

as they march toward us.

The towns in Judah will be destroyed,

and they will become a place where jackals/wolves live.”

Jeremiah’s prayer

23Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him;

no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.

24So correct/discipline us, but do it gently.

Do not correct/punish us when you are angry,

because we would die if you did that.

25Punish [MTY] all the nations whose people do not acknowledge/say that you are God;

punish all the nations whose people do not worship you,

because they are completely destroying [DOU] us people of Israel

and they are causing our land to soon be only a desert.

11

The people of Judah did not keep the agreement with Yahweh

1This is another message that Yahweh told me: 2“Listen to the agreement that I made with the ancestors of the people of Jerusalem and the other cities in Judah. Then remind them of that agreement. 3Then tell them that I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worship, said that I will curse everyone who does not obey what was written in that agreement that I made with them. 4It is the same agreement that I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. What happened to them in Egypt was terrible; it was as though they were living in a hot furnace [MET]. When I brought them out of Egypt, I told them to obey me, and to do everything that I had commanded them to do. I also told them that if they obeyed me, they would be my people and I would be their God. 5Now tell these people that if they obey me, I will do what I promised to do for their ancestors. I will enable them to continue living in this very fertile [IDM] land in which they now live.”

I replied, “Yahweh, I hope that what you said will happen.”

6Then Yahweh said to me, “Go into the streets of Jerusalem and to the other cities in Judah. Proclaim my message to the people. Tell them to listen to the agreement that I made with their ancestors, and to obey it. 7When I brought their ancestors out of Egypt, I solemnly pleaded with them many times to obey me, and I am still pleading with them now. 8But they did not obey me or even pay any attention to me. Everyone continued to be stubborn and to do the evil things that they wanted to do. I commanded them to do what was written in the agreement, but they refused. So I punished them in all the ways that I promised that I would.”

9Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Jerusalem and the other cities in Judah are rebelling against me. 10Their ancestors refused to do what I told them to do, and now these people have returned to committing the sins that their ancestors committed. They are worshiping other gods. The people of Israel disobeyed the agreement that I made with their ancestors, and now the people of Judah have done the same thing. 11So now I, Yahweh, am warning them that I will cause them to experience disasters, and they will not escape them. And when they cry out for me to help them, I will not pay attention. 12When that happens, the people in Jerusalem and other cities in Judah will offer sacrifices and burn incense to their gods and ask for their help, but those gods will not be able to save them when those disasters come to them. 13There are more gods in Judah than there are towns in Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have erected as many altars to burn incense to those gods as there are streets in Jerusalem.

14Jeremiah, do not pray for these people, and do not plead with me to rescue them. If you plead with me, I will not pay attention; and if they cry out to me for help when they are in distress, I will not listen to them.”

15Then Yahweh said,

“The people of Judah whom I love certainly no longer have [RHQ] a right to come to my temple,

because they continually do many evil things.

They think that continually making sacrifices of meat to me certainly will [RHQ] protect them from disasters,

with the result that they will be able to rejoice.

16I previously said that they were like an olive tree full of green leaves

with a lot of good olives on it,

but now I will send their enemies to attack them furiously;

it is as though I will break off their branches, and their city will be destroyed by fire.

17It is as though the people of Judah and Israel were a beautiful olive tree that I, the Commander of the armies of angels, planted,

but now, by burning incense to their god Baal, they have caused me to become very angry.

So now I have decided to destroy them.”

Jeremiah’s enemies planned to kill him

18Yahweh revealed to me that my enemies were planning to kill me. 19Before he did that, I was like a lamb that was being led away to be slaughtered; I did not know what they were planning to do. I did not know that they were saying, “Let’s get rid of this tree and its fruit,” so I did not know that they intended to kill me, in order that no one would remember me [MTY].

20Then I prayed, “Commander of the armies of angels, you judge people justly/fairly,

and you examine everything that we are thinking [DOU].

Allow me to watch you getting revenge on the people who want to kill me,

because I trust that you will do for me what is right.”

21It was the men of my own town, Anathoth, who wanted to kill me, and they told me that they would kill me if I did not stop prophesying what Yahweh told me to say. 22So the Commander of the armies of angels said about them, “I will punish them. Their young men will be killed in wars, and their children will die because they have no food. 23I have set a time when I will bring disasters to the people of Anathoth, and when that happens, none of them will remain alive.”

12

Jeremiah complained to Yahweh

1Yahweh, whenever I tell you that I am unhappy about what is happening to me,

you always act justly/fairly.

So now allow me to ask about one more thing that I do not understand:

Why are wicked people often very prosperous?

Why do things go very well for dishonest/wicked people?

2You allow them to prosper

like [MET] trees that grow tall and bear a lot of fruit.

They always say [MTY] good things about you,

but their hearts are really far from you.

3But Yahweh, as for me, you know what is in my inner being.

You see what I do and you are able to know what I am thinking.

So drag away those wicked people,

like people drag away sheep that they are going to butcher.

Set them aside like sheep that are about to be slaughtered!

4This land is [RHQ] becoming very dry and even the grass is withering.

The wild animals and the birds have all died

because the people are very wicked.

All that has happened because the people have said,

“Yahweh does not know what we are doing (OR, what will happen to us)!”

Yahweh replied to Jeremiah

5Then to show me that I needed to be prepared to endure even greater difficulties, Yahweh said to me,

“It is as though you have become exhausted from racing against men;

so how will you be able to race against horses?

If you stumble and fall when you are running on open/bare/smooth ground,

what will happen to you when you are running through the thornbushes near the Jordan River?

6Already your brothers and other members of your own family oppose you.

They ◄plot against/plan to do evil things to► you and they say bad things about you.

So even if they say nice things about you,

do not trust them!

7I have abandoned my Israeli people,

the people whom I chose to belong to me.

I have allowed their enemies to conquer the Israeli people, whom I love.

8My people have become to me like [SIM] a lion in the forest.

It is as though they roar at me like a lion,

so now I hate them.

9My chosen people have [RHQ] become like speckled hawks

that are surrounded by vultures waiting to eat their flesh after they are dead.

Tell all the wild animals to come

and eat the flesh of their corpses.

10Many rulers from other countries have come with their armies and devastated/destroyed my people

whom I care for like a farmer takes care of his vineyard.

They have caused my beautiful land to become a barren desert where no one lives.

11They have caused it to become completely empty;

it is as though I hear the land crying sadly/mournfully.

The whole land is desolate,

and no one ◄worries about/pays any attention to► it.

12The soldiers of our enemies have marched across all the barren hilltops.

But I, Yahweh, am using those armies [MTY] to punish your land from one end to the other,

and no one will escape.

13It is as though my people planted wheat,

but now they are harvesting thorns.

They have become very tired because of much hard work,

but they have gained nothing from all that work.

They will be very disappointed because their harvests will be very small,

and that will happen because I, Yahweh, am extremely angry with them.”

14This is also what Yahweh said to me: “I will punish the evil nearby nations that have been trying to take away the land that I gave to my Israeli people, and I will force them to leave their own land. But I will throw the people of Judah out of their land, also. 15But later I will act mercifully toward those nations again, and I will bring them back to their own lands again. Each clan will come back to its own land. 16And if the people of the other nations whose armies have invaded Israel learn the religious customs of my people, and if they learn that I am listening when they solemnly promise that they will do something good, like they taught my people to believe that their god Baal was listening when they made solemn promises, I will cause them to become prosperous, and they also will be my people. 17But I will expel any nation whose people refuse to obey me, and I will destroy that nation and its people. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

13

Jeremiah’s linen waistcloth

1One day Yahweh said to me, “Go and buy a linen waistcloth. Put it on, but do not wash it.” 2So I bought a very nice waistcloth, which is what Yahweh told me to do, and I put it on.

3Then later Yahweh gave me another message. 4He said, “Go to the small Perath Stream near Jerusalem and hide your waistcloth in a crevice/hole in the rocks.” 5So I went to the stream and did what Yahweh told me to do.

6A long time later, Yahweh said to me, “Go back to that stream and get the waistcloth that I told you to hide there.” 7So I went to the Perath Stream and dug out the waistcloth from the crevice/hole in which I had hidden it. But it was ruined, and useless.

8Then Yahweh gave me this message: 9“What happened to your waistcloth shows that I will destroy the things that the people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah are very proud of. 10Those wicked people refuse to pay attention to what I say. They stubbornly do just what they desire to do; they worship other gods. Therefore, they will become completely useless, like your waistcloth. 11Just like a waistcloth clings closely/tightly to a man’s waist, I wanted the people [MTY] of Israel and Judah to cling closely to me. I wanted them to be my people, people who would praise me and honor me. But they would not pay attention to me.

The warning regarding wine bags

12So, tell this to them: ‘Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people worship, says that every leather wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And when you tell that to them, they will reply, ‘◄Of course/Certainly► we know [RHQ] that all wineskins should be filled with wine!’ 13And then you must tell them, ‘No, that is not what Yahweh means. What he said means that he will cause this land to be filled with people who are drunk. That will include all of you —the king who sits on the throne that King David previously sat on, the priests and the prophets, and even the common people of Jerusalem.’ 14He is saying, ‘I will cause you to bash each other. Even parents will bash their children. I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you at all; pitying you will not prevent me from getting rid of you.’ ”

A warning that the people of Judah will be exiled

15You people of Judah, pay very careful attention [DOU].

Do not be proud, because Yahweh has spoken to you.

16It is as though he is ready to bring darkness on you

and to cause you to stumble and fall as you walk on the hills when it is becoming dark.

So praise/honor Yahweh your God before that happens.

If you do not do that, you will look for light,

but all you will see is darkness and gloom.

17And if you still refuse to heed what he says,

what will happen to you because of your being proud will cause me to cry when I am alone.

My eyes will be filled with tears

because you, Yahweh’s people,

whom he takes care of like a shepherd takes care of [MET] his flock,

will all be captured by your enemies and taken to other countries.

18You people of Judah, say to the king and to his mother,

“Come down from sitting on your thrones

and humbly sit in the dust,

because your enemies will soon snatch from your heads your glorious crowns.”

19The towns in the southern part of Judah will be surrounded by your enemies,

and no one will be able to get through their lines to rescue the people in those towns.

You people of Judah will be captured and taken away;

you will all be ◄exiled/taken to foreign countries►.

20You leaders of Jerusalem, open your eyes and look:

The enemy armies are ready to march down from the north.

When that happens, what will happen to [RHQ] the people of Judah who are like a beautiful flock of sheep,

people that he gave to you to take care of?

21What will you say [RHQ] when Yahweh appoints people from other countries to rule over you,

people who you mistakenly thought were your friends?

You will [RHQ] suffer very much pain,

like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.

22You will ask yourselves, “Why is this happening to us?”

I will reply that it is because of your many sins.

That is why soldiers of the invading armies will lift up the skirts of your women and rape them.

23A man from Ethiopia certainly cannot [RHQ] change the color of his black skin,

and a leopard certainly cannot [RHQ] change its spots.

Similarly, you cannot start doing what is good,

because you have always done what is evil.

24Yahweh says, “I will scatter you like chaff

that is blown away by the wind from the desert.

25That is what is certainly going to happen to you;

the things that I have determined will happen to you,

because you have forgotten me,

and you are trusting in false gods.

26It is as though I myself will pull your skirts up over your faces

and cause you to be very ashamed because everyone will be able to see your sex organs.

27I have seen that you act like men who are eager to commit adultery;

you are like male horses that whinny when they desire to have sex with a female horse.

I have seen that you worship disgusting idols in the fields and on the hills.

You people of Jerusalem, terrible things will happen to you!

How long will it be [RHQ] until you are acceptable to me again?”

14

The terrible drought

1After there had been no rain in Judah for a long time, Yahweh gave me this message:

2The people in Judah are very distressed;

people are sitting on the ground and mourning;

in all of Jerusalem people are crying loudly.

3The rich people send their servants to wells to get water,

but all the wells are dry.

The servants return with empty pitchers;

they cover their heads

because they are ashamed and humiliated/disappointed and sad.

4The ground is extremely dry and cracked open

because there has been no rain.

The farmers are very worried,

so they also cover their heads.

5Even the ◄does/female deer► abandon their newborn babies/fawns

because there is no grass in the fields for them to eat.

6The wild donkeys stand on the barren hills,

panting like [SIM] thirsty jackals/wolves.

They become blind

because there is no grass to eat.

7The people say, “Yahweh, we have turned away from you and sinned many times,

and now we know that we are being punished because of our sins,

but please help us

in order that everyone can see that you are very great [MTY].

8You are the one whom we Israelis confidently expect to do good things for us

when we have many troubles/difficulties.

So, why do you not help us?

You act as though you are a stranger in our land,

like you are someone who is staying here for only one night.

9Are you also surprised about the terrible things that are happening to us?

Why do you act like you are unable to save anyone, even though you are a strong warrior?

Yahweh, you are here among us,

and others know that we are your people,

so do not abandon us!”

10And this is what Yahweh says to those people:

“You love to wander away from me;

you run [MTY] from one idol to another.

Therefore, now I will no longer accept you,

and I will punish you for your sins.”

11Then Yahweh said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore. 12When they ◄fast/abstain from food in order to honor me►, I will not pay any attention. When they bring to me their offerings of animals to be completely burned on the altar and their offerings of grain, I will not accept them. Instead, I will get rid of them by wars, by famines, and by diseases.”

13Then I replied to him, “Yahweh my God, their prophets are telling the people that they will not experience wars [MTY] or famines. They are telling the people that you will surely allow us to have peace in our land for many years.”

14Yahweh replied to me, “Those prophets say that they are speaking what I tell them to say [MTY], but they are telling lies. I did not send them, so what they are saying is false. They say that they have received visions from me, and that they are telling things that I have revealed to them, but that is not true. They are saying foolish things that they have only thought of themselves. 15So this is what I say about those prophets who are predicting what will happen, saying that I told them those things: They are saying that we Israelis will not die from wars or famines, but I did not send those prophets. And they themselves will die from wars or from famines. 16And the people to whom they are predicting these things, they and their wives and their sons and their daughters, will also die from wars or from famines. Their corpses will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will not be anyone to bury them. I will punish them like they deserve to be punished.

17So, Jeremiah, tell this to them about yourself:

‘Day and night my eyes are full of tears.

I cannot stop crying.

I cry for my people,

who are very precious to me, as if they were [MET] my daughters.

I cry for them because they have been severely wounded;

they have been severely crushed [DOU].

18If I go out into the fields,

I see corpses of people who have been slaughtered by our enemies.

If I walk along the streets of the city,

I see corpses of people who died from hunger.

The prophets and the priests travel through the land, preaching to people,

but they do not know what they are doing (OR, in a land that they know nothing about).’”

Jeremiah’s prayer

19Then I prayed this:

“Yahweh, have you completely rejected the people of Judah?

Do you really despise the people of Jerusalem [MTY]?

Why have you [RHQ] wounded us very badly,

with the result that we will never be healed?

We hoped that we would have peace,

but there was no peace.

We hoped that there would be a time when we would be healed,

but all that we received were things that terrified us.

20Yahweh, we admit/know that we are wicked people,

and that our ancestors also did many wicked things.

We have all sinned against you.

21But Yahweh, in order that we may honor [MTY] you,

do not despise/abandon us.

Do not dishonor the city where [MTY] your glorious throne is.

Please do not forget us,

and do not ◄break your agreement with us/stop doing what you agreed to do for us►.

22Those idols that have been brought from other nations certainly cannot [RHQ] bring rain to us,

and the sky certainly cannot [RHQ] cause rain to fall.

Yahweh our God, you are the only one who can do things like that.

So we will confidently expect you to help us.”

15

Yahweh said what would happen to the people of Judah

1Then Yahweh said this to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel could come back from their graves and and stand in front of me and plead with me for these Israeli people, I would not act mercifully [IDM] toward these people. I would tell you, ’Send them away from me. Cause them to leave me!’ 2And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’, tell them, ‘This is what Yahweh says:

The ones that I say must die, will die:

The ones that I say must die in wars [MTY], will die in wars.

The ones that I say must die from hunger, will die from hunger.

The ones that I say must be captured and taken to other countries, will be captured and taken to other countries.

3I will send four things that will get rid of them: I will send enemy soldiers using swords to kill them. I will send wild dogs to drag away their corpses. I will send vultures to eat their corpses. And I will send other wild animals to eat what remains of their corpses. 4Because of the wicked things that King Manasseh did in Jerusalem, I will cause people in all the kingdoms of the earth to be horrified about what will happen in Judah to my people.

5You people of Jerusalem, no one will [RHQ] feel sorry for you.

No one will [RHQ] weep/cry for you.

No one will [RHQ] ask ◄how you are/if you are well►.

6You people have abandoned me;

you have continued to walk away from me [DOU].

So, I will lift up my fist to smash you;

I will not act mercifully toward you any longer.

7At the gates of your cities, I will scatter you like a farmer scatters the chaff from his grain by ◄winnowing it/throwing it up to allow the wind to blow the chaff away► [MET].

You, my people, have refused to turn away from your evil behavior.

So, I will get rid of you,

and I will even cause your children to be killed.

8I will cause there to be more widows in Judah

than there are grains of sand on the seashore [HYP].

At noontime, when people will not be expecting it to happen, I will cause an enemy army to attack you,

an army that will destroy your young men and cause their mothers to weep.

I will cause you to suddenly experience great suffering/pain and become very terrified.

9A woman who has seven children will become faint and ◄gasp for breath/be hardly able to breathe►;

it will be as though daylight will become darkness for her,

because most of her children will be dead,

and she will be disgraced and humiliated [DOU].

And her children who are still alive, I will enable your enemies to kill them.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’”

Jeremiah’s complaint and Yahweh’s reply

10I said to my mother, “I am very sad;

I wish that you had not given birth to me;

everyone in this land opposes me and quarrels with me.

I am not a person who lends money to people and threatens to sue/harm them if they do not pay me back when they should,

and I am not a person who borrows money from others and then refuses to pay it back,

but everyone [HYP] curses me.”

11But Yahweh replied to me,

“Jeremiah, I will take care of you.

And at times when your enemies have troubles and disasters,

they will come to you and plead for you to help them.

12Yahweh also told me to say to the people of Judah,

“Your enemies, who are as strong as iron or bronze, will attack you fromfrom the north;

no one will be able to stop them.

13I will give all the valuable possessions of the people of Judah to their enemies,

without them paying for it.

Their valuable possessions will be the payment/reward that I will give them

because of all the sins that you have committed throughout your country.

14I will tell your enemies to force you to become their prisoners,

and to take you to other lands that you do not even know about,

and force you to become their slaves.

That will happen because I am extremely angry with you;

my being angry is like [SIM] a fire that will burn forever.”

Another complaint by Jeremiah, and Yahweh’s reply

15Then I said, “Yahweh, you know what is happening to me.

Please come and ◄help me/take care of me►.

Punish those who are ◄persecuting me/causing me to suffer►.

Please do not continue to be patient with them

and do not allow me to die now.

It is ◄for your sake/because I serve you► that I am suffering.

16Yahweh my God, you are the Commander of the armies of angels;

and when you spoke to me,

I was delighted with your message; it caused me to be joyful,

and I eagerly accepted [MET] what you said

because I belong to you. [IDM, MTY]

17When the people were carousing together,

I never joined them;

I sat alone, because you [MTY] are the one who controls what I do.

I was very angry with those people because of their sins.

18So, ◄why do you allow me to continue to suffer?/I do not understand why you allow me to continue to suffer.► [RHQ]

It seems that [RHQ] my wounds cannot be healed.

Sometimes you help me, sometimes you do not help me.

It seems that you are as undependable as a brook that has water in it only during certain seasons;

you are like a spring that has dried up.”

19Then Yahweh replied,

“If you begin again to trust in me,

I will restore you,

in order that you can continue to serve me.

If you proclaim good/valuable messages and not worthless ones,

you will continue to be the one who speaks what I tell you to say.

You must cause the people to pay attention to what you say;

you must not pay attention to what they say.

20They will fight against you,

but I will protect you, like [SIM] people are protected from their enemies by a bronze wall.

They will not defeat you,

because I will be with you,

and I will protect and rescue [DOU] you.

21Truly, I will keep you safe from those wicked people,

I will rescue you when you are seized by cruel people.

