Jeremiah 43

1 When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—

[So] I finished telling to the people that message from Yahweh our God.

2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’

But 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!

3 Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”

[We 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.”

4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.

So 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.

5 Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered,

Johanan and all the [other] leaders gathered together all the people who had returned from the other countries to which they had been scattered.

6 the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.

[They included] men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and all those whom Nebuzaradan had left with Gedaliah, and they also took Baruch and me.

7 So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

They refused to obey Yahweh, and they took us all [to Egypt], as far as Tahpenes [city].

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:

[While we were] at Tahpenes, Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

9 “In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.

“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.

10 Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

Then 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].

11 He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.

When 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 I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.

Nebuchadnezzar’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.”’”

13 He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”