That will happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

16

Jeremiah was warned about the coming disaster

1Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me, 2“Do not get married and have children in this land, 3because this is what I, Yahweh, say about the children who are born in this city, and about their mothers and fathers: 4Many of them will die from terrible diseases. And no one will mourn for them. No one will even bury their corpses; the corpses will lie on the ground, scattered like manure. Others will die in wars or from hunger, and then their corpses will become food for vultures and wild animals.”

5This is also what Yahweh said to me: “Do not go to funerals to mourn or to show those whose relatives have died that you feel sorry for them, because I have stopped protecting them, and I have caused that things will not go well for them. I have stopped faithfully loving them and acting mercifully toward them. 6Very many people will die in this land, including those who are important and those who are not important. And no one will mourn for them, or even bury their corpses. No one will cut himself or shave his head to show that he is very sad. 7No one will bring food to comfort those who are mourning, not even if it is their father or their mother who has died. No one will give them a cup of wine to cheer them up.

8And do not go into the houses where people are feasting. Do not eat or drink anything with them. 9I want you to do this because this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say: ‘While you are still alive and seeing it happen, I will cause there to be no more singing and laughing in this land. There will be no more joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides.’

10When you tell these things to the people, they will ask, ‘Why has Yahweh declared that these terrible things will happen to us? What have we done for which we deserve to be punished like this? What sin have we committed against Yahweh our God?’

11Then this is what you must tell them that I am replying to them: ‘It is because your ancestors turned away from me, Yahweh. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my commands. 12But you who are living now have done more wicked things than your ancestors did! Each of you stubbornly does the evil things that he desires and refuses to pay attention to what I say. 13So, I will throw you out of this land, and I will send you to a land that you and your ancestors have never known about. There you will worship other gods day and night. And I will not act mercifully toward you.’

14But there will be a time when people who are solemnly promising to do something will no longer say, ‘I will do this, just as surely as Yahweh lives - the one who brought the Israeli people here from Egypt.’ 15Instead, they will say ‘I will do this, just as surely as Yahweh lives - the one who brought us Israeli people back to our own land, from the lands to the north and from all the other lands to which he had ◄exiled us/forced us to go►.’ They will be able to say that because some day I will bring your descendants back to this land that I gave to your ancestors.

16But now I am summoning your enemies who will seize the people of Judah like [MET] fishermen catch fish. I am summoning those who will search for them on every mountain and hill, and in every cave, like [MET] hunters search for animals to kill. 17I am watching them carefully. I see every sin that they commit. They will not be able to hide from me [MTY]. 18Because of all the wicked things that they have done [DOU], I will punish them twice as much as I would punish other people. I will do that because they have caused my land to become unacceptable to me because of their worshiping lifeless statues of detestable gods, and also because they have done many other evil things throughout my land.”

Jeremiah prayed again, and Yahweh replied

19Then I prayed, saying, “Yahweh, you are the one who strengthens me and protects me [MET];

you are the one to whom I go when I have troubles.

Some day people from nations all over the world will come to you and say,

‘Our ancestors left/gave us only something that was false;

they worshiped idols that are completely worthless [DOU].

20No one can [RHQ] make their own gods;

the gods that they make are only idols; they are not real gods.’ ”

21Then Yahweh said, “Now I will show my power to the people of Judah;

I will show them that I am truly very powerful [DOU].

Then, finally, they will know that I, Yahweh, am the true God.”

17

Yahweh’s promise to punish Judah

1Yahweh said, “It is as though a list of the sins committed by the people of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel, or engraved using the fine point of a very hard stone,

on the altars where they worship idols.

And it is as though this list is engraved on their inner beings!

2Even their children are happy to go to the altars to worship their gods, and to the poles that represent the goddess Asherah at which their parents worshiped,

shrines that are underneath all the big trees

and on all the high hills.

3So, I will allow your enemies to capture Zion, your holy hill,

and all your wealth and your ◄treasures/valuable things►,

and even the shrines on all those hills,

because of the sins that you people have committed throughout your land.

4The wonderful land that I gave to you will no longer belong to you.

I will tell your enemies to take you to a land that you do not know about,

and you will become their slaves.

I will do that because I am extremely angry with you;

my being angry is like a fire that will burn forever.”

5This is also what Yahweh says:

“I will curse/condemn those who trust in human beings to help them,

those who rely on their own strength

and turn away from me.

6They are like dry bushes in the desert,

they are people who will not experience any good things.

Those people will live in the barren desert

in a salty area, where nothing grows.

7But I am pleased with those who trust in me, Yahweh,

and who confidently expect me to take care of them.

8Those people are like [SIM] fruit trees that have been planted along a riverbank,

trees that have roots that go down into the wet ground beside the water.

They are trees whose leaves remain green when it becomes hot,

trees that continue to bear fruit when there are many months in which there is no rain.

9Human minds are extremely corrupt/deceitful,

and you cannot change that.

It is also completely impossible [RHQ] for anyone to understand that.

10But I, Yahweh, search what is in everyone’s inner being,

and I examine what they are thinking.

I will give all people rewards,

what they deserve for what they have done.”

11I, Jeremiah, agree, because I know that people who become rich by doing things that are unjust

are like birds that hatch eggs that they ◄did not lay/stole from another nest►.

So, when those people have lived only half of the years that they expect to live, their wealth will disappear.

Then other people will realize that those rich people have been foolish.

12Yahweh, your temple is like a glorious throne

that is still on a high hill.

13You are the one whom we Israeli people confidently expect to bless us,

and all those who turn away from you will be disgraced.

Their names will be written only in the dust, and will soon disappear,

because they have abandoned you, who are like [MET] a fountain where people obtain fresh water.

14Yahweh, please heal me, because if you heal me, I will truly be healed.

If you rescue me, I will truly be safe,

because you are the only one whom I praise.

15People often ridicule me and say,

“You tell us messages that you say came from Yahweh,

but ◄why have the things that you predicted not happened?/those predictions have not come true!►” [RHQ]

16Yahweh, you appointed me to take care of your people like a shepherd takes care of his sheep [MET]; I have not abandoned that work,

and you know that I have not previously wanted this time of disaster to come to people who ridicule me.

And you know everything that I have said [MTY] to your people.

17Do not cause me to be terrified!

When disasters come/occur, you are the one to whom I will go to be safe.

18So now, cause those who ◄persecute me/cause me to suffer► to be ashamed and dismayed,

but do not do things to me that will cause me to be ashamed and dismayed.

Cause them to be terrified!

Do to them many things that will completely destroy them!”

Keeping the Sabbath day holy

19This is what Yahweh said to me: “Go to the city gates in Jerusalem. First go to the gate where the kings of Judah go in and out of the city, and then go to each of the other gates. 20Say to the people at each gate, ‘You kings of Judah and everyone else who is living in Jerusalem and all you other people of Judah who enter these gates, listen to this message from Yahweh! 21He says, “Listen to this warning carefully! Stop doing work on ◄Sabbath/our rest► days! Stop carrying loads through these gates on those days! 22Do not carry loads out of your houses or do any other work on Sabbath days! Instead, cause Sabbath days to be ◄holy/set apart for me►. I commanded your ancestors to do that, 23but they did not listen to me or obey me. When I did things to correct them, they stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said or to accept it. 24But I say that if you obey me, and if you do not carry loads through these gates on Sabbath days or do any other work on Sabbath days, and if you dedicate the Sabbath days to me, 25kings of Judah [MTY] and their officials will continue to go in and out of these gates. There will always be someone who is a descendant of [MTY] King David ruling here [MTY] in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates, riding in chariots and on horses, and there will be people living in this city forever. 26And people will come to Jerusalem bringing offerings to be completely burned on the altar and other offerings. They will bring to the temple grain offerings and incense and offerings to thank me. People will bring those offerings from the towns in Judah and the villages near Jerusalem and from the land where the tribe of Benjamin lives and from the western foothills and from the desert in the south. 27But if you do not pay attention to what I say, and if you refuse to dedicate the Sabbath days to me, and if you continue to carry loads through these gates into the city on Sabbath days, I will burn these gates completely. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out that fire.”’”

18

The potter and the clay

1Yahweh gave another message to me. He said, 2“Go to the shop of the man who makes clay pots. I will give you a message there.” 3So I went to that shop, and I saw the man who makes pots. He was working at the wheel that he uses to form pots. 4But when he finished making one jar, it was not as good as he hoped/wanted it to be. So, he took that clay and formed it into another jar, shaping it as he desired.

5Then Yahweh gave me this message: 6“Perhaps the people of Israel think that I cannot do to them like this man who makes pots has done [RHQ]. But what they think is wrong. I can control what happens to them like this man controls what he does with the clay in his hands. 7There may be a time when I proclaim that I will get rid of a nation or kingdom, like someone pulls up a plant with its roots, and smashes it, and destroys it. 8But if the people of that nation repent of doing evil things, I will not send to them the disasters that I planned to send. 9And there may be a time when I proclaim that I will establish a nation or kingdom and cause it to be strong [MET]. 10But if the people of that nation start to do evil things and refuse to obey me, then I will not bless them as I said that I would do.

11Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all the people in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “I am planning to cause you to experience a disaster [DOU]. So, each of you should turn from your evil behavior and start doing what is right, in order that you will not experience that disaster.”’”

12So I told that message to the people, but they replied, “It is useless for you to tell us that. We will continue to be stubborn and behave as we want to.”

13So, this is what Yahweh says:

“Ask the people who live in other nations if they have [RHQ] ever heard of such a thing.

My Israeli people, who have been pure like [MET] virgins, have done a terrible thing!

14The snow certainly never [RHQ] completely disappears/melts from the rocky slopes of the mountains in Lebanon.

The cold streams that flow down from those distant mountains never [RHQ] cease flowing.

15But my people are not as reliable as those streams:

They have abandoned me.

They burn incense to honor/worship worthless idols.

It is as though they have stumbled as they walked along very old roads that are good roads,

and now, instead, they are walking on dirt paths.

16Therefore, their land will become desolate,

and people who see it will hiss to ridicule it.

Eveyone who passes by will be appalled;

they will shake their heads to show that they are shocked. .

17I will scatter the people when their enemies attack them

like dust is scattered by an east wind.

And when they experience all those difficulties/disasters,

I will turn my back on them and refuse to help them.”

Jeremiah complained to Yahweh again when the people planned to attack him

18Then some of the people said, “Come, let’s plan to attack Jeremiah. We have many priests who teach us God’s laws, and wise men who give us good advice, and prophets who tell us what will happen. We do not need Jeremiah So, let’s slander him and not pay attention to anything that he says.”

19Then I prayed, “Yahweh, please listen to me!

And listen to what my enemies are saying about me.

20I am doing things that are good,

so it is disgusting that [RHQ] they are paying me back by doing evil things to me.

It is as though they have dug a pit for me to fall into and die.

Do not forget that one time I stood in front of you and pleaded for you to help them,

and I tried to prevent you from punishing them [MTY], even though you were very angry with them.

21So now, allow their children to die from hunger!

Or cause them to be killed by their enemies’ swords!

Cause their wives to become widows, whose children are all dead!

Cause their old men to die in a plague,

and cause their young men to be killed in battles!

22Cause people to scream in their homes

when enemy soldiers suddenly come into their houses!

Cause all those things to happen to them because they want to kill me.

It is as though they have dug a pit for me to fall into,

and they have hidden traps along my path.

23Yahweh, you know all the things that they are planning to do to kill me.

Do not forgive them for their crimes

or blot out the record of their sins.

Cause them to be destroyed;

punish them because of your being angry with them!”

19

Judah will be like a smashed jar

1This is another message that Yahweh gave to me: “Go and buy a clay jar from a man who makes them. Then take with you some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests. 2Go out of the city past the Gate of Broken Pots, to the place overlooking the dump for broken pottery in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. Then give them a message. 3Say to them, ‘This message is for you kings of Judah and other people of Jerusalem. Listen to what Yahweh is saying! The Commander of the armies of angels says that he will cause there to be a terrible disaster in Jerusalem. Those who hear about it will be stunned/shocked [IDM]. 4That will happen because you Israeli people have stopped worshiping me, and have caused this place to be a place where you worship foreign gods. You burn sacrifices to gods that neither you nor your ancestors nor even the kings of Judah ever heard about. And you have filled this place with the blood of innocent people whom you have killed. 5You have built shrines to honor your god Baal, and at those shrines you have killed your own children and offered them to be sacrifices to Baal. I never commanded you to do that, I never spoke about doing that, I never even thought about anyone doing that. 6So, beware, because I, Yahweh, say that there will be a time when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley; it will be called Slaughter Valley.

7In this place I will ruin the plans of you people who live in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah. I will allow your enemies who want to kill you to kill many of you with their swords. Then I will allow your corpses to remain on the ground to be food for vultures and wild animals. 8I will completely destroy Jerusalem and cause it to become a heap of ruins that people will despise. All the people who pass by will be appalled, and they will be shocked when they see that the city has been destroyed. 9I will enable your enemies who want to kill you to surround the city for a long time. Then the food will be all gone, and you people will be extremely hungry, with the result that you people in the city will eat the flesh of your own children and your neighbors’ children.’

10Jeremiah, after you tell that to them, while the people who are with you are watching, smash the jar that you brought. 11Then say to them, ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Just like this jar has been smashed and cannot be repaired, I will smash this city of Jerusalem and other places in Judah. You will bury some of your corpses here in this dump, until there is no more space to bury any more corpses. 12That is what I will do to this city and to you people who live here. I will cause this city to be desecrated, like King Josiah caused Topheth to be a place that was unfit for people to worship me there. 13The houses in Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah will be desecrated like this place will be. All the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to honor the stars that you worshiped, and where you poured out wine to be an offering to your gods, will become ◄desecrated/unacceptable places for people to worship me►.”’”

14Then I returned from the garbage dump where Yahweh had sent me to tell them that message. Then I stood in the courtyard of Yahweh’s temple and said this to all the people who were there: 15“This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: ‘I will cause thereto be a disaster in this city and in the villages around it like I promised, because you people have stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said to you.’ ”

20

Pashhur arrested Jeremiah

1Pashhur, the son of Immer, was a priest who supervised the temple guards. He heard those things that I had prophesied. 2So he arrested me. Then he commanded guards to whip me and fasten my feet in ◄stocks/a wooden frame► at the Benjamin Gate of Yahweh’s temple. 3The next day, when Pashhur released me, I said to him, “Pashhur, Yahweh is giving you a new name. From now on, your name will be ‘Surrounded by Terror’, 4because Yahweh says this to you: ‘I will cause you and your friends to be terrified. You will watch them being killed by your enemies’ swords. I will enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture the people of Judah. Those soldiers will take some of the people to Babylon, and they will kill others with their swords. 5And I will enable their soldiers to take away other things in Jerusalem. They will take to Babylon all the very valuable things that belonged to your kings. 6And as for you, Pashhur, they will take you and all your family to Babylon. You and your family and all your friends who have prophesied things that are lies will die there and be buried there.’”

Jeremiah complained to Yahweh again

7One day I said this to Yahweh:

“Yahweh, when you chose me to be a prophet, you deceived me, and I allowed you to deceive me.

You insisted that I become a prophet and you are stronger than I am.

And now everyone [HYP] ridicules me.

They make fun of me all the day.

8When I tell people your messages, I shout saying,

‘Yahweh is going to cause you to experience violence and destruction!’

So because I tell them those messages from you,

they insult me and scoff at me all day long.

9But if I would say, ‘I will never mention Yahweh or say anything about him, [MTY]’

it would be as though your message would burn in my inner being like [SIM] a fire;

it would be like a fire in my bones.

Sometimes I try to remain silent and not proclaim your messages,

but I am not able to do that.

10I hear many people whispering about me,

saying ‘He is the man who proclaims that there will be things that cause us to be terrified everywhere.

We must tell the authorities what he is saying! We must denounce him!’

Even my best friends are waiting for me to say something that is wrong.

They are saying, ‘Perhaps we can cause him to say something wrong,

and if he does, we will be able to discredit him.’

11But you, Yahweh, are helping me like [SIM] a strong warrior,

so it is as though you will cause those who persecute me to stumble, and they will not defeat me.

They will be completely disgraced because of being unable to defeat me;

and other people will never forget that they were disgraced.

12Commander of the armies of angels,

you examine all those who are righteous;

you know all that is in their inner beings and what they think.

Allow me to see you getting revenge on those who want to harm me,

because I trust that you will do for me what is right.”

13Sing to Yahweh!

Praise Yahweh!

He rescues poor and needy people,

from those [SYN] who are wicked.

14But I hope/desire that the day that I was born will be cursed.

I do not want anyone to celebrate that day.

15And as for that man who brought to my father the news,

and caused him to be very happy, by saying

“You wife has given birth to a son for you,”

I hope/desire that he also will be cursed.

16Allow him to be destroyed like the cities that Yahweh destroyed long ago,

without acting mercifully toward them.

Cause that man to hear the people wailing in the morning,

and to hear the enemy soldiers shout their battle cries at noon.

17I want that to happen to him because he did not kill me before I was born.

I wish that I had died in my mother’s womb,

and that my mother’s body would have been like [MET] my grave.

18I have continually experienced much trouble and sorrow,

and I am disgraced now when I am about to die;

why was it necessary [RHQ] for me to me born?

21

God rejected King Zedekiah’s request

1Yahweh gave me another message when King Zedekiah of Judah sent a man who was also named Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, and a priest named Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, to talk to me. They pleaded with me, saying, 2“The army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Please speak to Yahweh for us. Ask him if he will help us. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar’s army to leave by performing a miracle for us, like the miracles he performed previously.”

3I replied to them, “Go back to King Zedekiah. Tell him, 4‘This is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: “I will cause your weapons to be useless in fighting against the king of Babylon and his army that is outside the walls of Jerusalem, attacking. I will enable them to enter into the center of this city. 5I myself will fight against your army with my very great power, [MTY, DOU] because I am very angry with you. 6I will send a very ◄terrible plague/big sickness► on the people of this city, and on their domestic animals, and many of them will die.” 7And Yahweh says there are many people in this city who want to kill you. So, he will enable the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and other people in this city to capture you, King Zedekiah, and your officials, and all the other people who do not die from the plague. His army will slaughter your soldiers; they will not act mercifully toward you(pl) or pity you at all. [DOU]’

8And tell this to all the people: ‘Yahweh says that you must decide whether you want to die or to remain alive. 9Everyone who remains in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed in battles or die from being hungry or from diseases. But those who surrender to the army of Babylon that is surrounding your city will remain alive. They will escape dying. 10That will happen because I, Yahweh, have decided to cause this city to experience disasters, not to experience something good. The army of the king of Babylon will capture this city and will destroy it completely by fire.’ ”

Yahweh will punish Judah’s kings

11Yahweh also told me to say this to the family of the king of Judah: “Listen to this message from Yahweh! 12This is what he says to you descendants of King David:

‘Every day, make fair decisions for the people whom you judge.

Help those who have been robbed.

Rescue/Save them from those [SYN] who ◄oppress them/treat them cruelly►.

If you do not do that,

I will be angry and punish [MTY] you with a fire that will be impossible to extinguish,

because of all the sins that you have committed.

13I will fight against you people of Jerusalem,

you who live on top of a rocky hill above the valley.

I will fight against you people who boast, saying,

“No one can attack us and break through our defenses.”

14I will punish you for your wicked deeds like you deserve to be punished;

It will be as though I will light a fire in your forests

that will burn up everything around you!’ ”

22

A message about punishing the evil kings of Judah

1This is another message that Yahweh gave to me: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and say this to him: 2‘You are the king of Judah. You are the ruler [MTY], like King David was. You and your officials and your people must listen 3to what Yahweh says: “Act fairly and justly. Do what is right. Help those who have been robbed. Rescue people from those who oppress them. Stop doing evil things. Do not mistreat those who have come here from other countries, and do not mistreat orphans and widows. Stop murdering here in Jerusalem [MTY] those who ◄are innocent/have not done things that are wrong►. 4If you obey those commands carefully, there will always be some descendant of King David who will be ruling here [MTY] in Jerusalem. The king and his officials and other people will ride through the gates of the city in chariots and on horses. 5But if you refuse to pay attention to those commands, I, Yahweh, solemnly declare, with myself [MTY] as a witness, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.” ’ ”

6And this is what Yahweh says about the king’s palace:

“I like this palace, like I like the forests in the Gilead region

and the mountains in Lebanon.

But I will cause this palace to become a desert,

a place that no one lives in.

7I will summon enemy troops who will destroy this palace;

each of their soldiers will use his own tools to wreck the building.

They will cut into pieces the beautiful big cedar beams

and throw them into a fire.”

8People from many nations will walk past the ruins of this city and say to each other, “Why did Yahweh destroy this city that was very great?” 9And other people will reply, “He did it because his people stopped obeying the agreement that they had made with Yahweh their God. Instead, they worshiped [DOU] other gods.”

10Yahweh also says, “Do not mourn for King Josiah;

do not cry because he has died.

Instead, mourn for King Jehoahaz, his son,

because he will be captured and taken to another country,

and he will never return to see his own country, Judah, again.”

11Jehoahaz became king after his father, King Josiah, died, but Jehoahaz indeed was captured and taken to Babylonia. And this is what Yahweh says about him: “He also will never return to Judah. 12He will die in that far-away country and will never see his own country again.”

A message about King Jehoiakim

13And Yahweh said to me, “Terrible things will happen to King Jehoahaz’s brother, King Jehoiakim.

He unjustly forced men to build his palace.

The rooms on the upper level were built by men who were forced unjustly to do that work;

he forced his neighbors to work for nothing;

he did not pay them anything.

14He said, ‘I will force my workers to build a huge beautiful palace

with very large rooms and many windows.

They will cover the walls with fragrant cedar panels/timber

and paint them bright red.’”

15But it is certainly not [RHQ] having a beautiful cedar palace that causes a king to be great!

Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, also had [RHQ] plenty of things to eat and drink.

But Josiah always did things that are right and just,

and that is why God blessed him.

16Josiah acted justly/fairly and helped poor and needy people,

so things went well for him.

Yahweh says, “That is [RHQ] the way a person should behave who knows me.

17But Jehoiakim, you [MTY] are greedy and desire only to obtain things by acting dishonestly.

You murder [MTY] innocent people,

you oppress poor people,

and you treat people cruelly and violently.”

18Therefore, this is what Yahweh says about Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah:

“When he dies, people will not mourn for him.

They will not say to each other, ‘It is very sad; we are so sorry!’

The people whom he ruled will not mourn for him, saying,

‘We are sad that our king is dead; we are so sorry that the wonderful things that happened while he was king are ended.’

19When he dies, people will do to his corpse what they do to a dead donkey;

his corpse will be dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!

20You people of Judah, go to the mountains in Lebanon and weep,

shout in the mountains of the Bashan region,

cry out in the mountains of Moab,

because all your friends in those areas have been destroyed.

21When you were prosperous, I warned you,

but you replied, ‘We will not pay attention to what you say.’

You have been acting like that since you were young;

you have never obeyed me.

22So, now I will punish all your leaders;

it will be as though they have been blown away by the wind.

They will be captured by your enemies and taken to another country.

When that happens, you will truly be ashamed and disgraced

because of all the wicked things that you have done.

23Now, your king enjoys living in the cedar rooms in his palace,

but soon he will be punished,

and then he will groan

like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby.”

God will punish King Jehoiachin

24Yahweh says this: “Jehoiachin, son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, as surely as I am alive, I will punish you. Even if you were the ring on my finger that shows that I am the king, I would pull you off. 25You are afraid of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his huge army, because they are wanting to kill you. I will enable them to capture you. 26I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will be taken to another country. Neither of you was born there, but you will both die there. 27You will never return to this land that you will very much desire to return to.”

28Someone said, “Jehoiachin will be [RHQ] like a broken pot

that is despised and which no one wants.

He and his children will be ◄exiled/forced to go► to a foreign land.

29I want the people in this land to listen carefully to this message from Yahweh.”

30This is what Yahweh says:

“In the record about the kings of Judah, write down that it will be as though this man Jehoiachin had no children,

and that he has not been successful during his life,

because none of his children/descendants will ever become king

to rule over the people of Judah.”

23

God will punish the evil leaders

1Yahweh declares, “Terrible things will happen to the leaders [MET] of my people —those who are like shepherds of the people who are like my sheep—because they have scattered my people and sent them away, and have not taken care of them. 2So, this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worship, say to those leaders: ‘Instead of taking care of my people and leading them to places where they are safe, like a shepherd does for his sheep, you have scattered them. So I will punish you for the evil things that you have done. 3But later I will gather those who are still alive, from the countries where I have forced them to go. I will bring them back to their own country, where they will have many children, and their number/population will increase. 4Then I will appoint other leaders for my people, leaders who will take care of them. And my people will never be afraid [DOU] of anything again, and none of them will be like a lost sheep.’ ”

5Yahweh also says,

“Some day I will appoint for you a righteous man

who will be a descendant of King David.

He will be a king who rules wisely.

He will do what is just and right throughout the land.

6At that time, all the Israeli people [DOU] will be saved from their enemies,

and they will be safe.

And his name will be

‘Yahweh, the one who vindicates/defends us.’ ”

7Yahweh also says that at that time, people who are solemnly promising to do something will no longer say, “I will do it as surely as Yahweh lives, who rescued the Israeli people from Egypt.” 8Instead, they will say, “I will do it as surely as Yahweh lives, who brought us Israeli people back to our own land, from the land to the northeast and from all the other countries to which he had exiled us.” And they will live in their own land again.

The false prophets will be punished

9I am very shocked because of the sacred message that Yahweh has spoken about what will happen to the false prophets;

it is as though all my bones shake.

I stagger like a man who is drunk

after drinking a lot of wine.

10The land is full of people who commit adultery;

and Yahweh has cursed the land.

Even the pastures in the desert are all dried up,

because the people do what is evil,

and the false prophets use their power to do things that are not just/fair.

11Yahweh says, “Yes, even the priests and the prophets are ungodly;

they do wicked things even in my temple.

12Therefore, it will be as though the paths that they walk on are slippery.

It will be as though they are being chased in the darkness,

and there they will fall down,

because I will cause them to experience disasters

at the time that I will punish them.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

13Previously I saw that the prophets in Samaria were doing something that was wrong;

they were prophesying, saying that Baal gave them the messages that they were proclaiming,

and they were deceiving my people.

14And now I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem doing terrible things.

They commit adultery

and habitually tell lies.

They encourage evil people to continue to do evil things,

with the result that the people do not stop sinning.

Those prophets are as wicked as the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were.

15So, this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says about those false prophets:

“I will give those prophets bitter things to eat

and poison to drink,

because it is because of them that this land is filled with people who do wicked things.”

16This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“Do not pay any attention to what those false prophets say to you,

because they are just deceiving you.

They tell you about visions that they have thought/created only in their own minds,

not about visions that I have given them.

17They habitually say to those who hate me,

‘Yahweh says that you will have peace.’

And they say to those who stubbornly do what they want to do,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you because of your doing those things.’

18But none of them has ever been in a council meeting in heaven

in order to listen to a message from me.

None of them has paid attention to anything that I, Yahweh, have said.

19So, listen to this: I will punish them; it will be like a great storm;

it will come down like a whirlwind, swirling around the heads of those wicked people.

20I will not stop being angry

until I completely accomplish all that I have planned.

In the future, you will understand all of this clearly.”

21Yahweh also says, “I have not appointed those prophets,

but they run around telling people their messages.

I did not speak to them,

but they continue to prophesy.

22If they had been in my council meetings,

they would have been able to speak messages from me,

and they would have caused people to turn away from committing evil things.”

23Yahweh also says, “Am I a God who is only nearby?

No, I am a God who is far away, also.

24So, no one can hide in some secret place

with the result that I cannot see him.

I am everywhere, in heaven and on the earth!

That is what I, Yahweh, say!

25I have heard those prophets prophesy lies, saying that they are telling people messages from me. They say, ‘Listen to me tell you the dream that God gave me last night! I really had this dream!’ 26How long will they continue to do this? How long will those lying prophets continue to prophesy things that come only from their own minds? 27They think that because of the dreams that they tell to each other, people will forget me, like their ancestors forgot about me when they started to worship Baal. 28Allow those false prophets to tell people their dreams, but those who have messages that really come from me should proclaim those messages faithfully. I, Yahweh, say that like straw and grain are certainly very different, my messages and the messages from those false prophets are certainly very different. 29It is as though my messages burn like a fire; they strike people’s inner beings like someone strikes a rock with a hammer and smashes it into pieces.

30Therefore, I, Yahweh say, I oppose all those prophets who steal messages from each other and claim that those messages came from me. 31I oppose those prophets who speak their own messages but claim that those messages came from me. 32I oppose those prophets who falsely say that I told them something in a vision, but they are only telling lies that cause my people to sin. I did not send those prophets. I did not even appoint them to be prophets. And they have no messages that will benefit my people at all. That is what I, Yahweh, declare.”

Messages from false prophets

33Yahweh said to me, “If one of those prophets or priests or one of the other people asks you, ‘What problem has Yahweh told you about now?’, you must reply, ‘You are the problem! And Yahweh says that he will abandon you!’ 34And if any prophet or priest or anyone else falsely says, ‘I have a prophecy from Yahweh,’ I will punish that person and his family. 35What you should continually ask each other is, ‘When you spoke to Yahweh, what did he reply? What is he saying to us?’ 36But stop saying ‘I have a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ because those who say that are doing it only because they want people to accept their ideas, and by doing that they distort/change the messages that are from our God, the Commander of the armies of angels. 37This is what you should ask each prophet: ‘What did Yahweh reply when you talked to him? What is he saying to us?’ 38If he replies, ‘What I told you is a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ you should say to him, ‘You have continued to say, “I received a prophecy/message from Yahweh” even though I told you to not claim that you have received prophecies/messages from Yahweh.’ 39So I, Yahweh, will get rid of you false prophets. I will expel you from my presence. And I will get rid of this city that I gave to you and to your ancestors. 40I will cause people to make fun of you forever. People will never forget that you were disgraced.”

24

Good figs and bad figs

1The army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and his officials, and all his skilled workers [DOU] and took them to Babylon. After that happened, Yahweh gave me a vision. In the vision I saw two baskets of figs that had been placed in front of the temple. 2One basket was full of good figs, like the kind that ripen first. The other basket was filled with figs that were bad/rotten, with the result that they could not be eaten.

3Then Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

I replied, “I see some figs. Some are very good ones, but some are very bad, with the result that no one would eat them.”

4Then Yahweh me gave me this message: 5“This is what I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people say that they worship, say: ‘The good figs represent [SIM] the people of Judah whom I exiled to Babylonia. 6I [SYN] will ◄watch over/take care of► them well, and some day I will bring them back here to Judah. I will establish them and cause them to be strong. I will cause them to be prosperous [MET], and I will not exile them again. 7I will enable them to desire to know [IDM] that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me sincerely.’

8But I, Yahweh, also say, ‘The bad figs represent [SIM] Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his officials, and all the other people who remain in Jerusalem, and those who have gone to Egypt. I will do to them like people do to rotten figs. 9I will get rid of them, with the result that people in every nation on the earth will be horrified, and will hate them because they are evil people. Wherever I scatter them, people will make fun of them, and say that they are disgraced, and ridicule them, and curse them. 10And I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases, until they have disappeared from this land which I gave to them and to their ancestors.’”

25

A prediction about being exiled for 70 years

1After Jehoiakim had been ruling Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave me this message for all the people of Judah. It was during the year that King Nebuchadnezzar started to rule in Babylon. 2I spoke this message to all the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah: 3“Yahweh has been giving me messages for 23 years. He started giving me messages when Josiah, the son of Amon, had been ruling Judah for almost 13 years. And I have faithfully told you those messages, but you have not paid any attention to them.

4Many times Yahweh has sent to you the prophets who served him, but you have not listened to them or paid any attention to what they said. 5Each time their message was this: ‘Turn from all your evil behavior [MET], from all the evil things that you have continually been doing. If you do that, you will be able to stay in this land that Yahweh gave to you and to your ancestors, to belong to you forever. 6Do not cause Yahweh to become angry by serving and worshiping idols that you have made with your hands. If you do not cause him to be angry, he will not punish/harm you.’

7And Yahweh says, ‘But you would not pay attention to the messages that I gave to those prophets. You caused me to become extremely angry by your worshiping idols that you had made with your own hands. That resulted in my punishing you.

8So now, I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say that because you have not paid attention to what I said, 9I will gather all the armies of the nations that will come from the northeast. I have appointed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to lead them. I have appointed him to do my work for me. I will bring those armies to attack this land and nearby countries. I will completely destroy them, and cause them to be places that people are horrified about, and that people will ◄ridicule/act contemptuously toward►, places that will be ruined forever. 10I will cause happy singing and laughing to cease in your land. There will no longer be brides and bridegrooms talking joyfully. There will not be the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. There will be no lamps lit in your houses. 11All of this land will become a desert where no one will live. And the people of Israel and of the nearby countries will will be exiled to Babylonia and ◄work for/be slaves of► the kings of Babylon for seventy years.

12Then, after they have been in Babylonia for seventy years, I will punish the King of Babylonia and his people for the sins that they have committed. I will cause Babylonia to become a wasteland/desert forever. 13I will cause them to experience all the terrible things that Jeremiah has written about—all the punishments that he predicted will happen to all those nations. 14The leaders of many nations will cause the people of Babylonia to become their slaves, like the people of Babylonia caused my people to become slaves. I will punish them like they deserve for having caused my people to suffer.’ ”

The wine that symbolized God’s punishment

15Then Yahweh, the God we Israelis worship, gave me a vision. In the vision he was holding a cup of wine. He said, “Take from me this cup that is full of wine that represents punishment [MTY]. I will cause all the leaders of the nations to which I will send you to drink some of the wine in this cup. 16When they drink the wine, they will stagger and act like crazy people, because they will realize that I will ◄massacre many of their people/cause many of their people to be killed► [MTY] with swords.”

17So, in the vision, I took that cup full of wine from Yahweh, and I took it to all the nations to which he sent me, and caused the leaders of those nations to drink some of that wine. 18I went to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah, and the king and the other officials drank some of the wine from that cup. And, starting from that day, they all eventually were removed from having authority, and became people whom others ◄ridiculed/acted contemptuously towards►, who were despised, and cursed. 19In the vision I went to Egypt and gave some of the wine to the king and his officials and many of his people, 20and to foreigners who were living there. In the vision I also went to Uz land and to Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod cities and gave some of the wine to the kings of those places. 21Then in the vision I went to the Edom, Moab, and Ammon people-groups, 22and to Tyre and Sidon cities and to areas across the Mediterranean Sea, and gave some of the wine to the kings of those places. 23In the vision I then went to Dedan, Tema, and Buz cities in Arabia and to other distant places (OR, places where people cut their hair short), and gave some of the wine to leaders in those areas. 24In the vision I also went to other places in Arabia and to the kings of tribes in the desert 25and to the kings of the Zimri, Elam, and Media people-groups, 26and to kings in countries to the north that are near to Israel and to countries that are far from Israel, one after the other— I went to all the kingdoms in the world [HYP]. And finally, in my vision I went to Babylon, and gave some of the wine to the king of Babylon—the wine that symbolized that Yahweh would punish the people of Babylon because he was angry with them [MTY].

27Then in the vision Yahweh said to me, “Tell them that this is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: ‘Drink from this cup some of the wine that represents the punishment that I will give you. Drink a lot of it and become drunk and vomit. You will fall down and not get up again, because I will cause you to be killed in wars [MTY] that I will send to you. 28If any of those to whom you give this wine [MTY] refuse to drink it, tell them that the Commander of the armies of angels says that they must drink it. 29I am starting to cause the people of my own city to experience disaster. Do you think that you should not be punished [RHQ]? No, you will surely be punished [LIT] because I am causing there to be wars in all the nations on the earth. That will surely happen because I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.’

30Now tell them all those things that I have said, and also say this to them:

‘Yahweh will shout to them from his holy dwelling in heaven [MTY]

and it will sound like the roar of a lion.

He will shout like [SIM] people shout when they are treading on grapes to make juice for wine;

he will shout to everyone on the earth.

31Even people in very remote places around the earth will hear him shouting,

because he will say why he will judge and punish all the nations.

He will cause the wicked people to be slaughtered with swords.

That will surely happen because Yahweh has said it.’

32Then tell them that this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

‘Listen to this!

There will be disasters in one nation after another.

I am preparng to punish them like [MET] a great storm

that starts in the most distant places on the earth.

33When that happens, the corpses of those whom I have caused to be slaughtered will fill the earth from the east to the west.

And no one will mourn for them, and no one will gather their corpses to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.

34You evil leaders, weep and moan!

You who should take care of my people, fall down and roll in the dust/dirt.

It is time for you to be slaughtered;

you will fall down and be shattered like a fragile vase shatters when it falls to the ground.

35You will not find any place to hide,

there will be no place to which you can escape.

36People will listen to your leaders crying

when I, Yahweh, am ruining your nation.

37Your peaceful meadows will become a wasteland/desert

because I will be extremely angry.

38I will leave my dwelling like [SIM] a lion leaves its den to attack other animals,

and I will cause your land to become desolate

when I, because I am very angry with you, cause your enemies to slaughter you with their swords.’ ”

26

Jeremiah escaped being killed

1Soon after Jehoiakim became the king of Judah, Yahweh gave me this message: 2“This is what I, Yahweh, am telling you: Stand in the courtyard in front of my temple, and speak to all the people from the various towns in Judah who come there to worship me. Tell them everything that I tell you; do not omit anything. 3If you do tell them everything, perhaps they will pay attention, and each one of them will turn away from his evil behavior. Then I will change my mind, and not cause them to experience the disaster that I was planning to cause them to experience because of the evil things that they have done. 4-5Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I sent to you the prophets who serve me, to tell you what you should do. I sent them to you many times, but you have not paid attention to what they said. If you will not pay attention to what I say and do not obey the message that I have given to you, and if you do not pay attention to what the prophets say, 6I will destroy this temple like I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Sacred Tent was put. And I will cause Jerusalem to be a place whose name people in every nation on the earth will say when they curse someone.’ ”

7When I did what Yahweh told me to do, the priests, the false prophets, and many other people listened to me as I told them that message outside the temple. 8But as soon as I finished telling them everything that Yahweh had commanded me to say, they all seized me and said, “You must be executed! 9Why [RHQ] are you prophesying that this temple will be destroyed like Shiloh was destroyed? Why are you saying that this city will be destroyed, and that no one will live here anymore? (OR, You should not be prophesying) [RHQ]” All the people surrounded me as I stood in front of the temple.

10When the officials of Judah heard about all this that was happening, they rushed from the palace and sat down at the gate of the temple named The New Gate, to judge my case. 11The priests and the false prophets told the officials and the other people who were there, “This man should be executed, because he has prophesied that this city will be destroyed, and you yourselves [MTY] have heard him say that!”

12Then I replied to the officials and the other people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy all the things that you heard me say about what will happen to this temple and this city. 13But if you change your behavior and stop sinning, and start to obey Yahweh our God, he will change his mind, and not cause you to experience the disasters that he said that he would send. 14As for me, I am not able to free myself from your grasp. So you can do to me whatever you want to do. 15But you need to know that if you kill me, you will be killing a man [SYN] who ◄is innocent/has not done anything wrong►. And you and everyone else in this city will be guilty, because the truth is that it was Yahweh who sent me to speak every word that you have heard me say.”

16Then the officials and the other people said to the priests and the false prophets, “This man does not deserve to be executed, because he has spoken to us the message [MTY] that Yahweh gave him!”

17Then some of the elders stood up and spoke to all the people who were gathered there. 18They said, “◄Remember/Think about► what Micah, the prophet from Moresheth town, prophesied during the years that Hezekiah was the King of Judah. He told the people of Judah this:

‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

Some day Zion Hill will be plowed like fields are plowed;

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins.

There will be a large clump/group of trees on top of the hill where the temple is now.’

19But did [RHQ] King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah for saying that? No! Instead, Hezekiah revered Yahweh, and pleaded that he would ◄act mercifully toward/not destroy► them. So, Yahweh changed his mind about causing them to experience the terrible disaster that he said he would send. And now if we kill Jeremiah, we are going to cause ourselves to experienece a terrible disaster!”

20At that time, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim city was also prophesying/proclaiming messages [MTY] from Yahweh. He was predicting that the city and the rest of the land would experience the same disasters that I was predicting. 21When King Jehoiakim and his army officers and officials heard what Uriah was saying, the king sent someone to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it, and became very afraid, and he ◄escaped/ran away► to Egypt. 22Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan the son of Acbor along with several other men to Egypt. 23They captured Uriah and took him back to Jerusalem to King Jehoiakim. The king then had a soldier kill Uriah with a sword. Then they buried his corpse in a place where poor people are buried.

24However, Ahikam the son of Shaphan defended me, and persuaded the officials not to allow [MTY] the mob to murder me.

27

Jeremiah urged them to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar

1Soon after Zedekiah became the King of Judah, Yahweh gave a message to me. 2This is what he said to me: “Make a ◄yoke/set of wooden bars to fasten around the neck of an ox►, but fasten it around your own neck with leather straps. 3Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, by telling those messages to the ambassadors from those countries who have come to Jerusalem to talk to King Zedekiah. 4Tell them to give this message to their kings: This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people worship, says: 5‘With my very great power [MTY, DOU] I created the earth and the people and the animals that are on the earth. And I can give my power to anyone whom I want to. 6And now I am going to enable King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who does what I want him to do, to control your countries. I am going to enable him to rule everything, even the wild animals. 7The people of all the nations will work for him, and later for his son, and later for his grandson, until the time for them to rule is finished. Then the armies of many great kings from many nations will conquer Babylon.’

8But now I tell you that you must do what the king of Babylon wants you to do [MET], like an ox that has a yoke on its neck must do what its master wants it to do. I will punish any nation that refuses to do that. I will cause those people to experience war and famine and diseases, until the armies of Babylon have conquered that nation. 9So, do not pay attention to your false prophets and fortune-tellers and people who predict what will happen by working magic or by talking with spirits of dead people. Those people say that the king of Babylon will not conquer your country. 10Those people are all liars. If you believe what they say, it will result in your being exiled from your land. I will cause you to be taken from your land, and you will die far away. 11But the people of any country who do what the King of Babylon wants them to do will remain in their own country and be able to plant their crops [MTY] as they always have done. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

12After I gave that message to those ambassadors, I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. I said to him, “If you want to remain alive, do what the King of Babylon and his officials want you to do [MET]. 13It would be foolish for you not to do that, because the result would be that you and your people would die by your enemies’ swords or by famine or diseases, which Yahweh will cause any nation to experience that refuses to allow the King of Babylon to rule them. 14Do not pay attention to those prophets who say to you, ‘The King of Babylon will not conquer your country.’ They are liars. 15This is what Yahweh says: ‘I have not appointed those prophets. They are saying that I [MTY] gave them messages, but they are lying. So, if you believe them, I will expel you from this land. And you and all those prophets will die in Babylon!’ ”

16Then I spoke to the priests and the other people, and I said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Do not believe your prophets who tell you that all the gold items that were taken from my temple by soldiers from Babylon will soon be returned from Babylon, because what they are prophesying is a lie. 17Do not pay attention to what they say. Surrender to the king of Babylon. If you do that, you will remain alive. If you do not do that [RHQ], this entire city will be destroyed. 18If they are really prophets who speak messages from me, tell them to plead to me, the Commander of the armies of angels, that the soldiers from Babylon will not be allowed to take away to Babylon the valuable items that still remain in the temple and in the king’s palace and in the other palaces in Jerusalem. 19I say this because the huge pillars that are in front of the temple and the large water tank and the ten water carts and all the other items that are used for offering sacrifices are still in this city. 20King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things here when he exiled Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the other leaders of Jerusalem and the leaders of other places in Judah. 21I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people worship, say this about all those valuable things that are still outside the temple and in the palace of the king of Judah and in other places in Jerusalem: 22They will all be carried away to Babylon. And they will stay there until I say that they should be brought back to Jerusalem. Then they will be bought back here. That is what I, Yahweh, say.’ ”

28

Jeremiah condemned Hananiah

1When Zedekiah had been the King of Judah for more than three years, late in the ◄summer/hot season►, Azzur’s son Hananiah, a prophet from Gibeon city, spoke to me in the courtyard of the temple, while all the priests and other people were listening. He said, 2“This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: ‘I will cause the king of Babylon to stop ruling/controlling [MET] all of you. 3◄Within two years/Before two years have ended►, I will cause to be brought bring back to this temple all the valuable things that King Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers took from this temple and took to Babylon. 4And I will also cause King Jehoiachin to be brought back here, and all the other people who were captured and taken to Babylon. The king of Babylon has forced you to do what he wants, like someone puts a yoke on the neck of an ox to force it to do what he wants [MET] it to do. But I will cause that to end. That will happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

5I replied to Hananiah in front of all the priests and other people who were standing outside the temple. 6I said, “◄Amen/May that happen►! I desire/hope that what you have predicted will happen. I hope/desire that Yahweh will do everything that you have said! I hope/desire that he will cause men from Babylon to bring back from Babylon all the valuable things that were in this temple, and all the people who were taken to Babylon. 7But now listen to what I say to you while all these people are listening. 8Many years ago, those who were prophets before you and I became prophets spoke messages about many nations and great kingdoms. They predicted/prophesied that wars and disasters and plagues/diseases would occur in those nations. 9So now you or any other prophet who predicts that things will go well for us must show that your message is correct. Only if what you predict actually happens will we know that you were truly appointed by Yahweh.”

10Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck and broke it. 11Then he said this to all the people who were there: “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Just like Hananiah has broken this yoke, within two years I will cause King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to stop forcing the people to do what he wants, which has been like a heavy yoke on all their necks [MET].’ ” After Hananiah said that, I left the temple area.

12Soon after Hananiah had broken the yoke that was around my neck, Yahweh gave this message to me: 13“Go and say this to Hananiah: ‘Yahweh says that you have broken a wooden yoke, but that he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14I have forced the people of all these nations to become slaves of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. That is like [MET] an iron yoke around their necks. I have put everything, even wild animals, under his control.’ ”

15Then I went to Hananiah and said to him, “Hananiah, listen to this: Yahweh has not appointed you; instead, you have told lies to the people, and they have believed your lies. 16Therefore, this is what Yahweh says: ‘You will soon die. Before the end of this year, you will die, because you have rebelled against Yahweh.’ ”

17Hananiah died two months later.

29

The letter Jeremiah sent to the people of Judah who had been exiled to Babylonia

1-2After King Jehoiachin, his mother, his palace officials, other officials in Judah, and all the various kinds of craftsmen [DOU] had been exiled to Babylon, I wrote a letter to the elders, the priests, the prophets and all the other people who had been taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar. 3I gave the letter to Elasah the son of Shaphan, and to Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, when they were about to go to Babylon to be ambassadors from King Zedekiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. This is what I wrote in the letter:

4This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says to all you people who were captured here in Jerusalem and taken there to Babylon: 5“Build houses there, and plan to stay there because you will be there for many years. Plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens. 6Get married and have children. Then when they grow up, choose wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, in order that they also may have children. In that way, the number of you people will increase, not decrease. 7Also, do things that will cause things to go well for the other people there in the city where I sent you. Pray that things will go well for the people in that city, because if things go well for them, things will go well for you, also.”

8This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israeli people worship, says: “There are false prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not allow them to deceive you. Do not pay attention to them when they tell you their dreams, 9because they are telling you lies, saying that [MTY] I have given them the messages that they are telling you. But, I have not appointed them.”

10This is also what Yahweh says: “After you and your children have been in Babylon for seventy years, I will help you, and do for you the things that I promised, and I will enable you to return here to Jerusalem. 11I, Yahweh, know what I have planned for you. I am planning to cause things to go well for you, not to cause you to experience disasters. I am planning to give you many things that you confidently expect to receive in the future. 12At that time, when you pray, I will heed you. 13If you earnestly desire for me to bless you, you will experience me blessing you. 14I will make my help available to you [IDM]. I will cause you to no longer be slaves in Babylon. I will gather you from all the nations to which I have exiled you, and I will bring you back here to your own land, to the place from which you were taken.”

15Some of you say that Yahweh has appointed prophets for you there in Babylon. 16But this is what Yahweh says about the king who rules here in Jerusalem, and about all the other people who are still living here—your relatives who were not taken to Babylon with you. 17The Commander of the armies of angels says this: “I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases. I will cause them to become like [SIM] bad figs that are very rotten, with the result that no one can eat them. 18I will not stop causing them to experience wars and famines and diseases. And I will scatter them all around the world. In every country where I ◄force them to be taken/exile them►, I will cause them to be people whom others curse and be horrified about and make fun of [DOU]. 19That will happen because they have refused to pay attention to my messages, messages that I gave to the prophets whom I sent to them. And you who have been exiled to Babylon have not paid attention to them, either.” That is what Yahweh says.

20Therefore, you people who have been ◄exiled/forced to go► from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to this message from Yahweh. 21This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says about Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are telling lies to you, saying that they are giving messages [MTY] from him: “They will be seized and taken to [MTY] King Nebuchadnezzar, who will cause them to be executed while you are watching. 22Because of what will happen to them, all you people who have been taken from Judah to Babylon will say this when they curse someone: ‘I hope/wish that Yahweh will do to you the same thing that he did to Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the King of Babylon caused to be killed by being burned in a fire.’ 23They have done terrible things to my Israeli people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken lies, saying that they were messages [MTY] from me. They have said things that I did not tell them to say, and I, Yahweh, have heard them say those things.”

A message for Shemaiah

24Yahweh told me to send this message to Shemaiah, a man from Nehelam town who was living in Babylon: 25This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: “You wrote a letter that no one told you to write. You sent it to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, and you sent copies to the other priests and all the other people here in Jerusalem. This is what you wrote to him:

26Zephaniah, Yahweh has appointed you to be the priest instead of Jehoiada, to supervise those who work in the temple. Anyone who acts like a crazy man and who claims that he is a prophet, you should put his arms and legs and head into ◄stocks/a wooden frame so that he cannot move►. 27So why have you not done anything to stop Jeremiah, the man from Anathoth town, who pretends that he is a prophet among you? 28He sent a letter to us who are here in Babylon, saying that we will be here for a long time. He said that therefore we should build houses and plan to stay here, and plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.”

29But when Zephaniah the priest received the letter from you, he brought it to me and read it to me. 30Then Yahweh gave me this message: 31“Send this message to all the people from Judah who are there in Babylon. Say that this is what Yahweh says about Shemaiah, the man from Nehelam: ‘I did not appoint him, but he has deceived you and caused you to believe the lies that he prophesied. 32So, I will punish him and his family. He has incited you to rebel against me. Because of that, all of his descendants will soon die. I will do many good things for you, my people, but he and his descendants will not see those things, because they will be dead. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!’”

30

Yahweh promised to bring his people back

1Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2“I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people say you belong to, am telling you that you should write down everything that I have said to you. 3I want you to know that some day I will free my people, the people of Israel and Judah, from being slaves in Babylon. I will bring them back to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and this land will belong to them again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

4Yahweh gave to me another message concerning the people of Israel and Judah. 5This is what he said:

“I hear people screaming because they are terrified [DOU];

there is no peace in the land.

6But think about this:

Men certainly do not [RHQ] give birth to babies.

Therefore, why do strong men stand there,

with their faces very white/pale,

with their hands pressed against their stomachs,

like women who are about to give birth to babies?

7Terrible things will soon happen;

that will be a terrible day!

There has never been such a time.

It will be a time when my Israeli people will experience great trouble,

but finally they will be saved from their sufferings.”

8The Commander of the armies of angels says this:

“At that time it will be as though I will sever/cut the ropes that are around my people,

and I will free them from being ◄slaves/forced to do what the King of Babylon wants them to do► [MET].

People in other countries will no longer be their bosses.

9My people will again serve me, Yahweh, their God,

and they will serve a king who is a descendant of King David;

they will serve the king whom I will appoint for them.

10So, you people of Israel who serve me,

do not be dismayed/worried now,

because some day I will bring you back from distant places;

I will bring your descendants back home from the land to which they were exiled.

Then you Israeli people will again live peacefully and safely,

and there will not be any nation that will cause you to be terrified.

11I, Yahweh, say that I will be with you and will rescue you;

I will completely destroy the nations to which I have scattered you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will punish you for your many sins, but I will punish you only as severely as you deserve:

I would be doing wrong if I did not punish you at all.”

12Yahweh also says this:

“You have ◄suffered very much/endured many disasters►;

it is as though you have a terrible wound that cannot be cured.

13There is no one to help you,

no one to put a bandage on your wound.

There is no medicine that will heal you.

14All your allies [MET] have deserted you

and they do not want to help you anymore.

It is true that I have punished you severely,

like your enemies would wound you,

because you have committed many sins

and you are very guilty.

15Because that is true, why do you protest about my punishing you,

as though I had caused a wound that could not be cured [RHQ]?

It was necessary for me to punish you,

because you had committed many sins

and you were very guilty.

16But some day all those who are trying to destroy you will be destroyed;

all your enemies will be exiled to other nations.

All those who have stolen things from you

will have their valuable possessions stolen,

and all those who attack you will be attacked.

17Everyone says that you are ◄outcasts/people that they no longer associate with►,

and that you live in Jerusalem, a city that no one cares about.”

But Yahweh says,

“I will heal your injuries/wounds

and cause you to be healthy again.”

18This is what Yahweh says:

“I will bring the people of Israel back from the lands to which they were taken

and enable them to possess their land and their houses again.

When that happens, Jerusalem will be rebuilt on top of its ruins,

and the king’s palace will be rebuilt to be like it was before.

19People will again sing joyfully to thank me,

and I will cause there to be more people in Jerusalem, not fewer;

I will cause them to be honored, not despised.

20Their children will prosper like they did before.

I will cause them to be a group of people who worship me,

and I will punish any nation that oppresses them.

21One of their own people will be their king,

and I will invite him to come close to me to worship me,

because no one [RHQ] would ◄dare/have courage► to come close to me

if I did not invite him.

22You Israeli people will be my people,

and I will be your God.”

23Yahweh will punish [MTY] your enemies;

it will be like a great storm;

it will come down like a whirlwind, swirling around the heads of wicked people.

24He will not stop being angry

until he completely accomplishes all that he has planned.

In the future, you will understand all of this clearly.

31

Israel will be restored

1Yahweh says that at that time, he will be the God who is worshiped by all the clans in Israel, and they will be his people.

2This is what Yahweh says:

“Those people who remained alive and were not killed by their enemies’ swords

were blessed by me even in the desert;

I enabled them to have peace.

3Long ago I, Yahweh, said to your ancestors, the Israeli people,

‘I have loved you and I will continue to love you forever.

By faithfully loving you, I have brought you close to myself.’

4And now I tell you, my Israeli people whom I love [MET], that I will cause you to be a nation again.

You will joyfully dance as you play your tambourines.

5Again you will plant your vineyards on the hills of Samaria,

and you will eat the grapes that grow there.

6There will be a time when watchmen will call out from the hills of Samaria [MTY],

‘Come, let’s go up to Jerusalem

to worship Yahweh, our God! ”

7And now Yahweh also says this:

“Sing joyfully about what I have done for the people of Israel!

Shout about your nation, the greatest nation!

Shout joyfully, praising me and saying,

‘Yahweh, rescue your people,

the ones who are still alive!’

8Do that because I will bring them back from the northeast,

from the most distant places on the earth.

Among them will be blind people and lame people,

women who are pregnant and women who are ◄having labor pains/about to give birth to babies►.

They will be a huge group of people!

9They will be crying as they return,

and they will be praying to me.

I will guide them along streams of water,

on level paths where they will not stumble.

I will do this because I am like a father to the Israeli people;

it is as though Israel is my oldest son.”

10Yahweh says, “You people in the nations of the world, listen to this message from me.

Then proclaim it to people who live along the coasts far away.

I scattered my people, but I will gather them again and will take care of them

like [SIM] a shepherd takes care of his sheep.

11I will buy my Israeli people back

from those who conquered them because they were more powerful than my people.

12My people will return to Jerusalem

and shout joyfully on the slopes of Zion Hill.

They will rejoice about the things that I have abundantly given to them—

grain and new wine and olive oil

and young sheep and cattle.

They themselves will be like a well-watered garden,

and they will no longer be sad.

13The young women will dance joyfully,

and all the men, young ones and old ones, will join with them.

I will cause them to rejoice instead of mourning;

I will comfort them and cause them to be happy instead of being sad.

14The priests will have plenty of things to eat and drink,

and all my people will be filled with the good things that I give them.

That will certainly happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

15Yahweh also says this:

“Women were weeping in Ramah town on the border between Israel and Judah;

they were mourning and crying very loudly.

The women who were the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two grandsons of Rachel the wife of Jacob, were weeping about their children,

and no one could comfort them

because their children were all dead.

16But now this is what I, Yahweh, say:

‘Do not cry anymore,

because I will reward you for the good things you have done for your children.

Your children will return from the land where their enemies have taken them.

17I, Yahweh, am telling you that there are things that you can confidently expect me to do for you in the future.

Your children will return to their own land.’

18I have heard the people of Israel grieving very much and saying to me,

‘You punished us severely,

like [SIM] calves are beaten by their owners to train them for pulling a plow.

So bring us back to obey/worship you again,

because we are ready to return to you,

because you alone are Yahweh, our God.

19We turned away from you,

but we repented;

after you caused us to realize that we were guilty.

We beat our chests to show that we were very ashamed [DOU] of the sins that we committed when we were young.’

20But I, Yahweh, say this:

The Israeli people certainly are [RHQ] still my dear children [DOU].

It is often necessary for me to threaten to punish them,

but I still love them.

That is why I have not forgotten them,

and I will certainly act mercifully toward them.

21You Israeli people, set up road signs;

put up posts along the roads

to mark the road on which you walked when you were taken from Jerusalem.

My precious/beloved Israeli people,

come back to your towns here.

22You people who have been like [MET] daughters who have forsaken their parents,

how long will you continue to wander away from me [RHQ]?

I, Yahweh, will cause something to happen on the earth that ◄is new/has not happened before►:

The women of Israel will be protecting their husbands as they travel back here!”

23This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israeli people worship, says: “When I bring them back from the countries to which they have been exiled, all the people from the towns in Judah will again say, ‘I hope that Yahweh will bless this my home, the holy place where righteous people will live!’ 24The people of Judah who live in the towns, including the farmers and the shepherds, will all live together peacefully. 25I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.”

26I, Jeremiah, woke up after dreaming all those things, and I looked around. I had slept very delightfully!

27Then Yahweh said to me, “There will be a time when I will greatly increase [MET] the number of people and the number of livestock here in Israel and Judah. 28Previously, I caused their enemies to remove the people from their land and to destroy their land and to cause them to experience many disasters [DOU]. But in the future, I will enable them to build houses and to plant crops here in Israel again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it. 29Previously the people often said, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but it is the children’s teeth that ache.’ They meant that it was not fair for them to be punished for their ancestors’ sins. But when I bring them back to their land, they will no longer say that.

30But now all people will die because of the sins that they themselves have committed. 31I, Yahweh, say this: ‘There will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32This new agreement will not be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors when I took them by their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I loved them like [MET] husbands love their wives.’ 33This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘This is the new agreement that I will make with the people of Israel some day: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their inner beings. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And it will not be necessary for them to teach their neighbors or their relatives and say, “You need to know Yahweh,” because everyone, including unimportant people and very important people, will already know me. And I will forgive them for having been very wicked, and I will never think again about the sins that they have committed.’ ”

35Yahweh is the one who causes the sun to give light during the day,

and who causes the moon and the stars to give light during the night.

He stirs up the seas, with the result that waves roar.

His name is the Commander of the armies of angels,

and this is what he says:

36“I will not reject my Israeli people

anymore than I will get rid of the laws that control the universe.

37And this is what I say:

‘No one can measure the sky,

and no one can find out what is supporting the earth.

Similarly, I cannot reject forever the descendants of Jacob

because of all the evil things that they have done.’

That is certain, because I, Yahweh, have said it!

38I, Yahweh, also say that there will be a time when everything in Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the tower of Hananel at the northeast corner, west to the gate named the Corner Gate. 39Workers will stretch a measuring line/string over Gareb Hill all the way southwest to Goah. 40And the whole area, including the place where corpses and ashes are thrown in the Kidron Valley, and all the fields to the east as far as the Horse Gate, will become set apart for me. And the city of Jerusalem will never again be captured or destroyed.”

32

Jeremiah bought some land

1After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost ten years, Yahweh gave me another message, during the time that Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling Babylonia for almost 18 years. 2His army was surrounding Jerusalem, and I was in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king’s palace stayed. 3King Zedekiah had put me there. I continued to prophesy there about what would happen. I continued to say, “Yahweh says that he is about to allow the army of the king of Babylon to capture this city [DOU]. 4And the soldiers of Babylonia will capture King Zedekiah and ◄take him to/put him in the hands of► the king of Babylon. 5Then his soldiers will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I arrange for him to be punished. And if he tries to fight against the soldiers from Babylonia, he will not succeed.”

6At that time, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 7“Your cousin Hanamel, the son of Shallum your uncle, will come to you. He will say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, your hometown. Because you are my closest relative, it is written in our laws that you have the right to buy it before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it.’ ”

8And just as Yahweh had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to see me in the courtyard of the palace. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the area where the descendants of Benjamin live. It is written in our laws that you have the right to buy it before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it.” When he said that, I knew that the message that I had received was truly from Yahweh.

9So, I bought the field at Anathoth. I paid Hanamel 17 pieces of silver for it. 10I signed the paper/papyrus on which it was written that I was buying it, while others were watching/witnessing it. Then I weighed the silver and gave it to him. 11Then I took two copies of the paper/papyrus. One was sealed and the other was not sealed. On both of them was written the price and conditions of the purchase. I took both copies 12and I gave them to Baruch, who was the son of Neraiah and the grandson of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel, the other witnesses who had signed the paper/papyrus, and other men of Judah who were there in the courtyard, were watching.

13Then, while they were all listening, I said to Baruch, 14“This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: ‘Take both copies of this paper/papyrus and put them in a clay jar, to preserve them for a long time. 15Do that because this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israelis worship, say: “Some day people will again own property in this land, and they will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’ ”

Jeremiah’s query about buying the land

16After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:

17“Yahweh, you are my Lord! You made the sky and the earth by your very great power. [MTY, DOU] Nothing is too difficult for you to do. 18You show thousands of people that you faithfully love them, but you punish people for the sins that their parents have committed. You are the great and powerful God, the Commander of the armies of angels. 19You make wise plans and you do mighty deeds. You see how all people behave [DOU], and you do to them what they deserve. 20You performed many miracles [DOU] in Egypt, and you continue to perform miracles here in Israel and everywhere else in the world. Because of that, you have ◄become very famous/caused many people to know that you are very great/powerful►. 21You brought our Israeli ancestors out of Egypt by performing many great miracles [DOU], using your very great power [DOU], causing our enemies to be terrified. 22You gave to us Israeli people this land that you solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a land that is very fertile [IDM]. 23Our ancestors came here and conquered this land and started to live in it, but they refused to obey you or to do what you commanded them to do. Because of that, you have caused us to experience all these disasters.

24And now, the army of Babylonia has built ramps up against our city walls in order to attack our city. Because of our enemies’ swords and because of famines and diseases, they will be able to conquer it easily. The things that you said would happen have now happened. 25And it is evident that the Babylonian army will soon conquer this city. So now, Yahweh my Lord, I do not understand why you told me to buy this field with my silver, while others were watching. It seems that I have just been wasting my money by doing that!”

Yahweh’s reply about buying the land

26Then Yahweh gave me this message: 27“I am Yahweh, the God who rules all the people in the world. There is absolutely nothing [RHQ] that is too difficult for me to do. 28So, this is what I say: It is true that I will enable the Babylonian army and King Nebuchadnezzar to capture this city. 29The soldiers of Babylonia who are now outside the walls around the city will enter and burn this city. They will burn down all the houses where people caused me to become angry by burning incense on the tops of their roofs to honor Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.

30The people of Israel and Judah have continually done only evil things from the time that they became a nation. They have caused me to become very angry by all their evil deeds. 31From the time that this city was built until now, the people of this city have done only things that caused me to be very angry [DOU]. So now I will destroy it. 32The people of Israel and Judah, including their kings, their officials, the priests, the false prophets, and all the other people in Jerusalem have committed many sins that have caused me to become angry. 33My people have turned away from me and have refused to return to me. Even though I taught them things many times, they would not pay attention to what I taught them, and they would not obey me. 34They have set up their detestable idols even in my own [MTY] temple and ◄defiled it/caused it become a place that is unacceptable for people to worship me►. 35They have built shrines to honor Baal in Ben-Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to their god Molech. I never commanded them to do such horrible things. I never even thought that anyone might do such a terrible thing. And by doing it they have caused all the people of Judah to be guilty of having sinned.”

The promise to restore Judah and Israel

36“But now I will say something more about this city. You people of Jerusalem have been saying, ‘The army of the King of Babylon will conquer it, either by their swords or because of famines or diseases.’ But this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people say you belong to, say: 37‘I will certainly bring my people back here again, from all the countries to which I will force them to go because I am extremely angry [DOU] with them. I will bring them back to this city and allow them to live here safely. 38They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will cause them to have one way of thinking [IDM] and behaving, in order that they may revere me, for their good and for the good of their descendants. 40I will make an agreement with them that will last forever: I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will encourage them to revere me and never turn away from me. 41I will be happy to do good things for them, and I will surely enable them to return to this land and remain here [MET]; I will do that with all my inner being and all my strength.’

42And this is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I have caused them to experience all these disasters. Similarly, some day I will do for them all the good things that I have promised. 43By buying land you, Jeremiah, have predicted that some day people will buy and sell fields in this land about which you people of Jerusalem now say, “The Babylonian soldiers have destroyed it. It is now desolate. It is a land where there are no longer any people or animals.” 44But some day people will again buy and sell fields here. People will sign documents about buying those fields, and other people will witness them doing that. That will happen in the land where the descendants of Benjamin live and here in the villages near Jerusalem, in other towns in Judah, in the hilly areas and in the foothills to the west, and in the southern desert area, too. Some day I will cause them to prosper again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

33

The promise that God will enable the Israeli people to prosper again

1While I was still being guarded in the courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave me this second message: 2“This is what I, the one who made the earth, who formed/shaped it and put it in its place, say to the people of Jerusalem: ‘My name is Yahweh. 3Call out to me, and then I will tell you great and wonderful things that you have not known before.’ 4This is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people say you belong to, say: ‘The men in this city have torn down some of their houses, and even parts of the king’s palace, to get materials to strengthen the walls around the city, in order that the soldiers of Babylonia will not be able to break through the walls after they climb up the ramps that they have built against the walls, and kill the inhabitants with their swords. 5You are expecting to fight against the army from Babylonia, but what will happen is that the houses of this city will be filled with the corpses of the men of this city whom I will allow to be killed because I am extremely angry [DOU] with them. I have abandoned them because of all the wicked things that they have done.

6However, there will be a time when I will cause the people in this city to be healthy and strong again. I will enable them to be prosperous and have peace. 7I will bring the people of Judah and Israel back from the lands to which they were exiled. I will enable them to rebuild their towns. 8I will get rid of their guilt for all the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive them for their sin of rebelling against me. 9When that happens, all the nations of the world will rejoice, and they will praise me and honor me. They will hear about all the good things that I have done for this city and, because of that, they will revere me, and they will tremble because I have caused the people in this city to have peace and to prosper.’

10And this is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘You people have said that this is a land where there are no longer any people or animals. But in the streets of Jerusalem that are now completely empty [DOU], and in the other towns in Judah, 11some day people will again be happy and laugh. Brides and bridegrooms will again sing joyfully. And many other people will also sing joyfully as they bring their offerings to me to thank me for what I have done for them. They will sing this song:

“We thank you, the Commander of the armies of angels,

because you are good to us.

You faithfully love us forever.”

They will sing that because I will cause the people of this land to be as prosperous as they were before.’

12This land is now desolate. There are no people or animals living here. But I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘In this land there will again be pastures/fields where shepherds will lead their sheep. 13Shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk by, outside the towns in the hilly area, in the western foothills, in the southern desert area, in the land where the descendants of Benjamin live, around Jerusalem, and outside all the other towns in Judah.’ That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.

14Listen to this! I, Yahweh, say that there will be a time when I will do for the people of Israel and Judah all the good things that I promised to do for them.

15At that time [DOU] I will appoint a righteous man who will be a descendant [MET] of King David.

Throughout the land, he will do what is just and right.

16At that time, the people of Judah will be rescued from their enemies,

and the people of Jerusalem will be safe.

And people will say that the name of the city is ‘Yahweh is the one who vindicates/defends us’.

17And this is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘There will be descendants of King David ruling [MTY] Israel forever. 18And there will always be priests who are descendants of Levi who stand in front of me and offer sacrifices that will be completely burned on the altar and who will burn grain offerings and other sacrifices.’ ”

19Then Yahweh gave me this message: 20“This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘You certainly cannot annul my promise/agreement to cause nighttime to follow daytime each day. 21Similarly, you cannot annul the promise/agreement that I made with King David, who served me well, that there will always be descendants of his who will rule Judah. The same is true for my agreement with the descendants of Levi who are priests who do work for me. 22No one can count the stars in the sky, and no one can count the grains of sand at the seashore. Similarly, I will cause there to be a huge number of priests who are descendants of David and descendants of Levi who will work for me.’ ”

23Yahweh gave another message to me. He said, 24“Have you noticed/heard that some people are saying, ‘Yahweh chose two groups, the people of Judah and the people of Israel, and later abandoned them.’ They are despising my people and saying that Israel no longer deserves to be considered a nation. 25But this is what I say: ‘I will not change my laws that control the day and the night, the sky and the earth. 26Similarly, I will never abandon the descendants of David or the other descendants of Jacob, and I will always allow descendants of David to rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bring my people back to their land, and I will act mercifully toward them.’”

34

Jeremiah warned King Zedekiah

1King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with the armies of all the kingdoms that he ruled, and they fought against Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah. At that time, Yahweh gave me this message: 2“Go to Zedekiah the King of Judah, and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: “I am about to enable the army of the King of Babylon to capture this city, and they will burn it down. 3You will not escape from them; they will capture you and take you to the king of Babylon. And then they will take you to Babylon.” ’

4But King Zedekiah, listen to this that Yahweh has promised: ‘You will not be killed in a battle [MTY]; 5you will die peacefully. When you die, people will burn incense to honor/remember you just as they did for your ancestors who were kings before you became king. They will mourn for you, crying, “We are very sad that our king is dead!” I, Yahweh, promise that will happen.’ ”

6So I took that message to King Zedekiah. 7At that time the army of Babylonia had surrounded Jerusalem and Lachish and Azekah. Those three cities were the only cities in Judah that had high walls around them that still had not been captured.

Jeremiah warned them they would be punished for not freeing their slaves

8King Zedekiah had decreed that the people must free their slaves. 9He decreed that the people must free their Hebrew slaves, both the men slaves and the women slaves. No one would be allowed to force a fellow Jew to continue to be his slave. 10The officials and the rest of the people had obeyed what the king decreed, 11but later they changed their minds. They forced the men and women whom they had freed to become their slaves again.

12So Yahweh gave me this message to tell to them: 13“I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, ◄made an agreement with/gave this command to► your ancestors long ago, when I rescued them from being slaves in Egypt. 14I told them that they must free all their Hebrew slaves after the slaves had worked for them for six years. But your ancestors did not pay any attention to what I said. 15Recently, you obeyed my command and stopped doing what was wrong and did what was right. You made a solemn agreement at my temple that you would free your slaves, and then you freed them. 16But now you have disregarded what you solemnly promised, and you have shown contempt for what I [MTY] said by taking back the women and men whom you had freed and said they could live wherever they wanted to. Now you have forced them to be your slaves again.

17Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘Because you have not obeyed me by freeing your fellow Israelis, I will free you to be destroyed by the swords of your enemies and by famines and diseases. All the nations of the earth will be horrified because of what happens to you. 18-19Because you have disregarded what I said in my agreement with you, I will do to you just like you did to the calves that you cut in half to show that you would surely do what you solemnly promised that you would do. I will enable your enemies to cut you into pieces, you officials of Judah and you officials of Jerusalem, and you officials in the palace, and you priests and all you common people. I will do that because you have disregarded what you solemnly promised about freeing your slaves. 20I will enable your enemies to capture you, and they will kill you. And your bodies will be food for vultures and wild animals.

21I will enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture King Zedekiah and his officials. Although the king of Babylon and his army have left Jerusalem for a short time, 22I will summon them back again. This time, they will fight against this city and capture it and burn it down. I will make sure that all the towns in Judah are destroyed, with the result that no one will live there anymore.’ ”

35

The lesson from the Rechabites

1Several years earlier, when Jehoiakim was the King of Judah, Yahweh gave me this message: 2“Go to the place where families of the Rechab clan live. Invite them to my temple. When they arrive, take them into one of the inside rooms and offer them some wine.”

3So I went to see Jaazaniah and all his brothers and sons who represented the Rechab clan. Jaazaniah was the son of another man named Jeremiah and grandson of Habazziniah. 4I took them to the temple, and we went into the room where the sons of Igdaliah’s son Hanan, who was a prophet, stayed. That room was next to the room that was used by the men who were in charge of the entrances to the temple. It was above the room that belonged to Maaseiah, who was the temple gatekeeper and the son of Shallum.

5I set jugs of wine in front of them and urged them to drink some, 6but they refused. They said, “We do not drink wine, because our ancestor Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, commanded us, saying ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. 7And you must not build houses or plant vineyards or other crops. Instead, you must always live in tents. If you obey those commands, you all will live for many years in this land.’ 8So we have obeyed him in all those matters. We have never drunk wine. Our wives and our sons and our daughters have also never drunk wine. 9We have not built houses or planted vineyards or other crops or worked in fields. 10We have lived in tents. We have obeyed all the commands that Jehonadab, our ancestor, gave us. 11But when the army of King Nebuchadnezzar attacked this country, we said, ‘We must go to Jerusalem to escape from the armies of Babylonia and Syria.’ So, we came to Jerusalem and we are living here.”

12Then Yahweh gave this message to me: “This is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people say that they belong to, say: 13Go and tell this to the people in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah: ‘Why do you not [RHQ] listen to me or learn something about how to obey me? 14The Rechab clan still do not drink wine, because their ancestor Jehonadab told them to not do that. In contrast, I have spoken to you many times, but you refuse to obey me. 15Many times I sent prophets to you. They told you, “Turn away from your wicked behavior, and do things that you should do. Stop worshiping other gods, in order that you will be able to live peacefully in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you would not pay attention to what I said or obey me. 16The descendants of Jehonadab have obeyed their ancestor, but you have refused to pay attention to what I told you.

17Therefore, this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israeli people say you belong to, say: “You have refused to listen to me and you did not answer when I called you. Therefore, I will cause the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah to experience all the disasters that I said that I would cause to happen.”

18Then I turned to the Rechab clan and said, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis say we belong to, says: ‘You have obeyed what your ancestor Jehonadab told you. You have obeyed all his instructions. 19Therefore, this is what I say: “There will always be descendants of Jehonadab who will do work for me.” ’ ”

36

They read Jeremiah’s scroll

1When Jehoiakim had been the king of Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave this message to me: 2“Get a scroll, and write on it the messages that I have given to you regarding Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Write all of the messages, starting from the time that I gave you the first message, when Josiah was the king, up until now. 3When the people of Judah hear again about all the disasters that I plan to cause them to experience, perhaps each one of them will repent. If they do that, I will be able to forgive them for the wrong/evil things that they have done.”

4So I summoned Baruch, the son of Neraiah. Then, as I dictated to him all the messages that Yahweh had spoken to me, he wrote them on a scroll. 5Then I said to him, “I am not allowed to leave here and go to the temple. 6So, you go to the temple on the next day when the people are ◄fasting/abstaining from food►, and read to them the messages from Yahweh that you wrote while I dictated them to you. Read them aloud to all the people who are there, including the people of Judah who come there from their towns. 7Perhaps they will turn from their evil behavior and request Yahweh to act mercifully toward them. They must do that, because Yahweh is very angry with them and has threatened to punish them severely.”

8Baruch did what I told him to do. He went to the temple and read to the people all those messages from Yahweh. 9He did it in December on a day when their leaders had proclaimed that all the people in Jerusalem and the people who had come there from other towns in Judah should fast to please/honor Yahweh. It was when Jehoiakim had been king for almost five years. 10Baruch read to all the people the messages that he had written on the scroll. He read them while he was in the temple, in the room where Gemariah stayed. He was the son of Shaphan, who had previously been the king’s secretary. That room was close to the upper courtyard of the temple, near the entrance to the temple that is called the New Gate.

11When Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard those messages from Yahweh, 12he went down to the secretary’s room in the palace, where all the king’s officials were meeting. Elishama the king’s secretary was there. Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Acbor, Gemariah, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials of the king were also there. 13When Micaiah told them about the messages that Baruch had been reading to the people, 14the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi, to tell Baruch to come and read the messages to them, also. So Baruch took the scroll and went to them. 15They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch did what they requested.

16After they had heard all the messages, they were afraid. They looked at each other and then they said, “We must tell these messages to the king!” 17Then they asked Baruch, “How did you get this scroll? Did Jeremiah dictate to you all the messages on this scroll?”

18Baruch replied, “Yes, Jeremiah dictated them to me, and I wrote them with ink on this scroll.”

19Then the officials told Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must both hide. Do not tell anyone where you are!”

20They put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the king’s secretary. Then they went to the king, who was in the courtyard, and reported to him everything that Baruch had read to them.

The king burned Jeremiah’s scroll

21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king, while all the king’s officials were standing there. 22It was in the cold season, and the king was in a part of the palace where he stayed when it was cold. He was sitting in front of a fire to keep/be warm. 23Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king cut off that section of the scroll with a knife and threw it into the fire. He did that, section by section, until the entire scroll was burned up. 24Neither the king nor his officials showed that they were afraid that God would punish them. They did not tear their clothes to show that they were sorry for what they had done. 25Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not pay any attention. 26Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and me. But they were unable to do that because Yahweh had hidden us.

Jeremiah had another scroll written

27After the king had burned the scroll on which were written the messages that I had dictated to Baruch, Yahweh said this to me: 28“Get another scroll, and tell Baruch to write everything again, the same messages that he had written on the scroll that the king burned. 29Then go to the king and say to him, ‘Yahweh says this: “You burned the scroll because you did not like what was written on it, that the king of Babylon would surely [RHQ] come with his army and destroy this land and get rid of all the people and the animals. 30Now this is what I, Yahweh, say about you, Jehoiakim: None of your descendants will rule this kingdom [MTY]. Your corpse will be thrown out on the ground and not be buried; it will be under the hot sun during the days and struck by frost during the nights. 31I will punish you and your family and your officials for their sins. And I will cause the people of Jerusalem and the people of the other towns in Judah to experience all the disasters that I promised, because you all would not pay attention to what I said!” ’”

32So I took another scroll, and again I dictated the messages to Baruch. He wrote everything that had been written on the other scroll, the one that King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. But this time, I added more messages.

37

King Zedekiah summoned Jeremiah

1After Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became king for only three months, after which King Josiah’s son Zedekiah became the King of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, appointed him to be the new king. 2But King Zedekiah and his palace officials and the other people in the land paid no attention to the messages that Yahweh gave me.

3However, one day King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, who was the son of Maaseiah, to me. They requested me to pray to Yahweh our God for our nation.

4At that time I had not yet been put in prison, so I could come and go wherever and whenever I wanted to, without being hindered.

5At that time, the army of Hophra, the King of Egypt, came to the southern border of Judah. When the army of Babylonia heard about that, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and left there to fight against the army from Egypt.

6Then Yahweh gave this message to me: 7“I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, say this: ‘The King of Judah has sent messengers to you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell the king that even though the army of the King of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt. 8Then the army of Babylonia will return here and capture this city and burn everything in it.’

9So, this is what I say to you Israelis: ‘You should not deceive yourselves, thinking that the army from Babylonia has gone and will not return. That is not true. 10And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only a few of them who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, they would come out of their tents and burn this city completely!’ ”

Jeremiah was put into a prison

11When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching, 12I started to leave the city. I intended to go to the area where the descendants of Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family. 13But as I was walking out the Benjamin Gate, a guard seized me and said, “You are deserting us and going to the soldiers from Babylonia!” The man who seized me was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.

14But I protested and said, “That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what I said. He took me to the king’s officials. 15They were very angry with me. They commanded the guards to beat me and then to put me in the house where Jonathan the king’s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’s house to make it become a prison.

16They put me in a dungeon/cell in that prison, and I remained there for several days. 17Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to me, who took me to the palace. There the king asked me, “Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” I replied, “Yes, the message is that you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

18Then I asked the king, “What crime have I committed [RHQ] against you or against your officials or against the Israeli people, with the result that you have commanded that I be put in a prison? 19Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were [RHQ] their messages not fulfilled? 20Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon/cell in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because if you do that, I will die there.”

21So King Zedekiah commanded that I not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, I was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard of the palace. The king also commanded that they should bring me a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So they put me in that courtyard and I remained there.

38

Jeremiah was put in a dry well

1Four officials, Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malkijah, heard what I had been telling all the people. 2I had been telling them that Yahweh was saying, “Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed by their enemies’ swords or from famines or from diseases. But those who surrender to the Babylonian army, they will be spared. They will not be killed. 3Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”

4So those officials went to the king and said, “This man Jeremiah should be executed! Because of what he is saying, he is discouraging our soldiers who remain in the city. He is also discouraging the people. He is not saying things that will help us; he is saying things that will defeat us.”

5King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”

6So those officials took me from my cell and lowered me by ropes into a well in the courtyard. The well belonged to Malkijah, who was a son of the king. There was no water in the well, but there was a lot of mud, so I sank down deep into the mud.

7But Ebed-Melech, a palace official from Ethiopia, heard someone say that I was in the well. At that time the king was deciding/judging people’s cases at the Benjamin Gate. 8Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king, 9“Your majesty, those men have done a very evil thing. They have put the prophet Jeremiah in a well. Almost all the food in the city is gone, so they will not be able to bring him any food, and as a result he will die from hunger!”

10So the king told Ebed-Melech, “Take thirty of my men/soldiers with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the well, in order that he does not die!”

11So Ebed-Melech took thirty men with him and they went into a room in the palace below the room where they stored very valuable things. There they found some old rags and discarded clothing. They took those things and went to the well. They fastened them to a rope and lowered the rope to me. 12Then Ebed-Melech called down to me, “Put these rags underneath your armpits, to protect you from being injured by the ropes!” So I did that. 13Then they pulled me out of the well. I returned to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.

Zedekiah questioned Jeremiah

14One day King Zedekiah summoned me, and I was brought to the king, who was waiting for me at the entrance of the temple. He said to me, “I want to ask you something. I want you to answer me truthfully, and and to not conceal anything.”

15I replied, “If I tell you the truth, you will command that I be executed. And if I give you good advice, you will not pay attention to what I say.”

16But King Zedekiah secretly promised me, “Tell me the truth! And as surely as Yahweh lives, I will not cause you to be executed, and I will not hand you over to those who are wanting to kill you.”

17So then I said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will ◄be spared/not be killed►, and this city will not be burned. 18But if you refuse to surrender to them, you will not escape. And the army from Babylonia will capture this city and completely burn it.’ ”

19The king replied, “But I am afraid to surrender to the soldiers from Babylon, because their officers may hand me over to the people of Judah who have already joined the soldiers from Babylonia, and those people from Judah will mistreat me.”

20I replied, “If you obey Yahweh by doing what I tell you to do, they will not hand you over to our people. Things will go well for you, and you will remain alive. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me: 22All the women who remain in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then those women will say to you:

‘You had friends whom you thought you could trust,

but they have deceived you and caused you to make a wrong decision.

Now it is as though you are stuck in mud,

and your friends have abandoned you.’

23All of your wives and children in the city will be led out to the soldiers from Babylonia, and you also will not escape. The soldiers of the King of Babylon will seize you, and they will burn down this city.”

24Then Zedekiah said to me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you. 25If my officials find out that I talked to you, perhaps they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you do not tell us, we will kill you.’ 26If that happens, just tell them that you pleaded with me not to send you back to the dungeon/cell in Jonathan’s house, because you were afraid that you would die if you were put there again.”

27And that is what happened. The king’s officials came to me and asked why the king had summoned me. But I told them what the king told me to tell them. So they did not ask me any more questions, because no one had heard what the king and I had said to each other.

28So I remained being guarded in the courtyard of the palace, until the day that the army of Babylonia captured Jerusalem.

39

Jerusalem was captured

1After King Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar came in January with his army, and they surrounded Jerusalem. 2One and a half years later, after Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, on July 18, soldiers from Babylonia broke through the city wall. Then they rushed in and captured the city. 3Then all the officers of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate to decide what they would do to the city. They included Nergal-Sharezer from Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim who was one of the chief army officers, another Nergal-Sharezer, the king’s advisor, and many other officials.

4When King Zedekiah and all his soldiers realized that the army of Babylonia had broken into the city, they fled. They waited until it was dark. Then they went out of the city through the king’s garden, through the gate that was between the two walls. Then they started running toward the Jordan River Valley.

5But the soldiers from Babylonia pursued the king, and they caught him on the plains near Jericho. They took him to the King of Babylon, who was at Riblah town in the Hamath region. There the king of Babylon told his soldiers what they should do to punish Zedekiah. 6They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah. 7Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

8Meanwhile, the Babylonian army burned the palace and all the other buildings in Jerusalem. And they tore down the city walls. 9Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s bodyguards, forced to go to Babylon most of the other people who remained in the city and the Jews who had joined the soldiers of Babylonia. 10But he allowed some of the very poor people to remain in Judah, and he gave them vineyards and fields to take care of.

Jeremiah stayed in Judah

11King Nebuchadnezzar had previously told Nebuzaradan to find me. He said, 12“Make sure that no one harms him. Take care of him, and do for him whatever he requests you to do.” 13So he and Nebushazban, who was one of their chief officers, and Nergal-Sharezer the king’s advisor, and other officers of the King of Babylon 14sent some men to bring me out of the courtyard outside of the palace. They took me to Gedaliah who was the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. Then Gedaliah took me to my home, and I stayed in Judah among my own people who had been allowed to remain there.

15While I was still being guarded in the palace courtyard, Yahweh gave me this message: 16“Say this to Ebed-Melech, the official from Ethiopia: ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: “I will do to this city everything that I said that I would do. I will not enable the people to prosper; I will cause them to experience disasters. You will see Jerusalem being destroyed, 17but I will rescue you from the people whom you are afraid of. 18You trusted me, so I will save you. You will not be killed by your enemies’ swords; you will remain alive. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

40

Jeremiah decided to stay with Gedaliah

1The soldiers from Babylonia captured me and many other people from Jerusalem and other places in Judah. They planned to take us to Babylon. So they fastened chains around our wrists and took us to Ramah town north of Jerusalem. While we were there, I was released. This is how it happened: 2Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s bodyguards, found that I was there. He summoned me and said to me, “Yahweh your God said that he would cause this land to experience a disaster. 3And now he has caused it to happen. He has done just what he said that he would do, because you people sinned against Yahweh and refused to obey him. 4But today I am going to take the chains off your wrists and release you. If you want to come with me to Babylon, that will be fine. I will take care of you. But if you do not want to come with me, do not come. Stay here. Look, the entire country is available; you can choose whatever part you want to go to. You can go wherever you wish.” Then he took the chains off my wrists. 5He said, “If you decide to stay here, go to Gedaliah. The King of Babylon appointed him to be the governor of Judah. You will be allowed to stay here with the people that he is governing. But you can do whatever you want to.”

Then Nebuzaradan gave me some food and some money, and he allowed me to go.

6I returned to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and I stayed in Judah with the people who still remained in the land.

Many people returned to Judah

7The Israeli soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia were roaming around in the countryside. Then their leaders heard someone say that the King of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be the governor of the very poor people who were still in Judah, who had not been taken to Babylon. 8So they went to talk to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Those who went included Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophath, and Jezaniah from Maacah, and the soldiers who were with them. 9Gedaliah solemnly promised that the soldiers from Babylonia would not harm them. He said, “Do not be afraid to do things for them. Stay here in this land and do things for the King of Babylon. If you do that, things will go well for you. 10As for me, I will stay here at Mizpah to be your representative to the officials from Babylonia who come to talk with us. But you should return to your towns, and eat the things that are produced on your land. Harvest the grapes and the fruit that ripen in the ◄summer/hot season► and the olives, make wine and olive oil, and store it.”

11Then the Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other nearby countries heard people say that the King of Babylon had allowed a few people to remain in Judah, and that he had appointed Gedaliah to be their governor. 12So they began to return to Judah. They stopped at Mizpah to talk with Gedaliah. Then they went to various places in Judea, and they harvested a great amount of grapes and summer fruit.

The plot to kill Gedaliah

13Some time later, Johanan and all the other leaders of the Israeli soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 14They said to him, “Do you know that Baalis, the king of the Ammon people-group, has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah did not believe what they said.

15Later Johanan talked with Gedaliah privately. He said, “Allow me to go and murder Ishmael secretly. It would not be good [RHQ] to allow him to come and murder you! If you are killed, what will happen to all the Jews who have returned to this area? They will be scattered, and the other people who remain in Judah will all be killed!”

16But Gedaliah said to Johanan, “No, I will not allow you to do that. I think that you are lying about Ishmael.”

41

Gedaliah was murdered

1Ishmael was a member of the king’s family. He had been one of King Zedekiah’s important officials. In October of that year, he went to Mizpah with ten other men to talk with Gedaliah. While they were eating together, 2Ishmael and the other ten men jumped up, and with their swords they killed Gedaliah—the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to be their governor! 3Ishmael and the other men also killed all the Jews and the soldiers from Babylonia who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah.

4The next day, before anyone had found out that Gedaliah had been murdered, 5eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria cities came to worship at the temple of Yahweh in Mizpah. They had shaved off their beards and torn their clothes and cut themselves to show that they were mourning. And they had brought grain offerings and incense to burn on the altar. 6Ishmael went out of the city to meet them, crying as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come and see what has happened to Gedaliah!”

7But as soon as they had all entered the town, Ishmael and his men killed most of them and threw their corpses into a well. 8There were only ten of them whom they ◄spared/did not kill►. They were not killed because they promised to Ishmael that if he allowed them to remain alive, they would bring him lots of wheat and barley and olive oil and honey that they had hidden. 9The well where Ishmael’s men had thrown the corpses of the men whom they had murdered was the deep well that King Asa’s men had dug in order that they would have water in the city if the army of King Baasha of Israel would surround the city. Ishmael’s men filled that well with corpses.

10Then Ishmael and his men captured the king’s daughters and some of the other people who had been left in Mizpah by Nebuzaradan in order that Gedaliah would take care of them. Ishmael and his men took those people and started back toward the Ammon area.

11But Johanan and all the other leaders of the Israeli soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia heard about what Ishmael and his men had done. 12So they immediately went with all their men to stop them. They caught up with them at the large pool near Gibeon city. 13When all the people whom Ishmael and his men had captured saw Johanan and the soldiers who were with him, they shouted joyfully. 14So all those who had been captured in Mizpah escaped, and they started to help Johanan. 15But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped and fled to the Ammon area. 16Then Johanan and the men who were with him gathered together all the people whom they had rescued at Gibeon. They included soldiers and women and children and some of the king’s palace officials. They were all people whom Ishmael and his men had captured after they had killed Gedaliah. 17They took them all to Geruth-Kimham village near Bethlehem. And they all prepared to go to Egypt. 18They were worried about what the soldiers of Babylonia would do to them when they found out that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, who had been appointed by the King of Babylonia to be their governor.

42

Jeremiah warned them to not go to Egypt

1Then Johanan and Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the other leaders of the Israeli soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia, and many [HYP] other people, including those who were important and those who were not important, came 2to me. They said, “Please listen to our request and pray to Yahweh our God for all of us. Although we were previously a huge number of people, you can see that now we are only a small number of people who have survived. 3Pray that Yahweh our God will show us what we should do and where we should go.”

4I replied, “Okay, I will pray to Yahweh our God, like you have requested, and I will tell you what he says. I will ◄tell you everything/not hide anything from you►.”

5They replied to me, “We hope/wish that Yahweh our God will be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to do everything that he tells us to do. 6We are requesting you to ask Yahweh our God what we should do. When he replies, we will obey him, whether we like what he says or not. We will do that because we know that things will go well for us if we obey him.”

7So I prayed to Yahweh, and ten days later he gave me his reply. 8So I summoned Johanan and all his other soldiers and all the other people, including those who were important and those who were not important. 9I said to them, “You told me to tell Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, what you were requesting. This is what he replied: 10‘You should stay here in this land. If you do that, I will cause your nation to be strong and not be weak. I will cause you to prosper and not be exiled again. I am sorry about the disasters that I was forced to cause you to experience. 11But do not be afraid of the king of Babylon anymore, because I will ◄be with/help► you. I will rescue you [DOU] from his power [MTY]. 12I will be merciful to you by causing him to act kindly toward you. So as a result, he will allow you to stay here in your land.’

13But if you refuse to obey Yahweh our God, and if you say ‘We will not stay here; 14instead, we will go to Egypt. There we will not experience any wars, we will not hear trumpets signaling our soldiers to prepare for battles, and we will not be hungry,’ 15then listen to what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt, and you go and live there, 16you will experience those wars and famines that you are afraid of, and you will all die there. 17That is what will happen to all you who are determined to go to Egypt and live there. Some of you will be killed by the swords of your enemies, and others of you will die from famines and from diseases. None of you will escape the disasters that I will bring on you.’

18And the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, also says this: ‘Because I was very angry, I severely punished [MTY] all the people of Jerusalem. I will do the same things to you when you go to Egypt. The result will be that people will curse you. They will be horrified about what has happened to you. They will make fun of you, and you will never see this land again.’

19You little group of people of Judah who are still alive, listen to me: Yahweh has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ So do not forget what I have warned you today. 20I know that you were lying when you requested me to pray to Yahweh our God. 21And today I have told you exactly what he said, but I know that you will not obey Yahweh our God now, just as you have not obeyed him previously. 22You want to go to Egypt and live there. So now, you can be sure of this: All of you will die there. Some of you will be killed by the swords of your enemies and others will die from famines or from diseases.”

43

Jeremiah was taken to Egypt

1So I finished telling to the people that message from Yahweh our God. 2But then Johanan and Azariah and some other insolent/arrogant men said to me, “You are lying! Yahweh our God has not told us that we should not go to Egypt! 3We think that Baruch has urged/persuaded you to say this, in order that if we stay here, the soldiers from Babylonia will seize us and kill us or take us to Babylonia.”

4So Johanan and the other leaders of the Israeli soldiers and many of [HYP] the other people who were there refused to obey Yahweh’s command to stay in Judah. 5Johanan and all the other leaders gathered together all the people who had returned from the other countries to which they had been scattered. 6They included men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and all those whom Nebuzaradan had left with Gedaliah, and they also took Baruch and me. 7They refused to obey Yahweh, and they took us all to Egypt, as far as Tahpenes city.

8While we were at Tahpenes, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 9“While the people of Judah are watching you, take some large rocks and bury them under the brick pavement at the entrance to the king’s palace there at Tahpenes. 10Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, says: “I will summon Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, who does my work, to come with his army to Egypt. I will set up his throne over these stones that I told Jeremiah to bury. And Nebuchadnezzar will set up his tent there to show that he has become the King of Egypt. 11When his army comes, they will attack Egypt. Then those will die who I have determined must die, those who I have determined must be captured will be captured, and those who I have determined must be killed by swords will be killed by swords. 12-13Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt. But before they burn the temples, they will take away their idols as souvenirs. His troops will clean Egypt like a shepherd cleans lice from his cloak. They will tear down the sacred pillars that are in the temple of their sun god. And then Nebuchadnezzar’s troops will leave there, without having been harmed.” ’ ”

44

Jeremiah predicted disaster would come because of their idolatry

1This is the message that Yahweh gave me concerning the Jews who were living in northern Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpenes, and Memphis cities, and in the Pathros region in southern Egypt: 2“This is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, say: ‘You saw the disaster that I caused the people in Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah to experience. Those towns are now ruined and deserted. 3That happened because I was extremely angry with them on account of their being very wicked. They burned incense to other gods and worshiped them. They were gods that you previously did not know about, and your ancestors also did not know about them. 4Many times I sent my prophets who served me, to say to them, “Do not do those abominable things that I hate!” 5But my people would not pay any attention [DOU] to what I said to them. They would not turn away from their wicked behavior, or stop burning incense to worship/honor other gods. 6So I poured out my anger [MTY] on them. I punished people on the streets of Jerusalem and on the other towns in Judah. It caused those towns to be ruined and deserted, and they are still like that.’

7So now I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, ask you: ‘Why are you causing yourselves to experience these disasters? Do you not realize that because of what you are doing, soon there will be no more men or women or children or infants left among you who have come here to Egypt from Judah? 8Why are you [RHQ] provoking me and causing me to be very angry by burning incense to the idols that you have made here in Egypt? If you continue doing this, you will destroy yourselves, and you will cause yourselves to be people whom all the nations on the earth will curse and despise. 9Have you forgotten how I punished your ancestors for the wicked things that they did, and how I punished the kings and queens of Judah for what they did, and you and your wives for the sins that you committed in the streets of Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah? 10Up until this day you have not humbled yourselves or revered me. You have not obeyed the laws and decrees [DOU] that I gave to you and your ancestors.’

11Therefore, this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, say: ‘I am determined to cause all of you to experience disasters and to get rid of every one of you. 12You people from Judah who have survived were determined to come and live here in Egypt. So I will get rid of all of you here in Egypt. Every one of you will die, including those who are important and those who are not important. Some of you will be killed by your enemies’ swords, some will die from famines. You will become people whom others curse, be horrified about, and make fun of. 13I will punish you here in Egypt like I punished others in Jerusalem, some of whom were killed by their enemies’ swords and some of whom died from famines or diseases. 14You people who did not die in Judah fled here to Egypt, hoping that some day you would return to Judah. But very few [HYP] of you will survive and escape. You are longing/wanting to remain alive and return to Judah, but only a very few of you will escape and be able to do that.’”

15Then a large group of the people who had started to live in northern Egypt and southern Egypt, including all the men who knew that their wives had been burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, said this to me: 16“You are saying that [MTY] Yahweh gave messages to you, but we will not pay any attention to your messages! 17We will certainly do everything that we said that we would do. We will burn incense to worship our goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out offerings of wine to her, just like we and our ancestors and our kings and their officials have always done in the streets of Jerusalem and in the other towns in Judah. At that time, we had plenty of food, and we were prosperous and we did not have any troubles. 18But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and giving her offerings of wine, we have had many troubles, and some of our people have been killed by our enemies’ swords and some have died from hunger.”

19And the women said, “Furthermore, we burned incense and poured out wine offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and we also made small cakes that resembled her idol, to offer to her. But our husbands certainly knew about and approved of [RHQ] what we were doing!”

20Then I said to all the men and women who had answered me, 21“Do not think [RHQ] that Yahweh did not know that you and your ancestors and your kings and their officials and all the other people in Judah were burning incense to worship/honor idols in the streets of Jerusalem and in the other towns in Judah! 22It was because Yahweh could no longer endure/tolerate your wicked actions and the detestable things that you were doing that he caused your land to be a place whose name people say when they curse someone, a land that is ruined and which has no one living in it. And your land is still like that. 23It is because you burned incense to worship/honor idols and committed other sins against Yahweh that you experienced all those disasters. It is because you have not obeyed him or his laws and decrees and commandments.”

24Then I said to all of them, including the women, “All you people of Judah who are here in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh. 25This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says to you Israeli men: ‘You and your wives have said that you would continue to do what you promised, to burn incense and pour out wine to the goddess whom you call the Queen of Heaven. And you have proved by your actions that you intend to continue to do that. So go ahead and continue doing what you have promised to do for her.’

26But now, all you people from Judah who are now living here in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh. He says, ‘I have solemnly declared, using my great name, that soon none of you people from Judah who are here in Egypt will ever again use my name. There will be none of you who, when you solemnly promise to do something, will ever again say, “I will do it as surely as Yahweh lives.” 27Because I will be watching over you, not to cause good things to happen to you but to cause things to happen that will harm you. Almost everyone [HYP] from Judah who is now here in Egypt will experience being killed by their enemies’ swords, or dying from famine. 28Only a very few of you will not die, and will return to Judah. When that happens, all those who came to Egypt will find out whose words ◄were true/were fulfilled►, theirs or mine.’

29And Yahweh also says, ‘I will do something that will prove to you that everything that I have said will happen, and that I will punish you here in this place. 30I will cause Hophra, the king of Egypt, to be captured by his enemies who want to kill him, just like I caused King Zedekiah of Judah to be captured by the soldiers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’” And that is what happened several years later.

45

A message for Baruch

1After Jehoiakim the son of King Josiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, I, Baruch, wrote down all the messages that the prophet Jeremiah had dictated to me. Then Jeremiah gave me a message. He said, 2“Baruch, Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, has a message for you. 3You have said, ‘Terrible things are happening to me! I have endured much pain already. And now Yahweh is causing me to be very sad, in addition to my having pain. I am exhausted from my ◄groaning/being sad►, and I am unable to rest!’

4But Baruch, this is what Yahweh says: ‘I will destroy this nation that I established. This nation is like a tree [MET] that I planted and that I will now pull up with its roots. 5So, should you [RHQ] desire that people do things to honor you in a special way? Do not desire that. It is true that I will cause all these people to experience a great disaster, but wherever you go, I will protect you, and you will not be killed.’”

46

Messages about other nations

1These are messages that Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah about other nations.

Messages about Egypt

2After Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah, had been ruling Judah for almost four years, this message about Egypt was given by Yahweh. It was when the army of King Neco of Egypt was defeated by the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon along the Euphrates River.

This is what Yahweh said: “The officers of the army of Egypt are saying to their troops,

3‘Prepare your shields

and march out to fight the battle!

4Put harnesses on your horses,

and get on their backs.

◄Get into your positions/Line up► for the battle;

put on your helmets.

Sharpen your spears,

and put on your armor!’

5But what [RHQ] do I see?

I see that the soldiers of Egypt will be terrified and will be fleeing.

Even the bravest of their soldiers will be running away,

without even looking backward!

I, Yahweh, say that their soldiers will be terrified on all sides!

6Even the fastest runners will try to run away,

but even the greatest of their warriors will not escape.

In the north, by the Euphrates River,

they will stumble and fall.

7What group is this that will be covering the land

like the water of the Nile River covers the land when it floods?

8It is the army of Egypt

that will be covering the land like a surging/huge flood,

and they will boast that they will cover the earth

and will destroy cities and the people who live in them.

9You riders of horses, charge/rush into the battle!

You drivers of chariots, drive furiously!

All you warriors from Ethiopia and Libya

who carry your shields,

you warriors from Lydia

who shoot arrows,

you come!

10But, you need to know that this is the day when I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, will get revenge on my enemies.

With my sword [PRS] I will kill my enemies until I am satisfied;

my sword will be like a monster that [MET, PRS] drinks the blood of the animals it kills until it is no longer thirsty.

The enemy soldiers who will be killed in the north beside the Euphrates River

will be like [MET] a sacrifice to me, the Commander of the armies of angels.

11You people [IDM] of Egypt,

go up to the Gilead region to obtain medicine;

but it will be useless to take all those medicines;

you will not be healed.

12People in the other nations will hear how you were humiliated.

People all over the earth will hear you wailing.

Your mighty warriors will stumble over each other

and they will all fall down together.”

13Then Yahweh gave me this message about King Nebuchadnezzar when he planned to attack Egypt with his army:

14“Shout this message throughout Egypt!

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpenes cities!

‘◄Get into your positions/Line up► for the battle;

Prepare to defend yourselves,

because everyone around you will be killed.’ [PRS, MTY]

15Your god is a bull;

Why does he fall down?

He will not be able to stand up,

because Yahweh will knock him down.

16The soldiers from other countries will stumble and fall over each other,

and then they will say to each other,

‘Let’s get up and go back to our own people, to our own land.

Let’s get away from the swords of our enemies!’

17There in Egypt they will say,

‘The king of Egypt talks loudly,

but when our army had an opportunity to defeat our enemies, they failed.’

18I, the King, who am called the Commander of the armies of angels,

say this:

‘As surely as I live, someone’s army will be coming to fight against the army of Egypt.

They will be extremely powerful,

as though they were as tall as Tabor Hill,

or as high as Carmel Mountain close to the Mediterranean Sea.

19All you people who live in Egypt,

pack your possessions/clothes and prepare to be exiled.

Memphis city will be destroyed;

it will become a ruin, and no one will be living there.

20Egypt is like [SIM] a beautiful young cow,

but the army of a powerful king from the northeast will come to attack it

like a horsefly [MET] bites a cow.

21The ◄mercenaries/soldiers from other countries who have been hired► will become like [SIM] fat calves;

but they also will turn around and run away;

they will not stand there and fight,

because it will be a day when there will be a great disaster in Egypt,

a day when their people will be greatly punished.

22The soldiers of Egypt will run away,

as silently as a snake slithers/crawls away.

The army of the enemy will advance;

they will march along carrying their axes

like [SIM] men who cut down trees.

23I, Yahweh, say that they will kill the soldiers of Egypt

as though [SIM] they were a forest of trees,

because the enemy soldiers will be as numerous as a swarm of locusts.

24The people of Egypt will be humiliated;

they will be conquered by people from the northeast.’

25I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israelis worship, say, ‘I will punish Amon, the god whom the people of Thebes city worship, and all the other gods in Egypt. I will punish the King of Egypt and all those who trust in him. 26I will cause them to be captured by those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, and his army officers. But many years later, people will live in Egypt again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’

27But you people of Israel who serve me,

do not be at all dismayed [DOU] now,

because some day I will bring you back from distant places;

I will bring your descendants from the land to which they were exiled.

Then you Israeli people will again live peacefully and safely,

and there will not be any nation to cause you to be terrified.

28I, Yahweh, say to you people of Israel who serve me,

‘Do not be afraid,

because I will be with you.

I will completely destroy the nations among whom I have scattered you,

but I will not completely get rid of you.

I will punish you, but I will punish you only as severely as you deserve:

It would be wrong if I did not punish you at all.’”

47

A message about Philistia

1Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah a message about the people of Philistia. The message was given to me before Gaza city in Philistia was captured by the army of Egypt.

2This is what Yahweh said:

“An army [MET] will be coming from the northeast

that will cover the land like a flood.

They will destroy the land and everything in it;

they will destroy people and cities.

People will scream;

everyone in the land will wail.

3They will hear the sound of the hooves of the enemy horses,

and they will hear the rumble/noise of the wheels of their enemies’ chariots.

Men will run away;

they will not stop to help their children;

they will be completely weak and helpless [MTY].

4It will be the time for all the people of Philistia to be destroyed,

and the time to prevent the remaining soldiers from helping the people of Tyre and Sidon cities.

I, Yahweh, will get rid of the people of Philistia,

those whose ancestors long ago came from Crete island.

5The people of Gaza will be humiliated;

they will shave off all the hair on their heads to indicate that they are ashamed.

The people of Ashkelon city will all be silent because they will be mourning.

All you people who live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea who are still alive,

how long [RHQ] will you gash yourselves because you are mourning?”

6The people of Philistia say, “Yahweh, when [RHQ] will you tell our enemies to stop killing us with [PRS] their swords?

Tell them to [PRS] put them back into their sheaths and keep them there!”

7But it would not be right [RHQ] for their swords to stay there,

because Yahweh has commanded their enemies to do something more;

Yahweh intends to tell them to attack all the people living in Ashkelon and in other cities along the coast.

48

A message about Moab

1This is a message about Moab. The Commander of the armies of angels said:

“Terrible things will happen to Nebo town;

it will soon be ruined.

Kiriathaim city will be captured and all its people will be humiliated;

the high wall around their city will be ruined, and its people will become ashamed.

2No one will boast about Moab again;

the enemies of Moab will plan to destroy the capital city, Heshbon.

They will say, ‘Come, let’s cause Moab to no longer be a nation.’

You people in Madmen town, you also will be silenced;

enemy armies [MTY] will pursue you.

3Listen to the people of Horonaim town screaming;

they will be wailing because their town will have been devastated and destroyed [DOU].

4All of Moab will be ruined;

even the little children will cry loudly.

5They will cry bitterly

as they climb up Luhith Hill.

Others will wail on the road down to Horonaim,

being very sad because of their town being destroyed.

6Someone will say to them, ‘Flee!

Hide in the desert!’

7But you trusted that because you were rich and powerful, you would be safe;

so you will be captured.

The statue of your god Chemosh and all his priests and officials

will be taken away to distant lands.

8All the towns in Moab will be destroyed;

none of them will escape.

Towns in the valleys and on the plateau will all be destroyed,

because I, Yahweh, have said that is what will happen.

9Spread salt on the ground

in order that it will become a wasteland with nothing growing there anymore,

and no one will be living in it!”

10Yahweh will curse anyone who will not eagerly do what he desires,

anyone who refrains from using his sword to kill [MTY] others in Moab.

11The people of Moab have always felt secure;

they have never been ◄exiled/forced by their enemies to go to other countries►.

They are like [MET] wine that has been left undisturbed in a container for many days to give it good flavor,

so now it smells good,

and it tastes good.

12But Yahweh says that there will be a time when he will send enemies to attack them;

they will get rid of the people of Moab like people pour out wine on the ground

and then smash the wine jar.

13Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their god/idol Chemosh because it did not help them,

like the Israeli people were ashamed because their gold statue of a calf was smashed at Bethel.

14The soldiers of Moab previously said, “We are warriors;

we have fought bravely in battles!”

15But now our King, who is Yahweh, who is called ‘the Commander of the armies of angels’, says that the country of Moab and all the towns in it will be destroyed.

Their fine young men will all be slaughtered.

16Moab will very soon be destroyed.

It will soon experience disaster.

17You people who live in nations near Moab,

who know that it is very famous,

should mourn for Moab,

and say, “Its glorious power [MTY, DOU] is completely ended/broken.”

18You people of Dibon city, stop being proud because of being honored,

and sit in the dust/dirt,

because those who will destroy other places in Moab will attack your city

and destroy your high walls.

19You people of Aroer town,

stand along the road and watch.

Shout to the men and women who will be fleeing from Moab,

“What has happened there?”

20They will reply,

“Moab is ruined and we are disgraced!”

So weep and wail [DOU].

Proclaim at the Aroer River that Moab has been destroyed.

21Yahweh will have punished the towns in Moab that are on the ◄plateau/high level►:

Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,

22Dibon and Nebo and Beth-Diblathaim,

23Kiriathaim and Beth-Gamul and Beth-Meon,

24Kerioth and Bozrah,

cities that are near each other and towns that are far away from each other.

25Yahweh says, “The power [MTY] of Moab will be ended;

it is as though [MET] Moab will have a broken arm.

26You people of Moab have rebelled against me, Yahweh;

so now I will cause you all to stagger like [SIM] drunken people.

You people of Moab will wallow in your own vomit

and be ridiculed.

27You people of Moab ridiculed the people of Israel [RHQ].

You treated them as though they were thieves [RHQ].

You shook your head at them scornfully and despised them [RHQ].

28You people who live in Moab,

you should abandon your towns and go and live in caves.

Be like [SIM] doves that make their nests in the entrances of caves.”

29We have all heard that the people of Moab are very proud;

they are extremely proud and conceited/arrogant. [IDM, DOU]

30But Yahweh says, “I know about that,

but it is useless for them to boast

because it will accomplish nothing.

31So now I will wail for Moab;

I will cry about all its people.

I will moan for the men of Kir-Hareseth city, the old capital of Moab.

32You people of Sibmah city, you have many vineyards.

It is as though the branches of your vines extend across the Dead Sea to Jazer city.

33But no one will be joyful or happy in Moab now;

your fruit and grapes that ripen in the ◄summer/hot season► will soon be destroyed.

There will be no grape juice coming from the winepresses,

so there will be no wine.

People will not shout joyfully

as they tread on the grapes;

people will shout,

but they will not be shouting joyfully.

34Instead, the sound of their wailing will rise from Heshbon city to Elealeh town and Jahaz village,

from Zoar city as far as Horonaim town and Eglath-Shelishiyah village.

Even the water in Nimrim Stream will be dried up.

35I, Yahweh, say that I will get rid of the people who offer sacrifices on the hilltops,

and burn incense to their gods.

36I [SYN] moan for the people of Moab and Kir-Hareseth

like [SIM] someone playing a funeral song on a flute,

because all their wealth will disappear.

37The men will shave their heads and their beards to show that they are mourning.

They all will slash their hands and wear ◄rough cloth/sackscloth► around their waists.

38In every home and in the town plazas/centers in Moab there will be people who are mourning,

because I will have destroyed Moab

like [SIM] someone smashes an old jar that no one wants anymore.

39Moab will be completely shattered!

And you will hear the people wailing loudly!

They will be disgraced.

Moab will become a nation that people ridicule.

The people in nearby countries will be horrified about what has happened there.

40This is what I, Yahweh, say:

‘Look! Their enemies will be swooping/rushing down over Moab

like an eagle [SIM] swoops down to seize an animal.

41Its cities will be captured,

its fortresses will be seized.

Even their warriors will be afraid,

like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth.

42The leaders of Moab boasted against me, Yahweh,

so Moab will be destroyed.

43I, Yahweh, say that you people of Moab will be terrified, and fall into pits and traps.

44Those who are terrified and try to run away will fall into deep pits.

Whoever climbs out of a pit will be caught in a trap,

because I will punish them at the time that I have chosen.’

45The people will flee as far as Heshbon city,

but they will not be able to go any further,

because a fire will burn in Heshbon,

which is the city where King Sihon lived long ago,

and it will burn up all the people [SYN] in Moab

who noisily/loudly boasted very much.

46You people of Moab, terrible things will happen to you!

You people who worship your god Chemosh, you will be destroyed.

Your sons and your daughters will be captured and taken away to other countries.

47But some day, I will enable the people of Moab to return to their land again.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

That is the end of what I prophesied about Moab.

49

A message about Ammon

1This message is about the Ammon people-group. This is what Yahweh says:

“There are [RHQ] plenty of Israeli people left

to occupy the land of the tribe of Gad.

So, why are [RHQ] the people who worship the god Molech living in those towns?

2There will be a time when I will sound the battle-cry

for their enemies to attack their capital city, Rabbah.

Then it will become a heap of ruins,

and all the nearby towns will be burned.

Then the people of Israel will again possess the land

that the Ammon people-group took away from them.

3You people of Heshbon city [MTY], wail,

because Ai town nearby will be destroyed.

You people of Rabbah city, weep;

put on ◄rough clothing/saackcloth► to show you are mourning;

run back and forth in confusion inside the city walls,

because your god Milcom, along with its priests and officials, will be taken away ◄in exile/to other countries►.

4You are [RHQ] very proud of your very fertile valleys,

but they will soon be ruined.

You rebellious people, you trusted in your wealth,

and you said, ‘Certainly no [RHQ] army will be able to attack us!’

5But listen to this: I, the Commander of the armies of angels,

will cause you to become terrified.

You will all be forced to flee to other countries,

and no one will be able to bring you together again.

6But some day I will enable the Ammon people-group to return to their land.

That will surely happen, because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

Messages about Edom

7This message is about the Edom people-group. This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“It seems that [RHQ] there are no wise people in Teman district in Edom!

There are no people left who can give others good advice.

The people who were wise [PRS] have disappeared.

8You people of Dedan city in the south of Edom,

turn and flee and hide in deep caves,

because when I cause the Edom people-group to experience disaster,

I will punish you, too.

9Those who harvest grapes

always [RHQ] leave some on the vines.

When thieves come at night,

they surely [RHQ] steal only as much as they want.

10But I will cause everything in Edom to be destroyed, and there will be nothing left,

and there will be no place for people to hide.

Many of [HYP] the children, their relatives and their neighbors, will die,

and Edom will not exist anymore.

11But I will protect the orphans,

and the widows also will be able to depend on me to help them.”

12And this is also what Yahweh says: “If those who do not deserve to suffer [MET] must suffer, you people of Edom must [RHQ] suffer much more [DOU]! You will not escape being punished. 13I, Yahweh, have solemnly promised, using my own name, that your chief city Bozrah will become a place that people will be horrified about. It will be a heap of ruins. People will make fun of it and use its name when they curse people. All the nearby towns and villages will be a ruins forever.”

14I heard this message from Yahweh:

“I have sent an ambassador to many nations,

to tell them to gather together to attack Edom.

They must prepare for battle!”

15And Yahweh says to the people of Edom,

“I will cause your nation to become very unimportant among the other nations.

They will all despise your country.

16You have caused people of other nations to be terrified,

and you [MTY] have been very proud,

but you have deceived yourselves.

You live in caves in the rock cliffs;

you think that you are safe there because you live high up there.

But even if you make your homes as high up as the eagles’ nests,

I will cause you to come crashing down.

17Edom will become a place about which people are horrified;

people who pass by will be horrified and will ◄gasp/be shocked►

when they see the destruction.

18Edom will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns were destroyed long ago.

As a result, no one will live there anymore [DOU].

19I will come to Edom suddenly like [SIM] a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on the sheep that are eating in the good pastureland.

I will quickly chase the people of Edom from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I can do that because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can object to what I do.

No ruler can oppose me.

20Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Teman town and the rest of Edom:

Even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely get rid of the people [MET] who live there.

21When Edom is destroyed, the noise will be extremely great,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard as far away as the Red Sea.

22Look! The enemy troops will swoop/rush down over Bozrah

like an eagle spreads its wings when it swoops down to seize an animal.

On that day, even the strongest warriors of Edom will be afraid

like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth.”

A message about Damascus

23This message is about Damascus. This is what Yahweh says:

“The people in the nearby cities of Hamath and Arpad are confused,

because they have heard bad news about Damascus.

They are very anxious and restless,

like [SIM] a sea in a big storm.

24The people of Damascus have become very weak,

and they all have ◄panicked/fled because they are very afraid►.

The people are anguished and in pain

like [SIM] a woman experiences who is about to give birth.

25That famous city, that I was previously pleased with,

will be abandoned.

26Its young men will fall in the streets.

Its soldiers will all be killed in one day.

27And I, the Commander of the armies of angels, will start a fire to burn the walls that surround Damascus,

and the palaces of King Ben-Hadad will be burned down.”

A message about Kedar and Hazor

28This is a message about the Kedar people-group and the kingdom of Hazor which the army of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon attacked. This is what Yahweh says:

“I will cause an army to advance to attack Kedar

and destroy those people who live east of Judah.

29Their tents and their flocks of sheep will be captured.

The curtains in their tents and their camels and their other possessions will be taken away.

Everywhere men will shout,

‘We are terrified because terrible things are happening all around us!’

30So I, Yahweh, say, ‘Run away quickly!

You people who live in Hazor, go and hide in deep caves,

because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon wants to attack you with his army;

he is planning to destroy you!’

31But I say to Nebuchadnezzar,

‘Go up and attack that nation whose people feel secure;

they do not have allies who will help them and do not have walls with gates that have bars in them.

32Your troops will seize their camels and other livestock.

I will scatter in every direction [IDM] those people who live in remote places (OR, who cut their hair short).

I will cause them to experience disasters from every direction.

33Hazor will become a place where jackals/wolves live,

and it will be deserted forever.

No one will live there again;

no one will settle there [DOU].’ ”

A message about Elam

34I received this message from Yahweh when King Zedekiah was starting to rule Judah.

35This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“The men of Elam are famous ◄archers/men who shoot arrows well►;

that is how they have made their country very powerful.

But I will get rid of them [MET].

36I will bring their enemies from all directions [IDM, DOU],

and they will scatter the people of Elam in all directions.

The people of Elam will be exiled to every nation on the earth [LIT, HYP].

37Because I am very angry with the people of Elam,

I will enable their enemies to smash Elam;

I will cause the people of Elam to experience great disasters.

I will enable their enemies, who want to kill them, to pursue them and kill them with swords

until I completely get rid of all of them.

38I, Yahweh, will judge them there [MTY],

and then I will get rid of their king and his officials.

39But some day, I will enable the people of Elam to return to their land.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

50

A message about Babylon

1Yahweh gave to me, Jeremiah the prophet, a message about Babylon city and the country of Babylonia.

2This is what Yahweh says:

“Proclaim [DOU] a message among the nations;

do not withhold any of it;

raise up a signal flag

to announce that Babylon will be captured.

Its chief god Marduk, whose other name is Bel, will be completely disgraced,

and all the other statues and idols will be shattered.

3The army of a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon

and destroy the city very thoroughly,

with the result that no one will live there again.

Both people and animals will run away.”

The people of Israel will return from Babylon

4“But I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen,

the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together.

They will be weeping

and wanting to worship me, their God.

5They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem,

and then they will start traveling [IDM] toward it.

They will say to each other,

‘We must return to Yahweh again!’

They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.

6My people have been like [MET] lost sheep.

Their leaders/rulers have caused them to abandon me

like [MET] shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains.

My people are like [MET] sheep

that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.

7All their enemies who found them attacked them.

They said, ‘We did not sin by attacking them,

because they sinned against Yahweh;

he is the one who provides what they need;

he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful;

he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected to help them.’

8But now, I say to the leaders of my people, ‘Flee from Babylon!

Leave the land of Babylonia!

Be like [SIM] male goats that go in front of the rest of the flock;

lead my people back to their own land.

9Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north of Babylon.

They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it.

Their arrows will be like [SIM] skilled warriors

that always hit what they aim at.

10Babylonia will be conquered,

and those who conquer it will take away everything they want.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’”

The conquest of Babylon

11“You people of Babylon who ◄plundered/stole everything valuable from► my chosen people,

now you are very happy [DOU].

You run around joyfully like [SIM] a calf in a meadow,

and are happy like [SIM] male horses are happy when they are neighing.

12But soon your people will be very disgraced [DOU] as a result of being conquered.

Your country will be the most insignificant nation;

it will be a desert, a dry and deserted land.

13Because I, Yahweh, am angry with you people of Babylon,

I will cause your city to become completely deserted.

All who pass by will be horrified

and will ◄gasp/be shocked► because of the destruction there.

14All you nations that surround Babylon,

prepare to attack it!

Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies;

shoot all of your arrows at them [LIT],

because the people/leaders of Babylon have sinned against me, Yahweh.

15Shout war-cries against Babylon from all sides of the city.

The soldiers of Babylon will surrender;

the towers and walls will be torn down.

It is I, Yahweh, who will be getting revenge on the people of Babylon,

so help me to get revenge.

Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others!

16Take away from Babylon those who plant crops

and those who reap the harvests!

Because of the swords carried by those who will attack Babylon,

those people in Babylon who have come from other countries

should all run away, back to their own countries [DOU]!”

God’s people will return to Israel

17“The Israeli people are like [MET] sheep

that have been scattered by lions.

First the army of the King of Assyria defeated them.

Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them.

18So this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people worship, say:

‘Now I will punish the King of Babylon and the people of his land,

like I punished the King of Assyria.

19And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land

where they will eat the food that grows in the fields of the Carmel and Bashan regions,

and the people in the hilly areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat.

20At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who are still guilty for having sinned [DOU],

because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’”

God’s punishment on Babylon

21“So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia, ‘Attack the people who live in the Merathaim region

and the people in the Pekod region of Babylonia.

Pursue them, kill them, and completely get rid of them,

as I have commanded you to do.

22Shout your battle cries throughout the land;

shout when you are causing great destruction.

23The army of Babylon is like [MET] the most powerful hammer on the earth,

but it will be completely shattered.

Babylon will be deserted among the other nations.’

24You people of Babylon, listen,

because I have set a trap for you;

you will be caught in that trap,

because you fought against me.

25It is as though I have opened the place where I store my weapons,

and I have brought out all the weapons

to use against the people with whom I am angry.

I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have a lot of work to do

to punish the people of Babylonia.

26So, you enemies of Babylonia, come from distant lands and attack it.

Break open the places where they store the grain.

Crush the walls of the city and the houses

and pile up the rubble like [SIM] heaps of grain.

Destroy everything;

do not leave anything that is not destroyed.

27Destroy all the young men who are as strong as [MET] bulls;

take them to where you will slaughter them.

It will be terrible for them,

because it will be time for them to be punished.

28Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon

while they tell in Jerusalem how I, Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple in Jerusalem.

29Summon archers [DOU] to come to attack Babylon;

surround the city

in order that no one will escape.

Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others [DOU],

because they have defied me, the Holy One of the Israeli people.

30The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets;

all their soldiers will be killed in one day.

31I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say this:

‘You arrogant/proud people,

it is now the time;

it is the time [DOU] when I will punish you.

32Your land is full of proud people,

but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will lift you up again.

I will light a fire in the cities in Babylonia

that will burn up everything that is nearby.’

33I, the Commander of the armies of angels, also say this:

‘The people of Israel and Judah were ◄oppressed/treated cruelly►;

those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave Babylon.

34But I am strong, and I will free them.

I am the Commander of the armies of angels;

I will defend my people

and enable them to return to their land where they will have peace,

but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.

35I will send enemy soldiers carrying swords [PRS] to strike the people of Babylonia;

they will strike the officials and wise men

and all the other people who live in Babylon.

36They will strike their false prophets with swords

and they will become foolish.

They will strike the strongest warriors of Babylonia,

and they will all be terrified.

37They will strike their horses and chariots

and the foreigners who are in the army of Babylonia,

and they will all become as weak as [MET] women.

They will seize [MTY] all the valuable things there in Babylon

and take them away.

38I will cause the streams to become dry.

I will do all those things because the entire land of Babylonia is filled with idols,

and those horrible idols have caused the people who worship them to become crazy.

39Soon only hyenas and other wild creatures will live there;

and it will be a place where owls live.

People will never live there again;

it will be uninhabited forever [DOU].

40I will destroy Babylon like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns;

no one will ever live there again [DOU].

41Look! A great army will come from the north.

A great nation far away with many kings is preparing to attack you people of Babylon.

42Their army has bows and arrows and spears;

they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone.

As they ride along on their horses,

the sound of the horses’ hooves is like [SIM] the roaring of the ocean waves;

they are riding in battle formation

to attack you, you people of Babylon.

43The King of Babylon says,

“I have heard reports about the enemy approaching;

so I am very frightened, with the result that I am weak.

I am very fearful, and anguished/worried,

like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”

44I, Yahweh, will come to Babylon suddenly like a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on the sheep that are eating the good pastureland.

I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I will do that because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can say that what I have done is not right.

No ruler can [RHQ] oppose me.

45Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon city and the rest of Babylonia:

even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely destroy the people [MET] who live there.

46When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard by the people of other nations.’ ”

51

Babylon will be destroyed

1This is what Yahweh says:

“I will inspire/motivate an army to destroy Babylon like a powerful wind [MET],

and also to destroy the people of Babylonia.

2I will send a foreign army to come to get rid of Babylonia

like a strong wind that blows away chaff.

They will attack from every direction

on that day of disaster.

3I will tell them, ‘Do not allow the archers of Babylon to have time to put on their armor

or draw their bows.

Do not spare the young men of Babylon.

Completely destroy their army.’

4Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia;

they will die after being wounded in the streets.

5I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the Israelis’ God, have not abandoned Israel and Judah.

Even though their land was full of people who sinned against me, the Holy God of Israel,

I am still their God.

6You people of Israel and Judah, flee from Babylon!

Run away from there!

Do not stay there and be killed when I punish the people of Babylon!

It will be the time when I will get revenge;

I will do to them what they deserve.

7Babylon has been like [MET] a gold cup in my hand, a cup that is full of wine

that caused people all over the earth who drank some of it to become drunk.

It is as though the rulers of the nations drank the wine from Babylon,

and it caused them to become crazy.

8But suddenly Babylon will be conquered.

You foreigners who live in Babylon, weep for its people.

Give them medicine for their wounds;

perhaps they can be healed.”

9We foreigners would have tried to heal them,

but now they cannot be healed.

So we will not try to help them; we will abandon them,

and return to our own lands,

because it is as though the punishment they are receiving is so great that it reaches up to the clouds in sky,

sp great that no one can measure it.

10Yahweh has ◄vindicated us/shown that we were right►;

so let’s proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done for us.

11You enemy soldiers, sharpen your arrows!

Lift up your shields,

because Yahweh has incited your kings of Media and Persia to march with their armies to Babylon and to destroy it.

That is how Yahweh will get revenge on those foreigners who entered his temple in Jerusalem and defiled it.

12Lift up a battle flag close to the walls of Babylon!

◄Reinforce the/Appoint more► guards,

and tell the watchmen to stand in their positions!

Prepare an ambush,

because Yahweh is about to accomplish all that he has planned to do to the people of Babylon.

13Babylon is a city near the great Euphrates River,

a city in which there are many rich people,

but it is time for Babylon to be finished;

the time for the city to exist is ended.

14The Commander of the armies of angels has solemnly promised, using his own name,

“Your cities will be filled with your enemies;

I will cause them to be like [SIM] a swarm of locusts;

and they will shout triumphantly when they conquer your city.”

A song to praise Yahweh

15Yahweh created the earth by his power;

he established it by his wisdom,

and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.

16When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky;

he causes clouds to form in every part of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and releases the winds from his storehouses.

17People are senseless, and they know very little [HYP];

those who make idols are always disappointed,

because their idols do nothing for them.

The images/statues that they make are not real gods;

they are lifeless.

18Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed;

there will be a time when they will all be destroyed.

19But the God whom we Israelis worship is not like those idols;

he is the one who created everything that exists;

we, the people of Israel, belong to him;

his name is ‘the Commander of the armies of angels’.

20Yahweh says about the army of Babylonia (OR, about a nation that will attack Babylonia),

“You have been like [MET] my battle-axe and war-club;

with your power I have shattered nations

and destroyed many kingdoms.

21With your power I have shattered armies of other nations:

I destroyed their horses and their riders, their chariots and their chariot-drivers.

22With your power I shattered men and women,

old people and children,

young men and young women.

23With your power I shattered shepherds and their flocks of sheep,

farmers and their oxen,

governors and their officials.”

24But, Yahweh also says,

“Soon I will repay/punish you people in Babylon and in the rest of Babylonia

for all the evil things that you have done in Jerusalem.

25Babylonia is [APO] like [MET] a great mountain

from which bandits descend to ◄plunder/steal things from► people all over the earth.

But I, Yahweh, am the enemy of you people of Babylonia.

I will raise my fist to strike you.

I will knock you down from the cliffs

and cause you to be only a huge pile of burned rubble.

26Your city will be abandoned forever;

even the stones in your city will never again be used for buildings.

Your city will be completely destroyed.”

27Tell the nations to lift up a battle flag!

Tell them to shout the battle-cry!

Gather all their armies to fight against Babylon!

Prepare the nations to attack Babylon.

Summon the armies of the kingdoms north of Babylonia —from Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a commander for them,

and bring a great number of horses;

there must be a huge number of horses; that huge number will resemble [SIM] a swarm of locusts.

28Prepare the armies of other nations,

armies that will be led by the kings of Media and Persia,

their governors and their officials.

29When they attack Babylon, it will be as though the earth will shake and writhe in pain,

because those armies will accomplish everything that Yahweh has planned to do to Babylon;

they will destroy it completely,

with the result that no one will live there again.

30When their enemies attack, the strongest warriors in Babylon will not fight.

They will remain in their barracks, without any strength.

They will be as timid/weak as [SIM] women.

The enemy soldiers will burn the buildings in the city

and pull down the bars of the city gates.

31Messengers will go quickly, one after another,

to tell the king that his city has been captured.

32The places at which people can cross the river to escape from the city will be blocked.

The dry reeds in the marshes/swamps will be set on fire,

and the soldiers of Babylon will be terrified.

33This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis worship, says;

“Babylon is like [SIM] wheat on the ground where it is about to be threshed

by animals tramping on it.

Very soon their enemies will trample on the city of Babylon [MET].”

34The army of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has attacked and crushed us Israeli people,

and we have no strength left.

It is as though they have swallowed us like a great monster

that filled its belly with all our tasty parts,

and then has spit out what it did not like.

35So the people of [PRS] Jerusalem say to Yahweh,

“Cause the people of Babylon to suffer

like they caused us to suffer!

Cause the people of Babylonia to be punished for killing [MTY] our people!”

Yahweh will get revenge on Babylon

36And this is what Yahweh replies to the people of Jerusalem:

“I will be like your lawyer to defend you,

and I will avenge you.

I will dry up the river in Babylon

and all the springs of water.

37Babylon will become a heap of ruins,

a place where jackals/wolves live.

It will become a place that people are horrified about and will ridicule;

it will be a place where no one lives.

38The people of Babylon will all roar like young lions;

they will growl like baby lions.

39But while they are extremely hungry,

I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.

It is as though I will cause them to drink wine until they are very drunk,

with the result that they will fall asleep.

But they will never wake up from that sleep!

40I will bring them down to a place where they will be slaughtered,

like [SIM] someone who takes lambs or rams or goats to where they will be slaughtered for sacrifices.

41People all over the earth now ◄honor/praise► Babylon;

they say that it is a great city.

But I will cause it to become a place about which people of all nations are horrified.

42The enemies of Babylon will cover the city like huge waves of the sea [DOU].

43The towns in Babylonia will become ruins,

Babylonia will become a dry desert area.

It will be a land in which no one lives

and which no one walks through.

44And I will punish Bel, the god that the people of Babylon worship,

and I will cause the people to give back what they have stolen [MET].

People of other nations will no longer come to worship Bel.

And the walls of Babylon will collapse.”

A message for the Israeli people

45Yahweh also says, “My people, come out of Babylon!

Run away from there!

Run, because I, Yahweh, am extremely angry [MTY] with the people of Babylon, and I will get rid of them!

46Do not be discouraged/worried [IDM] or afraid

when you hear reports about what is happening in Babylon.

People will report rumors like that every year,

rumors about violent things being done in the land,

and rumors about leaders fighting against each other.

47But it will soon be the time for me to get rid of the idols in Babylon.

People all over the land will be ashamed because of being defeated;

and the corpses of their soldiers will lie in the streets.

48Then all the angels in heaven and all the people on [PRS] the earth will rejoice,

because from the north will come armies that will destroy Babylon.

49Like the soldiers of Babylon killed the people of Israel

and also killed others all over the world [HYP],

the people of Babylon must also be killed.

50You Israeli people who have not been killed [MTY], get out of Babylon!

Do not wait!

Even though you are in a land far away from Israel,

think about Yahweh, and think about Jerusalem!”

51The Israeli people say,

“We are ashamed.

We are completely disgraced [DOU],

because foreigners have entered Yahweh’s temple and ◄defiled it/caused it to become unfit for worship►.”

52Yahweh replies, “That is true, but there will soon be a time when I will destroy the idols in Babylon,

and throughout Babylonia there will be wounded people who will groan.

53Even if the walls around Babylon could extend up to the sky,

and if its walls/fortifications were extremely strong,

I will send armies that will destroy the city.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

Babylon will be completely destroyed

54Listen to the people of Babylon crying for help!

And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!

55Yahweh will be destroying Babylon.

He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.

56Enemy troops will surge against the city like [SIM] a great wave.

They will capture the city’s mighty soldiers

and break their weapons.

That will happen because Yahweh is a God who punishes his enemies justly;

he will punish them as they deserve.

57The king, the Commander of the armies of angels says,

“I will cause the city officials and wise men, the army captains and soldiers in Babylon to become drunk.

They will fall asleep,

but they will never wake up again!”

58Yahweh also says,

“The thick walls around Babylon will be flattened to the ground.

The city gates will be burned.

People from other countries will work hard to save the city,

but it will be ◄in vain/useless►,

because everything that they have built will be destroyed by fire.”

Jeremiah’s message was taken to Babylon

59Seraiah was the man who made arrangements for the King of Babylon whenever he traveled. He was the son of Neraiah and grandson of Mahseiah. When he was about to go to Babylon with King Zedekiah, after Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, the prophet Jeremiah gave him a message. 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon occur in Babylon. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read aloud everything that I have written on this scroll. 62Then pray, ‘Yahweh, you said that you will thoroughly destroy Babylon, with the result that people and animals will no longer live there. You said that it will be desolate forever.’ 63Then, when you have finished reading what I have written on the scroll, tie it to a heavy stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon and its people will disappear and never exist again, because of the disasters that Yahweh will cause to occur there’ ”

That is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.

52

Zedekiah tried to flee from Jerusalem

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became the King of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of a man named Jeremiah from Libnah town. 2Zedekiah did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his father Jehoiakim had done. 3The events that are summarized here happened because Yahweh was angry with the people of Jerusalem and of other places in Judah, and finally he ◄exiled them/forced them to go to other countries► and said that he did not want to have anything to do with them anymore.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4So, on January 15, when Zedekiah had been ruling for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls to enable them to attack the city. 5They continued to surround Jerusalem until Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years.

6When Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, by July 18 of that year, the ◄famine/lack of food► in the city had become very severe, and there was no more food for the people to eat. 7Then the soldiers of Babylonia broke through a section of the city wall, and all the Israeli soldiers fled. But because the city was surrounded by soldiers from Babylonia, Zedekiah and the Israeli soldiers waited until it became dark. Then they left the city through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they ran towards the Jordan River Valley. 8But the soldiers of Babylonia pursued King Zedekiah, and they caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. He was alone because all his men had deserted him and had scattered. 9The soldiers of Babylonia took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the Hamath region. There the king of Babylon told his soldiers what they should do to punish Zedekiah. 10They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah. 11Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. They put him in a prison, and he remained there until the day that he died.

12On August 17 of that year, which was when King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost 19 years, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the king’s bodyguards and one of the king’s officials, arrived in Jerusalem. 13He commanded his soldiers to burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. They also destroyed all the important buildings in the city. 14Then he supervised the soldiers from Babylonia while they tore down the walls on all sides of Jerusalem. 15Then Nebuzaradan ◄forced to go/exiled► to Babylon some of the poorest people, those Israelis who had said they would support the king of Babylon, the rest of the craftsmen, and other people who had remained in Jerusalem. 16But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to remain in Judah to take care of the vineyards and fields.

17The soldiers from Babylonia broke into pieces the huge bronze pillars that were in front of the temple, and the large bronze water tank, and the ten bronze water carts, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 18They also took away the basins for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices, the shovels for cleaning out the ashes, the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals, the dishes for incense, and all the other bronze items that were used when sacrifices were made at the temple. 19Nebuzaradan also told his soldiers to take away the small bowls, the dishes for burning incense, the basins, pots, lampstands, bowls for incense, and the bowls used for pouring out the wine offerings. They took all the other items that were made of pure gold or silver.

20The bronze from the two pillars, the large water tank and the twelve statues of oxen that were beneath it, and the water carts, was more/heavier than they could weigh. Those things had been made for the temple during the time that Solomon was the king. 21Each of the pillars was ◄27 feet/8 meters► tall and ◄18 feet/5.5 meters► around. They were hollow, and each had sides/walls that were ◄3 in./8 cm.► thick. 22The bronze head on the top of each pillar was ◄7-1/2 feet/over 2 meters► high and was decorated all around with a bronze network of figures that represented pomegranates. 23There was a total of 100 figures of pomegranates on the network at the top, 96 of which could be seen from the ground.

24When Nebuzaradan returned to Babylon, he took with him as prisoners Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah who was Seraiah’s deputy, and the three men who guarded the entrances to the temple. 25He found some other people who were hiding in the city. So from them he took a commander of the army of Judah, seven of the king’s advisors, the army commander’s chief secretary who was in charge of recruiting soldiers for the army, and 60 other soldiers. 26Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon, who was still at Riblah. 27There at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded that they all be executed.

Many of the people of Judah were ◄forced to leave/exiled from► their own land. 28The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3,023. 29Then, when he had been ruling for almost 18 years, his soldiers took 832 more Israeli people to Babylonia. 30When he had been ruling almost 23 years, he sent Nebuzaradan to Jerusalem again, and he brought back 745 more Israelis to Babylonia. That was a total of 4,600 Israelis who were taken to Babylonia.

Jehoiachin was released from prison

31After King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in prison in Babylon for almost thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin and ordered that he be released from prison. That was on March 31 of the year that Evil-Merodach became king. 32He always spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a position in which he was honored more than all the other kings who had been exiled/taken to Babylon. 33He supplied new clothes for Jehoiachin, to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison. He also allowed Jehoiachin to eat with him every day, all during the rest of his life. 34Every day, the King of Babylon gave him some money to buy the things that he needed. That continued until the day that Jehoiachin died.